Major GTX1 Surgery...


Steve Woodrough

GTX1 Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Aug 31, 2007
57
St. Petersburg, Florida
There is only one other guy I'd trust to install this, Shadowman....
We'd have to work out the details, but I'd trust him.

Hi Kip:

I've been following this thread since the beginning and am impressed beyong belief in the creativity and excellence of your work. Absolutely amazing! However, I want to suggest that if anyone wants to install your new roof on the east coast, you consider "trusting" Bernard Guerin here in St. Petersburg to do it. He has the engineering expertise to do any fitting work that needs to be done, and he knows as much about the X1 as anyone else, including Shadowman and Rich Brooks.

Steve
 

Triheart7

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Apr 3, 2007
2,576
Northern California
Not to mention his last name is one of those hyphenated British surnames.
It's actually Bill Care Skilled-Knobloch.

I understand that the Skilled is silent and not actually pronounced.

Actually, the 'skilled' is pronounced, but you know what I mean....
Sorry. It's late and I have been handling a lot of solvents today............

Funny. Careful with those solvents.:slap
 
Aug 25, 2006
4,436
Not to mention his last name is one of those hyphenated British surnames.
It's actually Bill Care Skilled-Knobloch.

I understand that the Skilled is silent and not actually pronounced.

Actually, the 'skilled' is pronounced, but you know what I mean....
Sorry. It's late and I have been handling a lot of solvents today............


What a wonderful compliment; thank you

All the best

Shadowman
 

Kip Ewing

CF Vendor
Mark II Lifetime
Feb 23, 2007
288
Suburban Detroit
GTX1 hard top headed to the rally

Over the past few weeks, there has been extraordinary activity on the roof.
With the Rally upon us, obviously, this one has to get wrapped up.

You will recall from prior posts, one of the critical decisions was how to execute the rear window. This was an important stylistic decision, but (more so) an important one for water sealing.

The styling was worked out, prior to a full assessment of feasibility or tooling.
The model looked cool enough to just commit!

The rear window structure ended up being a really difficult thing to pattern and tool. It ended up being a part that was die-locked in about every direction!

The tooling ended up being quite complex. We ended up producing the rear window frame in two parts and bonding them together. While I don't have the photos of the tools, here's the finished part.
FordGTcastings026.jpg

FordGTcastings028.jpg


The rear window frame needed to be a separate part. Until we see how much variation there is in the later cars we modify, we need a way of managing this cross-car variation.

To bond the window frame to the roof, we place the window frame onto the body, with the quarter-inch sheet wax gap we used for patterning.
FordGTcastings030.jpg

Once we were satisfied with the placement of the window frame, we bonded the roof to the window frame.
FordGTcastings031.jpg


After the window frame was bonded in, the next step is paint.
Normally, this would be pretty straight forward.......................................
However; this was a custom color.

I went into the booth after the base was sprayed and about freaked out.
It was green....
We'll, at least a very green shade of silver!

The paint store I have used exclusively for over 8 years totally botched the color match and the color they gave me for the stripes was the same color as the body....... Then they didn't want to re-mix it that day.
Not good. Depending on how they handle this, I'll be choosing a new shop for paint.

Panic time.

After another round of mis-matched color and another panic, the second paint source stayed late and got a perfect match. Perfect color, perfect metalic, right on! If you need paint in the Detroit area, go to GNE in Hazel Park and ask for Rob. These guys will probably be getting my account.

So here we go, into the booth.
004-Copy5.jpg


With urethane paint systems, the color goes on flat, and it looks pretty splotchey. The magic happens when you put on the clear.

Once 4 coats of base are down, we lay out the stripes.
We were really lucky to have Larry Hornsby lay out the stripes.
Larry worked at the Saleen plant where the GT's were built and is one of the best painters I've worked with. He is really, really talented.
007-Copy4.jpg

013-Copy3.jpg


After the stripes are layed out, we mask the pattern.
014-Copy4.jpg


Shoot the stripe color.
016-Copy3.jpg


And then the clear.
025-Copy.jpg


After this, I didn't get a lot of photos.
It was officially crash time.

The audio system had to go back in.
The interior had to go back in.
The roof had to be assembled.
Etc.etc.etc.
Basically, a 24 hour crash-and-burn session that seems to be part of every show car build I have done in my life.

So, this is what we ended up with;
037-Copy.jpg

048.jpg

042-Copy.jpg

040-Copy.jpg

044.jpg

049.jpg


It really turned out pretty cool and I am really, really proud of what my crew has been able to execute on this one.
We need to finish the molded details on the ends of the seals, so the car will be coming back after the Rally.

I really want to thank the owner for asking me to do this.
It has been a remarkable project; technically and creatively.
It's also been a great chance to get a functional roof on the GTX1 that is really integrated with the car's appearance.

Next post - Austin!
 

Piana

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Jul 12, 2006
330
Northern California
Kip,
Truely amazing! That is unbelievable work!
 

Mark06GT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Stunning. I've enjoyed every post. Congrats.
 

soroush

Ford Gt Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Aug 8, 2007
5,256
wow!
 

Triheart7

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Apr 3, 2007
2,576
Northern California
Nice job. Very Very impressive.
 

fjpikul

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jan 4, 2006
11,475
Belleville, IL
So is the window glass a magnifier that says things you see are closer than you think?
 

AtomicGT

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Apr 12, 2006
3,032
Los Angeles
You ROCK, Kip, you made a car begging for a solid top look better than the original FGT. Most excellent effort. Skilled craftsmen, hats off! :cheers
 

Kirby Vieira

GT Owner/B.o.D
Mark IV Lifetime
Sep 22, 2005
1,768
Atlanta
Wow. That is absolutely incredible. The top actually improves the look of the GTX1 which was already a masterpiece. It captures and accentuates the most powerful design lines of the X1. Unbelievable. Congratulations, Kip. :cheers
 

shelbyelite

PERMANENTLY BANNED
May 10, 2007
1
Kip, I am VERY impressed. The top looks AWESOME!!!
 

jaxgt

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Jul 12, 2006
2,794
Amazing work.
 
Apr 24, 2006
55
I simply cannot find the words for the finished look nor could I have ever imagined the finished product. I have never seen a more beautiful GT. GTX1 owners please do not take this the wrong way, but the GTX1 was always something of a novelty to me. It looked fantastic but was never a real consideration because of its lack of finish. It looked like a concept or show car to me, not a production model. This car looks better than a standard production GT. Congratulations.
 
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HJP

GTX1 Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Oct 13, 2005
225
Chicago
Wow! i had resigned myself into thinking my X1 would always be a roadster. but.... Wow! it looks incredible! I am definitely going to have to get one! looks like it came as part of the car. now i think my car looks incomplete. great job.
 
H

HHGT

Guest
That car should have a license plate that reads ORGASMIC. Well done Kip...
 
Aug 25, 2006
4,436
What a wonderful finishing touch for these gals

All the best

Shadowman
 

Hammer

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Sep 10, 2006
222
San Diego, CA
Absolutely stunning!
 

spyder625

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Sep 23, 2008
455
Now give us the bad news, the Price??
 

kjslider

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Mar 1, 2006
360
socal
^The price isn't bad news it is good news. I hope Kip gets a lot of good business from all his effort.

I'm a satisfied customer of his products and will undoubtedly be in line for this latest creation.

Great job Kip and team.:thumbsup