Sonic7 based kit car

[kerob1labs]

Hi everyone!

During the last 2 years I've been coming and going with little comments, short messages, posted some photos here and there, but I think it's time to make a proper thread.

My goal is to build something like this:



It's going to use Celica headlights, windscreen from Ford Ka, Fiesta front grill, 18x8 wheels, if successful fog lights from Corsa. Underneath is a modified Sonic7 chassis.

I started getting a "donor", I found a car breaker that would cut off the front nose of a ST170 and ship to my garage! I got everything I needed.





Engine sadly was in bad shape:



So I sent it out for someone more experienced to rebuild it. When it came back:



Chassis and other bits were in a storage due to house work, but when engine came back, the build started!



Chassis was modified to accommodate the longer exhaust:



I don't do welding, so I asked someone to do the job for me. He also lifted the bar where the steering is bolted for leg clearance:



Wheels: Keskin KT9, 8x18.



Decided to use front vented discs. I had troubles with brake balancer that solved with help from people in the forum. Thank you!

 

Exercised my patience sorting out the loom...



I ended up with two lines in each side. On the driver's side is signals, ECU stuff, sensors, etc. On the driver's side is power, lights, etc.

Got a custom made tank:



I need to make a proper bulkhead to enclose the tank.



and because of my long legs, pedal block was moved forward:



I haven't got a close photo to show the final work in the pedal block, but I had to put a bar with a bearing to hold the steering shaft and the pedal block onto the chassis. Unfortunately this steering wheel is not IVA friendly...

Gear cables were custom made, goes all around the car to the back.

I built my own instruments:



No, the tank was actually empty...

I divided things in two control boxes: one for the general things on the right (indicators, wipers, doors, ventilation) and another for the display controller on the left.



Here I'm running an OBD simulator where I get speed, RPM and temperature. Odometer comes from a pulse signal from the ECU:



This is one of the last photo:



Inside this waterproof box is the ECU, fuel pump controller and barometer. There is a hose coming out from it so things are well ventilated. I'm using electric handbrake so I can have wider seats. I decided to use two silence boxes but I can change my mind and let more noise out.

This thing is full drivable, and drives really well! In theory I never left the driveway, so I can't wait to get it done, IVAed, licensed etc!

I will make another post with what comes next.

[kerob1labs]

I moved the chassis to a storage to open space in my garage to start the body. From the design above I generated slices to be cut in plywood. I found a CNC guy to do the work for me.

This is part of the front. I thought I would be able to do the work in a restricted space, but I was wrong. That's why I transferred the car to use my garage.



Once with the garage empty, I started building the model from where I will make moulds and then make the parts:



Eventually started to get to the shape...





This one I took today:



I'm using insulation boards with 120mm width to fill up the gaps. Basically glue them, let it dry, cut and shape, and then go to the next slice. It's a very slow and messy work, and it will get worse: at the end after a layer of epoxy and a lot of body filler, I will have to sand it for an eternity until it gets to the perfect shape.

I got an used KA windscreen (£25) to make sure things are in the right size. In the glass border where the windscreen is glued onto the body, I used expanding spray foam and drop the windscreen on top of it and let is expand. I'm spending a lot of time in this part specifically to make sure there will be no gaps or water leaks when it's done.

Hopefully I will keep taking photos and update this thread.

[kerob1labs]

Updates after a warm weekend - expanding foam and glue work better!



I managed to work on 3 slices.



Thats how it looks like after shaped and expanded foam leveled.

Still a lot of work to do!

[jsmith]

Very cool build! I would be careful what you post on here. My buddy got banned for simply talking about a non-MEV build he was doing. They told him that this site was for MEV products only. Funny thing was, he said he never even had a build thread on here...lol

[gwnwar]

This is a Sonic7 down deep inside.. just some wild and crazy body added.. Just a personal touch.. It is in the Any other Vehicle Section.. Please keep updates coming..

[jsmith]

Feb 20, 2017 18:57:09 GMT gwnwar said:

This is a Sonic7 down deep inside.. just some wild and crazy body added.. Just a personal touch.. It is in the Any other Vehicle Section.. Please keep updates coming..

Good to hear it's still a Sonic.  I would hate to see someone banned for life for being creative.  I agree, keep the updates coming!

[kerob1labs]

Thank you gwnwar, I will keep posting!!

[mikeeyboy]

Just stumbled on this, really interesting build. Do you use some kind of specific foam for making the body shell shape? Or is it just B&Q grade stuff?

[kerob1labs]

Hi mikeeyboy...sorry I haven't been in the forum for a while.
Yes, these are insulation board (celotex/kingspan). They are polyester resin resistant, easy to sand, cheap (1200x2400mm for £45 in the local depot).
I'm also using expanding foam in some parts.

I took this one yesterday (23/04). I'm moving to a bigger space to work on the body.

[Stiggy]

Body coming on well. Looking good!
Lights on the chassis, careful on the roads ~_~
Careful with gull-wing doors too. I have a DMC and an MBC, both have poor door seals. Getting the leading edge door seal to clear the body is a challenge unless you have large panel gaps. They lift up on the top and out on the side at the same time so the gap closes in on you. I had success with the MEV Trek 4x4 by having the fulcrum non parallel to the side of the door, if you follow.
You can just about see below on the top. There are 4 triangle black ABS surface mounted hinges. You will see that the pair near the front of the car are actually nearer to the edge than the rear ones. Hinge fulcrums are of course in line.

The object of the game is to kick the leading edge out before it hits the body.

[kerob1labs]

Lights on the chassis? Gosh you noticed it!! The car was in my garage, I drove to this please (photo) in the middle of the night, thats why I put some lights, but don't tell anyone.
Now I have no option put transport at daylight hence hiring a car transporter.

Thanks for the advice, yes I can se the hinges. I have in mind these "top and out", but i'm thinking of to trying hinges bolted at the bottom of the door panel. I also can see you have a quite wide fixed roof (where hinges are bolted). I know it won't be easy, I have a couple of escape plans (e.g. open roof) in case it doesn't work...i shall see soon!

[kerob1labs]

This is the pattern now.

[kiwicanfly]

Sounds like a job for an ANZAC Hinge (possibly).

[kerob1labs]

Finally I moved my project to a proper place!





looks to tidy, but I moved just today!



I will move my foam-car tomorrow, more photos to come.

[kerob1labs]

After long while, lots of work, just time to post on Facebook, I think it's time to a proper update.

Once I got the workshop, I moved the foam-car there, well, whatever I've done whilst in my garage:



Then carried on filling up gaps with more foam, as usual some insulation boards and expanding foam:



No sanding at this time, just shaping with knife and corrections with more expansing foam:



After a couple of weeks the car started to get to the shape!



Unfortunately I don't have photos making the front nose and back. I used side slices (instead of slices from front to back, if you know what I mean). These two empty gaps I left to allow the cast to be aligned. Well, I did my best.



Then I thought: what if a build a jig so I can "transfer" the wheel places to the cast?



I hope it works! I aligned using those 2 gaps and made wheel arcs:



Gaps filled and look at that!



After some cosmetics, it's really getting to what it should look like!



That's 4 months of work. After that, winter came, had business trips, holiday, so there wasn't much change since. I did some electrical work and I keep testing the brakes (lol). I'm trying to get hold of a heater so I can carry on during winter. My workshop has very poor insulation so it's very cold, also bad for glue, expanding foam, body filler, etc.