Here we go again! Zuffenhaus MS RSR project...

[ktr6]

S2000 will eventually be raced with NASA southeast in the ST2 class. Hopefully I can make it competitive.

[lateapex911]

Any thoughts of SCCA ITR? or are your mods more aggressive? I think it could win in ITR.

[eimkeith]

OK, so I'm woefully behind on the thread updates (as you may have noticed.)

Initially, the Mary Stuart work was to kept to 930-widths, in an effort to keep the project somewhat mild mannered.

As things progressed, the client decided to go for it, and requested that the bodywork be made as correct as possible, to closely mirror the historic original car.
Since we started this project, the Mary Stuart (Targa Florio winner) Martini RSR Prototype has changed hands, and neither the current, nor previous owners allow use of their molds or measurement-gathering for the purpose of creating replicas - which is understandable if you own a unique 1M dollar investment in automotive history, I suppose.

So we worked from photographs that are in the public domain.

- and quickly discovered that this body has changed more than once over the years.

I think the quintessential MS is the fat fendered, 917 Center Lock equipped phase, so that's what we targeted:





- meaty 15s barely covering the width of the wheels, all of which barely contained by the bodywork, very wide and aggressive.

[eimkeith]

Understand that we moved into a new location and were in the process of upfitting our building at the time (actually, we're still running our 3-phase with the help of some Pelicanites - keep that under your hat) so the body re-work from Version 1 to Version 2 took some time.

We used the exisitng V1 architecture as a base for V2, actually building on top of it:





here you can see that we top-coated the foam work to this point (so as to see the shape) and continued building out from there:

[eimkeith]

If I were a smarter guy, I'd've done a time-lapse sequence of this work...





(Off-topic, you can see in the background of these photos the state of affairs in the Zuffenhaus build shop (now seperated by a wall from the service shop for noise/dust/environment control) - work benches being built, materials still finding homes, etc. It's amazing how long it takes to iron out the final layout of everything for a clean, efficient workspace.)

getting wider:

[eimkeith]

On V1, we had the liberty of making something referential - we could 'fix' aesthetic issues, determine the shapes to some extent and make a pleasant object. V2 needs to be as close as we can make it, so it requiredsome bulking up:

Infill






[Nerd Intermission] For those of you who are wondering - yes, in these photos I am using: A) Hot Glue, B) Styrofoam Insulation, and C) Drywall Joint Compound.

Much like the effort illustrated in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the goal is to move as quickly as possible to the correct overall proportions/scale so the overall shape is not lost on the way to the finishing/detail stage. Bulk it up, cut it back, repeat. Clay could be used on top of the foam understructure for detailing work, but the sheer mass of this thing would be difficult to support were it not for lightweight materials. We ended up using the joint compound through to the end, as it provided benefits in the data collection stage (more on that later) over softer surfacing materials. [Nerd Out]

[eimkeith]

mmmm, Betty Crocker:





At this point, the 12" wide CCW is mounted on over THREE INCHES of spacers to bring it out to the fender. (Theses CCWs are for sale, btw - PM ktr6 for details) Depending on the final wheel configuration (15" or 17/18" center lock, I believe) the offset will be planned in such a way as to 'fill' the fender while maintaining a sensible width. Should be very cool and liveable.

You can also see that the underside of the wing has been bulked out somewhat - this determines the break-line between the trailing side of the fender and the wing, which needs to follow the same path as the original (from multiple angles/viewpoints!) This took a few sessions.

[eimkeith]

Front work coming up (have to do actual work now)

[lateapex911]

Really cool update. I appreciate the process and your methods more than the final product, maybe, so thank you for all the details.
That thing is wiiiide! How wide were the stock wheels?

[Tom '74 911]

Keith -

Thanks for posting some insight into your process - it's interesting to see the steps it takes to get to the final product. Is your end result a scanned-into-a-computer form that can then be mirrored for the other side? Or do you have to create the other side 'by eye' too?

Tom

[mray2686]

Man that looks great.
My targa is in your shop now, wish I could muster up this build!

[Kroggers]

I am really interested to know what the next steps are - do you glass in the foam, or take a plug from the shape to make a new fiberglass rear arch for the car?

[rennch]

This is f*cking FASCINATING. I've never seen this process before, and I'm completely blown away by it. It looks to me like there are a series of measurements that you're writing on the foam and scribing into the sheetmetal. Where are these measurements coming from?

[rennch]

And the follow up...once this is done, will you do a fiberglass mold of the whole thing and make a sheet metal form, or what's the next step?

[eimkeith]

YES. You are correct, Sir.


Only the left side of the car is being modeled - for the purposes of digital capture and mirroring to create symmetrical right hand parts, for final production in vaccuum-bagged CF or pre-impregnated FG.

Should be some top-quality stuff, with no more weight than it actually needs to be strong & rigid.

And the marks & notations are my pseudo-mathematics, checking heights/dimensions, working out time travel, etc. You should see inside the walls of my house and my sketchbooks from college...

The second round of scanning/digital data capture was completed just yesterday (there's a lot of contour on the rear quarters), so these posts are catching up to the present.

[eimkeith]

Here's a shot that sort of illustrates how much wider it became for V2:



... and starting work on the front (which HAS to be a relative of the 914 GT fender):



and a guide coat on the rear for blocking/shaping work (one of many such sessions) - look how much more room is in the fender well - must be 4+ additional inches at some points. (Now that I think about it, this suddenly sounds like email spam)



and even MORE bulking on the front of the rear fender.

[eimkeith]

- and here is Bibendum, who turns up in the oddest places:



more later, leaving the office.

[LJ851]

Really enjoying the show guys! Thanks a lot for posting this stuff.

[eimkeith]

no problem - we appreciate the enthusiasm!

More front flare work:





(you can see some additional girth on the rear flare in the above photo - starting to feel like the historic body work)


wheel fitment check on front flare (not the wheels this car will run, but appropriate stunt doubles for size/width)

[eimkeith]

MORE rear fender work:





and a comparison of the work so far:





even with the bad angle on the last photo, you can see that the rear of the rear fender is too svelte - so here we go...