Builds 80 series where to start! Again.... (8 Viewers)

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Yeah, they were technically 180 degree headers, made to balance the exhaust pulse on a V8 IIRC. I've seen vintage GT40'S on a track with those headers, they sound awesome!
 
WHOLLY MEDUSA BATMAN!
 
Yes it is going to be quite a sight to see. I can't wait until the first time I take it to the Lexus dealer for an oil change and complain about a whining sound coming from under the hood. lol.

Makes good sense, and looks really awesome at the same time. You're going to have a very interesting sight under the hood!
 
Well the next step is ordering the rear window weather stripping @beno and the solid cargo weather stripping and associated vents and then replace those 3 large pieces of glass with tinted lexan.

I was going to replace the control arms with carbon fiber and some metal threaded inserts I had turned but I have been unable to get any real data on the bonds on carbon fiber and metal using a two part adhesive. I could not find anyone else that is doing it. I have gone so far as to source the material from Rock West Composites, but I am a little leery even though I think it should work but failure could mean death. Lol. I am still thinking about it.
 
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Cool idea!

Bonding the carbon to steel is a tricky thing to do. Normally, for an application like this, you would want to wrap carbon filament around the "eye" portions of the arm. As I'm sure you know, carbon fiber's strength is in tension so the more you can do to distribute loads, the better. A control arm is primarily loaded in tension and in compression(causing buckling). There is also some torsion, but it is not very much in comparison. You want the force to travel through the length of the fiber because that is where the strength comes from. You DON'T want to rely only on the resin(or other adhesive) to take any load since it is really just polymer. The final shape of an arm designed for manufacture in carbon fiber will likely have an odd shape compared to one designed for steel.

This is from a recent kick-starter campaign for an at-home filament winder to get an idea about how the wrapping goes.:
I imagine you could find a source to do this for you with larger equipment. Or you could spend a couple days and wind it by hand...
 
@Golgo13 All very good points. I would be using filament wound tubing. I have talked to Rock West Composites they would wind the tubes for me. But I wouldn't be using a loop I would probably just do a 3/4 heim joint, so to do that I would be looking at making a metal insert that has a tube insertion length of 4.5" With an inside diameter of 1.181" and the insertion depth of 4.5" that is about 16.68in^2 of bonding area. The E-120HP Hysol bonding agent is rated at 4300lbs per in^2 In a perfect world that is 71,750lbs of bonding force, even with a safety factor of 35% you are looking at 53,812lbs and a 3/4" high strength heim is only rated at 38,700lbs.

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At my old company we made Carbon Fiber Iris Rods: http://www.red.com/store/products/red-carbon-x-rod/790-0029

The ends were compression fit. Unfortunately I am persona non-grata over there so I don't have a contact to help with the other info. When I was working on developing the carbon fiber panels for the Carbon Dragon: http://www.red.com/store/products/e...ide-ssd-carbon-fiber-and-magnesium-lens-mount we would use a type of PemNut that was pressed into carbon fiber. All low yield stuff. Nothing like you would need.
 
Just like the comp crawlers or some thin 4130 chromo. But I'd go 3 link Panhard maybe 4 link neither take torque well and flex to much with that kimd of loading You could shorten the radius arm considerably with the lack of travel your looking for
 
Oh no I am not redoing the suspension. I will be running the stock suspension, just MAYBE replacing all the suspension links. Probably not. But to meet my goal, s*** is going to have to get pretty serious. lol.
 
How much weight will the carbon fiber control arms save? What other weight-saving measures do you have planned?
Also, that merge collector is awesome! I might have to buy one and just use it as a paper weight.
 
Stripped redone interior (door panels converted to single suede covered panel, no arm rest, door pull will be strap, drivers side 4 switch window control will be moved to center console removed from other doors) , carbon fiber bride seats, sunroof delete, sunroof controls removed, fixed panel lexan cargo window, lexan rear window, pulling all electric door locks, rear wiper motor, electric antenna delete, remove all skid plates, stock air box delete, EGR delete, evap canister delete, 1st/2nd/3rd seat belts removed, 4 harnesses installed, battery relocated to route IC piping, spare tire and spare tire carrier removed, roof rack, dust wing and all plastic cladding removed, then various other little brackets and tie downs.

I am typing on my phone and that's about all I can think of but I have an entire list already.
 
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If there is one thing I have learned after dealing with carbon fiber, beryllium, aluminum-alloy, titanium, etc. is that exotic materials fail in exotic ways.
 
Yep, the first carbon fiber mountain bike handlebars were shattering into splinters or would snap and stab the rider. But the material advanced and the safety margins improved and now everyone uses them. Like I said it would be cool, but I think for this project, staying alive beats cool. I was going to try and build 1/8th scale, and try and destructive test it but I am not a big time car manufacturer or some testing lab. I am a cruiser dork, with no job! Lol
 
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I just want to take a moment to say that with every (carbon?) fiber of my being, I'm absolutely in love with this build!! The creativity, the technical detail, the sheer badass level to which your taking your "experiment" (Bride seats and lexan "glass" in a 'Cruiser!?) is something most of us could only ever dream of, but now we get to live vicariously through your build. Keep up the good work sir! :beer:
 
Thanks man, I love the fact that there is so much historical data on the 80's. The people that were early adopters and had to figure out all the common stuff like the lifts, bumpers, sliders, etc. I appreciate a lot. But I have always kind of like stepping outside the box so this has been a fun project for me. There is a lot more coming but who knows how fast it will go.

Wheels are ordered and supposed to ship 15th.
The truck is still sitting in Dundee Oregon 2800 miles away, but the shipping company calls me daily telling me they are looking for a truck to haul it.

My first actions are
1) pulling the plastic
2) pulling the rack
3) pulling the dust visor
4) pulling the rear wiper and rear window sprayer
5) Pulling the antenna
6) Pull the rear marker lights
7) Get the truck to a body shop to have all the holes filled, pull/flare the fenders and black everything out.
8) Get springs and cut them and install them.....
9) Put the new wheels and tires on and figure out how spacing will work.
 

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