Honolulu 818S Hana (work/build) Thread

[Aloha818]

I did the same paper trick on my doors, they are within 1/32 in of the same...

Latch, striker etc

FFR way: door skin .127 spaced from body, all around (measured several paint sticks, ave = .127)
FFR aluminum plate .040 in This reduces the space to 0.087 not much clearance for the door to close. They cut a slot into the door for the "hoop" of the striker but not for the base plate of the striker that is sitting on top of the body's fiberglass in the door opening.
The Striker's base is .227 in thick, if it is screwed on the surface there is no way that a gap less than about .300 inches can be used. Eliminate the aluminum cover plate and you are now in the .260 range and .033 isn't much for a door swinging through an arc into the opening

Wayne, GRM etc, eliminated the aluminum plate and cut out a rectangular portion of the door to clear the striker's base.

Options:

Increase the gap at the rear of the door, I'm not sure what the practical minimum using the FFR instructions so that it doesn't scrape, leaves a slotted door edge, gap over .300

Delete the Aluminum plate from outside the door skin, close the gap an additional .040, leaves a slotted door edge, gaps sub .300

Use Wayne's solution, leaving the open rectangle, wide enough to clearance the striker. it is easiest to implement, consistent gap possible

Inset the striker into the body, position the bracket and have it just sitting behind the fiberglass, slot at door edge, consistent gaps

so much work to do, slot looks better, I'd like gaps to be "close" to even....

UGH

Dan, my door panels have a slight taper on the edge of the door increasing to the interior. Even though the door panel is on a curve the steel plate that the lock attaches too is flat. The net effect is that when you tighten the door panel/lock/steel plate the door panel is forced inward increasing the gap at the striker plate see pic,
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I have no rubbing, great even gap. I used the FFR trim plate as a template and with care cut a slot that opens slightly to the edge of the door and ends with a radius top and bottom. When painted this will look like any OEM product.

Glad your door panels are similar side to side! I guess FFR got a little wild when they cut my passenger door.

[RM1SepEx]

Wow, excellent photo, perhaps the key is location of the latch so far in towards the frame, their manual shows it being straight, parallel with the frame, by swinging it past that pint it actually makes it effectively shorter... your latch is 1 inch or so closer to the frame... I was just about to inset the latch plate and make my own cover plate.

Can I assume that you will use flatheads countersunk into the door and no aluminum cover plate.

Something to play with this afternoon. I need to go to the bone yard and find another WRX wiper arm to play with the wipers some more.

Edit, just checked, going past does indeed work on mine too! Great job.

[Aloha818]

Wow, excellent photo, perhaps the key is location of the latch so far in towards the frame, their manual shows it being straight, parallel with the frame, by swinging it past that pint it actually makes it effectively shorter... your latch is 1 inch or so closer to the frame... I was just about to inset the latch plate and make my own cover plate.

Can I assume that you will use flatheads countersunk into the door and no aluminum cover plate.

Something to play with this afternoon. I need to go to the bone yard and find another WRX wiper arm to play with the wipers some more.

Edit, just checked, going past does indeed work on mine too! Great job.

Here is a pic of the edge of my door showing the slot and the countersunk opening for the screws
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And here is a mock up to better explain my interior door and door card mod
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You can see the +/- 3/4" area I need to cut back a little and fill with a return. Here is a pic of my Jeep door, similar situation, although I hope to make the 818 mod a little cleaner, you can see the overall concept.
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I hope you come up with a good wiper solution, I'll be following as I will need a wiper and I need it to work with the narrow gap I have.

[Aloha818]

Yesterday after spending most of the day on the rear bumper we walked across the street for the fireworks, but I think the sunset was a great first act!
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It took me about 4 more hours this morning to wet sand the touch up primer from yesterday, move everything over to the booth, get set up, clean and prep for paint.
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I had to buy another 1/2 gallon of paint, I'm a little worried that the paint doesn't match up, looks like to new order has more flake in it. I'll know for sure Monday when I get it back to my shop.

Other than that concern everything went well. Although I did figure out the limit on how much clear I can dump on at a time. I have a couple little sags that will have to be sanded off later

I know in the overall effort of building the 818 and all the little decisions that have to be made along the way my license plate mod is a small thing, but I'm really happy with the concept and final execution.
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Spent a couple hours after painting to start working on the doors. I have the concept in my head, now trying to work through the best means to get everything I need from this mod.

[Boog]

Its too bad you didn't make a mold of the license plate insert. I would buy one although I guess if you sold several dozen it would make the style less unique.

The stock rear bumper always seemed to be missing something and its unfortunate that some 'details' like these didn't make it into the initial design

[bbjones121]

Less unique??? umm. do we understand how few 818's there will be driving around?

Its too bad you didn't make a mold of the license plate insert. I would buy one although I guess if you sold several dozen it would make the style less unique.

The stock rear bumper always seemed to be missing something and its unfortunate that some 'details' like these didn't make it into the initial design

[Boog]

Sometimes there is a desire to have a one-off creation but point taken.

Several parts of this build seem to fit so well I get surprised when I look around and realize that it wasn't part of the original FFR design. Chief among these would be the license plate inset and the roll bar modification. I'm sure things will change once my kit arrives and I spend time each day interacting with it, but I often do a double take when I see a picture of an S's roll bar and am momentarily confused that it goes flat across.

[bbjones121]

Sometimes there is a desire to have a one-off creation but point taken.

Several parts of this build seem to fit so well I get surprised when I look around and realize that it wasn't part of the original FFR design. Chief among these would be the license plate inset and the roll bar modification. I'm sure things will change once my kit arrives and I spend time each day interacting with it, but I often do a double take when I see a picture of an S's roll bar and am momentarily confused that it goes flat across.

I love what has been done on this build and cant wait to see pictures of it finished.

I pressed really hard for the double hoops over the last several years, but no go. Racing requirements say it must be the way it is. Something to do with only two bends allowed or something. See the Lotus 2 eleven. Ariel atom did it with only one hoop in middle to meet the bend requirement i would guess.

[Oppenheimer]

I agree, as noted above, I just don't like the way it looks unfinished when the door is open, more than likely it is what I'll do.

My frustration is that the FFR way is impossible yet that method has not changed in their documentation, documentation written after you did your modification. You found it didn't work and came up with a simple solution on the very first customer car. When we get there, we follow the manual, work through the interference and search to find out how other's did it... It keeps happening over and over.

While it does reinforce this online community, it creates a ton of extra time delay and frustration for the other builders. You have done this multiple times and know many of the answers from experience with out kit builds, we are new at this and keep reinventing the wheel. Why doesn't FFR update their documents?

What if FFR made an online, open-source version of the manual, and made it like a wiki, where the community could submit edits? (but make it only available to registered forum members). That way, as soon as issues are found, or better ways are invented, they could be posted into the online manual and available to the next builder.

In situations where more than one way of doing something is available, the online open-source manual could just reference all of them, giving builder the choice of which way to do it.

This would act as a way to reconcile all the goodness that is currently squirreled away in endless build threads that new builders have to wade through, giving new builders instant access to all the latest knowledge and tips and tricks.

[flynntuna]

I totally agree, and I don't understand why the WiKi section of this forum is basically empty. A centralized section for build tips and instructions would IMO streamline searches and can be a tremendous resource.

[Boog]

I pressed really hard for the double hoops over the last several years, but no go. Racing requirements say it must be the way it is. Something to do with only two bends allowed or something. See the Lotus 2 eleven. Ariel atom did it with only one hoop in middle to meet the bend requirement i would guess.

I saw a bolt in hoop discussed in another thread. Do you think something similar could mount on top of or around the double hoop to get you past some tech inspections? I'm going for primarily a street car but I would like to attend PDX/HPDE style events on occasion.

Edit: Could you possibly skirt the regulation by having each of your hoops be made with a single, sweeping, 140-ish degree bend instead of two 70 degree bends with a flat section in between?

[Aloha818]

Its too bad you didn't make a mold of the license plate insert. I would buy one although I guess if you sold several dozen it would make the style less unique.

The stock rear bumper always seemed to be missing something and its unfortunate that some 'details' like these didn't make it into the initial design

Less unique??? umm. do we understand how few 818's there will be driving around?

Sometimes there is a desire to have a one-off creation but point taken.

Several parts of this build seem to fit so well I get surprised when I look around and realize that it wasn't part of the original FFR design. Chief among these would be the license plate inset and the roll bar modification. I'm sure things will change once my kit arrives and I spend time each day interacting with it, but I often do a double take when I see a picture of an S's roll bar and am momentarily confused that it goes flat across.

I love what has been done on this build and cant wait to see pictures of it finished.

I pressed really hard for the double hoops over the last several years, but no go. Racing requirements say it must be the way it is. Something to do with only two bends allowed or something. See the Lotus 2 eleven. Ariel atom did it with only one hoop in middle to meet the bend requirement i would guess.

What if FFR made an online, open-source version of the manual, and made it like a wiki, where the community could submit edits? (but make it only available to registered forum members). That way, as soon as issues are found, or better ways are invented, they could be posted into the online manual and available to the next builder.

In situations where more than one way of doing something is available, the online open-source manual could just reference all of them, giving builder the choice of which way to do it.

This would act as a way to reconcile all the goodness that is currently squirreled away in endless build threads that new builders have to wade through, giving new builders instant access to all the latest knowledge and tips and tricks.

I totally agree, and I don't understand why the WiKi section of this forum is basically empty. A centralized section for build tips and instructions would IMO streamline searches and can be a tremendous resource.

I saw a bolt in hoop discussed in another thread. Do you think something similar could mount on top of or around the double hoop to get you past some tech inspections? I'm going for primarily a street car but I would like to attend PDX/HPDE style events on occasion.

Edit: Could you possibly skirt the regulation by having each of your hoops be made with a single, sweeping, 140-ish degree bend instead of two 70 degree bends with a flat section in between?

Thanks guys for all your comments and ideas!

License plate mod. I guess a mold could be made, but it can be easily be copied now as you can visualize what I have done. Until you finish a mod like this you only hope it looks good when it's done. Imitation is the best form of flattery right?

Double hoops. I don't plan on racing mine, so I have not done any research. But how do cobras race with only one hoop behind the driver? Maybe make the passenger side bolt on and remove to race?

Open source manual. I would think that someone at FFR would be keeping up with the posts and comments and update "their" manual accordingly. But I also like reading everyone's build threads for ideas and progress. Might be less community involvement if everything was in a manual. Plus, who would we complain about then?

[Aloha818]

Door mod.

It's taken me most of the week thinking about how I want to do make this change, and what other impacts it would make. So to recap, I want to move the interior door panel forward about an inch to keep from having to notch it for the jamb mounted strike. This will require the void left to be filed with fiberglass.

Here is the only finished pic I could find, that shows exactly how FFR planned for this area to be finished.
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To start I set the door in the opening, with the exterior flush and in its correct location, then marked the inside perimeter to cut the door return off 3/8" from the side sail where the door would touch in the closed position. The door panel will eventually be positioned so that when the door is closed there will be a 1/4" gap to the side of the side sail.

Then I took some thin aluminum sheet and traced the inside of the curve of the rear of the door and taped it in place. Here is a couple shots that kind of show where I'm going. Although the return lip of the interior door panel has not yet been cut to fit.
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I'm holding the interior door panel 1" forward of the FFR designed position. After I had the aluminum sheet cut to match the door panel, I traced out where the interior panel will sit, traced the outline, and cut the balance off. Then with some 3/4" x 1/8" steel flat stock I made some 1" 90* angle brackets. After first drilling a hole and scuffing up the mating surface I attached the angle brackets to the door with 5min epoxy.
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I will attach the sheet aluminum to the angle brackets with rivets and then layer over the aluminum with about 5-6 layers of Fiberglas mat. Then prime, sand, and paint the doors and mods.

[Boog]

Looks like the first three pictures didn't upload correctly, although it might just be me.

[Aloha818]

Looks like the first three pictures didn't upload correctly, although it might just be me.

Not sure what happened, up now.

[AZPete]

Nice work. Thanks! With over 50,000 views I guess others agree.

[RM1SepEx]

Actually, I just got the rubber from FFR, it wraps around the edge of the door skin and acts as a sort of cushion for the closed door. That photo was sent to me, Erik bought his own molding...

[Aloha818]

Nice work. Thanks! With over 50,000 views I guess others agree.

Thanks! Maybe or maybe just waiting for me to really screw something up!

[Aloha818]

Actually, I just got the rubber from FFR, it wraps around the edge of the door skin and acts as a sort of cushion for the closed door. That photo was sent to me, Erik bought his own molding...

I need to look through my last box and see if I was sent any. I will be using it at the bottom of the door.

[Aloha818]

My last major body mods are the doors and the windshield frame. I haven't completely fastened the painted body panels to the body, but have been working through some to make sure the doors will fit correctly when I'm done changing them. Thought I would share a couple pics to highlight how the hoops look now with some paint on the car.
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Next up on the doors was attaching the sheet metal base to my angle brackets with rivets
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Then 3 layers of fiberglass
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Here is a rough idea on how the parts will all come together. The return part of the door will be about 1/4" away from the body when closed and the door panels will be adjust just proud of the door so that the face of the interior door panel will just about touch the body
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I was able to get this done on both doors and started spreading filler.

I also needed to add some fiberglass to the top front of both doors to close the gap, more so on the passenger side. Here is a rough idea on how much I needed to add (tape outline). I put 2 layers on the back and then when hard I put 2 layers on the front
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Here you can see how the addition of fiberglass to both doors will look so much better
Passenger
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Driver
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Fiberglass work sucks! I was able to get all the glass required added and sanded down today, tomorrow I'll try and get the filler on and prime. Back to the booth next Saturday! Yea!

[Scargo]

I totally agree, and I don't understand why the WiKi section of this forum is basically empty. A centralized section for build tips and instructions would IMO streamline searches and can be a tremendous resource.

I am frustrated about how difficult it is to track good data that is scattered throughout build threads and specific topic threads and the fact that there's sometimes no effort made to put a post with an appropriate thread/topic. Kinda like what I/we are doing at the moment by putting our comments in Aloha818's thread.

The Wiki notes says "We welcome new Wiki submissions! Just submit a new thread or post to the car category of your choice and then either report the post - which will notify the mods - or send a PM to a mod with your request to promote it to a Wiki." We have no one to blame but ourselves.

[metalmaker12]

I am frustrated about how difficult it is to track good data that is scattered throughout build threads and specific topic threads and the fact that there's sometimes no effort made to put a post with an appropriate thread/topic. Kinda like what I/we are doing at the moment by putting our comments in Aloha818's thread.

The Wiki notes says "We welcome new Wiki submissions! Just submit a new thread or post to the car category of your choice and then either report the post - which will notify the mods - or send a PM to a mod with your request to promote it to a Wiki." We have no one to blame but ourselves.

I hear ya, I have covered like every topic twice in my threads but the questions are asked over and over. I am kinda tired of re posting, answering etc. between me, aloha and a few others we have covered the whole build and some more than twice, but hard to find.

[bompus]

I started building a Wiki ( outside of this forum ) and fully intended to put all good tips/pics/info I found on it, but haven't really done anything with it yet. If this is something that folks would want to contribute to, let me know.. Otherwise use the Wiki that is part of this forum

[RM1SepEx]

I am frustrated about how difficult it is to track good data that is scattered throughout build threads and specific topic threads and the fact that there's sometimes no effort made to put a post with an appropriate thread/topic. Kinda like what I/we are doing at the moment by putting our comments in Aloha818's thread.

The Wiki notes says "We welcome new Wiki submissions! Just submit a new thread or post to the car category of your choice and then either report the post - which will notify the mods - or send a PM to a mod with your request to promote it to a Wiki." We have no one to blame but ourselves.

You need to remember that we are building our cars and are documenting our builds. We all do it differently and it takes quite a bit of energy away from building the car. Grab a few beers and take the time to read the build threads, there are not that many that go very far. Everyone documents differently. I'm so happy that others took the time to share with us. I'm sorry but I'm not able to spend additional time to make it easier. Every time I hit a roadblock I go back through threads and see what others have done. (Thankfully there are only 5-6 to check!) After you share ideas with each other it becomes easier. It is very hard not to get sucked into every thread or discussion but many of these were discussed in detail months ago. This forum does have limitations.

If FFR was to dedicate some resources they could pick, choose, augment and piece together a very nice how to build an 818 resource. The 500+ page manual is barely adequate, without Chis, Craig, Wayne, Erik, Erik, Bob, Pete, Aloha818 (sorry no first name) I wouldn't have the build as far as it is. (I hope I got everyone!)

It's free, enjoy what you get... It's a bargain!

[Mechie3]

I agree documenting is nice, but time consuming. Taking pics of finished stuff is easy, remembering to do it as you go and then writing it up takes time. I'm still glad there's at least something.

[Erik W. Treves]

Well put Dan!

[RM1SepEx]

PS I did a really good job of it when it was my job... as a new equipment/process engineer in the Semiconducter industry... now, not so much! To do it right takes 3-4 times longer than the build itself...

[Aloha818]

I am frustrated about how difficult it is to track good data that is scattered throughout build threads and specific topic threads and the fact that there's sometimes no effort made to put a post with an appropriate thread/topic. Kinda like what I/we are doing at the moment by putting our comments in Aloha818's thread.

The Wiki notes says "We welcome new Wiki submissions! Just submit a new thread or post to the car category of your choice and then either report the post - which will notify the mods - or send a PM to a mod with your request to promote it to a Wiki." We have no one to blame but ourselves.

I hear ya, I have covered like every topic twice in my threads but the questions are asked over and over. I am kinda tired of re posting, answering etc. between me, aloha and a few others we have covered the whole build and some more than twice, but hard to find.

I started building a Wiki ( outside of this forum ) and fully intended to put all good tips/pics/info I found on it, but haven't really done anything with it yet. If this is something that folks would want to contribute to, let me know.. Otherwise use the Wiki that is part of this forum

You need to remember that we are building our cars and are documenting our builds. We all do it differently and it takes quite a bit of energy away from building the car. Grab a few beers and take the time to read the build threads, there are not that many that go very far. Everyone documents differently. I'm so happy that others took the time to share with us. I'm sorry but I'm not able to spend additional time to make it easier. Every time I hit a roadblock I go back through threads and see what others have done. (Thankfully there are only 5-6 to check!) After you share ideas with each other it becomes easier. It is very hard not to get sucked into every thread or discussion but many of these were discussed in detail months ago. This forum does have limitations.

If FFR was to dedicate some resources they could pick, choose, augment and piece together a very nice how to build an 818 resource. The 500+ page manual is barely adequate, without Chis, Craig, Wayne, Erik, Erik, Bob, Pete, Aloha818 (sorry no first name) I wouldn't have the build as far as it is. (I hope I got everyone!)

It's free, enjoy what you get... It's a bargain!

Well put Dan!

PS I did a really good job of it when it was my job... as a new equipment/process engineer in the Semiconducter industry... now, not so much! To do it right takes 3-4 times longer than the build itself...

Thanks all for your comments and feedback! It is sometimes frustrating when you need a quick answer to how to put something together, no answer in the manual, then you have to read through several threads to find what you are looking for, sometimes I remember whose thread has the info I need, sometimes not, then an hour later your still looking. But hey, if it was easy anyone could do it!

I try to post what changes I make and I have tried to be inclusive of the paint and body prep as I haven't found much by others. It seems that engine mods get a lot of comments, buying a bunch of parts and engine building is easy and well documented (well at least the buying) spend 2 months with filler, primer, fiberglass, and paint and you figure out what is difficult and not very well documented. Sorry, spent the day again with fiberglass, filler and primer!

[Aloha818]

Finally got through the fab and Fiberglas on the doors and spayed out with primer. Really happy with the look so far
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This is where FFR cut too much off the top front of the passenger door, glass from the back
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In primer
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Started on the windshield frame today. I want to get rid of the sharp rake back on the frame above the doors. So I'm building down the frame and level off 1/4" above the top of the door, after cleaning up the inside of the frame I started laying up some glass from the inside down. Since 3 angles are involved it took me three batches of glass to get a base for each section.
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I have already ripped out the plastic trim installed by FFR between the gap of the two pieces of glass that make up the frame. I will glass the crack over and make it all like one piece. Reason again goes back to my OEM build philosophy.

I should be able to spray out the doors this weekend. I guess I need to start planning out windshield wipers. I was waiting for the FFR answer, but too late for me as my hood was painted before it came out. I only have about 1 1/4" max gap in the center between the hood and windshield glass. Any comments?

[metalmaker12]

I did the same with the windshield surround. Like door mod

[Aloha818]

I did the same with the windshield surround. Like door mod

Post some pics! Did you remove the plastic trim piece and glass over too?

[Aloha818]

I finally have the doors modified, primed, and sanded ready for paint. It's taken all my free time the last couple weeks to get everything the way I wanted. The doors are pretty much the only large flat surfaces on the body, so I spent a good couple days blocking, filling, priming to get them "flat". It took me 6 hours today final wet sanding.

Since I'm building down the windshield frame and I added extra glass to the top front areas of the doors, I needed to fit the doors again, cut back a little of the glass I added, and make sure that everything was good before paint.

Way better fitment and coverage of gaps now. If you look in at the right angle through the gap you can still see the end of the top of the door. But you have to have this for the door to open all the way. I also set the distance of the door, at the front, out away from the body a little so that the line of the top of the fender aligns with the body line on the door. Anyway, here are some pics

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[Aloha818]

I'm happy to report that my effort on the doors has been completed successfully!

Took the doors over to the shop and in the booth this morning. Since I basically have paint on all 6 sides I had to rig up a support to hold the door so I could paint all sides at one time

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3 coats of paint and 2 coats of clear later

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Looking pretty "flat" especially for black (and me). I know pro's could do better in less time, but it is a little satisfying to see complete. I left the steel frame, lock and screws in the door and painted over the screws. Hopefully I won't ever have to take the hardware off! But looks pretty clean.

Now all I have left to paint is the rear deck spoiler (like Wallace's from a Tiburon) and the windshield surround. Hopefully I will have enough time this week to finish glassing over the joint on the windshield frame and get everything ready to paint next Saturday.

[metalmaker12]

Nice man, looking almost complete

[wallace18]

Very nice!

[WIS89]

Everything is looking terrific. Nice paint!

I noticed that Hula girl didn't have on a respirator, is she ok?

Looking good.

Regards,

Steve

[VD2021]

Looking pretty "flat" especially for black (and me). I know pro's could do better in less time, but it is a little satisfying to see complete.

You're doing an Outstanding job and building the way I always think of when I think of a FFR build.

[Hindsight]

I really can't wait to see how this turns out, and especially get a look at the FIRST real all black 818 (since I will be doing the same color). I don't have the body fab skills you do so I won't be modding much of anything on the body but I am really looking forward to seeing the fit and finish on yours just to know what's possible.

The info on all the prep work for the body and paint is VERY appreciated and will help me quite a bit since this will be my first DIY paint job.

[Aloha818]

Nice man, looking almost complete

Very nice!

Everything is looking terrific. Nice paint!

I noticed that Hula girl didn't have on a respirator, is she ok?

Looking good.

Regards,

Steve

You're doing an Outstanding job and building the way I always think of when I think of a FFR build.

I really can't wait to see how this turns out, and especially get a look at the FIRST real all black 818 (since I will be doing the same color). I don't have the body fab skills you do so I won't be modding much of anything on the body but I am really looking forward to seeing the fit and finish on yours just to know what's possible.

The info on all the prep work for the body and paint is VERY appreciated and will help me quite a bit since this will be my first DIY paint job.

Thanks all for the compliments and comments! I not sure how much each of you have done body and paint work (except for metalmaker), but until you do you can't really appreciate the anguish that happens just before you start to lay down color! And all the time leading up to that day, as your prepping for paint you are always wondering if you are getting it right. I know that people that do this for a living are probably laughing at my posts, but at least those like me that are not professional can understand where I'm coming from and at least learn enough to ask the pros questions.

Hula Girl just watches through the glass! She only comes in after the fumes are gone for the photo op. She says thanks for your concern.

Hindsight, thanks for posting and enjoy your build experience. I'm probably crazy to make all these little changes. Probably no one will appreciate them but me and maybe others that know the 818. Please double check everything I've posted with your local professional, every paint supplier and brands of paint have different specs and sand to requirements.

I'll pick up my doors in the morning and try to install later this week, getting closer again to dropping off the jack stands and getting to take another test drive!

[Aloha818]

I'm down to two parts left to paint. The windshield frame and my rear deck lid spoiler. While I had the frame in place and my doors swinging I glassed in the bottom of the frame to be level with the top of the doors and eliminate the racked back angle. Spent a couple hours today to epoxy in the joint between the two halves of the fiberglass that make up the surround. I had previously removed the plastic trim that FFR had installed to "clean up" this connection.

After I removed the frame from the car I used my angle grinder and roughed up the return portion for the epoxy to grab on to. Also, found several voids in the glass in this area, so for those painting and or leaving as is, be careful, barely gelcoat covering a couple big holes.

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Then I used epoxy to secure and fill the gap

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This epoxy needs to cure overnight, so tomorrow I will start to spread some filler. The spoiler shouldn't take much prep, but it is like 12 years old so will take some work. Once I get the frame and the spoiler ready for paint I'll finish setting the body and doors and get this thing out into the sunlight. Can't wait to see it whole and clean again. Then in the booth again Saturday, hopefully for the last time.

The rest of the build will be a little quicker, I hope. My last major "challenge" is the windshield wiper and designing a "bikini" top. Here in Hawaii I'm more concerned with an occasional "rain" and sun more than anything else. The FFR solution is kind of overkill for me and I don't want to have any fasteners on the body.

I'm thinking of something between the bikini top on my Jeep and what Porsche has. Maybe the u-channel across the windshield frame like on my Jeep, a support bar that bolts to the back across my two hoops, and receiver for rear straps inside the body through the engine cover intake slots on each side, similar to Porsche. Everything to be designed to remove and fit in the trunk without a lot of fasteners/connections left when the top if off to make you wonder what is missing.

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Any comments would be appreciated! Thanks.