New Body for the Formula Vee

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Using the Fein tool to trim the upper rear flashing

Fitting the nose cone

Trimming and fitting the engine cowl to the new body

The body weighs 7 lbs. about 20 lbs. lighter than the old body that I made last year

Fitting the body to the car

Using an angle to trim the sides perfectly straight

Still have to trim all of the edges and openings

Another nice February day in Seattle, probably 60 degrees outside

Fresh out of the mold with mold release film flaking off

Removing the body from the mold

Trimming the nose cone around the beam. The beam is now one inch farther forward than before

Trimming the sides before I remove the body from the mold

The lower part of the nose cone

Nose cone ready for trimming, fitting and assembly to the lower part

I remove the nose cone from the mold

The nose bottom laid up

Laying up the CF over two layers of fiberglass. I use fiberglass as a top layer because it is much easier to sand than CF and sanding kevlar is a fool's errand - just try it someday!

Nose mold with mold release wax laid in

Second layer of CF is in now, that's all for the body. Took almost a full gallon of epoxy resin and 8 yards of CF.

First layer of CF over the kevlar/fiberglass layers

The the special silver basecoat Kathy specified to really make the cany aple red pop in the sun

Looks good, can't wait to get it in the sun!

With a qurat of urethane, half a quart of base silver, four quarts of laser red and a quart and a half of clear, I have about $550 in paint alone on this body.

Then a full quart (four coats) of clear over the red midcoat

With two quarts of red basecoat mixed with 2 quarts of reducer/catalyst - that's four full quarts of midcoat alone to get the deep candy apple red.

I had to get another quart of laser red to get the color fully developed

First coats of red midcoat looks pink

5 oz. kevlar, first layer going on

First urethane primer and fill all the pinholes

Sister katwoman specified Sherwin Williams Candy Apple Laser Red

Looks better than it used to

Fitted to the FV

I lay another coat of resin on the new body so I can sand it smooth

I use epoxy and more carbon fiber to attach the joint plate to the body. The plate will hold the springs for the Dzus fasteners that I will install in the nose

Gluing the bottom of the nose to the top part with eposy thickened with filleting silica

Fitting the bottom of the nose to the upper part

Checking the symmetry

Wax with Meguiar's Mold Release Wax

I must make the male plug perfectly smooth to allow the female mold to release properly

Clear coat over the primer

Sanding the primer smooth

Ready for urethane primer

Masking the Dzus fasteners for primer

Very shiny and smooth with the nice coke bottle shape at the nose to provide a nice laminar flow with no airflow separation

Sanding with the longboard to get the coke bottle shape that I want

Need more bondo and sanding now

Even more bondo and sanding

More bondo and sanding

More bondo and sanding

Lots of sanding and shaping

The first of five gallons of bondo goes on the foam.

Using the sureform file to shape the foam.

Laying on foam and spray foam to get the new outline close to where I want it.

I cut the nose mold in half and lay up flanges. This will make releasing the new mold easier

I laid in two layers of 6 oz. fiberglass using West System 105 epoxy resin and 205 fast hardener. The the first of two layers of 5 oz. kevlar per the rules

Many yards of fiberglass, kevlar and carbon fiber cut in preparation for layup

Fitting the CF into the nose mold

This is the mold for the lower part of the nose

I made patterns of the body mold and laid them on the 8 yards of carbon fiber for cutting

The nose mold with flanges

I spray the new mold with mold release

Aligning, trimming and filling the new mold

I cover the FV chassis in plastic wrap for protection against the onslaught of filler and resin in the coming days.

Nose mold with buck pieces removed

The nose mold with foan, etc. still inside

The female mold released from the old body/male buck

You can see how much the nose is raised from the old body

Cutting the nose away with the Fein tool

I mean - a lot of glass!

Lots of resin and glass

6 layers of fiberglass mat in polyester resin to make the female mold

Mold release is brushed on to the male buck

One thought on “New Body for the Formula Vee”

Philiep Van Nuffel on June 17, 2019

Helllo Jim,

big fan of your buildings, especialy formule vee.
Is it possible to buy your building plan, more specific the chasis dimentions.
greets,
Philiep

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