Back Bay Customs

First Visit

The plan would be for me to haul the car up and leave the trailer there. I would prefer for it to be inside, but that’s not critical. It’s very compact for an enclosed trailer:

  • Length: 23’-2”

  • Width: 8’-6”

  • Height: 7’-6”

Keep in mind that the nose, tail and center body take up a lot of space when removed. Basically a full car, so the trailer provides a good place to store those large parts. I would plan to stay in a hotel overnight so we could discuss/mock stuff in detail the following day. I assume we can use WhatsApp or other to work through other questions.

Fabrication

The following items are ready to be fabricated and are in priority order. We don’t need to finish everything in this first trip.

  • Fabricate left and right sides of nose compartment from 1/8” aluminum

    • Need to take into account nose hinge and the design of the front radiator duct

    • Removeable closeout pieces that seal around the front sway bar when installed, but allow the sway bar to be removed when not in place.

    • Floor in the nose might be replaced in the future

  • Fabricate CV joint heatshields; the mounting flanges have been laser cut so two shields need to be cut, rolled/formed and welded to the flanges.

  • Upper firewall;

    • Existing firewall needs to be patched or replaced to fit induction tube

    • Weld a couple of standoffs from top of rear hoop to stiffen the top of the firewall

    • Hand form induction tube pocket and weld to the firewall

    • Determine the best way to mount coolant expansion tank so that it’s serviceable

    • The firewall will be covered with reflective heat shielding so there is no need to be decorative and if the bad induction tube cutout it patched, it won’t be visible.

  • Heat shield under induction tube; requires hand forming. It will be mounted to the chassis

  • Radiator inlet duct; all air that flows into the inlet in the nose must be forced into the condenser/radiator cores.

  • Upper door hinge

Discuss

These items should be discussed and in some cases mocked with chip board. Depending on the discussion, some may be ready to implement in phase 1.

  • Left/right header heat shields

  • Closeout panels in the engine compartment

    • Left/Right upper front of tires

    • Left/Right upper rear of tires

    • Left/Right closeout panel between tire and chassis; slotted cutouts for axles

    • Left/Right sides to hide the fiberglass bodyi

  • Induction

    • Cold air box; remains when body is removed

    • Cold air duct; connects body to the cold air box. It must be removed before removing body

  • Engine oil cooler duct; two parts; one of which must be removed to remove the body

  • Transaxle oil cooler inlet duct; fed by duct in fiberglass tail (not built yet)

  • Best way to mount the battery box;