I recently acquired an old Tornado kit that had been partially built. I am told the first owner died, and the second owner kept it in a garage for a decade. This thread will catalog my build. I have yet to put up a thread in the introductions section. I've been looking (and dreaming) about getting my hands on a kit for years. I am only 23 years old, and the prices of this stuff was enough to scare me away. I *ALMOST* ended up with a Fiberfab Avenger project 3 years ago. Glad I held out!
The body pieces are undrilled/unmolested, the chassis is mostly unmolested, and the suspension is loosely assembled to make it a roller. I have spent the past few days doing a mental inventory on what I need to start with, and doing a LOT of research on the forum here.
My immediate problems-
The previous owner did a lot of the aluminum paneling on the chassis. This is a problem, because he rough-cut the panels and they look/fit like crap. Also, the car has been exposed to moisture in its garage environment, and the powdercoating is flaking off the frame in several spots. The worst spot is the staining against the rear bulkhead from the rust of the mild steel floorplates. The A-Arms are actually pitted to heck, and I will have to disassemble the entire suspension and strip and recoat it. I am not thrilled with the front upper A-arm "Ball Joints" which appear to be tie rod ends. Has this changed with newer cars? Regarding the chassis, though- My thoughts are to build the car, get all the mechanical systems/brackets/mounts in place and drilled, then disassemble it all, cut the frame caps off, drill the rivets to remove the aluminum paneling and extract them out the holes, reweld the rivet holes, and have the entire chassis blasted and re-coated.
I don't know if any of the sealants used are at all conducive to powdercoat temperatures, but my other option might be to trim up the panels on the car the best I can, and get everything coated as a whole. Am I being too obsessive over this? I know most of the paneling in the car will be covered... What have others done to remedy this?
I'll update this as I go! I imagine half my build days will involve heavy drinking and scratching my head. Can't wait.
Some pictures of the car-
The body pieces are undrilled/unmolested, the chassis is mostly unmolested, and the suspension is loosely assembled to make it a roller. I have spent the past few days doing a mental inventory on what I need to start with, and doing a LOT of research on the forum here.
My immediate problems-
The previous owner did a lot of the aluminum paneling on the chassis. This is a problem, because he rough-cut the panels and they look/fit like crap. Also, the car has been exposed to moisture in its garage environment, and the powdercoating is flaking off the frame in several spots. The worst spot is the staining against the rear bulkhead from the rust of the mild steel floorplates. The A-Arms are actually pitted to heck, and I will have to disassemble the entire suspension and strip and recoat it. I am not thrilled with the front upper A-arm "Ball Joints" which appear to be tie rod ends. Has this changed with newer cars? Regarding the chassis, though- My thoughts are to build the car, get all the mechanical systems/brackets/mounts in place and drilled, then disassemble it all, cut the frame caps off, drill the rivets to remove the aluminum paneling and extract them out the holes, reweld the rivet holes, and have the entire chassis blasted and re-coated.
I don't know if any of the sealants used are at all conducive to powdercoat temperatures, but my other option might be to trim up the panels on the car the best I can, and get everything coated as a whole. Am I being too obsessive over this? I know most of the paneling in the car will be covered... What have others done to remedy this?
I'll update this as I go! I imagine half my build days will involve heavy drinking and scratching my head. Can't wait.
Some pictures of the car-