Safety First

Progress continues on the Bumblestook GT build. This weekend we took off all the rear interior to put in the harddog double diagonal roll bar. Bumblestook previously had the same rollbar back when she was a track car so all the holes and backing plates were still in there making some of the work a bit easier.

Gutting Rear - 1/27/2018

Ethanol seems to do a number on the stock fuel level sender and the fuel gauge was no longer accurate (never showing full even if you fill up the car) so I got a new sender. This is an easy job with the interior out of the way since the fuel tank is directly accessible.

New fuel level sender installed - 1/27/2018

Unlike her previous track focused setup, even though the rollbar is now in, we're not leaving the rear gutted. The CR Tonneau cover is going back on but trimmed to clear the bar. The glove box is also getting trimmed to go back in but only to hide the OEM seat belt spools and keep the trunk release and 12V outlet in their stock locations.

Rollbar and replacement bulkhead installed - 1/28/2018

CR Tonneau cover temporarily off - 1/28/2018

About 6 years ago I cut holes in the trunk to put the external canisters for the Moton shocks in the trunk (at the time Moton doubles that are now on Lupa). This is probably one of the main things I regret having done to the car and with the Motons uninstalled it was time to permanently seal this. SJF cleaned and then welded the hole shut and put seam sealant and a nice layer of undercoating. There's no way water is going to penetrate this and introduce rust in the body.

Holes cleaned up and prepped for welding - 1/23/2018

Holes welded shut, seam sealed and undercoated - 1/25/2018

While all this was happening, I enlisted Jenna, Steve's daughter, into this project to take all the decals off the car. I mean, who wouldn't want to spend a few hours using a heat gun to pull off every single decal from the car. It's so much fun!

Decals off for the first time in many years - 1/28/2018

With all the control arms now fitted with spherical bearings, one other issue I wanted to address was the subframe movement that we would always observe during alignments. To take care of this, Spoon Sports rigid collars and new subframe bolts were installed on both front and rear subframes. This should tighten things up and prevent any shifting from occurring.

Spoon Sports Rigid Subframe Collars

Spoon Sports Rigid Subframe Collars

Last week, I picked up a used trunk and test mounted the Mugen SS wing. The car is looking a bit clown-like with all these different colored panels but it's a necessary evil. She'll look good again after her new paint job.

Mugen SS wing mounted 1/20/2018

In preparation for the brake installation, I had to replace the 17x9 +63 949 Racing 6ULR wheels she was rolling on with a staggered set of Enkei RPF1s. The 17x8 +45 wheels are needed up front to clear the Spoon calipers but I left 17x9 +45 in the rear which are more optimal for the 255/40/17 square setup. This is obviously just my "winter" wheel/tire setup. The Volk CE28SLs now have Lupa's old Bridgestone RE71Rs mounted but they aren't going on until the Spring.

17x8 and 17x9 +45 Enkei RPF1s with
255/40/17 Conti DWS all around - 1/28/2018

255/40/17 Bridgestone RE-71R mounted on 17x9.5 Volk CE28SL 

The major hold up right now is the fuel system. New fuel lines should be arriving soon and I'm still missing A/C compressor mounts and some other parts for the A/C system but I expect to sort that out shortly. In the meantime SJF is going to put on the FPSport spec Ohlins DFVs I picked up from Sakebomb Garage and replace the brakes with all new stuff. There's still a lot to do but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.