Viperpete

August update!
 
Haven't done much because its miserable to work in the shop in the summer. Had a coolish day last weekend and did some work on the car!!
 
Got the fenders/cowl/hood/headlight buckets fitted. I'm pretty happy with how they are fitting. Nice straight lines. Except the door gaps. I have decided that I am going to let the body man do the gaps. I honestly don't want to deal with it. If I get the gaps perfect, and then the body man decides that something needs to be adjusted or whatever, then those gaps will have to be redone anyway. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Not thrilled with how the hoodscoop fits. I might try making one out of metal...
 

 

 
 
And the video update!!!
 
https://youtu.be/WKP0ds7rQns
 
 

Other than the find craftsmanship on the scoop, she's looking real nice.

Nice work!   Yeah, that head scoop is not right, the front edge corners should not be rounded up they should be flat. I would send it back to where you got it from and look for another one.
 

August update!
 
Haven't done much because its miserable to work in the shop in the summer. Had a coolish day last weekend and did some work on the car!!
 
Got the fenders/cowl/hood/headlight buckets fitted. I'm pretty happy with how they are fitting. Nice straight lines. Except the door gaps. I have decided that I am going to let the body man do the gaps. I honestly don't want to deal with it. If I get the gaps perfect, and then the body man decides that something needs to be adjusted or whatever, then those gaps will have to be redone anyway. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Not thrilled with how the hoodscoop fits. I might try making one out of metal...
 

 

 
 
And the video update!!!
 
https://youtu.be/WKP0ds7rQns
 
 

Time for an Update!!!
 
ok so a lot has gone on with the car since the last update. Roof is on, Minitubs are in, back seat brackets are in, doors are lined up, drip rails are welded in.... probably other stuff. Watch the vid!
 
 
https://youtu.be/tvYvJukCYxo
 
 
My obsessiveness with symmetry is really paying off. 
 
Here are some pics of the progress:
 
 

 
 
I am ecstatic with how well the rear of the car came together. 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Doors are finally properly aligned. This was a lot of work figuring out why the dr side would not mate with the quarter. Explanation in the video. (had to cut out some metal to make it fit property)
 
 

 

 

 
 

Ya like literal Armor. Taught myself over the last few years how to shape metal by hand. It's fun
https://youtu.be/Ja11dXVVHc0?si=aC7S0Zr8Gtb4Mra2
https://youtube.com/shorts/1HnwM44r9A8?si=cHxkuljo9LTVMYlr








 
Everything I make is fully wearable, comfortable, and functional. 
 
 

Been working on the car a bunch.
Here's 2 videos that sum up what I've been up to.
https://youtu.be/c7xi6lAeIog?si=7piREKf66bLOQOgO
 and
https://youtu.be/2JQDAicumKE?si=vPEpMBB9NPo-oz-W
Began dynamatting inside of rear quarters and rear structure to quiet down the car
 


Prepped for welding!




 
Not thrilled with how this panel goes together. Will have to rework it later

Ready to come off table

 
Thankfully my lift had one more lift left in it before the seals blew lol


 
Mounting the rotisserie

Mounted!





 
Still SO MUCH welding to go. But i'm having a great time. 

I use peel n seal from Lowes. Same stuff as dynamat- it's just a little thinner and like 20% of the price of dynamat or fatmat. You could always double or triple the layers if you really wanted to. Rubbery/tar like adhesive and aluminum skin. Can't rust, wont come off easily, its a water tight seal, and really works. 
Watch these vid for info for what I did:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7xi6lAeIog&t=114s
Will do inside of door skins when the time comes. Roof is also done. 
 
 

Thanks! I'm 40 but if clean shaven still get carded haha.
I borrowed the assembly table from a friend. It was great and awful all at once. The thing is just too damn high. I spent hours and hours balancing on that thing and its a miracle I never fell off. 
The TV is great its a 70". Ive got it wired to a laptop and to a 14 speaker stereo system in the shop. Its LOUD but also amazing to have Topgear/Grand Tour or any research i need to do. I've watched many many peterson restoration videos on it while im working on whatever the video is showing and it really helps to be able to see everything in detail from 15-20 feet away for sure. 

I use peel n seal from Lowes. Same stuff as dynamat- it's just a little thinner and like 20% of the price of dynamat or fatmat. You could always double or triple the layers if you really wanted to. Rubbery/tar like adhesive and aluminum skin. Can't rust, wont come off easily, its a water tight seal, and really works. 
Watch these vid for info for what I did:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7xi6lAeIog&t=114s
Will do inside of door skins when the time comes. Roof is also done. 
 
 

I use peel n seal from Lowes. Same stuff as dynamat- it's just a little thinner and like 20% of the price of dynamat or fatmat. You could always double or triple the layers if you really wanted to. Rubbery/tar like adhesive and aluminum skin. Can't rust, wont come off easily, its a water tight seal, and really works. 
Watch these vid for info for what I did:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7xi6lAeIog&t=114s
Will do inside of door skins when the time comes. Roof is also done. 
 
 

Been working on the car a bunch.
Here's 2 videos that sum up what I've been up to.
https://youtu.be/c7xi6lAeIog?si=7piREKf66bLOQOgO
 and
https://youtu.be/2JQDAicumKE?si=vPEpMBB9NPo-oz-W
Began dynamatting inside of rear quarters and rear structure to quiet down the car
 


Prepped for welding!




 
Not thrilled with how this panel goes together. Will have to rework it later

Ready to come off table

 
Thankfully my lift had one more lift left in it before the seals blew lol


 
Mounting the rotisserie

Mounted!





 
Still SO MUCH welding to go. But i'm having a great time. 

Been working on the car a bunch.
Here's 2 videos that sum up what I've been up to.
https://youtu.be/c7xi6lAeIog?si=7piREKf66bLOQOgO
 and
https://youtu.be/2JQDAicumKE?si=vPEpMBB9NPo-oz-W
Began dynamatting inside of rear quarters and rear structure to quiet down the car
 


Prepped for welding!




 
Not thrilled with how this panel goes together. Will have to rework it later

Ready to come off table

 
Thankfully my lift had one more lift left in it before the seals blew lol


 
Mounting the rotisserie

Mounted!





 
Still SO MUCH welding to go. But i'm having a great time. 

Im sure everyone here wouldn't mind $5-10 bucks a year to help out with the costs. 

Update!
 
Installed the power windows and the seals and got the windows adjusted pretty darn good. I went through 6 pairs of door runs to find some that made the window arc correctly. The aftermarket stuff just didn't work well. I ended up using a combination of original and aftermarket door runs. The windows move FAST. Unexpectedly fast. Still cool Got the doors aligned with the seals in too. 
 

 

 
Test fitted fenders and hood for the final time before welding. I ended up buying another pair of new fenders. It didn't make much sense to me to have original fenders that need work to look new, when everything else on the car was new. The new fenders did require some removal of material on the inside support and I had to shave some of the side cowl to get them to fit nicely. Overall i'm happy with them now. 
 

 
I've been doing a lot of welding. Hundreds of spot welds. Hundreds.... I unfortunately put too many holes in the outer rockers. I also don't really like how small the holes are. I would occasionally hear a POP when id move to another area to weld which means I didn't have great penetration on some of them. So, once I get the car on the rotisserie I will seam weld the rockers together for additional strength. I still have a lot of grinding to do. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Made sense to paint the inner side cowls while it's easy.
 

 

 

 
I also noticed that the outer cowls have these 2 overlapping seams from manufacturing. I welded them up. 
 

 
Passenger side torqued box was a pain. I had to slice the bottom of the inner torque box where it meets up with the frame rail because it was way too low. Could been a combination of a couple things. Poorly stamped firewall, or the torque box. Either way, I made it work. Welded it up and then painted.
 

 

 
Floor jack was very helpful to position the outer torque box and get it right against the firewall 
 

 

 
 
Driver's side went in great. Minimal cutting or shaving required. 
 

 

 
I also noticed that the front of the rocker had moved away from the frame rail and the outer torque box didn't butt up to the rocker. It was out by about 1/2". I used some tow straps (need 3 of them) to pull it back in, and then tacked in the torque box. 
 

 
Been working on the lower and upper cowl. Got the lower positioned. Drilled the holes, welded it in then seam sealed and painted. Paint, seam seal, paint, seam seal, paint. Lots of layers of protection around the hat and also where the lower cowl was welded to the side cowls incase there were any pinholes from the welds. 
 

 

 

 
I also seam sealed and painted the gaps/crevices inside the side cowls. There was no way I could weld them from the inside. At least now though water cannot pool in the crevices and is as protected as I could make it. 
 

 

 
Prepping upper cowl. Drilled holes, deburred the holes, and also gave the inside a couple more coats of paint.
 

 

 
Lower cowl prepped for welding
 

Update!
 
Installed the power windows and the seals and got the windows adjusted pretty darn good. I went through 6 pairs of door runs to find some that made the window arc correctly. The aftermarket stuff just didn't work well. I ended up using a combination of original and aftermarket door runs. The windows move FAST. Unexpectedly fast. Still cool Got the doors aligned with the seals in too. 
 

 

 
Test fitted fenders and hood for the final time before welding. I ended up buying another pair of new fenders. It didn't make much sense to me to have original fenders that need work to look new, when everything else on the car was new. The new fenders did require some removal of material on the inside support and I had to shave some of the side cowl to get them to fit nicely. Overall i'm happy with them now. 
 

 
I've been doing a lot of welding. Hundreds of spot welds. Hundreds.... I unfortunately put too many holes in the outer rockers. I also don't really like how small the holes are. I would occasionally hear a POP when id move to another area to weld which means I didn't have great penetration on some of them. So, once I get the car on the rotisserie I will seam weld the rockers together for additional strength. I still have a lot of grinding to do. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Made sense to paint the inner side cowls while it's easy.
 

 

 

 
I also noticed that the outer cowls have these 2 overlapping seams from manufacturing. I welded them up. 
 

 
Passenger side torqued box was a pain. I had to slice the bottom of the inner torque box where it meets up with the frame rail because it was way too low. Could been a combination of a couple things. Poorly stamped firewall, or the torque box. Either way, I made it work. Welded it up and then painted.
 

 

 
Floor jack was very helpful to position the outer torque box and get it right against the firewall 
 

 

 
 
Driver's side went in great. Minimal cutting or shaving required. 
 

 

 
I also noticed that the front of the rocker had moved away from the frame rail and the outer torque box didn't butt up to the rocker. It was out by about 1/2". I used some tow straps (need 3 of them) to pull it back in, and then tacked in the torque box. 
 

 
Been working on the lower and upper cowl. Got the lower positioned. Drilled the holes, welded it in then seam sealed and painted. Paint, seam seal, paint, seam seal, paint. Lots of layers of protection around the hat and also where the lower cowl was welded to the side cowls incase there were any pinholes from the welds. 
 

 

 

 
I also seam sealed and painted the gaps/crevices inside the side cowls. There was no way I could weld them from the inside. At least now though water cannot pool in the crevices and is as protected as I could make it. 
 

 

 
Prepping upper cowl. Drilled holes, deburred the holes, and also gave the inside a couple more coats of paint.
 

 

 
Lower cowl prepped for welding
 

So this is what I have been doing while I was waiting for my doors from NPD. I taught myself armoring. Back story.... I built myself a complete suit of armor (a couple years ago) for fun. Then this year I wanted to give my bosses something special for christmas so I made a helmet and stand and a pair of gauntlets. Both came out great. I shape the metal by hand with no heat. Helmet took 43 hours and the gauntlets took 19 hours. The helmet is modeled after a 13th century French Sallet style helmet. It's very comfortable. The interior is wrapped in foam and leather. The Bevor portion of the helmet is fixed to the stand but both pieces are movable. 
 
Hoping to get back to the car early next month.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow it's been a while. I've finally finished my winter/spring projects and am back on the car. The roof panel needing those cuts and the drivers side quarter panel where it meets the rocker having that gap has been bugging me since I originally fitted the parts. On a hunch I went to NPD and bought another new roof panel. Plopped right on with an excellent fit! 


I have been told that I need to get my doors fitting very very well before welding and even go as far as putting all the window guts in and being able to lower and raise the window into the seal to make sure it has a good fit. So, the passenger side went really easily since the quarter panel fitted against the rocker tightly. I also realized through lots of cursing and wasted time that the door striker can be adjusted DOH! Wow that made a really huge difference in how quickly I could get the doors lined up. Once I figured it out, getting them aligned was a piece of cake. Now I am aware that once I assemble the door guts they will be heavier and I will have to re-adjust, but I am going to take this win because the gaps are great and the lines are straight. 
I also took the opportunity while the quarter panel was off to pull both quarter's together another 1/16th-1/8" inch to get them as close to the factory glass opening width as possible. Pretty much nailed it. 








I am hoping that the door interior assembly goes smoothly and that the door glass goes into the door seal tightly. Once that is done I'll fit the fenders and hood one last time to make sure everything is straight before I take it all apart again to start welding! 

Wow it's been a while. I've finally finished my winter/spring projects and am back on the car. The roof panel needing those cuts and the drivers side quarter panel where it meets the rocker having that gap has been bugging me since I originally fitted the parts. On a hunch I went to NPD and bought another new roof panel. Plopped right on with an excellent fit! 


I have been told that I need to get my doors fitting very very well before welding and even go as far as putting all the window guts in and being able to lower and raise the window into the seal to make sure it has a good fit. So, the passenger side went really easily since the quarter panel fitted against the rocker tightly. I also realized through lots of cursing and wasted time that the door striker can be adjusted DOH! Wow that made a really huge difference in how quickly I could get the doors lined up. Once I figured it out, getting them aligned was a piece of cake. Now I am aware that once I assemble the door guts they will be heavier and I will have to re-adjust, but I am going to take this win because the gaps are great and the lines are straight. 
I also took the opportunity while the quarter panel was off to pull both quarter's together another 1/16th-1/8" inch to get them as close to the factory glass opening width as possible. Pretty much nailed it. 








I am hoping that the door interior assembly goes smoothly and that the door glass goes into the door seal tightly. Once that is done I'll fit the fenders and hood one last time to make sure everything is straight before I take it all apart again to start welding! 

So this is what I have been doing while I was waiting for my doors from NPD. I taught myself armoring. Back story.... I built myself a complete suit of armor (a couple years ago) for fun. Then this year I wanted to give my bosses something special for christmas so I made a helmet and stand and a pair of gauntlets. Both came out great. I shape the metal by hand with no heat. Helmet took 43 hours and the gauntlets took 19 hours. The helmet is modeled after a 13th century French Sallet style helmet. It's very comfortable. The interior is wrapped in foam and leather. The Bevor portion of the helmet is fixed to the stand but both pieces are movable. 
 
Hoping to get back to the car early next month.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So this is what I have been doing while I was waiting for my doors from NPD. I taught myself armoring. Back story.... I built myself a complete suit of armor (a couple years ago) for fun. Then this year I wanted to give my bosses something special for christmas so I made a helmet and stand and a pair of gauntlets. Both came out great. I shape the metal by hand with no heat. Helmet took 43 hours and the gauntlets took 19 hours. The helmet is modeled after a 13th century French Sallet style helmet. It's very comfortable. The interior is wrapped in foam and leather. The Bevor portion of the helmet is fixed to the stand but both pieces are movable. 
 
Hoping to get back to the car early next month.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So this is what I have been doing while I was waiting for my doors from NPD. I taught myself armoring. Back story.... I built myself a complete suit of armor (a couple years ago) for fun. Then this year I wanted to give my bosses something special for christmas so I made a helmet and stand and a pair of gauntlets. Both came out great. I shape the metal by hand with no heat. Helmet took 43 hours and the gauntlets took 19 hours. The helmet is modeled after a 13th century French Sallet style helmet. It's very comfortable. The interior is wrapped in foam and leather. The Bevor portion of the helmet is fixed to the stand but both pieces are movable. 
 
Hoping to get back to the car early next month.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So this is what I have been doing while I was waiting for my doors from NPD. I taught myself armoring. Back story.... I built myself a complete suit of armor (a couple years ago) for fun. Then this year I wanted to give my bosses something special for christmas so I made a helmet and stand and a pair of gauntlets. Both came out great. I shape the metal by hand with no heat. Helmet took 43 hours and the gauntlets took 19 hours. The helmet is modeled after a 13th century French Sallet style helmet. It's very comfortable. The interior is wrapped in foam and leather. The Bevor portion of the helmet is fixed to the stand but both pieces are movable. 
 
Hoping to get back to the car early next month.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was waiting for a new pair of doors for a few months. I got them, but while I was waiting i have been doing some armoring. Looking to get back to the build early Feb. 

Thought yall might like to see this. 
[video]https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/784804116[/video]

[video=vimeo;784804116]https://vimeo.com/784804116[/video]
This is a clip from season 32 episode #4 (came out earlier this year).
I hope the video stays up. Youutube and Fbook keep taking it down. The clip is not available anywhere else. They apparently only ran it a few times on the air but then removed it. 
Was an amazing experience. FYI my Viper was running high 10 sec passes. They deliberately slowed it down for the show.... Can't have a 9 year old American car beating a shiny new electric truck! LOL. What was most bizarre about the entire thing was that they would not prep the Viper's lane but extensively prepped the Rivians. Not prepping the Viper's lane required at least 30+ runs because the driver just could not get the car to hook and he was just not used to driving a Viper (it was 45 degrees out in January at the time of filming). 
The closeup of the spinning tire was actually me doing the burnout! And you can see me in several of the shots, notably inside the truck. 
Still an amazing experience. Every one of the 60+ Topgear staff were great people and I would do this again in a heart beat. The car was driven by F1 driver Eduardo Marques. They would not confirm or deny that he is the Stig, but that he does travel with them for the show and does most of the stunt, timed driving...etc. I was fortunate enough to have Freddy and Eduardo sign the car too.  
Get my car on Top Gear- checked that off the bucket list!