Plasticfantastic's project corner, Back on the F40.....

Id be more concerned about Ferrari sending a bunch of sharp dressed lawyers round with violin cases if that ends up looking like the real thing . The gull wing Merc rep and db5 ended up getting crushed along with the moults

I think 55k is too cheap. ;D

There is a market for a 200k turn-key replica, but it has to be more authentic recreation. Meaning using Ferrari parts/design for the suspension and chassis.
Maybe it possible for that target market to sell it with the Lotus gearbox and engine, but I recon they can be persuaded to splash out for proper Ferrari V8 and turbo conversion.
But whether you can/ want to do that in a year time and with no less than 50k investments is make or break on this.

And the risk of waking up with horse head (from Maranello) in your bed is quite big with such an enterprise.

288 GTO on a 1981 308;

The amount of work and the attention to detail in the way that you have made the body is really impressive. I admire the design ethos building it on top of the V8 Esprit, and if it weren't for the way that classic car prices have been exploding recently, it might have been a reasonable business model. I fear that the other comments are correct about the need for a bespoke chassis and more replica-ish engine than the Esprit though. Your competition at this level of the replica market are guys like these: www.tornadosportscars.com/MainPage.html
For £40k plus VAT you get a full tubular chassis and a brand new small block V8 (in keeping with the original but with much more potential). I have also heard that Ferrari are especially litigous when it comes to good quality replicas, so you would need to be careful - I don't know how one can make a replica without getting sued...
Good luck though, your work deserves to be made into a legit car, and if it is ever completed it will be epic!
Cheers
Duncan

Hi all,

I though id update you all as more progress has been made on the project for those of you intereted I apologise if the writing below is a bit cut and paste but i think it makes sense along with the pictures.

The last few months have seen quite a change in the f40 now, as you can see in the pictures the tub is now bonded together and the majority of the cab rear bulkhead has been finished. I have layed up the reare wheel tub since these pictures so next step is to finish the left hand rear arch and a little work on the L/H cab window and vent. Then the plan is to lift the shell off its current table and ive bought a chassis table so that will come into the workshop and my Esprit chassis will be bolted to that them my body can be fitted to the chassis.

Once the fitment is sorted i have already bought a roll of carbon/kevlar hybrid weave to skin the inside of the shell. once all this is bonded in i have also bought a tube bender so i can design and build a prototype roll cage that will also bolt to the chassis. This will be tacked together inside the shell so i can cut it out of the body later when the molds are done then a jig can be made. Eventually the roll cage will bebuilt and bonded into the shell during construction.

Final stage is to then buy the custom wheels and tires to final check all clearences and to paint the shell. Then i can finally start to make the molds!

Another small update on some of the jobs done over the last couple of weeks. Ive been working more pn the RH rear arch, i bought a part worn 345/35/19 to continue checking the arch shape, all seems good so far, i need to do a little more work on the arch curve before being able to put the radius' onto the lip.

Ive also started to finalise the front end location and fitment. Its now locked down square to the body and ive cut apart the LH front arch to finalise the shape, size and location i want. I havent completely decided on what wheel and tire size to use on the front yet, whether to balance out the wheel size and have matching 19 like the rear, but id have to run quite a low profile to keep the circumference down, something like a 225/30/19. Or to more match the tire profile with something like a 235/40/18. I'm not a huge fan of super low profile and the 345/35/19 has quite a big sidewall so id like to balance that out on the front.

Ive also now buzzed most of the body down to 400 grit. i still have repairs to do, and parts need blocking down but I'm pushing towards getting the shell ready for primer. I'm currently widening the flanges around the door openings to make laying up around the sharp corner easier later on.

Comments and criticisms appreciated

Cheers

Bookmarked I cant believe i have missed this build thread before.

Hi all,

A little more progress has been made. I have thickened up the return flange around the RH door, this was because in places it was a little too narrow and would be difficult to mold later and also i need a wide flange around the edge of the mold for the vacuum bag to stick too.

I have also done most of the work needed to catch the LH rear arch up to the same stage as the RH rear arch, only a little more todo now before i decide on rim width's and offsets, but the body needs to go onto the chassis before i can do that.

In an effort to do something other than sanding filler, today i have been mocking up ideas for how i plan to do the roll cage and the bulkhead areas behind the seats that enclose the fuel tanks. The tube in the pictures is a little thick at 55mm as i plan for the main hoop to be 50mm and the rest of the cage will be 40mm keeping it inline with the MSA designt regs.

Comments and criticisms appreciated

Cheers

Hi all,


Just another small update but theres hours going into these wheel tubs, they're pretty slow going! but they are getting there. Now i have got all the space there possibly is tu use for the fear suspension movement. The inside wheel tub is now touching the inside of the NACA duct on the backend. At full bump on a 19" rim the chassis is 75mm from the floor, and just a comparison pic of the original 17" tire on the other side which leaves less than 25mm between chassis and ground at full bump.

No there is enough room in the arch I'm working on how it joins to the backend when the backend is closed. I want the inside of the arch to be as seamless as possible so it doesnt collect road muck and I'm building in a step that helps stop any water making its way past into the rear bumper and it also halps locate the rear end and bumper tegether when closed.

Cheers

Awesome.