New Prototype Kit Car...

[BladeX1]

Hello Everyone…

I am in the process of building a new Prototype kit car and just wanted to get some feed back on what everyone thinks. I plan to make a US and UK version. I am in the process of building the body buck now and plan to have molds made sometime in the beginning of 08.

Well any thoughts, feedback or ideas are welcomed.

Also if anyone know of a good supplier of Round LED Taillights that would be helpful. I have been looking at a few but there just is not that great of a selection out there. Really looking for something unique but simple in design.

I started a thread in the General section but can’t seem to get it moved to the Kit Car forum. So I am starting a new thread here, hope that’s ok. Here is the link to the other post if you want to catch up.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

www.BaileySpeed.com

Here are a few images.





Thanks,

- Neal

Edited by BladeX1 on Saturday 3rd November 00:54

[BladeX1]

Hey thanks,

Yeah I have visited those sites except for one… where I found some lights of interest. See image.

Anyone know where I can get these in the US? I would also like to see a pic of them lit up.



Thank for the info…

[BladeX1]

Paul Drawmer said:

Looks exciting - where does the door glass go when the window is open?

Hey Paul,

The Side Windows will roll down into the door just as any other car does. I am use internal Windows parts from a Mazda Miata. They are very common here in the States as parts are easy to get and cheap.

I will post some more pics this weekend that show the working doors and additional progress.

- Neal

[BladeX1]

pfedwards said:

Have you taken a look at these guys............
http://www.maxparts.biz/

they seem to have a large range.

Hey thanks, that site has a very comprehensive list of lights. I have seen most of those and will probably go with the Hella versions. I am just researching all my options… I have a few that will work I just want something that is easy to get but a little more unique than what’s available now.

I spent a lot of time today translating several Chinese and Japanese’s websites looking for something that I might be able to buy in bulk and import to the US. But everything is just too Pokymon and ridiculously cartonish. Oh well…

- Neal

[BladeX1]

Hey guys…

Ok finally got my doors fully functioning now with hinges and door latches. Also I temporary mounted the Windshield and A-pillars. I also went out and picked up all the weather stripping for the hard top and doors to insure that I had a proper seal and made sure everything was aligned the right way.

Now I can finally finish sculpting the body. I need to re-sculpt the sides onto the new doors but this should go pretty quick as I now have an actual surface to shape the foam on.

Over the past two weeks I have been re-adjusting some of the wood forms as a few got out of alignment when let the car down off the original stand that I made. I ended up using a few lasers that I got from home depot to align everything back up, this worked surprisingly well. The lasers especially came in handy for aligning the windshield to the center of the car.

I am starting to work on interior ideas now too… so if you guys have any ideas that you would like to see let me know. I want to try to merge a Classic and Modern look at the same time with more of the focus going towards classic.







Article from KCB magazine… It’s a simple mention of the project. But seems to be good exposure as I have had a ton of people contact me about it.

[BladeX1]

Hmm yeah that might be a little more luxury classic than what I was thinking. I think basically I want to keep it simple and sporty in an old style way. I am not sure what the Roll/Merc interior looks like but I can imagine that there is lot of old birch or birds-eye-maple wood in there. I want to stick to round classics gauges but with modern LED back lighting.

This image is kind of the general shaping that I would like to model after... although it’s quite modern. The way this Porsche interior is, is very much like my current setup. I even have the same clutch/peddle assembly.

[BladeX1]

Hey guys…

Yes the windshield, hardtop and doors are all from a Miata MX5… However I am only using them for the glass and window mechanisms. The doors will be a complete different shape but will use the MX5 side glass. By doing this I have can use standard glass and parts without having to have them specialty made for me. Also I can use the same weather-stripping and seals. The hardtop will be cut and extended and the top will be modified to look like my design. Once everything is done you will not be able to really tell it has MX5 parts on it at all.

A lot of production cars use parts from other makes and models to cut down on manufacturing cost. This is where I got the idea to use some parts from a common car like the MX5 for ease of getting parts and replacing parts. As for the parts that’s all I am using everything is custom or aftermarket.

- Neal

[BladeX1]

Chris71 said:

Wasn't this car a Pistonheads headline a while back?

Seem to remember I wasn't sure what to make of the front end when I first saw it, but I've definitely changed my mind. That's an awesome looking car you've got there. Strikes the balance between retro muscle car and modern originality just right

Look forward to seeing it in the flesh.

Interesting… I did not know it was on the headline. If you can find it let me know I would like to see what was said about it.

- Neal

[BladeX1]

Hello everyone…

Just another update… things are moving along nicely. I reworked the foam on the working doors now. Everything is still rough but you can really see the shape coming together. Reworking the foam with the actual doors in place was much harder than it was to build them out of wood/foam. For some reason I thought it would have been easier. Now that I have full functioning doors and windows I feel better about being able to keep all the dimensions and measurements true and accurate.

Anyway let me know what you think…

Also I have posted a gallery at my site with more photos…

http://www.baileyspeed.com/gallery2/main.php







- Neal

[BladeX1]

Hey guys…

It’s been a while since any updates… so here is a quickie.

I don’t have much to post in the way of pictures as I have had to rework some of the foam panels and wooden forms on the front hood area. I had a little accident with a failed jack and the front end came crashing down. This did not cause any damage as it only fell a few inches… but it did shift two wooden forms of which I had to realign with my crazy makeshift laser system. I stayed up till 3:30am last night fixing the alignment of the panels… I re-foamed a few sections and everything is measuring just perfect now. Once I clean up all the mess I will take a few pictures… it looks like one of those fake snow scenes in my garage except the snow is pink!!

Also I am still waiting on some supplies of resin and lots of body filler for prepping the main surface. I have a few issues with that as well. Its difficult finding the right materials that will not react and melt the polyester foam. So far I am left with covering the foam with an epoxy resin and fiberglass mat for support. I was hoping to use a standard polyester resin or vinyl ester as it’s a LOT cheaper to get. My first idea was to paint the car with a latex house paint to protect the foam from reacting with the resin, well this did not work. So back to using the super expensive epoxy resin.

Anyway I will make it work one way or the other. I just don’t want to end up with a bunch of gooey napalm like goo on the floor.


Today I woke up to find my car in two magazines… crazy huh? It’s not even a real car yet. LOL. I posted the articles on my site… one is an 8 page full spread!... can’t believe it really.

Oh yeah can anyone translate Romanian and German. LOL. The article look cool… but I can’t read either of them.

Romanian Super Car Magazine:
http://www.baileyspeed.com/articles/COX_SuperCar_B...

German Rich People magazine:
http://www.baileyspeed.com/articles/MARKT_Magazin....

Also there is another one coming out in an Austria Luxury Magazine. I will post that one when they send the PDF.

- Neal

[BladeX1]

Ok Guys… major update here.

Over the past week I have made a decision to make slight changes to the front end of the Blade to address some concerns and possible issues.

First possible issue is with the headlights… this has been something that I knew was an area of concern because my original design placed them rather low to the ground. I did a lot of research and found that placing them at the height of 22” from the ground to center of the light was the minimum height allowed, and for Europe it’s as low as 19.6” inches. However I have learned some new details about this and it seems that 22” inches is ok for some States but not all. The actual national minimum for specialty cars is 24” inches so this means that I need to move my light at least two inches higher. This unfortunately means that I will have to redesign the front end because I had already moved them as high as possible at 22”.

So back to the drawing board…

After thinking about how to fix this little problem… ugh! (Did I say little?) I decided to take this opportunity to address some other design issues as well. As a lot you know the plan has always been to keep this car affordable and honestly the current headlights were anything but affordable. I decided to find a standard head light assembly and incorporate this into the new design. The great thing about the new light is that it contains everything needed for the front end lighting… it includes the projector main light, high beam, turn signal and reflector all in one unit. And everything is DOT, SAE and ECE legal. Can’t ask for anything more really… This simplifies the whole lighting issue and makes installation super easy.

Along with the lights one of the other things I also wanted to address is the over all styling of the front end… while it is aggressive and unique I felt that was lacking a little from the side profile. This was also and area that many people commented about as well. This car has received a lot of attention on the internet and I do not want to change the design up too much, so I tried to keep the unique features while incorporating the new lights and addressing some of the styling concerns.

List of changes:

Headlights are moved up to locate the center of light 25” from ground.
New headlight design using standard headlights from a 2008 Mazda 3.
Nose of hood has been narrowed for better aerodynamics.
Air Ducts sized smaller and over all height is reduced.
Added vertical vent diffusers for looks and to direct air flow.

Here are some of the first concepts of the redesign… the only area I changed was the front end.

Please comment and give feed back… so far some of the people I have shown this to seem to like it better than the first design.











- Neal

[BladeX1]

Hey Thanks Sidney Sideways,

Yeah the hood is really not as flat as it seems… It tends to look sharp and flat in the 3D renders… but on the full scale model you can see the curvature in the hood.

You might be able to see it better in the below… I refined the 3D model a lot over the past few days.

Hey Thanks for the Perei LED tip… I did not see many choices on their website but I signed up and sent them an email although not sure if they will be interested in helping little guy. I really like their Lotus LED tail light and originally had planed on using that until I found out how much they cost. But those are the perfect tail light assembly I need.











- Neal

[BladeX1]

Hey No problem… I like it… actually I had tried this in one of my previous remodels. A few reasons I did not go with is that the center bar was one of the things that was unique to the design… and second the nose area really needs the extra support that the center bar provides, otherwise it may sag over time. I figured that it’s better to leave it there as anyone could easily modify it to their own liking.

The hood will have to stay the same... there is a reason for the Hump. The Hump is to add extra clearance for big motors with tall intakes. As a Hot Rodder this is something I know from experience. During a lot o my builds I always ran into issues with hood clearance when adding motor mods. I made sure on this design that it would not be an issue. I made it square-ish and turned it into a Cowl Induction hood much like the old Camaro aftermarket hoods. This also provides a function as well by circulating the hot heat inside the engine compartment. This is important be cause it’s sealed with a full belly pan underneath and needs air to circulate around the headers and catalytic converters.

Thanks,
- Neal

[BladeX1]

OwenK,

The Blade is not really based on a MX5… I only used the front windshield and side windows as my glass pieces. I wanted to makes sure these were easy to get and that I would not have to have them custom made. The doors are from a MX5 as well but the final product will be composite doors with MX5 components. The chassis is custom designed and the wheelbase is at 95” about 6” longer than the MX5.

- Neal

[BladeX1]

Hey guys…

I just setup a Guest Book thingy on my site in order to make it easier to get feed back on my car. Its empty now and I was hoping you could help me get it started with a few comments. My project is about to be published on a few big sites starting today and I want to have at least a few posts in the Guest Book to encourage others that visit the site to comment.

Thanks a ton…


http://www.baileyblade.com/blade-gbook.cfm

- Neal

[BladeX1]

OwenK said:

Ah, I follow. A wise choice I think, with MX5s being so readily available, and the passenger cell is quite sporty looking after you shed the Mazda nose and tail.
I think your side window shape is a little off on your 3D model. What blueprints are you using? If any? What program is it modeled in? Instinct tells me to say Max but I suppose it could also be Maya?

Be interested to chat with you further about cars, 3D and such, email if you like or I also have MSN Messenger if you have that.

Best of luck with the Blade, will be following your progress!

Owen

Hey Qwen,

The conceptual images are designed using 3D Max and the chassis and other components are developed using solid works. Not sure about the side windows, it may be just the perspective. No blue prints were used at all, actually the doors were scanned using a 3D laser scanner and sonic scanner. The dimensions are pretty accurate.

Thanks,

simonjrwinter said:

man thats fugly!

Uh…well ok.

Thanks,

- Neal

[BladeX1]

Well it’s been awhile a lot has happened and we have moved into a new facility. It’s not really new… just new to us. Finally got moved in earlier this month and everything is still a mess so look for things to be much cleaner or possibly worse in the future. LOL

We took the previous body off the car and will begin a new version in the new few days. The new body will be a lot more refined in details and contours. Anyway enjoy the pics… you get to see the “Blade” necked.















- Neal

Edited by BladeX1 on Friday 30th May 20:29

Edited by BladeX1 on Friday 30th May 20:31

[BladeX1]

…and here is another quick update for the past few days.

This month has been a busy one… I finally finished all the tweaks to the new 3d model, had someone run some CFD testing (Aerodynamics) and made a few changes to the backend to help with airflow. Also designed the backend around some common taillights so that I want have to use some custom non DOT/SAE lights. The lights are still expensive but better in the long run.

I have included some current renders of the new design…. One thing you will notice is that the back end is different the rear diffuser is higher and manages the air flow a lot better, I removed the rear side vents and shorten the rear end by 4” The main reason for shortening the rear is because I added 4” to the wheelbase making it a total of 99 inches. This allows for a complete plug-in IRS setup that we are going to use and will help with the handling as well.





Other than that the front end has not changed much only refined more.

Also since the model is finished I have been spending a lot of time cutting out the new forms for the new body buck. I am calling this Blade 2.0 now… the new forms are a 100 times more accurate and I am using almost 4 times as much wood as I did the first time. I went with a thinner ¼ MDF as it’s easy to cut and shape with tools.

Here are a few images of the forms in place before the faming process.

















- Neal

Edited by BladeX1 on Friday 30th May 20:30

[BladeX1]

M400 NBL said:

I think it looks great. It looks to good to be a kit car, will it only be available as a kit? or will you do somethhing similar to Ultima?

Yeah at the beginning it started out to be a kit car but due to all the attention on the web and in magazine we have decided to turn it into more a turnkey specialty car. It’s becoming more advanced than a typical kit car and would be too much for someone to assemble at home. At the moment we are setting up dealerships and partnerships for production. We may also sell it as a turnkey minus where you buy the car and install your own engine… but this may change.

At the moment we are looking at a few engine options including the ROUSH 400IR 500HP and the new 5.4L Ford Racing with ROUSH supercharger 745+HP.

I am not sure what Ultima does (love their cars though)…

- Neal

[BladeX1]

fuoriserie said:

Neal

You're doing a great job on the prototype buck, and I'm looking forward to your final build.

I was looking at the earlier pictures, with all those Gt40's and other kits, is that a kitcar manufacturer facility?
Italo

Edited by fuoriserie on Friday 30th May 20:41

Yes it is… it’s a company called Lone Star Classics. We are leasing space and equipment from them. There is really no partnership except that they may be one of the first dealers of the car when it’s done. The project started out in my garage and I just needed more space and better equipment. They have it all there and I worked out a deal for the space.

- Neal