Fusion Racecars

Thanks to the team

2006-12-10T19:58:00.000-08:00

Before I publish the next pics from the PRI show Titus and I wanted to take a moment to thank the team. Without their hard work and dedication to the project we would not have made it.

Dean Scodellaro; Fabricator and mechanical engineer
Stu Burnside: Fabricator
Ryan ; Fabriator
Paul Hiyam; Fabricator
Rod Clayton; Fiberglass and paint
Jon @ Clean Composite Solutions
Cory @ Cimtex industries
Bill and Floyd @ Stollco Industries
Andrew @ Pacific Bending

Final few Hours

2006-12-04T03:48:00.000-08:00

Here it is, at 2:30 in the morning we were finally able to roll the car out in the snow to load it for the trip down

Rod gets a pat on the back from Titus as he drops off the last of the bady at 1am. He has put abot 30 hours in the last three days to get the body ready

Titus, Rod, Dennis and Dean behind the camera rolling out at 2:30am

Damn snow, high centered in the driveway

Sitting in Sumas WA waiting for the semi to pick it up

Last Day

2006-12-03T22:27:00.000-08:00

it's going to be another long one, by the time we are done today the car has to be loaded.

Dashes installed

Front splitter and windshield going in

ZX-14 Engine and Quaife drive train installed

Starting to look like a race car

T minus 2 and counting

2006-12-02T02:04:00.000-08:00

I feel like Chip Foose on a deadline for a big show...hey wait a minute, we are on a big deadline

these pictures occurred in the early hours of Dec 2nd...the car has to be loaded ready to ship by the morning of Dec 4th

Stu installing the fuel cell

A couple of 1 am posers. Ryan (L) and Dean try it on for size

Barely on the ground and attracting the chicks already

Paul fitting interior trim

T minus 3 and counting

2006-12-01T02:00:00.000-08:00

It was a long day but we wanted to get the chassis on the ground before calling it a night

1:30am and we are admiring the view

4 days to go

2006-11-30T18:26:00.000-08:00

With just 5 days before the car has to ship the chassis coming back with a beautiful paint job from our body man extrodiare, Rod.

Footbox area

fresh paint, do we have to touch it?

Ryan bonding the floor with Loctite

Rear suspension going in.

pre-paint build up

2006-11-18T17:54:00.000-08:00

We are getting close to PRI, we only have 2 weeks before the car has to ship and there is a lot left to do.

Rear suspension

Integrated Shifter & reverse selector

Rad mount installed

test fitting

2006-10-30T10:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, we are not the most patient bunch. Now that we have the seats we had to try fiting 2 adults in here. Dean is in the passenger seat and your truly driving the bus.

Yes, contrary to popular opinion I do more than just sit around. Somebody has to take the pics.

Inner & outer floor pans

2006-10-28T10:57:00.000-07:00

Paul fitting the undertray mounting tabs. We will be mounting the floors using a combination of a new Locitite bonding compound and recessed safety bolts.

In the CSR version, both the floors and undertrays are 12 guage for better protection and low ballast.

Firewalls and Fuel Cell

2006-10-26T10:47:00.000-07:00

Fuel cell and upper firewall coming together

Cockpit with seats, upper and lower firewall's and fuel cell. Also fitted is the inner floor. There are 2 layers floor protection for the driver.

First Body Parts

2006-10-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

Rod gets to work on the molds. After a few mods and final prep was done, he set to laying up the side pods

Fitting completed side pods

Body Plugs arrive

2006-10-13T21:42:00.000-07:00

The molds arriving from Janicki.

Finished Plugs

2006-10-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

After the milling process the pieces go over to finishing where they are sanded out and prepared for shipping.

Four of the six pieces ready to go.

Left and right doors.
Engine cover

Nose.

Body plug post #2

2006-10-06T10:38:00.000-07:00

Here is the mill starting to cut the side pog plug. All the plugs have been done in reverse so we can pull our first parts directly from the machined surface.

This is the mill from above. All the projects are laid out on the floor and then it moves to them. Hard to see but it is cutting the side pods and the light colored piece is the roof section.

Body plug preparation

2006-10-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

The reverse body plugs are being created by Janicki Industries. Their 5 axis mill reads our CAD files to create exactly what we want. They create items for everything from Marine to Aerospace.

After the base is built, Eurethane foam is sprayed in and a first pass is done by the mill to get the rough shape.

The excess is cleaned away then the base is fiberglassed.

After the glass, this pink substance is applied for the final milling.

Dashes installed

2006-10-06T09:07:00.000-07:00

Titus installing lower dash mount Chassis 001.

Chassis 001after brace installed. No they will not be white, that is the protective plastic film.

Chassis 002 with upper dash and OMP stering wheel

Upper and lower dash panels in chassis 002

We have a bank of 8 accessory switches with individual LED indicators and circuit breakers.

Engine and transfer unit layout

2006-09-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

From the front you can see the slight offset of the Kawasaki ZX-14. This may change now that we have the motor and Quaife units to weigh. Also, we already started laying out the steering rack and collapsible column.

Lots of extra straps and bars getting in the way but the engine and Quaife are under there.

Drive side view (yes that is oil, shipper damaged the oil pan, new one on it's way)

Fuel cell on the cockpit side of the main roll-hoop

Second Chassis moves to the clean side

2006-09-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

I think the picture says it all. We are now ready to start the final build.

Second chassis final assembly

2006-09-27T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hello all, I know I am way behind on my commitment to publish updates. Somehow the time flies by when you are having fun!

Stu is checking final fitting before joining of the sub-assemblies is completed

Titus installing the side crush zone.

2nd cockpit and final assembly

2006-09-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

Ron welding up the cockpit assembly for #2

Ron (c) taking the time to admire his handy work. Ryan (r) happy to take the brake as well and Titus hard at work as usual.

Starting to fit the pieces together. Front being mated with the cockpit.

Front and rear in position. A bunch of triangulation tubes left to fit and then we are ready to weld the final assembly.

2nd Main roll hoop and engine bay

2006-09-09T12:54:00.000-07:00

The engine bay jig

Main Roll hoop ready for welding

Ron hard at work welding up the main hoop.

2nd Chassis coming together

2006-09-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

You have seen the front assembly jig in action, now heres a look at a sub-assembly jig earning it's keep.

The completed front assembly for our second chassis.

First Chassis completed

2006-09-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

First Chassis is completed. There is still some smaller dimension triangulation bracing to go in but that will wait until suspension and steering are mounted.

(L-R) Titus, Dean and Dennis start to fit the steering components.

Dennis (L), Titus, Dean and Ryan all playing with the new toy.

Come on guys, there's still another one to build before we get to far here!!

Cockpit Assembly-2

2006-08-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

Front and cokpit joined, now it's time to add the engine area

Side crush zones installed

Cockpit Assembly-1

2006-08-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

Jeremy welding lower door brace.

In this assembly, the front and rear roll hoops have been previously welded in their own jig. They are then inserted into the cockpit assembly jig where all the floor and door bars are inserted. The interior jigs are then inserted to position all the elevated components.

Rear section assembly

2006-08-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

Same philosphy applied here. everything is laser cut and jiged to ensure a repeatable result. You will also notice the machined post's that locate the position of the forward tubes so they mate correctly with the cockpit section.

Assembly of the first chassis starts

2006-08-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

Top- Stu is fitting the foot box section into the jig. The bottom jig consists of 3/8 inch plate base and hold down clamps that have all been laser cut for a .002 inch accuracy.

Btm- Once fitted together, the interior jigs (also laser cut) are inserted to position all tubing in exacted the right location.

More Parts Arrive

2006-08-13T08:37:00.000-07:00

All these parts are custom designed to our specifications:

ATL 8 gal cell with integral fuel pump and level sender
Woodward colapsable sterring column, sterring wheel quick connect and custom steering rack

The Build Starts

2006-08-07T15:10:00.000-07:00

It has been a long road (a year plus) to get to this point but laser cut Chromoly tube has now arrived for chassis 001 & 002. After 2 hours of sorting here it is grouped into it's sub-sections for each chassis.