Thursday, July 31, 2008

31 Jul 08





Hunt had pulled the bag and peel ply off the side panel this morning when I came out, and everything looked good. It is a relief to know that the chances of having to weave more material are that much smaller. I worked on the trimlines this morning while the guys cleaned up the loom room and the area around the body shell. Ben started in on his trailer, and DP went to work on making an extra front wing out of woven maple. Zac sandblasted the trailer wheels, and Zach and Kendal pulled tacky tape off the body shell. Caroline sanded all morning on the butterfly panels. When Luke showed up, Kendal and Zach went inside to weave seats. I glued together the templates that DP made of the nose yesterday and traced them on a piece of tempered board. We will use this to glue up a front splitter out of backer board. After the front wing glue-up, DP and I started laying out the A and C pillar skins. We had them taped out, trimmed and ready to glue on before lunch, but we went ahead and ate to let the stain dry more completely on the weave. After lunch, DP and Zac glued the 2 C-pillar skins on while I ground on the taillight bezels. Luke started prepping the cherry backer for the front splitter and made a jig to use to glue them up with. We had a visit from Jenna, who just came back from Japan and Hawaii. Everyone headed out at around 7:00pm, and I kept working on the taillights. It hit me that I really needed a 1/2" belt sanded, so Caroline and I headed out to get one. I worked on the taillights until it got dark while Hunt worked on the side. We took the butterfly panels inside to grind off the edges, and I went in to eat at about 9:00pm. After dinner, Caroline and I came back out to stain and coat the butterfly panels in epoxy. We finished up at about 11:20pm and headed in to go to bed.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

30 Jul 08





I got back to work on the side of the car redo this morning. The skin for this side was ready to go, so I needed to finish prepping the surface. I ground on it for about an hour and switched to getting the roof ready. Hunt and I went to get some plywood for Ben's trailer, and DP worked on skinning a side intake panel with 1/4" woven walnut. Luke worked on the seats, and Zach pulled tacky tape off the body shell. Zac helped DP lay his part up, and the 2 of them vacuumed the roof on with me right before lunch. We pulled a full 27" of mercury on the roof and were really pleased with the lay up. After lunch, Zach and Luke wove seats, and I sanded the side of the car one last time and painted it with epoxy to seal it. While I worked on this, DP and Zac skinned another side intake panel. Caroline came out to help DP and me finalize the trim on the weave and run tacky tape around it. Zac finished cutting the screen, peel ply, and 1mil for the part and came out to help us finish it up, too. We layed up the part on the car, pulling 27" again and breathing a sigh of relief that we are probably finished with the major skins. I still have to cover the A-pillars and C-pillars, but that won't be a big deal at all. When we finished, Zac, DP, and Zach planed a bunch of cherry for the trailer, and Luke and I collected a bunch of aspen to take to Curvemakers, where they will bend some arches for us. I dug a bunch of electrical tape from the front fender edge and worked on seams in the roof and tail for a couple of hours, heading in to eat at about 8:30pm. Hunt worked on one of the butterfly panels while I was eating, and he and I looked at some cars and turned the lights out after I was done with dinner.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

29 Jul 08




Caroline and I started getting the chin piece ready to glue on the car this morning, and we had it in place by around 10:30am. When we finished this, I went to work on the top of the car while Zach, Zac and Kendal finished up the 1/8" weave. Ben worked on the trailer, and Luke worked on the seats. DP helped me get the top of the car painted with epoxy to seal it up for vacuuming. Zach, Kendal, DP and I trimmed the new piece of veneer to fit the side of the car and stained it before lunchtime. After lunch, DP and I unwrapped and trimmed the new chin piece, and Caroline, Luke, Zach and Kendal wove seats. DP and I trimmed the rear woven section to shape, and I taped off the back end of the body while DP and Caroline set it up to glue. Caroline, Zac, DP and I spent the next hour gluing the weave to the tail of the body shell. This turned out to be a very difficult glue up, but we think we got it right. We finished at about 7:00pm, at which point everyone but Ben headed out. I took over for Hunt in sanding the old layer of weave off the side of the car for about 2 hours and got it mostly finished. Ben continued to weld on the trailer until he left at about 9:00pm. I called it a night at this time, too, as it was too dark to see the body shell anymore. We have a good chance at gluing on the roof and the side tomorrow, which will mean that we have essentially finished covering the body. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

28 Jul 08


I pulled the bags off the body shell this morning to find everything looking good. The rear quarter panels look perfect, and the logo turned out pretty well. Hunt and I had to go to the Home Depot to get some steel for Ben and the trailer, and we got back right as everyone was showing up. I went to work on sanding the body and cutting the trimlines, and the Kendal, Zach, Zac, and DP cleaned up around the car and the loom room. Zach and DP sanded the butterfly panels while Kendal pulled tacky tape off the body shell. Ben worked on the trailer, and Luke was off getting some 1/8" fill cut by our buddies at Tramway Veneer. Zac sanded the side of the car that we are going to reskin, then went to help DP cut the veneer for the butterfly panels while Zach continued to sand them. DP picked out the splices and stained the weave and let them dry when Luke showed up with the fill. Kendal, Zac and Zach started weaving while helped Luke get the logos glued onto the seatbacks. I glued a couple of strips of backer board into the roof scoop to thicken up the leading edge and painted epoxy around the taillight bezels to get them sealed up and ready for a vacuum. After lunch, I went to getting the tail of the car ready for veneer, and Caroline and DP went to work on gluing the veneer on the butterfly panels. They ended up getting both pieces glued to the panels successfully today, which is a relief. Luke started caning one of the seats after lunch. I got the entire back end of the car sanded, stained and coated in epoxy this afternoon and let it cure. We will be ready to skin it very shortly. Zach and DP left, but Zac stayed and helped me glue up a piece for the side scoops until about 8:00pm. Ben was still welding, and Luke was still weaving when we had everything picked up at about 8:45pm. We went in to eat, and the guys left shortly thereafter. I came back out to try to the piece of veneer glued to the chin of the car, but didn't want to risk messing it up due to darkness and exhaustion. I got the surface sanded and the piece rough cut, ready for in the morning. I went inside at about 12:30 am and wrote stinking emails for almost an hour. Time for bed, believe me.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

27 Jul 08





Caroline and I glued the sides on the inner layer of the roof scoop this morning. She set the bag and pieces up while I trimmed the cut lines on the side veneer on the body shell. I trimmed the piece of veneer for the roof, lining up the center V with the centerline of the roof. We found the weave to be discolored on the 2nd side panel that we put on last night, which was really gutting. This means that we will have to sand the existing veneer down, weave 112 more inches, and start the process over again. It will cost us about a day of 5 people's work. On the bright side, we feel pretty sure that the condition is caused by the stain not being totally, 100% dry on the part at the time of the glue-up, so maybe we can avoid it on the last few pieces that we have to glue to the body. Zac and Ben wove until they ran out of fill at about lunchtime, and I got the roof scoop sanded, refit, and glued to the roof of the shell. After lunch, I worked on the rear quarter panels. I had to sand and prepare the surfaces, tape the cutlines, and trim the veneer piece. It took me about a half hour to figure out how to get both pieces out of the last piece of weave that we had available, but it worked out well. Caroline came out to help me glue them both on at about 6:30pm, and we finished at around 9:00pm and went inside to eat. Both glue-ups went beautifully. After dinner and the finale of Caroline's show, the Next Food Network Star, we went back outside to glue a Splinter logo on the front of the car. Literally minutes before we started the glue-up, a thunder and lightning downpour commenced. Since the shell is out under the lean-to, the mist from the rain was blowing inside all over the place. We waited for about 20min, but after no let up in the rain, I turned out the lights. As if the switch had control over more than just the lights, the rain stopped as quickly as it had started, so we turned the lights back on and got down to business. Caroline used a pencil eraser to spread the glue on the back of the logo, which was held together with a piece of masking tape. We then taped it down to the shell in the appropriate place and vacuumed it right to the surface. Everything looked good, and we called it a night at about 12:30am.

26 Jul 08



I sanded out the edges of the decklid pieces from yesterday, and we started getting ready to fill in the small corners at the back topside of the shell. Caroline and DP helped me glue one down, and DP went inside to resin infuse the last interior body panel while I prepped the other side. We went to the airport for lunch, and I stole a couple ears of corn and some chicken from Charlie on the way home. That was a real lifesaver. After Caroline and I got the 2nd corner glued down, DP had finished his resin infusion. I felt the strength from Charlie's homegrown lunch, and we had a flurry of progress for the rest of the afternoon. We glued both sides on the car, finishing at about 9:15pm. The sides are the biggest, toughest pieces to glue on, so getting both done in 1 afternoon is pretty darn good. Jean cooked chicken and corn on the grille, and we ate after a long day of work.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

25 Jul 08



Caroline and I started the morning off by working on gluing down the 2nd front quarter panel, and Ben took over for her when he showed. Everything went well, and we had it glued down pretty quickly. Ben worked on the trailer for the rest of the morning, and Luke took the tires down to get them removed from the wheels. 3 have leaks, so we are going to fix them and remount the tires. Zac and Zach had more fun weaving the 1/4" cherry to repair our discolored butterfly panels. Caroline and I started on gluing a piece of weave to one half of the rear decklid. We decided to butt the 2 pieces together on the middle for this piece to be more efficient with the veneer. All but about 1.5" of the center of the panel gets cut out and replaced for the exhaust pipe exits, to the seam only had to be tight in 1 small area. We got both pieces glued down by the end of the day while Hunt spread epoxy on the front of the car to fill in the weave texture. Zac and Zach finished up their weaving and cleaned up around the body shell before taking off. Luke went to see our buddy Glenwood, who laser cut us a bunch of logos in various different woods, grain directions, and sizes. Hunt, Caroline and I picked out where a couple of the logos might go tonight and went in to eat. After dinner, I came back out and put body filler all over the inside surface of the roof scoop panel to smooth it out. Caroline came out and helped me glue a new center section on it, using a black trash can liner as the bag. We finished at about 12:15pm.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

24 Jul 08




Caroline and I went right to work on vacuuming a front fender on the body shell this morning. Zach showed up at about 8:00am to help us, and we had the part on the shell by 9:15am. We used electrical tape to mask off the trimline, and we put duct tape underneath the tacky tape on the finished weave of the adjacent panel for protection. We duplicated the process and had the opposite side on by lunchtime. Ben worked on the trailer, Luke worked on the seats, and Zach and Zac wove 1/4" veneer. After lunch, we had a visit from JB of Mas Epoxies and our buddy, Rick Fuller. I pulled the vacuum on the first front fender and cut the trimline along the buried electrical tape with a razor knife. DP and Luke glued up the beginning of another interior body panel, after which Luke went to work on the seats with Zach while DP helped Caroline cut pieces for the front quarter panels. I worked on sanding the shell and preparing the quarter panels, and DP and I had the piece vacuumed down by about 8:15pm. I helped Ben clean up his gear and went in to eat at about 9:00pm. After dinner, I came back out to get some stuff ready for tomorrow. I did a lot of work to the taillight bezels, fit the roof scoop, prepped and stained the weave for the 2nd quarter panel, and straightened out the back corners of the shell. Tomorrow, we want to get the 2nd quarter panel, along with the roof and some of the tail.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

23 Jul 08




I started work on fitting the roof scoop this morning. I got it pretty well fitted, but held off to make a firm decision on how to blend it into the roof on the front edge. Zach and Zac made a dump run and started weaving 1/8" veneer with a directional change for use on the roof. Ben worked on the trailer, and Luke printed out the hole patterns for the seats. Hunt worked on fitting a new vacuum pump to an old compressor tank that we had. I spent the morning cutting, fitting and staining a piece of veneer for the nose of the car. It worked out well, because I was able to use the scrap from the hood lay-up from last night. Ben helped me glue it and bag it, and we were finished by about 1:30pm. After lunch, Caroline and DP sanded the body to prepare it for skinning, and Ben went back to work on the trailer. Zach and Zac finished up their 1/8" roof weave and slit some material for the 1/4" loom. They wove 1/4" material for the rest of the afternoon. DP and Caroline went to work laying up balsa on the inside of the interior body panel while Hunt and I went out to look at sealing up the rims. Ben helped me organize the weave that we have to work with then went to help DP glue infuse the balsa onto his part. Hunt, Caroline and I worked on sorting the weave for the front fenders. I made paper patterns of the panels to optimize the usage of the material. We worked on this until about 9:00pm and went inside to eat. After dinner, Caroline and I came back out and prepared the necessary materials to glue the front fender skins on first thing in the morning. I feathered the underlapping layers with a DA sander until about 11:15pm as the rain came down outside the lean-to. We need to get a lot of skins glued on tomorrow, but we have a good headstart on them now.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

22 Jul 08



4 weeks. 4 weeks from today, we will have the car on a trailer heading to Atlanta for the IWF show. Fortunately, we only have about 4 months worth of work to do between now and then. Caroline and I did a trial over our stained weave this morning. We tried 2 different epoxy resins and a polyester resin for clarity and color before decided on 1 of the epoxies. Zach and Zac went to the dump while Ben weedate at Hunt's place. Hunt and I went to the junkyard to get some steel for Ben to use on the trailer, and Luke showed up and started fitting the hole template sheets on the seat frames. Caroline and I cut and stained a piece of weave to cover one of the interior body panel molds while Ben, Zac and Zach wove. After lunch, Caroline and I vacuum bagged the interior body panel. There were a couple minor wrinkles in the part, but I think it will work out ok. She and I went to sanding the hood area of the car to get it ready for the final skin weave application. While we waited on the weave, Luke and I took a tire up to JT's tire place to ask some advice on how to seal them. Ben, Zach and Zac continued to weave until about 6:00pm, at which point they had generated enough to cut off and use for the hood of body shell. Everyone headed out, and Ben and I trimmed, stained and vacuum bagged the final layer of weave to the hood. I hate to risk putting the jinx on things, but I feel like it went on almost perfectly. We finished at around 9:00pm and went in to eat. We need to get some more weave on the shell. I hope we can get it all on this week, which is setting a lofty but attainable goal.

Monday, July 21, 2008

21 Jul 08


I pulled a rough and dirty test vacuum on the side of the body using polyethylene and duct tape this morning. Even the small diaphragm pump held the vacuum, so we now feel pretty confident in our ability to put the outer skin down. Zach and Zac cleaned up and made a run to the dump this morning, and Ben attacked the weeds and tall grass around the place. Caroline, Zac, and Zach wove 1/8" this morning, while Ben worked on the trailer. I did more work on the body, and Luke investigated the seat weave and took inventory on all of our wheel parts. After lunch, I mounted the driver's side brake duct to the body. Ben continued on the trailer, while DP, Zac and Zach wove. Luke made a trip to a small furniture factory to ask about caning the seats but didn't find out too much. We got a visit from our good buddy, Archie, and it was good to see him. I worked on the body for the rest of the afternoon, and Hunt worked on salvaging the butterfly panel with the skin discoloration. Luke measured the seat frames, laid them out in Rhino, and printed out a hole pattern for each one. Zach, Zac and DP got all the splices pulled through on the 1/8" weave and should be able to move with great speed tomorrow. I finished with the body filler on the front of the car and rolled some epoxy on the surface to help to seal it for vacuuming purposes. I finished at about 9:30pm and went inside to eat. We plan to start putting the skin down on the shell tomorrow, which will be a huge step for us. Everything has to go pretty well with this stage for us to make our Atlanta show deadline. Keep your fingers crossed.

20 Jul 08




I set up the butterfly panel for glue infusion this morning and helped Joe with the steering wheel until DP showed up. DP and I mixed glue and pulled it into the butterfly panel next. Everything went well, except the glue cured too quickly, and we were forced to add in glue lines to infuse the whole part. We worked on it until about lunchtime. Our friends, Heather and Tom, came in from Canada, and Caroline brought them back from the airport. After lunch, Hunt and I went to get some resin as a back-up while DP got the 2nd butterfly panel ready to infuse. When we got back, DP and I finished the panel up and infused it. The glue kicked on us in about 25 minutes this time, which is less than half of the working time we expect from it. We thought that the earlier problems had to do with the 95degree heat outside, but the 2nd part was infused in the loom room, which has A/C. We had to do a lot of shuffling around and ended up adding a couple of glue lines on this part, too, although it wasn't as bad as the first one. When we finished this one, we looked at the first butterfly panel and figured out what needed to be eventually done to it. There was a discoloration on the surface of it which we haven't quite figured out yet, but it seems to be blendable. DP headed out, and Hunt and I put 3 holes in the steering wheel end cap which allow it to bolt to the quick release mechanism, finishing up at about 9:30. Caroline, Heather, and Tom were all still waiting on me to eat, and we had dinner and watched the Next Food Network Star. After dinner, Caroline and I came back out and dug the mold out of the 2nd brake duct, finishing up at about 1:15am. Long day, but decent progress.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

19 Jul 08



I hacked away at the taillight bezels with a reciprocating saw this morning for a while, after which I fit and glued on a brake duct. I used Daubert's 2-part epoxy and some colloidal silica to strengthen the fillet. DP showed up right as I was finishing this up, and he went to work on glue infusing the cherry weave onto the roof scoop. I worked body filler onto the body shell while he prepped the roof scoop. We pulled a vacuum on the part right before lunch, and we infused the part with glue as soon as we got back. When we finished, we cleaned the area up a bit and started preparing the butterfly panels for their final skin. DP sandblasted the pinholes out of them while I cut and stained the veneer and drilled holes in the panels around the trimline. We both sanded the panels to rough them up for glue and started setting up to glue infuse them. Caroline, Jean and Hunt wove 1/8" veneer while we worked on setting the butterfly panels up. We worked on vacuuming 1 panel until about 8:45pm, but had to give up on it for a compounding number of reasons. We will fix it up in the morning. DP headed out, and I ate dinner. Afterwards, Hunt and I pulled the roof scoop off the mold. It turned out to be killer, so we were pleased. We also mounted the steering wheel to a block which will allow us to turn the column on the wood lathe. Hunt had worked on machining some other pieces for the steering column, so we got this set up to turn in the morning. We called it quits at about 10:40pm. Tomorrow, we hope to get the 1/8" weaving knocked out, along with the final glue infusion on both butterfly panels.

Friday, July 18, 2008

18 Jul 08



I pulled the dash tie-in piece from the mold this morning, but it was a little tacky still, so I put it back on the mold and left it in the sun to cure. Ben came and started work on infusing the brake ducts. I painted a coat of polyester resin on the 4" thick balsa chunk which will lend depth to the taillight cutouts. Caroline replaced spools of veneer on the 1/8" loom while Zach and Zac rolled the spools outside. Hunt sanded, coated, and recoated the front wing, which was really looking gorgeous by the end of the day. I took the windshield out and used body filler to smooth in the areas around where I built up slightly to accommodate the glass. We decided to cut the balsa chunk into 3 pieces for easier fitting, and I marked where these cuts needed to be made right before lunch. Ben soldiered on with his infusion during lunch, and didn't quit until he had the glued pulled at around 3pm. After lunch, Luke and I went to work on fitting the balsa chunks to the back of the body. Luke had the unenviable task of sitting inside the body shell and holding the chunks up inside the taillights holes while I looked at them and ground them to fit. We spent an hour or 2 on this, and then we glued them in with epoxy once they were fit properly. I roughly fit the dash tie-in piece, which had eventually cured, and Luke headed out. Ben and I stained and laid the veneer for the final layer of the roof scoop, but left the infusion for tomorrow. He headed out around 8:00pm, and I went in to eat. After dinner, Hunt came up, and he buffed the front wing while I pulled the peel ply off the brake ducts. We spent the next hour or so wrestling with the air chisel, digging the mold out of the part. We didn't want a draft angle in these parts, so we had to invest the molds when we made them. Hunt left at around 10:15pm, and I did some research on light fixtures for the car, calling it quits at about 11:00pm.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

17 Jul 08





I did more body work on the body shell this morning, mostly focusing on the front fender lines. Ben went to work infusing the balsa onto the roof scoop. Zac and Jean finished up the 1/4" cherry in the pink room, and Zach, Kendal, and Caroline wove 1/8" veneer. Hunt worked on finishing the front wing, and Luke worked on sanding the seat frames. Luke built a router table, and Hunt used it to rout the inside of the seat frames. I taped off and protected the front windshield to prepare for fitting it. After lunch, Ben pulled the glue into the roof scoop while Zach, Zac, and DP spooled 1/8" veneer. I fit the windshield and the 2 quarter windows using a grinder and some body filler. DP and Ben infused the backs onto the brake duct molds while Zac started getting the dash tie-in mold ready to infuse. At about 7:45pm, Zac, DP, Ben and I started to infuse the glue into the balsa for the dash tie-in mold. The guys stayed with me until about 9:00pm, and I added a few glue lines and got the part saturated by around 10:30pm. I went in to eat and go to sleep after a long day.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

17 Jul 08

I worked on the dash tie-in mold this morning. I skimmed it with body filler and sanded it smooth, and I made an MDF box and fastened it to the mold to make an extension on 1 leg. I then feathered it into the rest of the mold with body filler. Ben worked on infusing the messed up side of the roof scoop and had the glue infused in it by lunchtime. Zac and Zach worked on weaving the 1/4" cherry veneer, and Caroline and her mom wove the 1/8". Luke glued more maple on the seat frames. After lunch, DP, Caroline, and her mom wove 1/8" veneer, and Zac and Zach rolled some spools to feed the loom. Ben sanded, waxed, and PVA'd the brake duct molds, and he and DP infused part of 1 layer on them. Chris showed up with 1 quarter window cut, and he and I made a template and located the opposite side glass. He cut it magically while I was too scared to watch. I put some body filler on the body for a while and painted polyester resin on the dash tie-mold and sanded it. After dinner, I came back out and refined the surfaces of the inner body panel molds until about midnight.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

15 Jul 08






I put body filler on the body shell outside this morning for a couple of hours. Zac showed up first and picked up trash in the back, pulled the roof scoop out of the bag, and mixed some styrene and cobalt naphthenate into polyester resin. Zach, Kendal, and Caroline wove 1/8" veneer for most of the morning until they ran out of spools to change out at about lunchtime. One side of the roof scoop must have had a bad mix of resin, because it never cured, meaning we will have to redo that part. I waxed, PVA'd and taped the tail mold so that we can glue infuse a giant chunk of balsa onto it that will be made into taillight trim. Luke prepared to vacuum bag a walnut layer onto the top of the seats, and I helped him get one into the bag right before lunch. After lunch, Zac and Zach wove 1/4" cherry in the pink room while Kendal, Caroline and her mom worked on the 1/8" machine. I put more body filler on the shell, and Ben worked on the glue infusion of the tail balsa. We pulled the polyester resin into the balsa at about 7:00pm while Zac and Zach wound veneer strips on spools made from CDs that Hunt put together this afternoon. Zac and Zach wound 38 spools of veneer, and Ben and I got the glue infusion done on the 4" thick balsa chunk by about 9:00pm. I went in to eat and came back out to check on the part, which was still doing fine. I am going to call it a little early tonight at about 10:30pm to catch up after a few long nights in a row.

Monday, July 14, 2008

14 Jul 08




I pulled the roof scoop mold out of the bag this morning, but I left the part on the mold. We only laid up 1/3 of the first skin last night, and the placement of the 1st part is critical. It was easier to lay up the next pieces right over it without losing the proper location. I cut the side pieces and a layer of balsa, and Ben took over for me on setting up for glue infusion. Kendal, Zach, and Caroline wove this morning, and Luke went to Tramway Veneer to get some more stock clipped. Aaron sandblasted all morning, prepping the body for body filler and knocking the pin holes out of the 2nd butterfly panel. Sean made templates and took measurements for the taillights for most of the morning. Chris showed up with a piece of glass from an S-10 that is going to work for the front quarter window. Everyone was excited, amazed, and somewhat relieved. Well, I was anyway. Chris is really turning out to be a crucial asset in getting the car to Atlanta, and we are thankful to have his help. After lunch, I cut the taillight holes out of the rear of the body shell, and Sean began 3D modeling the taillights. Zac, Ben and I glue infused the roof scoop, and Zach, Bob and DP set up to weave 1/4" cherry. Ben sanded the inner body panel molds while I worked on the chin of the body shell and filled in other areas. I went in to eat, and Hunt and I spread epoxy over the front wing to fill in voids after dinner until about 10:15pm.

13 Jul 08





I carved out the front brake duct molds this morning. I sanded them out and painted them with polyester resin, along with the roof scoop mold. Ben set up to glue infuse the bamboo layer on a butterfly panel, and Hunt and I helped him deal with the glue. Once this was a success, Ben and I glued the dash tie-in mold from yesterday together, and Hunt got the big press ready for us to smush it with. We broke for lunch at this point. Ben ground a bevel on the balsa layer on the 2nd butterfly panel and set up to glue infuse it. I sanded the polyestered molds and put another coat over the top. While these were curing, I worked on laying out the taillight cutouts. I went back to sanding the molds again for a while until Ben had the butterfly panel ready to infuse. I helped him with this until about 7:30pm, and he headed out when we finished. We pulled the 1st butterfly panel off the mold, and it really looked incredible. There are some pin holes to fill in with epoxy, but the surface quality is extremely impressive. Hunt went to eat, and I got a piece of weave ready to glue on the roof scoop while I waited for Caroline and her mom to come back from Charlotte. We watched the Next Food Network Star while I ate, and Caroline and I came back outside to glue the piece on the roof scoop mold. It went smoothly, and we finished at about 12:15am.