no more roof rack

[rodzombie]

I decided to do away with my roof rack, and since I have access to all the sheet metal working equipment where I work I made this up real quick today to fill in the void where the roof rack was originally. The peice is 18 guage aluminum. I was able to form this out of one piece so duplicating shouldnt be to big of a hassle. I still have a little work to do as fit and finish on this one befor starting the other side. I have not yet figured a way to mount them so they can be removable, but I'm working on that. Here's another pic. And another.

[Mavrik]

If you can mold that in so its practicly seamless and pianted to match, that would look pretty sweet.

[pissedoffgokart]

Lookin good so far! The trick will be how to attach them and make it water proof. Add a cool daddy spoiled ala GXP and I'd buy it!

[rodzombie]

Well I wanted to just make them removable but I could make it out of 20 guage steel and weld it in place. That would require alot more body work and cutting a blend on the paint. I'd also have to remove all the rear interior panels to avoid a risk of fire while welding. But it could be done. I will be painting the two pieces I'm making the same color as the car. So they shouldnt stand out to much. I know they wont stand out as much as the roof rack.

[rodzombie]

I'm going to use the factory rubber seal from the roof rack under the covers. I've got hole plugs for the three hole where the push in clips were on each side. Hopfully I won't get any leaks. I'll let you know.

[AKLGT]

definitely keep us all posted. so far it's looking great!

[Psychobroker]

I agree....looks good so far!

[Mr. Poopypants]

You should see about making a mold for those pieces and making casts out of fiberglass, I know you could make a mint here at GVC.

[ZubenElGenubi]

Fabrication quality aside (which is pretty amazing, actually), I'm a little puzzled as to how you're going to open the rear hatch. The new piece seems to extend beyond the hinge without a split.

[Devlop]

Quote, originally posted by ZubenElGenubi »Fabrication quality aside (which is pretty amazing, actually), I'm a little puzzled as to how you're going to open the rear hatch. The new piece seems to extend beyond the hinge without a split.Take a look at your Vibe. The hatch is actually on the inside of the new piece. The side of the car extends past the hatch anyways. The piece that rob made sits right where the rack sat, so there would be no problems.Rob, looks like you've done some nice work. If I didn't use my rack, I would definitely be interested in this.

[AKLGT]

oh, i am definitely interested in it! good job!

[satur9]

mabey you can figure out how to use push in clips like what holds the plastic caps on , mount some studs to the bottom of your piece and the other part in the factory bolt holes or vice versa.

[ZubenElGenubi]

Doh! Made me look! Still amazed with the fabrication...nice work!

Attached files

[rodzombie]

Quote, originally posted by ZubenElGenubi » I'm a little puzzled as to how you're going to open the rear hatch. The new piece seems to extend beyond the hinge without a split.I have checked all clearances on the rear hatch, And The hatch clears with plenty of room to spare. The back of the pieces I made are the same shape as the back of the factory roof rack end caps only shorter. My biggest problem to over come now is mounting them and still having them be removable if need be. I've thought about push in clips but I'm affraid if you ever have to remove the panel it would bend and distort out of shape and be unusable again. The easiest way to mount them would be a clip or double sided tape but they would be a perminent fixture on the car and unsable again if you ever had to remove them. I don't think they will leak from the weather. It rained very hard here today and with the panels just sitting in place with masking tape holding on the car very little water got under them , and no water got far enough under to reach the mounting holes of the original roof rack. So thats a good sign. I'll be working on them again tomorrow and Saturday after work so I'll updat this week end.

[pissedoffgokart]

Amen Mr Poopypants!! Never thought I would ever say that phrase....

[Mr. Poopypants]

Quote, originally posted by pissedoffgokart »Amen Mr Poopypants!! Never thought I would ever say that phrase....Sounds good though doesn't it? LOL

[ebslopp]

That's so awesome that you took the time to do that! It takes a special breed to fabricate new parts for a car. Do you have another project planned after this one?

[AKLGT]

i tell ya, if i knew how to do any of that, i'd be out ripping my vibe apart fitting custom fiber glass parts or making custom grills for us. so... keep us updated on what you do, i know if it's a reasonable price then i would be more than intersted!

[ycart1201]

I like that! It looks alot cleaner. Nathanycart1201

[MadBill]

Quote, originally posted by rodzombie » ... My biggest problem to over come now is mounting them and still having them be removable if need be. I've thought about push in clips but I'm affraid if you ever have to remove the panel it would bend and distort out of shape and be unusable again. The easiest way to mount them would be a clip or double sided tape but they would be a perminent fixture on the car and unsable again if you ever had to remove them..... Two thoughts:1. Consider a full length/width strip of that thin flexible magnetic material they use for stick-on signs. It could be glued to some mounting plates on the underside of the caps and would likely have enough grip to hold them in place while still allowing easy removal. 2. 'U' shaped mounting tabs attached to the roof via the original screw holes, with countersunk screws through the sides of the caps into the vertical flanges of the 'U's. (Could likely form lips on the outside edges of the caps to grip the tabs, so the only screws would be from the inside and thus not easily visible.)Looks great!

[rodzombie]

Quote, originally posted by ebslopp » Do you have another project planned after this one?First off let thank all of you for the compliments you've given me on this project. ebslopp, do you mean projects on my Vibe or just projects in general? If it was projects in general , I have to say I have about 12 of them going right now. 12 differant cars that is. I work at a Hot Rod Shop in Germantown Ohio. Check out the website if you like its http://donshotrods.com . Or check out my site at http://gassaninedesigns.com . I also have some projects in mind for my Vibe as well. One of which is a new sheetmetal engine cover. I want to make something a little differant than what every one else has. I will be building my own strut tower brace as well. I know some of you have inquired about me possibly making these and selling them. I did talk with my boss today about pulling a mold off the two caps once there finished. He said he would consider it and let me know. I can duplicat these out of aluminum but the time it takes to hand fit each one would make them extremly expensive. I would love to be able to make these and sell them as I know alot of Vibe owners would buy them. I'll keep everyone up to date on the possabilty of production. Thank you all again for your interest and compliments.

[pissedoffgokart]

Tell your boss we insist!

[savedbyzero]

Not trying to hi-jack the thread, but after viewing your site, thought I might mention that my father and I are at the beginning of build our 2nd custom! It's a '33/'34 Rat's Glass bodied coupe! No fenders, but not the Speedstar. Gonna be sick! Taking the classic hot rod look and combining it with some of the styles of today. ET Gassers in the front with a deep dish 18x10 in the back (mostly likely a Budnik wheel) Looking at painting it Silver Smoke, the gray that's on the new '04 CTS, white leather interior, 350/350 combo, dropped straight axle, completely shaved and smoothed, and who knows what else! I'll keep you posted with the progress! We finished our '55 Chevy about 9 months ago. recently just dropped more. you can see almost finished pics at my cardomain.com page. http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/396070/2 It's a lot lower now, with block hugger headers, and a newer disc brake kit, but you get the idea! I'll get some new pics next time I'm there! Anyways, back to the topic, how are the pieces coming? You plan on painting them right? You 've got the acces to completely shave and smooth the Vibe! Do it now! Get the door poppers, throw 'em on, and take off the handles!

[rodzombie]

Bad A$$ 55 man. I never get tired of Torque Thrust wheels. There awesome. Keep me posted on the progreess of the 33/34. Email me and I'll send some pics of the 33/34 we're building at our shop right now. On another note and back to the thread, It's crunch time at our shop this week so I'm not going to get much time in on it this week. Maybe I can get in this week end some. I did start on the drivers side and I think i'm going to remake the pass side. I want to reshape the inside edge to fit the inside line of the roof edge. On the first one I made I tried to get it down as low as possible and after seeing the driver side befor trimming the inside lip of it I really like it slightly taller so I'm going to make another one for the pass side. I already laid out another pass side cap I just need to cut it and form it. Then it's on to making the mounts. I'll post pics of the drivers side later tonight.

[rodzombie]

updated pic. Drivers side roof cap under construction

[pissedoffgokart]

Very very nice.

[oolunchbox]

if you get those produced relatively inexpensively and easy to install id definantly be interested in a set, and if youre feeling up to it i (and im sure at least a few others) would be interested in a GXP style spoiler as well. youve definantly got a talent man. excellent work

[pissedoffgokart]

I was kinda thinking something like this......stupid HTML code rules....

[rodzombie]

Man I love that show car. You didn't hapen to get a pic of the top part of the rear hatch did you???? I'd like to see how they shaped the top so every thing cleared when the hatch is opened. Thats doable I think but it would take some work to form from aluminum. At least 3 pieces to fabricat it. I could try it once I get the sides done I guess. Only problem I see would be fiting it so the hatch would open and relocating the washer nozzle. Looks killer though. Oh my god you just talked me into more work! Darnit!!! lol Let me get the side done first then I'll lokk more into it. If you have anymore pics email them to me.Oh and I want to make a rear bumper like that car has. That bumper is sick. I think that would be easy to make. But then I'd have to make side skirts and a front bumper! More work!!! Darn you pissedoffgokart you did it again!!!!

[pissedoffgokart]

Muhahahahaha. I resized the above shots considerably, I will "zoom in" on the back and see it I can find a good top pic (although I don't think there is one). The spoiler looks to be attached to the piece that is already on the hatch, and doesn't require the moving of the washer jet. The side rails are just slightly shorter in hight than yours, and are angled slightly where it meets the spoiler as to not interfere with the hatch opening. I searched on-line for a while but could not find any top pictures. I think I had one but with the crappy lighting they had at the Denver Convention Center, it came out all screwed up. I will post a couple.

[rodzombie]

You da man!!! The first pic I can pretty much see how they flowed the spoiler into the sides. If the inside (frontmost edge) of the spoiler where it meets the roof caps at the back, followed there shape at the same angle it should clear when the hatch is opened. (Did everyone get all that???? ) I still cant see the rear wash nozzle! The pic is a little dark and fuzzy, ( Dark and fuzzy! ) in the area where the nozzle should be. I can't tell if it's even still on the rear hatch lid. I don't think it would be that big of a deal to work around it though. Thanks P.O.G.K.!

[AKLGT]

what i'd love to have would be something very similar to the gxp vibe spoiler, but make it so that it's an actual wind deflector so the air blows some of the dust and dirt off the rear windshield...

[satur9]

if you take the top spoiler off wouldnt you have holes n the roof, or would you keep both spoilers.

[AKLGT]

ya, there'd be holes, but i'd keep the top spoiler probably.i don't have the mid. didn't like it.

[Mr. Poopypants]

Great job PO!That is a true work of art!