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The A8 will of course have a hood scoop in the general style of a 53-4 Carib. Because the grill will be moving upwards 2 1/2 inches, and also the general proportions of the car, the scoop is slightly lower and farther back.

I use a second hood to make the scoop and weld it on top of the first. This ends up MUCH lighter than the Carib style, plus it allows me to cut ports in the lower hood skin to direct cool air to keep the carb cool, and to provide cool air to where the intake will be once the car is sectioned.

I really like how clean it looks without a hood ornament. For now I am trying to accomplish all of the work that can be done without taking the car out of service.

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A few more.

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In honor of the car turning 100K whilst on a shopping trip, it is now time to begin the more major modifications.

Before the top comes off and sectioning begins, it is important to have the underbody in good condition. Without the top these cars have all the structural strength of a slice of warm cheese. First up then is inner and outer rockers and the usual repairs necessary to victims of rubber mat disease. (Have you lifted your mats lately?)

The outer rockers are CtoC and fit pretty well. It is very nice that they are galvanized. I make the inner rockers here, deeper and with larger flanges for extra strength. The floor pans were also CtoC and were somewhat better than a swift kick in the pants.

We are not finishing the rockers at the back just yet as the wheelbase will be decreased 10".

Turns out the front fender had been seriously snagged at the bottom and recreated with plastic surgery. A new fender bottom will be welded on, but not just yet: To minimize labor we cut the old one off at the level where the sectioning of the car will take place: 8" above the door bottom edge.

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Next up, as this will be an open car, was bracing the B pillars side to side. The rear doors are gone and will donate only a portion of their skins to complete the front of the quarter panel. That will come MUCH later in the process. The two dots on the pillar show where the car will be sectioned.

At the rear, the trunk hinges and spare tire well are no longer needed. (Said well is a beauty with no rust-through and is available for $75 if you need one.)

Those parts are not necessary because of the rear-mounted spare. To draw the spare as tight to the body as possible, I created an angled flat spot on the deck lid to receive it.
The lid will open backwards, the tire moving with it. A little hard to visualize just the moment is that once the car is sectioned, the top of the bumper will be about level with the lower edge of the deck lid. The bumper will also have its center removed so it nestles to either side of the spare.

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I'm happy to see this update. I am enjoying following your progress. I think this will turn out to be quite a splendid little roadster!

I am so stoked about this project, I really don't want to work on anything else......

With all the bodymounts and rockers repaired, it was now safe to remove the roof in preparation for doing the sectioning project. The front half of the car will be sectioned first, the rear sometime later after the wheelbase has been reduced. We are doing a 4 1/4" section.

Another preliminary was moving the grill up 2 1/2". The front edge of the hood has been shaved back and the radiator splash pan has a new edge added to meet the grill casting. Am very pleased with the integrated look of the front end.

The deck lid is now hinged at the rear to accommodate the deck-mounted spare.

Also started the cuts to section the front fenders; the openings will be much closer to the top making a slim profile.

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A quiet Saturday afternoon is required for marking pillars for sectioning. The key to happiness is make sure the cuts are all the same and parallel to the chassis. The long straightedge indexed off of some known body features makes that easy.

Here are the front pillars marked for cutting--note the level of the cut has to migrate up and down to accommodate different features of the body. At the outer surface of the body I try to keep the cut about 8" above the lower edge of the doors. That way when I remove the 4 1/4" section, I maintain a smooth curve as the two lines of the cut are in the same vertical plane. We will probably cut the cowl on Monday, but I couldn't resist whacking one of the B-pillars after marking it.

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I'm thoroughly enjoying watching your progress on this very interesting project!

How low can you go?
m.youtube.com/watch?v=gq7pxUgjLz0

Ross,
You have great vision, and more importantly you put it to practice.

Thanks for the updates.

......and then we cut along the dotted line. With a bit of fitting, it will all go back together as you will see, oh tomorrow or so.

In between real work, I turned the pedals to better fit with the lower dash and lower seating position--just an example of the many small details necessary on a project like this.

At break time there are other chores. Here Ben is using my 1904 bread bucket to mix a batch of molasses wheat bread. This wonderful invention, a Gold Medal winner at the St Louis Worlds Fair, mixes 5 loaves worth of dough in one go. If you stop by at my place there is always fresh coffee and home made bread.

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