As you'll remember from the last issue of KIT CAR (Sept. '06), we showed how Diego Grullon began scratchbuilding the plug for his DDR SP4 (the finished, painted car was featured in last month's issue as well). Built in a one-car, three-wall carport on the side of his mother's house on the Caribbean island of the Dominican Republic, Diego and his friend Ovalle designed, built, and imagineered the car from wood buck to driving prototype.
Though some facets of the car's design changed a bit between the beginning of the project and the final product (because you need to roll with the changes as they come at you), Diego ended up with a sleek and slippery car of his own design-something many auto enthusiasts/dreamers would like to be able to do. All it takes is time, perseverance, and much more of your own money than you had originally planned! So, coupled with a few of the images from last month (photos 1 and 2 are for reference), follow along to see how Diego did it.
 Prior to its debut at Carlisle,...  Prior to its debut at Carlisle, former KIT CAR editor Eric Geisert traveled to the Caribbean island of the Dominican Republic to photograph the DDR SP4 in its natural environment: at speed along the coast. |
 After creating full-scale...  After creating full-scale drawings, Diego took six months to fabricate the station buck. But when it was done, it took the rough form of what would become the SP4. |
 After many coats of primer...  After many coats of primer filler and wet-sanding, the plug is about as smooth and perfect as it could be. Several coats of primer filled any tiny imperfections. |
 Four coats of black acrylic...  Four coats of black acrylic primer filler were then applied and sanded with fine wet/dry sandpaper between each coat. |
 Looks like a professional...  Looks like a professional paint job, right? Not bad for being done in the driveway of his mom's home! The glossy finish, brought out by buffing and polishing, will aid in pulling the molds off the plug. |
 1/8-inch-thick sheets of foamcore...  1/8-inch-thick sheets of foamcore are set in place with a glue gun around all the openings and anywhere the molds will be separated. |
 Most mold separations are...  Most mold separations are made at high points of a compound curve, and, especially with the DDR and its multiple-contoured body, this means you really have to study where the foamcore will go! |
 Each section of the body will...  Each section of the body will have its own mold, and each is made individually, so the rest of the plug is taped off so nothing will mar the perfect finish. Next, multiple coats of Meguiars mold release are sprayed into the area to be worked on. |
 Layers of fiberglass are added,...  Layers of fiberglass are added, dabbed in place with a simple brush and a mix of catalyzed fiberglass resin. |
 Some large areas of the mold,...  Some large areas of the mold, such as the tailsection, need to be reinforced with wood strips for extra strength as the layers of fiberglass are added. |
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 Work progresses on each section...  Work progresses on each section of the mold one area at a time. It took roughly five months to make all the pieces for the mold-mostly due to Diego's initial inexperience working with fiberglass. |
 The passenger rear quarter...  The passenger rear quarter is halfway through the mold process, but on the finished car this area looks different, as another scoop was added later during the production of the final mold. |