Honda S600: bodywork, continued

After sorting out the fenders, next was a bulge in the hood to cover the engine, which really is a lot bigger than the stock 600 cc four leaned over at 45 degrees: the entire inlet manifold and most of the cam cover are out in the breeze.



First step was to cut out enough of a hole that the hood would actually close. I decided to retain the opening hood, although in all the horsing around one of the hinges snapped off. We'll see whether I go for hood pins.



With the scale of the hole well understood, next was to fabricate a bulge by cutting up a resin pro-stock hood I got from one of the vendors at NNL. (Sorry, I don't remember which vendor).



Apologies to the pro street builders out there for carving up a perfectly good cowl induction hood, but as the old saying goes, you will need to break some eggs if you want to make an omelette. A lot of trial and error led to a big bulge which is ready for putty, filing and sanding.



I wanted the air filter sticking out into the airstream. The little recess with the cylindrical streamlined section behind it consists, partly, of one of the headlamp buckets and front fender tops cut off the sacrificial body back when I was widening the bodywork. I am quite pleased with this little bit of reuse and recycle.



The S600 truly is tiny, with the petite S2000 looming over it. I love the baby Cobra look. Wikipedia says the original S600 made 57 horsepower and weighed just 715 kg, for a respectable specific power output of almost 80 hp/t. With 240 horsepower, the S2000 power plant will make a huge difference, even if we assume the modified car weighs another 100 kg. At 815 kg and 295 hp/t, this S600 Super would boast the same specific output as a 1963 289 Cobra (271 horsepower, 916 kg).



Next will be paint and, hopefully, final assembly. Stay tuned!