Northwind Composites - Status Update
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- Fourth Gear
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- Third Gear
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Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
wrx scoop! pre facelift!
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- First Gear
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Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
Okay, so here’s the scoop after I think is close to two years. This is a little more detail than I’d normally give, but the BBS has been like family to me over the years and I feel I need to be honest with you so you understand where I’ve been and what’s really been going on. It’s a long ready but it’s also been two years. I know we all have our own life stories so please don’t mis-understand. Just sharing my personal plight and testament, here you go .
Back in April-ish 2012 I was still working as a contractor 4 days a week with the local aircraft company. They came to me and expressed the need to fill my role within the engineering group with a full time employee. I had worked for them previously for about two years when I got laid off in the midst of significant company downsizing. Due to my previous experience, they offered me the full time position if I wanted it but did state that if I didn’t, my contract role couldn’t be guaranteed – honest enough. Northwind wasn’t quite ready to stand completely on its own legs so I went ahead and took the position thinking I would still have weekends and nights. Keep in mind this job is a 45min north from my home and the shop.
Well, that plan was working until I meet a girl in June 2012. Those who know me know that I’m a pretty work/play devoted guy and haven’t messed around with women since early college – I had better things to spend my time and money on, hence my Legacy . Anyrate, turned out she was pretty amazing and given that she lived 20min north of work this made for some really long drives and late nights. Work at the shop was coming to a standstill. Also keep in mind that I was the president of the local/regional Autocross club which does take considerable amounts of time, especially during the summer.
Well, things were getting more serious in around Sept. 2012 I moved to be closer to my lady friend and closer to work. This, needless to say, did not make getting work done at the shop any easier and moving soaks up lots of time and generally just sucks . And oh yeah, just to make it more fun, my 96’ OBW decides to blow a head gasket the first day of the move. So I move into a new place with one dead car.
Things with my lady friend continued to get more serious.
New Year’s eve 2012 I propose, she says yes. Score!
Well, things continued to be very busy as I was still President of the Auto-X club and was trying to juggle wedding planning, the shop, fiance’, and a full time job. It’s a hard juggle and in truth, the safest ball to drop was the shop and our cool parts. We planned our wedding for mid July out at her parent’s house. A great idea as the wedding was beautiful – but it also required A LOT of work to get everything ready. Getting married is great, but holy cow, it’s a lot to do to actually get married .
Well, I knew I wouldn’t have a chance to get any work done at the shop a little before the wedding or after and I couldn’t afford to keep paying rent for space that I wasn’t using. Therefore, I got the mold finished up and my prototype hood made. More specifically – my fiancé helped me. Yes, she loves this composite stuff . So I got stuff made and the shop moved into storage around May 2013. I cannot tell you how hard it is to put two years of hard work and equipment into storage, but it’s there and anxiously waiting to get out.
Now the shop is moved and the wedding is coming up. I need the OBW running, it’s still dead, to go on our honeymoon. So I finish getting it rebuilt the way I had wanted for a while. Brand new EJ257 shortblock married to rebuilt Ph I EJ22E heads, stainless EL headers, rebuilt the transmission with all new bearings, center diff, bushings, motor mounts, etc. This was meant to be rebuild and not mess with it for 5 years. Took lots of work to get it finished in the midst of everything else but it had to happen as her car wasn’t going to make the trip and I wasn’t taking the Legacy on a 6 hour honeymoon road trip. But I got it done and ran great!
So, July 13th comes around, we get married. Score! Double Score!
We go up to towards Banff to stay at Kicking Horse for our honeymoon. Beautiful area, great room, perfect! Almost.
July 16th, get in a car accident where we got t-boned making a left hand turn by the guy behind us. Out of respect for him and everyone else, I won’t go into details so please do not ask. However, it totaled the car, crushed the B-pillar and pushed my seat up against the center console, and just generally what you expect from a 30-35mph collision with a big industrial work van. This results in a trip to the hospital for me and my new wife - to add just a little more excitement, they almost drop my wife's gurney loading her and the AC in the ambulance broke... oh yeah, it was that kind of a day. Beside feeling like I got checked by a van in the shoulder, I broke a couple teeth and was otherwise alright. My wife faired okay, but we’re still trying to get her shoulder back to right as I collided with her. But, considering how the car looked, all I can say is God bless seat belts and Subaru’s!
So, we make it back state side and proceed to deal with getting our injuring fixed and moving forward with life.
In Sept we move again. We needed room for her dog and the town home I was in wasn’t going to work. So, moving…. again…. uuggg…. . And my wife’s shoulder is still not getting better so we see doctors. Surgery gets mentioned but we go ahead and start PT to try the ‘easy’ fix first – awesome.
Things are going alright, settling into the new home, going to PT, things are settling down. A week before Thanksgiving I take her back east to see my family for an early thanksgiving. Should be an uneventful trip, we’d like one . Well, my mom decided to rupture an aneurism on her aorta while we were there. God bless, again, the helicopter beat the bad weather and the chief surgeon who runs the cardiac unit was on call that night. They replaced the aorta and several inches of the caradioc (sp?) arteries – holy crap people can actually do that!
Mom’s doing great now though. My wife’s shoulder, still not better and now we’re seriously discussing surgery.
So that thing brings us into Christmas season, which while very busy, went great. I’m grew as a man and am learned some more about being married… but it was great .
End of Jan, wife has surgery on her shoulder. Goes great and they didn’t have to reattach tendons. Ground bone down in a few places but otherwise she’s doing great, just recovering.
And that pretty much brings me to now. We’re doing great and getting excited about getting the shop set back up. Currently we’re planning on getting the shop running again early/mid summer. There are a couple items I have to get done first, but that’s the plan. My wife, oh how I love her, she’s busy reading up on composites in my texts. I continue to be the composite engineer at my work dealing with all the repairs, process spec changes, design changes, etc. I stepped down from my President position with the Auto-X club in order to free up some time for my family and for the business.
So that it guys. These last two years have been a non-stop flurry of awesome and great things, tons of stress, lots of life learning, and general “holy cow I need a vacation” . But we are still moving forward and I’ve got all the molds, layup tables, materials, etc. etc. in storage just waiting. Once I get the OBW stripped out (btw, I’m kicking the idea around of what do with a new STi block…) then I’ll be starting work on a large curing oven so when the shop doors open – I’m live for more material/coolness options . *Oven cured Kevlar skid plates anyone…
Thanks for all the continued support and interest as always. Feel free to ask questions and I should be a little more available and visible on the BBS nowadays.
Back in April-ish 2012 I was still working as a contractor 4 days a week with the local aircraft company. They came to me and expressed the need to fill my role within the engineering group with a full time employee. I had worked for them previously for about two years when I got laid off in the midst of significant company downsizing. Due to my previous experience, they offered me the full time position if I wanted it but did state that if I didn’t, my contract role couldn’t be guaranteed – honest enough. Northwind wasn’t quite ready to stand completely on its own legs so I went ahead and took the position thinking I would still have weekends and nights. Keep in mind this job is a 45min north from my home and the shop.
Well, that plan was working until I meet a girl in June 2012. Those who know me know that I’m a pretty work/play devoted guy and haven’t messed around with women since early college – I had better things to spend my time and money on, hence my Legacy . Anyrate, turned out she was pretty amazing and given that she lived 20min north of work this made for some really long drives and late nights. Work at the shop was coming to a standstill. Also keep in mind that I was the president of the local/regional Autocross club which does take considerable amounts of time, especially during the summer.
Well, things were getting more serious in around Sept. 2012 I moved to be closer to my lady friend and closer to work. This, needless to say, did not make getting work done at the shop any easier and moving soaks up lots of time and generally just sucks . And oh yeah, just to make it more fun, my 96’ OBW decides to blow a head gasket the first day of the move. So I move into a new place with one dead car.
Things with my lady friend continued to get more serious.
New Year’s eve 2012 I propose, she says yes. Score!
Well, things continued to be very busy as I was still President of the Auto-X club and was trying to juggle wedding planning, the shop, fiance’, and a full time job. It’s a hard juggle and in truth, the safest ball to drop was the shop and our cool parts. We planned our wedding for mid July out at her parent’s house. A great idea as the wedding was beautiful – but it also required A LOT of work to get everything ready. Getting married is great, but holy cow, it’s a lot to do to actually get married .
Well, I knew I wouldn’t have a chance to get any work done at the shop a little before the wedding or after and I couldn’t afford to keep paying rent for space that I wasn’t using. Therefore, I got the mold finished up and my prototype hood made. More specifically – my fiancé helped me. Yes, she loves this composite stuff . So I got stuff made and the shop moved into storage around May 2013. I cannot tell you how hard it is to put two years of hard work and equipment into storage, but it’s there and anxiously waiting to get out.
Now the shop is moved and the wedding is coming up. I need the OBW running, it’s still dead, to go on our honeymoon. So I finish getting it rebuilt the way I had wanted for a while. Brand new EJ257 shortblock married to rebuilt Ph I EJ22E heads, stainless EL headers, rebuilt the transmission with all new bearings, center diff, bushings, motor mounts, etc. This was meant to be rebuild and not mess with it for 5 years. Took lots of work to get it finished in the midst of everything else but it had to happen as her car wasn’t going to make the trip and I wasn’t taking the Legacy on a 6 hour honeymoon road trip. But I got it done and ran great!
So, July 13th comes around, we get married. Score! Double Score!
We go up to towards Banff to stay at Kicking Horse for our honeymoon. Beautiful area, great room, perfect! Almost.
July 16th, get in a car accident where we got t-boned making a left hand turn by the guy behind us. Out of respect for him and everyone else, I won’t go into details so please do not ask. However, it totaled the car, crushed the B-pillar and pushed my seat up against the center console, and just generally what you expect from a 30-35mph collision with a big industrial work van. This results in a trip to the hospital for me and my new wife - to add just a little more excitement, they almost drop my wife's gurney loading her and the AC in the ambulance broke... oh yeah, it was that kind of a day. Beside feeling like I got checked by a van in the shoulder, I broke a couple teeth and was otherwise alright. My wife faired okay, but we’re still trying to get her shoulder back to right as I collided with her. But, considering how the car looked, all I can say is God bless seat belts and Subaru’s!
So, we make it back state side and proceed to deal with getting our injuring fixed and moving forward with life.
In Sept we move again. We needed room for her dog and the town home I was in wasn’t going to work. So, moving…. again…. uuggg…. . And my wife’s shoulder is still not getting better so we see doctors. Surgery gets mentioned but we go ahead and start PT to try the ‘easy’ fix first – awesome.
Things are going alright, settling into the new home, going to PT, things are settling down. A week before Thanksgiving I take her back east to see my family for an early thanksgiving. Should be an uneventful trip, we’d like one . Well, my mom decided to rupture an aneurism on her aorta while we were there. God bless, again, the helicopter beat the bad weather and the chief surgeon who runs the cardiac unit was on call that night. They replaced the aorta and several inches of the caradioc (sp?) arteries – holy crap people can actually do that!
Mom’s doing great now though. My wife’s shoulder, still not better and now we’re seriously discussing surgery.
So that thing brings us into Christmas season, which while very busy, went great. I’m grew as a man and am learned some more about being married… but it was great .
End of Jan, wife has surgery on her shoulder. Goes great and they didn’t have to reattach tendons. Ground bone down in a few places but otherwise she’s doing great, just recovering.
And that pretty much brings me to now. We’re doing great and getting excited about getting the shop set back up. Currently we’re planning on getting the shop running again early/mid summer. There are a couple items I have to get done first, but that’s the plan. My wife, oh how I love her, she’s busy reading up on composites in my texts. I continue to be the composite engineer at my work dealing with all the repairs, process spec changes, design changes, etc. I stepped down from my President position with the Auto-X club in order to free up some time for my family and for the business.
So that it guys. These last two years have been a non-stop flurry of awesome and great things, tons of stress, lots of life learning, and general “holy cow I need a vacation” . But we are still moving forward and I’ve got all the molds, layup tables, materials, etc. etc. in storage just waiting. Once I get the OBW stripped out (btw, I’m kicking the idea around of what do with a new STi block…) then I’ll be starting work on a large curing oven so when the shop doors open – I’m live for more material/coolness options . *Oven cured Kevlar skid plates anyone…
Thanks for all the continued support and interest as always. Feel free to ask questions and I should be a little more available and visible on the BBS nowadays.
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- First Gear
- Posts: 80
- Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2011 11:09 pm
- Location: Northern Idaho
- Contact:
Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
BTW, regarding scoops.
I can make it a blank and get rid of the scoop. There will likely be a real small change in contour from the scoop plug *I'm not a perfect body guy. From there, you can mount your own scoop.
A pre-facelift hood - that's going to be a hard sell unfortunately. There's several thousand dollars of just materials in the mold and north of 80-100 hours of work. Large molds take a lot of time and effort to make. I'm not opposed, just, it might not be right on the horizon.
I'm not trying to recapture mold costs on the Legacy parts simply because it's the BBS and, well, I want one too . This is a way I can keep part costs to you guys down some - just straight material and labor is still a fair piece and I don't have a fresh quote but it'll be in the $400-$700 depending on how fancy you want.
I'll get more pictures once I get it back from being clear coated .
I can make it a blank and get rid of the scoop. There will likely be a real small change in contour from the scoop plug *I'm not a perfect body guy. From there, you can mount your own scoop.
A pre-facelift hood - that's going to be a hard sell unfortunately. There's several thousand dollars of just materials in the mold and north of 80-100 hours of work. Large molds take a lot of time and effort to make. I'm not opposed, just, it might not be right on the horizon.
I'm not trying to recapture mold costs on the Legacy parts simply because it's the BBS and, well, I want one too . This is a way I can keep part costs to you guys down some - just straight material and labor is still a fair piece and I don't have a fresh quote but it'll be in the $400-$700 depending on how fancy you want.
I'll get more pictures once I get it back from being clear coated .
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- Fourth Gear
- Posts: 1232
- Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2012 10:32 pm
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Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
Holy cow, you've been through a lot. It's good to see you back on here though! I can't wait for what's to come. When you start doing the hoods I will definitely be in the market for one.
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Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
Wow, Lee! Just the fact that you're still here on LegacyCentral is a feat in itself! Congratulations on your marriage! When you've found a good wife, you've found a good thing! I can attest to that! And your positive outlook on things is most commendable! I'm glad you're both recovering and going ahead.
I know what it's like being in an accident, too. I've got a fractured back in one of them (it's fine now). And where I'm living now is my tenth place in two years in two different states. And, storage units . . . tell me about them.
I'm just finishing up my lunch break so I gotta go. Maybe I'll PM you some time. I'm on a deadline right now -- moving residences again.
Take care and thanks for the update!
I know what it's like being in an accident, too. I've got a fractured back in one of them (it's fine now). And where I'm living now is my tenth place in two years in two different states. And, storage units . . . tell me about them.
I'm just finishing up my lunch break so I gotta go. Maybe I'll PM you some time. I'm on a deadline right now -- moving residences again.
Take care and thanks for the update!
Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
Wow, that's quite the series of events in the past couple years. Glad to hear that all the health related events came out with positive results. Thanks for the update on the parts, and a glimpse into your life's events. Congratulations on the marriage and finding a woman that supports and encourages your hobbies. I look forward to seeing what you come up with when you get back into the swing of things with your shop.
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- Third Gear
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Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
That is a lot of things going on and I can attest to starting a business, getting married, and trying to juggle a full time job. I still have to thank you for helping me out on my wedding gifts you made me for my groomsmen and they went over great. For everyone else: He made me Carbon Fiber coasters for all my car guys.
Look forward to a hood and are you still planning to do the sunroof inserts?
Look forward to a hood and are you still planning to do the sunroof inserts?
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- Fourth Gear
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Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
Glad to hear that both you and your lady are doing well, be safe and we are awaiting your work with much anticipation.
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- In Neutral
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Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
WOW!!!! You have been a busy boy. Congrats on the marriage. Glad the two of you and your mom are doing better....and for the record, moving that many times is not OK for the sanity.
Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
Congrats on the wedding and it's great to hear you and your wife are doing well and getting settled into a new life together! Life sometimes throws a lot of stuff our way to see how we handle it. I commend you on your positive outlook, that goes a long way. Let us know if there's anything we can do to help
Josh
surrealmirage.com/subaru
1990 Legacy (AWD, 6MT, & EJ22T Swap)
2020 Outback Limted XT
If you need to get a hold of me please email me rather then pm
surrealmirage.com/subaru
1990 Legacy (AWD, 6MT, & EJ22T Swap)
2020 Outback Limted XT
If you need to get a hold of me please email me rather then pm
Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
Man, I would kill for a pre-facelift hood.
Either way, I'd really like a sunroof as well.
Keep up the good work.
Either way, I'd really like a sunroof as well.
Keep up the good work.
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- First Gear
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Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
Update:
First, thank you for all the kind words and support. It never ceases to amaze me how impressive this community is. Thank you.
Things are going great for my wife and I. She's done with physical therapy and has been working on continuing to get everything strengthen and back in shape. That said, we've gone out rock climbing again (just tiny short routes for her) and kayaking - man it's good to be getting back to life ! That's far from saying life has gotten less busy though, just we're back to dealing with 'normal' life things.
As far as Northwind is concerned, two weeks ago I signed a lease for a new shop here in town. I move in on July 1st, boyah! I'm anticipating 2-3 weeks to get everything up and running before I'm producing parts again, so mid-late July we should be kicking resin and wetting fabric. I'm also looking into a couple new resin systems that will let me have faster turn arounds - as it sits right now it takes a full day for cure so I'm a little limited on how quickly I can produce parts.
Once I get into the shop and ready to start production back up I'll post a new thread with pricing and part Q/A. Otherwise feel free to ask any questions here in this thread and I'll be watching it.
As far as the hood goes - I'm picking it up from the painter tonight after work. He had one last coat of clear to put on it. Below are some fitup pictures I took though. Yes, my car is dusty/dirty, I know . Next weekend is a race weekend and I do want to run the hood for a couple months before I start selling any. There are a few design changes I know I want to make before starting production and I also want to run this one for a little to watch for any additional changes that need made.
Enjoy....
First, thank you for all the kind words and support. It never ceases to amaze me how impressive this community is. Thank you.
Things are going great for my wife and I. She's done with physical therapy and has been working on continuing to get everything strengthen and back in shape. That said, we've gone out rock climbing again (just tiny short routes for her) and kayaking - man it's good to be getting back to life ! That's far from saying life has gotten less busy though, just we're back to dealing with 'normal' life things.
As far as Northwind is concerned, two weeks ago I signed a lease for a new shop here in town. I move in on July 1st, boyah! I'm anticipating 2-3 weeks to get everything up and running before I'm producing parts again, so mid-late July we should be kicking resin and wetting fabric. I'm also looking into a couple new resin systems that will let me have faster turn arounds - as it sits right now it takes a full day for cure so I'm a little limited on how quickly I can produce parts.
Once I get into the shop and ready to start production back up I'll post a new thread with pricing and part Q/A. Otherwise feel free to ask any questions here in this thread and I'll be watching it.
As far as the hood goes - I'm picking it up from the painter tonight after work. He had one last coat of clear to put on it. Below are some fitup pictures I took though. Yes, my car is dusty/dirty, I know . Next weekend is a race weekend and I do want to run the hood for a couple months before I start selling any. There are a few design changes I know I want to make before starting production and I also want to run this one for a little to watch for any additional changes that need made.
Enjoy....
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- Third Gear
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- Fifth Gear
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Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
Are they gonna be pretty expensive?
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- Fifth Gear
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Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
Damn looks good. I forget, will there be a pre-facelift version? Maybe scoopless...asking a lot? :)
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- Fifth Gear
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Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
^ i would go back to scoopless for one of these.
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- Fourth Gear
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Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
What is the weight on these? And expected cost? My rally car is on a serious diet and the stock hood weighs nearly 40 pounds.
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- Fifth Gear
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Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
So awesome..... much want! :D
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- Fourth Gear
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Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
So....is anyone else not able to edit their posts in this thread?
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- Fifth Gear
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Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
Might be because its a vendor thread.
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- Moderator
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Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
Oh man. I might keep the post face front end for one of these! I can edit my posts
1992 Legacy SS 5mt, build in progress
Josh Colombo wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2002 10:23 am Wait....I'm confused now.
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- Fifth Gear
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Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
Damn mods..... lol
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- Fourth Gear
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Re: Northwind Composites - Status Update
Damnit Mike....You can eat a bag! Also come pick up your exhaust!