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+--- Thread: First go at Special building. (/showthread.php?tid=838)
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First go at Special building. - cardiffrob - 19-02-2018
I've started a new thread to separate this from the thread Ian Williams has for his rebuild. Unlike Ian, I have little idea what I'm doing, and yet I work on the principle that if someone else can do something then I ought to have a go and see if I can achieve something too.
I started with a bare chassis and V5 that had lived in the loft of a shed in Pershore. It had last seen the light of day about 40 years before and was surrounded by spares from perhaps 5 broken cars. There was enough to build one car and the chassis was in reasonable condition.
I looked through Ebay, Youtube and Google for tips on how to build a body and bought numerous books on the subject. I elected to use a little ash, lots of Ali sheet and some forming tools to add a skin over a steel tube frame. the following pics hopefully will give some inspiration to anyone else trying to achieve the same result.
The engine seemed to be working with zero effort expended on fettling it. I stuffed it onto the chassis to start jigging up a body. A small steel frame gave me a starting point to form some structured pressed and beaten over MDF templates. I added some Ash to give a solid mount for the door hinges and side skirts. The rest of the bulkhead was formed from Ali sheet rivetted or bolted together.
The side skirts lowered the vehicle, cosmetically and covered the exhaust pie which then came through a hole in the skirt. This was formed by whacking the sheet with a rounded mallet over the end of a piece of drain pipe. Looked quite good. The rear deck and floor are Plywood but on reflection I really should have made it from steel to add more rigidity. Off the rear deck I hung the rear wings (£50 each) and then skinned the sides in Ali after adding a tubular steel frame. Wraping the edges over the steel frame was a fun job (not!) and I had to add some curvature in various places to keep it looking 'right'.
Post number 2...
The doors were made in the same steel tubing and the latch assembly is just a steel rod sprung into the tube with a catch, rather like the bolt on my Lee Enfield rifle. The removable hinges are old pulley mounts from a vintage aircraft so the doors can be removed with just 2 tugs. The dash was routered out of Ply and then the annealed 1050 grade ali was bashed into submission. The 120mph speedo was the correct ratio, if a little optimistic.
I still have some wiring to fix and to change the dynamo over to 12 volts once I start earning a crust again. I lost my job on health grounds a couple of years ago and money has been a bit tight. The front wings aren't good enough so the Mk2 version is in the pipeline, along with a new frame for the headlamps.
RP radiator since I couldn't find anything else suitable.
RE: First go at Special building. - Nick Salmon - 19-02-2018
Good for you! Looks a proper job. Keep us posted on progress.
I do like your line: 'I work on the principle that if someone else can do something then I ought to have a go and see if I can achieve something too.'
RE: First go at Special building. - Steve Bryant - 19-02-2018
Very Nice work. Great to see this.
Stephen
RE: First go at Special building. - Graham Honnor - 19-02-2018
Good work Rob, well done.
Please do keep the updates coming.
Graham.
RE: First go at Special building. - DavidL - 20-02-2018
Thank you for sharing.
What are the jumbo paper clip shaped thingys? (pic with the former on the floor and a foot)?
With the boot floor is there scope to add a bit of structure under to stiffen it up a bit? Maybe some top hat section ali and some rivets, or some wood...
I can NEVER have enough pictures or details....sorry/thankyou !!!
Where did the wings come from? What size is the tubing? Braze or weld?
RE: First go at Special building. - cardiffrob - 20-02-2018
The 'paperclips' are my first attempt at bending thin-wall steel tubing. I used plumbing tools but I found the tube crimped too much. I asked a local company who make wheelchairs and they suggested rolling the tube round a big piece of pipe, as shown. Much less crimping and it could be done without heating. Most of the steel was Mig welded with smaller sleeves inside the joints whilst the Ali was Tig welded where needed.
Under the boot floor there are some Oak stringers and the Ruby chassis extensions are tied to the steel tubing frame. It twists, as Sevens seem to do, but the floor will take my weight. There shouldn't be too much trouble if I don't load it up with too much baggage.
The wings are ones I made from 1050 grade Ali in the garage. I don't like the shape so they are going in the bin and some new ones are under construction at the moment. I wanted some more rounded shapes whilst keeping the long rear section. I form them using a Bowling ball I got from John Williams.
RE: First go at Special building. - DavidL - 21-02-2018
So you know you can carry a body in the boot... Was the problem with the initial tube bending that the plumbers tool was set for too small a radius or the way it worked? You must have been pleased to find that off-cut of pipe. I love the idea of bashing something out over a bowling ball.
RE: First go at Special building. - cardiffrob - 21-02-2018
Copper tube is much more able to bend without crimping so the bending radius on the tool is much tighter than you need for steel. I looked into making a larger radius tool but the wheelchair manufacturer said that it was fine to just roll it round a big offcut of pipe. With some heating it might have been alright on the tighter radius but what I ended up with was OK for the job.
Bowling balls (big American ones and wooden Crown Green Bowling balls) are ideal. They take a pounding but never break and are the right sort of radius.
RE: First go at Special building. - orthoptera - 22-02-2018
What a wonderful job, congratulations
RE: First go at Special building. - cardiffrob - 22-02-2018
The first set of front wings were made in a bit of a hurry. I bent the 2 long edges down and then shrunk them to form the curve. Not very tidy, even after rounding off the fronts and wire rolling the edges. The second version uses 5000 series ali which is much harder and I shrunk the edges with pleats (tuck shrinking) before rolling the pleats smooth and filing them down flat. Much more curvaceous.