Building a Special Body

[Ian Williams]

Sorry to disappoint you both, but Tony I am afraid that the car won't be for sale even if you were to wave 35k under my nose
And Renaud I am afraid that the rivets will be painted to blend in once the car is finished, I tend to prefer more subtle detailing.

[Renaud]

Ha ha! No problem Ian. The car is for you, I respect your choice!

[Ian Williams]

I seem to be on a bit of a roll at the moment, got on with making the rear wings, unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of beating them to shape but did remember to so the wiring process.

           

Having done that I couldn't resist offering up a roughed out sill with a rear guard propped in place to see how the lines were coming together

   

[Ivor Hawkins]

Brilliant photographs, excellent workmanship and the lines are sensational...an epic achievement Ian

[Austin in the Shed]

Proportionally the car looks excellent Ian, with just enough wing. Can see you are a perfectionist.

[Athanasius Santamaria]

Cracker stuff Ian. You really are charging out the gate.  Rivets on skin look real nice. Well done.

[Ian Williams]

Thanks for the positive comments. I have just found the pictures I took of beating the guards to shape, so for those who are interested and thinking of giving it a go here is the process I used. We want to stretch the metal in the centre and shrink it around the edges, so first using a Lignum Vita teardrop mallet or similar beat a couple of rows reasonably evenly down the centre. This will stretch the metal in the middle and leave a whole load of puckers along the edges, next we beat the puckers back in on themselves to shrink the metal around the edges, I do this with a wooden mallet over a gentle radius stake dolly. Repeat until you have created more or less the right shape, we now need to planish out all the beating marks, this can also be done over the stake with a slapper, but in my case I have a wheel so used it to speed up the planishing process. Of course you could do the whole thing simply on a wheel, but to put in this much shape like that takes absolutely ages and life is too short! 


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[Ian Williams]

Getting a little ahead of my self maybe, but having finished making the rear wings I could not resist making a front stay so I could attach a headlight and prop an old front wing in place. I will probably not use the old wing as the mounting holes will be in the wrong place and I fell they need to be a little longer, but overall I must say I am very pleased with the way things are coming together.

   

[jpsmit]

looks brilliant! loving this thread

[Peter Naulls]

It's a lovely looking car Ian.

Do you have to anneal the ali at any point or can you complete a wing before it begins to work harden?

Peter.