Projects TELSTAR,,,,weekend update,,,5/17/10

this weekend i had to make a few styling decisions on the car,,
last week, i started a thread on the possibility of using some styling cues from the 1955 Alfa Romeo BAT9 concept car, namely, the headlights....James D was kind enough to ply his photoshop expertise and give me some very good visuals to help me imagine what the car would look like with BAT9 style headlights,,

i did like the way they looked, but in the end, not enough to change what i have going already,,the main problem was that in order to make them work, i would have had to severely slope the nose, which basically contradicted the rest of the lines the car already has going.

Cleatus suggested reshaping the cove area in a way that further accentuates the lines of the car,,,,i have decided to go ahead and do just that (see tape line). doing that will make the hooded headlights flow smoothly as it transitions into the cove.

the next problem to be addressed was the cowl being too high for the rear of the car. i figured i had two options here,,,,the first was to section more from the cowl, the second was to add more metal to the rear of the car. one of the problems with sectioning more from the cowl is that i'm 6'5", and i'd end up looking like one of those crazy Roth Rat Fink cartoons when i tried to drive the car. in the end, adding metal won out (and turned out to be slightly less work as well),,i raised the fins and deck approximately three inches. doing this solved the problem beautifully, and completely eliminates the cowl to deck transition problem,,the doors transition much better also...

i also grafted on my inner wheelwell housings. the sectioning and the lowness of the deck had previously made it impossible to have a full wheelwell housing, thus limiting how low i could make the car,,the car has 4 inch lowering blocks in it now, and that was basically the limit,,there was no room to go lower because the deck and fins were too low to allow for any additional lowering,,,now, i can lower the car probably another 3-4 inches!

here are a few pics,,,,

 

Man ,I saw this car in person A few weeks ago, and picks. don't do it justice. Glad to see you back on it again ................Endsville Franco..................

 

Work it baby work it!

 

Kustom7777, very nice project you have going! I like the use of conduit to help determine shape of the new panels. Do you intend to leave the conduit in place as a part of the structure or is it intended to be a buck, something to fit your panel pieces to?

I'll continue to keep an eye on you!

Dan Stevens
dba, Steelsmith

 

I think you are on track.
One thing though, is I think it does lose a little something without that ***y dip in the door. That is one thing that really gave the car swoop.
I'd look at trying to move the back corner of the door top downward and inward some to try to get a little of your swoop back.

 

agreed,,,there will be some sort of dip,,i just bent up that piece of sheetmetal to give myself a general idea of how the door would transition into the quarter,,

 

yes, the conduit will be left in place as a structure for the skin to sit on,,,,i'll probably try to find some of that stuff that comes on a roll (not sure what it's even called,,haha),,to avoid having metal to metal,,,,

 

i think your talking about butyl tape, or "kit" as we call in the gl*** biz. go to any gl*** shop and see if the have a few rolls to sell.. looks way better now!!

 

James D,,or any photoshopper,,,,,
could you lower the car about 3 inches so i can get a good visual on how i'd like it to sit??

thanks a bunch,,

 

Don't know if it is three inches but it looks kool.

 

here's a before and after pic for comparison,,
you can see how much of a dip it had before,,,,
problem solved!

 

that was fast!!

thanks a TON, , ,
so stoked that i will now be able to lower it that much!!!
thanks again mick

 

I too, liked the dip at the rear of the door, it added a lot...I'd use it, altho maybe not as severe as it was...

R-

 

it WILL have a dip...
trying to decide between ranch or nacho cheese

 

That looks so much better now!

Looks like your fins are starting to grow back!

 

Living in Austin, TEXAS, it better be green chile...!!!

R-

 

That is a loooooong deck, you could even mid mount the engine!!!

 

ahhh,,,good eye,,,you saw that, huh?
just a mockup at this point,,,i think it may end up working better than what i did because it mimics the hooded headlight cover and adds a little visual length

 

I, for one, would like to see the fins grow back.
(To be honest, it kind of hit me sideways when you trimmed them off.)

 

'Mo.........
this is basically what i'm kicking around now..
(see tape mockup)..
i think it adds back some length, and it also compliments the hooded headlight shape very well,,

 

Spelling lesson for today: "complements"...meaning "it adds to it"

"Compliments" means "well wishes" (a**** other meanings).

R-

 

i will "complement" your post by telling you
that i "compliment" your keen eye for proper grammar..

 

quick and dirty but how about this?

 

OK, Lucky's photoshop looks like there should be a small V-shaped scoop (upside down) at the leading edge of the fin (at the door's dip)...now that would be cool...

Thanx for the compliment...here's mine: The car's looking outrageous...!!!

R-

 

I was just reading the Golden Sahara post and your car popped into my head...glad to see an update I like the fins added back on...

 

Hey,

Look for a picture of a Hudson Italia as bodied by Carrozzeria Touring for an example of what these ''scoops'' would look like.

 

good eye, 40...did another to make it more obvious and I also worked on the taillights..and please note the antennas
pimpin, that's a neat car...never have seen one before!

 

Hey,

Italian coachbuilder Touring patened the use of thin tubing in the 30's for lightweight support of body panels. Touring started out in the aircraft business, where weight is a big problem, and built aircraft body parts during WWII.

Perhaps you could wrap rubber hose (heater) around the tubing to stop drumming and metal to metal contact?

 

what about neoprene?
http://www.foamorder.com/neoprene.html

 

thanks lucky,,
i appreciate your time and work on that,,
i actually do have an idea for antennas,,
i was thinking somewhere else, but your idea has some definite possibilities..