K, so I got a little more done to her. So trying to come up with how to build the body. Decided on using superstrut. You can find it at most of the SUPER hardware stores. I got mine at Lowes. fairly cheap and versatile. Playing around with it got it kinda shaping how i wanted. Once i was convined that it would work, I had to commit to a buck. Here I'm trying to decide on the drop of the nose. It looks like it'll be around 3 1/2-4". Started out by building a wood buck to shape the body on. I don't have ANY fancy tools so I have to wing most of it for now. So far so good just for reference here how Ettore had his.
So once i got it tight and about the shape i liked it was time to start ruining some sheet. Getting the cowl roughed in. Went out to Fastenal and bought a Piano hindge. here I'm sorting the hood. Basically just got some strapping and some rod stock. Once i got the general shape it was time to lay the hood sides down.
Since i don't have a slip roller or english wheel, I did this with my hands a foot and a knee every know and then. It's turning out really close to the way i want. I'll post up a few here in a sec with the buck sitting on the roller.
Here it is sitting on the chassis. It's really starting to look a "car". It's doesn't look like I'm going to meet my deadline. But hell when do we ever really. Obviously the wood will not remain with the body this is just for mock up purposes. In the pics the scale seems to tall, untill you throw a person next to it. Now i'm starting to try to come up with the boat tail, So far you've given quite a few ideas. Thanks guys, I'm probably going to go with the donor hood option. I might try to see what i can get the hood off that 53 GMC that i've been pilfering parts off. Sometimes those yahoos think old tin is gold so I'll just have to see. It's pretty damn rough and rusty so I wouldn't fell too bad cutting it up. On a different note. Who's coming to my hometown next week for the NATS, it would seem that none of the guys on my other forum are into it (mostly muscle cars). I wasn wanting to have it done or at least real close for this year, but given the economy really kicked me in the ass i guess i'll have to wait. Thanks for your ideas and support. C.Morgan
So; I saw your photo of you posed by your project. The pose and the background just seemd right for black&white. I saw a snap from a "back-in-the-day" file. Hope 'ya like it
this is what i had in mind when i was asking about the largest diameter F1 Ford truck rims i could get... want to take a pickup frame, a straight six with a manual trans, and do exactly the kind of car you're doing. nothin to but to DO it and you got it rolling along. keep us posted! i AM taking notes....
K, So yesterday i forgot to take the camera. I did start the framing for the body (cab). Got it on the frame and braced up. Not the greatest pic, but the diagonals came out well, a lot better than i had expected. The top bar is 6" from the frame. This will more than likely be as high as the body gets on the sides. To picture it you'll be stepping over this to get into the car. I tried to get the "seat back" as as far back as possible and the lay back just hitting the wheels. The real seat will be on a slider and hopefully have a slightly adjustable backrest. This is from the rear looking through the interior. The bent up bar on the frame is the trans mt. It goes under the frame. The trans will drop down while the motor will have to go up. That's what we got done last night. I'm waiting to try to skin the thing till Trevors not so busy he's got the plaz. His companies been in a mad thrash to finish a 37 ford coupe before the Nationals net weekend.
This morning i played with the grill. Trying to decide how to mount the damn thing. I mocked up some more crap to check for interference issues. Of course there are a few. One i new was going to happen. just getting the two halves together. This shows how tight the front is. I didn't think i was going to ba able to use the stock fan without modification. Turns out it just barely fits and with enough room to spin. Unfortunettly the axle and steering shaft are very close,very. So i may have to change how i was thinking for the bottom of the grill section. This shows it just fitting inside the frame for the grill. IT's not inside it though. I'm hoping to put hoodsides on it.
Here's the underside of the hood. Note the carb is damn near hitting the hood. I'm thinking about cutting a hole and have the carb sit outside the hood.Then cover it with a tear dropped blister. There is a guy on the HAMB that's hand forms them out of brass,aluminum,or steel.I think they're around 60 bucks and will dress the hood up nicely. The oil filter housing also hits the hood, this is the one i was expecting. Luckily it just bolts to the exhaust manifold so I should be able to relocate it fairly easily, assuming there is room. This one shows the housing a little of the carb and that damned ugly alternator. I'm wanting to relocate this thing and run it off the drive shaft. Mounting it under the seat as well as the battery. It's about the only place i have room for them. I don't want a big generator up front. So hopefully i can figure all that out. I think I've got my head around relocating it,and getting a pulley mounted on the shaft when i have it made. The problem is keeping the belt taught on the crank to the water pump. Right now it's using the alternator to tighten it. I need some sort of idler pulley. Just a few parting shots. I really couldn't be happier with the way it's turning out. I've never quite had an experience like it. I'm really enjoying the process, but do agknowlage the stress of having to come up with every thing.
not sure, i saw the car again last weekend so went to ask more about it, but as you can see from the abandoned bacon sarnie' no one was around, so here's a couple of shots
There are some of the original patent drawings on coachbuilt.com (http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/w/weymann/weymann.htm). Note that there are all kinds of flexible couplings, which moreover conveniently obviate the need for crafted timber joints. It's that that makes the Weymann fabric body forgiving. With modern penetrating wood treatments it can be a lot more durable, too. The well-known open tourers often seen on Bentley chassis were based on Weymann techniques, but were usually made by Vanden Plas. No doors to speak of meant that they didn't use much of the nitty-gritty of Weymann construction, though.
That's no Austin Seven chassis. The rails seem to be almost parallel, and look like they might terminate in quarter-elliptics at the front. That suggests GN or, possibly, Peugeot Quadrillette. Any other theories?
Ford solved the pedal problem by making them round. This shape is pretty ergonomic in that the bottom of your shoe always finds the edge no matter what angle you move toward it, as you shift or brake. Bungs welded on the end of the levers allow that kind of pedal to just screw in . Then it has no up and down. The oblong shape will cause problems with your ankles. Not so bad on an accelerator, because generally your heel is on the floor. As you have it, there, I expect your feet will get tired, real quick, braking and shifting, and beside that they look clunky (to me). A hacksaw is a good tool, and a lot can be done with it. And a file will do wonders. But, you can't heat stuff and bend it without a torch. Most of the older rods were built with oxy-acetylene torches. You can weld some really thick stuff, if you have the right size tip, and sheet metal work and leading are also part of the deal. How did you manage the nose without one? I like it a lot. It reminds me of a Whippet, except yours is fatter. (I admit I'm not that familiar with Bugattis, except the few I've seen in collections.) There is a high degree craftsmanship in them, and they are quite pleasing to the eye. You have your work cut out for you. From your drawing, I wonder if you intend to use a Pontiac Six, with the overhead cam? One with a T5 would help you reach escape velocity. Dig the fact you're going for something different. Keep posting your results. I'll be sure and look for them.
here's a bit inspiriation for you guys. it's a '31 Riley special that i'm workin' on for a customer. I reworked the whole body fabricated the fin on the boattail built the fenders from scratch louvered the tophood and so on. hope you enjoy.... Mario
I think this is a MG, M type, orig cloth bodied car. I could be very wrong but that is the impression I get.
Maybe turn the generator around and run it direct drive off the front of the crank. Like the old blower Bentleys and others with crank-driven blowers.
Don't wanna hijack the thread but the strange lil' thing above looks to have Austin 7 chassis, transverse front & wheels inc. steering wheel. Most likely rest of car Austin 7 too.
Yes, I see now. The red things I took for rails aren't rails but some sort of valance. Could definitely be Austin 7: but the frame does something odd just ahead of the seats. Also, the rear suspension seems to be cantilever semi-elliptics rather than Austin quarter-elliptics. Love your work, by the way: and that's from a fellow compulsive car-sketcher.
How is it that English/European cars can have warts all over them and still look fantastic!?!?!? Take a good look at the radiator shroud on this thing and think about the comments that some would post about the (lack of) quality of workmanship:
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