Projects Introducing the Roofus Special

That's where the talent comes in lol.

 

So do y'all like the track nose?

I like the shape, but I'm kinda disapointed that it will hide the front crossmember.

 

ya but the track nose give it that art deco streamlined look. Very cool and you can do alot of neat stuff with the grille insert.

 

I generally dislike aerodynamic fairings for the same reason: I don't hold with hiding the mechanism. But this one is cool, for some reason. It has a bit of a pre-war racer/late steam locomotive/WWII aircraft feel to it. Do you have space to move it rearwards?

 

Not really. The trailing edge of the grill shell is already at the front of the motor. ...and to keep the sweet transition to the hood, I can't shorten the shell's length (front to back) much either.

 

Have you thought of integrating it into the hood, like an early Renault clamshell?

I'm also thinking of the side elevation. It's very easy to get an uncomfortable, nose-heavy look when one combines a substantial front overhang with the '20s-'30s idiom you're working in. I'd mock up some wheels and take a long critical stare at the side of the car.

 

Not sure what he's got in mind for rolling stock, but scale wise it looks like the leading edge of the tire should be pretty close to the tip of the frame...

 

Yeah, that's what I was shooting for.

 

If the front tyre will obscure the front edge of the nose when viewed straight on from the side, I think you'll be OK. Too small of a front tyre would be disastrous, though.

 

If the car sits as low as I think it will, the leading edge of the grill/frame horn will be visible below the leading edge of the tire.

 

Next weekend, I plan on going back to dad's house again. I may set this beast off of the table and do a mock-up at ground level.

 

really looking forward to seeing it on the ground.

 

Those are black rivets. We use them in our shop all the time. Very strong grip and overall strength.

Great build. I'm working on a boattail re-build right now. Keep up the great work.

 

I cannot wait to see overall pictures of the car out in the sun. Hows it going?

 

I'm planning on heading to dad's after work today and work on it this weekend. I doubt the car will make it outside, but it should make it to the ground for a better mock-up. It should be in the same configuration as last time (no changes planned).

I'm so anxious to walk around it and look at it like a real car.

 

Me and my daughter went to dad's for the weekend. We had a great time visiting but I didn't get nearly as much done as if I would have gone alone.

I started out trying to make frames for bucket seat backs.


I was shooting for the same feel as the bench seat in my truck





It didn't work all that well. It didn't feel great and took up interior room.

Plan B One seat back.

Not wanting to mess up anything good for a mock-up...I grabbed a very rusty VW hood that was destined for the crusher.








view behind the seat. I need to figure out how the seat back will attach and how it will be supported


My daughter trying it out. The VW hood was amazingly comfortable. The shape was much simpler than my truck seat.

 

great stuff! keep up the good work. remember...simple is the guiding light here. narrow, light weight and simple!!

 

I also mocked up a set of model A hood sides. They might be louver donors...not sure.







I didn't take it off of the table, but I did the next best thing. I made my daughter climb on the table to show the size of the car. She's maybe 5' 5"



It's a sleek LITTLE car!

 

I also welded in the bottom 1x1 tubes that will be part of the driveshaft tunnel. (not yet welded in this pic)


I'm having a hard time deciding how the sheetmetal in this are will all fit together. I haven't found the elegantly simple solution yet. I need to blend the driveshaft tunnel to the front of the seat bases while sealing off the driveshaft...and the whole thing needs to support the weight of the middle part of the car.

 

Take a look at the front end of this BNC, from the cyclecar thread:

Is there any way you can slope the radiator and thereby gain a bit of space to move the front end back a little? I think it just needs a tad, but it's hard to tell without a look from the side with something to represent the final wheel size.

 

IMHO, I think you'd be better off with a WOOD single seat back. Just weld in some supports and screw the upholstered seat back in. Easy to upholster. You could even make some brackets so that the seat just slides in place -- a socket and drop down, or a piece of steel shaped to drop over a support at least 1" bolted to the seat back (before upholstering). Then you can just roll the edges of the metal or use a push-on plastic or metal edges trim on it.

 

I never considered wood. I was hoping to get some strength out of the seat back and had assumed it had to be metal.

 

what happened to the bomber-like seats you mocked up earlier? They had a really good look to them.

 

They didn't play well with the "spring boxes".

 

3/4" plywood screwed in will be stiffer than sheet metal. Heavier, but stiffer. You can always weld a piece of sheet metal in and screw a 1/2" piece of plywood with upholstery over it. Thinner than 3/8" would flex too much and not be quite enough to hold staples good.

 

Hey whats going on with the build? ANy updates? Had some nice weather

 

I haven't had a chance to work on it. Work has been crazy the past couple weeks. If all goes well, I will go work on it next weekend.

 

I finally got a chance to do something!

I had a general idea of how I wanted to do my trans mount, but had no idea of how the trans tunnel would tie in. Everything I visualized got real complicated.

I went to wally-world and picked up posterboard to play with.



It worked great to eliminate a couple of ideas that didn't work in real life.

I started off making fronts to the seat bases. The beefed up bead roller is fun to use (as opposed to frustrating).





I then traced the panels to see the "box" th trans mount had to fit in.



I mocked up a mount in posterboard. It worked good enough to transfer to steel.

 

Even though it is a short span between the seats, I felt the mount needed more beef.



I bent up a simple reinforcement to double the material and add gussets













now for the tunnel

I screwed around with the idea of a beefy safety loop, but nothing seemed to work. In the end I just made a simple tunnel.

First in posterboard





then in steel









Nothing is welded in. I am considering bead rolling the tunnel, but need to know where the seat back will be before I can finalize a design.

 

....and I also plan to have a bolt in piece at the front of the tunnel to seal off around the trans.