I am so proud of you and all you've accomplished. Thanks for taking time away from the car recently to take care of me after my surgery...though relaxing at your house wasn't great with all the hammering and grinding of the nose going on in the basement. I can't wait to see the car at the showdown!!!
Is it possible for a car like this to compete in the AMBR? (I don't know the rules, etc.) I know Zach would never try, but I'd love to see what the finished product could do.
I have nothing to say that hasn't been said already. I tell you all the time but this car is going to RULE no matter what choices you 'settle' on. Keep up the good work. I'm still playing the lottery
id love to see some in progress shots of how you formed the nose's curves with those hand tools.... and no bucks! by god, you have SCARY talent.
yeah, i do have a sandbag and a shrinker/stretcher also, which i used the shrinker a bit on the edges to get them a little at the end and also around the sides of the buldges..you can see in the pics where i used them the sand bag was used a little in the base/chin for stretching but i didnt like the results so i went back to not using it sorry i didnt take any progress shots while i was making it... just shrink where it looks like it needs shrunk and stretch where it looks like it needs stretched? i guess you can kinda imagine it like one big giant dent in a fender, its dented flat and you have to get it back to looking like a track nose again. all the books and videos out there show ways to go about it. just put them into an order where you end up with what you want its 3003 h-14 .062 aluminum annealed once about half way through the process this is only the 2nd nose ive tried to make of this type and i did the one on my other track roadster but that one was pretty simple I'm just learning as i go so i dont know how i can really explain it? the music is "grandpappy earl davis" titled grandpappy's hot rod blues thanks again everyone for the comments Zach
i wouldn't believe it myself, but i've been there and watched him do it... he makes it look so easy....
It's hard to comment on this... I gues the best thing I can say it that the complete package of the car as a whole really looks great. I think that's the biggest challenge... A lot of 'great craftsmen' don't get it right in the end. Your car is a really interesting complete package. The tools you use are exactly like the tools my grandpa and great uncle used to make/use. That's a good thing because it tells people that using the excuse that you can't afford an english wheel so you can't build that you want is bogus... I will remember that pic of your hammers every time I think I can't do something because I don't have a _____... Great job. And thanks for taking the time to take the pics. For not thinking you had to keep this project 'SUPER-SECRET TM' untill you "DEBUTED" it at some show. And for sharing the progress.
I love it when a guy can make that kind of stuff from old logs and duct tape!!! Like Ryan said, A true inspiration.!!!
Wow, you are to be commended for your skill and "getting" it all in one package. If this is a beginner level car from you I want to be around in 10 years to see how freakin good you become!
Hey Zach, you wouldn't be sandbaggin us on the tools you used to build that nose, would you? Those look an awful lot like english wheel marks on the nose of this thing...
Truely amazing! The guys like SUHRsc that do the metal shaping the old fashion way amaze me. I see lots of talent there. The car looks great, lots of vision. The only reason I use to to watch Boyds show was to see skills of Marcel. Boyd would go over to Marcel's shop with a sketch and Marcel would hand form the bodies for Boyd. Marcel had alot more tools but also had tons of skill. Metal shapers got the shit!
thats actually the marks from lightly sliding the file over the metal to see where the highs and lows are thats the 2nd use for the file find the level of it, then shrink with it like a slap hammer
They are scuff marks from pushing a piece of sheetmetal through between the donut shaped wheels. They look like stretch marks, or file marks. In this photo they run from front to back on the nose where you would want to stretch some shape into the metal. Imagine pushing and pulling the top section of the nose from front to back through the english wheel, see the long, narrow marks? Zach explained that they are actually file marks from where he was cleaning up the high-spots from hammering the shape into the nose. Pretty amazing looking piece either way.
If you weren't so far away you could do the same thing I do... go hang out at Jimmy White's and take notes... LOL
Great work SUHRsc.. You'r car is looking really kool. I'm very impressed with you'r fab. skills. Certainly inspirational.
You have described Zach's talent perfectly,we are all in awe of his incredible talent. Zach, did you have a drawing or blueprint for the seat,to work from? That is the best looking seat i've seen.
Next time you are watching ...PLEASE hold a video camera in your trembling , awe-struck hands and post to youtube! A lot of people have never had the chance to see this kind of metal shaping and could learn LOTS from seeing it. There is only one oldtimer in the area that does this kind of work and he can barely get around anymore. Zach, I hope you join in on the metalshaping demos at the Showdown.
Ryan, you should go take a class from Fay Butler...he is the greatest guy. You'd love his place and your time spent there. I'm sure it would be like your time at Tardels joint... Inspirational. Would be a great piece for the Hambers too.
I will vouch for the hack part, I saw you weld an exhaust hanger! But, now that I think about it you didnt do to bad, wouldnt even let me commandeer the welder! You got patience and style, you might be surprised what kinda metal work you can do Ryan!
ryan, your best bet i would think for the least amount of money would be to invest in a metalurgy book, learn how and why the metal reacts like it does also pick up some books on fixing dents. honestly thats all this is. if you can know why a piece of metal got into the shape it did, you can work backwards to get it back to how it was with making something from scratch you have a clean slate just work backwards till you have what you wanted i know this probably sounds like a dumb explination....but theres no art to it at all...its just a matter of making the metal shape into what you want it to be if you divide it up into smaller steps you can accomplish each part individually and in the end weld it together and have something to show for it 29 bowtie, i bought an original stainless WWII seat for patterns, changed them a little bit to get it to work on my car and then used rivets instead of spot welding heres the 2 side by side Larry, I'd love to fool around at the metal shaping area at the showdown but it seems to be hard to get away from all the hot rods theres quite a few guys there a heck of alot better at this then i am anyways
The Jalopy Journal
