For welding any sheet metal using a nozzle up to size five the correct pressure is between 3 and five pounds use equal pressure on both gases. for the brass sheet I use a no.3 nozzle. Its all on the DVD. You misunderstood about the rods. I did say that I changed from the prefluxed rods to silicon bronze rods and 'old' flux. I had to contact everyone I new and scrounge the old outdated and non-healthy flux. I have enough now to see me out. David
Hi Leon, here in the UK the nozzles come numbered 1-2-3-5-7-13 that's a standard set. I have been doing this so long I don't know if I was ever taught what the numbers stand for. I just 'know' what tip to use in most cases. If I get it wrong I just swap up or down until I get something that works. It depends on what material is being welded. I would use a larger tip for welding ally than for the same gauge steel. David
Here is a couple of other photos of the rebate for the bonnet (hood) This shows the side of the shell from above... ...and the top corner of the shell... Once this has been done I have about 14 hours of planishing and filing, sanding and polishing to lose every trace of the welds and make the whole thing as straight and blemish free as possible. David
Well. I charge 35.00 GBP per hour for most work which is a very cheap rate here in the UK (its about 60 USD at the present exchange rate). I charge a bit less for these 'cos its regular trade work. Then the materials cost about 45 GBP each one. Remember that they then have to have the insert made and be chrome plated which costs a small fortune here. David
Beautiful Work Mindover. I actually just worked with brass for the first time, I made brass window trim to replace the stainless trim on a chopped '51 Merc, much like the trim you made in the beginning of this thread. I used TIG and silicone bronze, wasn't too tough, but I'm sure brass sheet is tougher.
Hi cretin ( I still hate calling you that) I intend to try tig welding the brass but I imagine I will have the same issues that there are with tig welding aluminium- when the welds are beaten they tend to crack. I would never tig weld aluminium panels for this reason. David
Thanks Rex Stallion. The SS100 shell (and most others) is deeper where the center hinge sits at the top of the shell. This area is formed into a jig, this leaves the back edge a little short so I have to add metal here. This then has to be metal finished. David
This shows the shell as it nears completion The kit car shells do not have the hole cut for the filler because this is dummy. So that is the shell finished for the kit car. If the shell is for an original car I have a few more stages to go through to complete the shell. I will show this soon.
Like I said at the begining of this, I have been making these shells for more than twenty years. I went to the Suffolk Sports Car 'works' a while ago and they had the first Kit SS100 that was built back in so I took some photos. This shell was one of the first I made and has been on the car twenty odd years. The Kit is very well built and looks very convincing. David
Recently I had an original SS100 in the workshop and this gave me the first chance since I first made them to compare the shells I make with an original. I took some photos... I was please that they look very accurate. David
Amazing work Mindover! And your video is very informative as well, I just wanted to say that I have tigged with silicon bronze not on brass but on a cast iron pivot brace for a drill press and it held up for 20 odd years till the quill broke, might give that a try? I figured the porosity would vanish with this process.
Mindover, thank you for showing your skills, everything shown is what one would hope to see from an accomplished craftsman (though rarely reveled lol) what I would like to have seen and hopefully will is your finishing technique, are you using cotton gloves to stop hand oil? the absence of file marks and gouges? body files or sand paper block? This thread is a testament to what has been forgotten, no longer desired and believed impossible... handwork can accomplish anything. Cheers Mate
Thanks to everyone for the comments, thanks for looking I appreciate it!. I am pleased that you liked the DVD. I will give tig welding the brass a try but like I said I think I will have the same problem that you get when you tig weld aluminium- the weld will crack once it has been ground and filed then hammered. (my tig is out of action at the moment). David
I finish these shells in the same way I finish all the panels I make. I show some of this on my youtube footage and in more detail on my DVD. There is a short clip of me working on one of these shells on the youtube footage. David
good work sir ! doing my home country proud keeping the craft alive. my metal work blog www.themetalsurgeon.com
Question on your trim. Do you heat the whole corner when rounding the pattern? It would seem, the whole thing would kink at some point. Or, do you heat an inch, pull, heat an inch, etc?? Thanks for the photo's!
The last job on the rad shell before being sent for chrome is to cut and form the filler neck hole. I mark the possition of this on the shell and cut the hole by hand... I then possition and clamp a jig which alows me to hand form the flange. In these photos you can also see the holes for the bonnet tape have also been punched. David
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