Then I made a casting using silicone, which would conform to the shape of the grille shell, and taped it to the shell. Now I have to make another bondo mold of the bent logo, and from that a casting of the bent logo in metal. I might use pewter since I think I can melt it in my outdoor grille.
Very cool idea. If you get the desired results you should post it up on the next tech week thread. I’ll keep watching.
You might have been able to just bend a straight pewter emblem into the curved shape. The pewter items I've seen are soft. Many years ago Smokey here on the HAMB did a thread on casting with pewter. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-week-casting-a-metal-nameplate-for-your-car.731562/
I decided that the v-8 logo looked too big on the grille shell, so I mounted it back on the grille bars. I am finally working on making the hood.
Good call on the V8 Badge...you know what they say...you know if it's right when you see it... It looked to large to me as well...you have a cool Hotrod there @hfh...enjoying your transformation...and it's great your on the road as well...
I think the third picture is about right. Don't know about reaching a vanishing point with this particular car though. The hood needs to continue the same line or plane as the cowl, and it appears to do that and be slose to parallel to the ground. I think that looks great just like it is. Don't know if its just the ground its sitting on, or the blocks under the front end, but I think just a hair lower in front.....but it still looks great right now.
I don't know if this is the best way to make the hood parts but I started with a piece of cardboard that was almost the right shape.
Then to that I added smaller, more easily cut pieces to get the edges to fit the grille and cowl. I will trace this pattern on the sheet metal and attempt to cut accurately.
I buy scrap metal....called off fall from a local metal supply warehouse. If you buy aluminum or sheet metal, they have a type of cardboard that's more like a thick sheet of paper. Probably about .030 thick is my guess. I think it would really work well for making a pattern as it's pliable and doesn't have the corrugated stuff. Since you need to buy sheet metal for the hood, you might check and see if your metal supply store has some. It's free when I buy sheetmetal.
My brother was shop foreman in a local industrial sheet metal fabrication shop. Every pallet of metal had a cover sheet top and bottom. They wouldn't use them because they had dirt and grit on them the would dull the blades on their shears and wear out the rest of the machine. Metal supplier didn't charge for them and they were free to customers for the asking.
I helped restore one of these Rileys back in the eighties and as someone else said on here grilles over here are not that hard to find, I had never thought about putting one on a hot rod ....looks absolutely superb well done.
It's been a lot of fun trying to get the Riley grille to look at home on a model A roadster. I think the shapes and lines in this grille are very nice. I like the way it works with my windshield. I don't think it would be as nice with an original windshield. I think it really needs hood tops to connect it to the rest of the car and I think the center hinge will be an important part of that connection. But I'm just enjoying bending the rules for making a traditional hot rod.
I like the grill with the V8 emblem. The grill and windshield go together nicely and tie into the coach line on the cowel. It almost calls for 33 curved louvers in the sides of the hood just my 2cts worth. I would like to have a Riley grill for my 29. Frank
Thank you Frank. I hope you can find a grille for your car. It's been lots of fun getting the grille on mine. Driving it with the hood tops made it overheat on a hot day last week, which is why I need to see if the louvers will help on that problem.
What temperature did it run before. My tub runs around 180 in traffic and the electric fam turns on and it cools down on the toad it runs about 165 to 170 with a full hood. I have new Drake pumps on mine. When the fan spindle broke and the fan ate the radiator when I was running 75 MPH it came thru the radiator and out the front. I had it recored at a shop that does over the road and heavy equipment radiators because most of the radiator shops now can only crimp plastic Tank's on. That's why electric fan. Here is what I used. Frank
Frank, that's a nice tub that you have. From your pictures I can't see that you have any louvers. It's great that your engine runs that cool. I think I need to drive mine a bit more and to be more scientific before I panic. ( I think I like the look better with no louvers).My old gauge might not be that accurate. To use the Riley grille I needed to have a smaller than standard radiator made. I think the fan is 16" in diameter and it is set to come on at 185. I also have an airscoop to direct air to the bottom of the radiator. The fan does come on when I am in traffic or climbing a long hill but it does not run when I am moving down the road.
If you need more cooling capacity, a box-like 'shroud' w/aft-hinged (top edge), flaps would draw thru the rad. but may mean rearward 2-3" move for the juice fan. Think: rectangular radiator core-size funnel, that reduces to round & pours into the fan.
No louvers , and I agree with Pitman about the fan shroud. You need to pull Air thru the whole surface area of the radiator , not just the fan area. Have you got the newer style water pumps on it?
HFH, I love just about everything you've done to this car. You've created a truly unique look and it's in no small part due to the attention to detail and eye for proportion. The only criticism I have is for the splash pan. IMHO it detracts from the grille's beauty and the "face" of the car in general. Cowcatcher keeps coming to mind. As some others have suggested the flow would be cleaner with bobbed frame horns and a much smaller pan. I get 3 cents back from my nickel now.
Thank you Frank. I do want to learn to make my own louvers but maybe not on this hood. It would be good to change the water pumps as they have been on there for 20 years.
Thank you Jack for your comments. I agree about the "cowcatcher" similarity. I didn't want to alter a nice old frame until I am sure about what I am doing. I need to live with it and look at it and when the time is right I will tear it apart and try another idea. It is all fun for me and I don't expect to ever finish it. I do think that the shell is slightly small for the rest of the car so surrounding it with the hood and short sides helps. At least for now.
My radiator is 16 in. Wide and 18 in. Tall which makes 288 square inches and it's 2 in. Thick makeing a total of 576 cubic in of cooling, in a 29 model A shell. Do the measure of yours and see how it compares to mine. Frank
Look at the pictures of old cars they all have some sort of apron on hideing the uglies. Personally I like yours.
The Cow Catcher...I hate that jab myself...is just a part of the soul of these type of cars...Bobbing the horns was done back in the day but was a preference as many were running horns forward shrouded and not so... In a mechanical sense the shrouded Horns probably channel cooling air right into the rad for better cooling... I see moving forward hood sides and selective addition of louvers to bring your Hotrod into a more finalized configuration...and you have a pretty good handle on things to date... Very much enjoying the journey from this vantage point @hfh