Metal Fabrication Question??

I am not happy with the way the outside radius of the top of the door/window opening changed along the length on my Lead Sled project...



so I had a couple of channels brakepress-formed by a buddy...



(I highlighted it blue in Photoshop so it would show up better) These will give me a nice consistent outer and inner radius for the top of the door/window opening and will raise the beltline just a bit making the chop look a little lower. (BTW, I am not going to have roll-up windows in the car for now. Will be fabricate some removable side curtains for the time being.)

The issue that has me thinking right now is that I have to put some planview sweep in the channel to get it to flow with the side of the car. You can see how much here...






So the question is how do i go about adding in the sweep without destroying the radii and the smooth flat top of the channel?

I have access to a shrinker/stretcher but it wont reach the central flat of the channel. I have hammers and dollies and can make wooden hammer forms if required.

Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?

I am willing to split the channel into two separate angles and weld them back together if that is the best approach.

Thanks for any and all input.

 

that is exactly what you will need to do.... split the channel in half and very carefully stretch the top side it will not tae much to match this body angle.

 

That is the conclusion that I came to also, but didn't know if there is some other method out there that I am unaware of...outside of making a custom rolling die or stamping die.

 

stretch one half, shrink the other and weld back together.

 

i would make the whole piece with a hammerform exactley to the shape i needed, one hammerform for each side

 

Thanks for the input. Since I already have the channels, I am going to try splitting them down the middle and shrinking/stretching the appropriate side to get the sweep right. If I am not happy with the results I will make a hammer form and try that. I should be able to make one two-sided hammer form since each sides "should" be a mirror image of the other.

i will post some pics of the results.

 

Started this last night by splitting one of the channels and playing with the shrinker/stretcher a bit. Looks like it is going to work out great, just need to keep working at it to get the sweep right.

I will post some pics when I have the first side tacked in.

Thanks again for the ideas.

 

Before welding the halves back together decide if you want the finished piece wider at one end on the top flat area or not and weld accordingly. It's an option. jw

 

Yup. Will do. That is one big advantage of splitting them. I can put the bit of taper that I really should have as they approach the c-pillar.

 

I would have bought a piece off 16 or 18 gauge square tubing & bend it slightly on the floor between a couple of 2x4s ? then cut for both sides of car

 

I checked into that, but couldn't find the size that I needed. So...

I got out in the garage after work yesterday and got the outside half of one side of the door/window opening shaped and tacked in. I am very happy with the results.









Going to work on the inside of this opening tonight and then I get to try and make the other side symmetric....fun, fun, fun.

 

lookin good

 

Before you get to far down the road . What are your plans for the quarter window ? It appears that the glass will have a slight curve at the belt line. Having a custom curved window made can get expensive.

 

My plan right now is to make some removable side windows/curtains that would only get installed if I get caught in bad weather. Eventually, I will add trimmed out windows including roll down windows in the doors. The quarter glass will be fixed and I plan to use polycarbonate/lexan for them. I should be able to let the window frame to hold the curve in the glass. Otherwise I can heat and drape form the lexan if necessary.

 

just read the posts.....useful info there,your job looks as tho it all turned out real good

 

I like the look of that. great work!

 

heat that bitch red hot n cool it with a cold wet sponge on the side u want to come in

 

One more quick update for now and then You can go back to your regularly scheduled program...

Got the inside pieces of the LH doortop tacked in...


Including the taper to the rear of the window opening...

 

Any updates? I like the ideas so far.

 

Hi Johgn,

Nice job! The only thing you might try differently on the other side is shape the two pieces and weld them on the bench so that stretching the weld area back out to flat will be easier. Stretching upside down on a flat surface is the ticket.

John www.ghiaspecialties.com