I just looked up Riley cars info and ,for sale, looks like I won't be getting one myself. Isn't that just always the way?
I found another photo of the Riley. This is the same car as in the first photo. I will start the build info tomorrow.
Is this a complete rebody of a wrecked car or something of that sort? I'm wondering what happened to the orig. body is why I ask.
Hi John, (guess) I did say earlier in the thread that this car was turned into a 'special' some time in the 1950s The body that was built at that point was pretty poor apparently and was removed before I was given the rolling chassis to work on. David
There are many ways to build one of these bodies and I have done it in a variety of ways but this car was done using an angle iron frame for the scuttle (cowl). The owner supplied me with the chassis with the floor pans installed, the rear bulkhead (firewall) made from ply and the base for the rear section installed. He also made a simple 'Buck' from polystyrene to give me an idea of how he wanted the back of the body to look. Above is the angle iron frame I made, it had to bolt to the chasis, provide mounting for the steering column, strength for the scuttle (cowl) area and mounting points for the windscreen posts. The bulkhead (firewall) fits to the front of the frame also. (The chassis in the background is not the Riley chassis)
In this photo (above) you can see the polystyrene buck for the back of the body. I made the panels for the scuttle first, as you can see this area was made from three sections of ally. I use 1050A (S1BH4) this is commercially pure aluminium in a half hard state. I use this because it is what was used in the old days and I can weld it to old panels when repairing them without problem. There is a flange that runs along the bottom of this ally work and bolts to the chassis.
The customer provided me with a full size plan of his gauge cluster. This is how I planned out the dash support.
John, You are right, the art of making panels is breaking them down into simple parts. In the case of the car above all the real shape is in the tail end. This is a very simple shape. It still takes quite a lot of time to build one of these things though. I guess if I were doing several in a row that were all the same I could knock them out quite quickly but each one is different and all the ones I have done have been based on different chassis. The Sunbeam did not have one compound curve in it except the bowl on the tail but it was far from simple to build and get right. David
Here are another couple of Rileys I did some years ago. The car in the front was featured in 'The Automobile' magazine. I had it here so it could be photographed. The one at the back was built by me about 16 years ago and is still raced it is fairly successful in vintage racing. All very similar but very different at the same time. The car in the foreground is in bare ally, was never painted. It now resides in Germany. This is my favorite of the Rileys I have built. I had a completely free hand in the design and build. It started as a Riley Kestrel saloon that was derelict and had not been on the road in almost thirty years and had changed hands a dozen times in that time, it was well beyond economical restoration but that did not stop the purists kicking up a stink when it was featured in 'The Automobile'. lol!. David
Here is another shot of the two cars above. In this photo it is obvious that this car has far more shape and detail than the one in the build thread. Even the chassis of the Riley above was so rotten that I replaced about half of it. I shortened it by 18 inches. I made the cycle wings (fenders) and the wing stays windscreen mount petrol tank, dash, exhaust and many other small parts for this car. David
BACK TO THE BUILD.... Above is another shot of the car with the cowl section part made. Once again you can see the polystyrene 'Buck'. Once this was all finalised i removed the frame work, primed and painted it. This may seem a bit of a strange way to construct a car body but it is in keeping with the way some cars were made, The Sunbeam I showed earlier was made on something of an angle iron frame and as far as I know that was entirely correct. Cars like Altas were also constructed in this way. David
If you look at the chassis in the photo above you can see that it is made sort of inside out and the chanel is formed with the open side to the outside of the chassis, the whole chassis is boxed as standard but it is pretty ugly and that is the reason I made the chassis covers. More on this later. David
I'm not familiar with Rileys, but from what I gathering there are quite a few rebodies. Is this like the older Bentlys which are often rebodied to a more desirable model? Above you said you had a completley free hand in design of body. How does that work and still remain a Riley, I would have thought there were specific models that people wanted?
That is the point, Just like a hot rod you take the car and do what you want to it. Riley Chassis, Riley engine, Riley suspension, Riley brakes and steering = Its still a Riley, Just modified. For the most part this is done to cars that do not have a great deal of value - like the Kestel - like the one I showed earlier. There is a lot more Riley in one of these than there is Ford in most hot rods but people still cal a duece a 32 Ford. A new Bentley in the twenties and thirties most often would be bought fron the factory as a running chassis, you would then take it to the coachbuilder of your choice and have a body built in the style of your choosing. That is why there are Bentleys with Park Ward bodies and others with vanden plas bodies and many many other coachbuilders they were also built with a large variety of styles- coupe, saloon, tourer, four door two door. Often the car would be re-bodied several times as fashions changed or the whim took you. David
Hey David, So, when will you be posting the photos of all the panels slathered with plastic filler & hy-build primer since I'm told time and again that this is how ''all'' builds are prepaired for paint?.............................just kidding! The alloy of aluminum( yank spelling for that light metal ) you're using, is that the same as 1100 series? I'm told this was a favorite of blighty coachbuilders back in the day. Anything you recall, in print, on the woodworking of a coachbuilt vehicle for a project built from scratch? Thanx for the great posts, " Life is a ministrone ''
That car is breath taking! I'm guessing the grill shell is custom also - very striking. Would look great on some period yank lakes racer. I want one!
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