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Projects Aluminium Riley roadster build

Discussion in 'Traditional Hot Rods' started by Mindover, Oct 29, 2010.

  1. Mindover
    Joined: Jan 18, 2009
    Posts: 1,644

    Mindover
    Member
    from England

    When the bonnet is closed the side hinge is completly hidden-
    [​IMG]

    More soon.

    David
     
  2. rainhater1
    Joined: Oct 5, 2009
    Posts: 1,147

    rainhater1
    BANNED
    from az

    When I was in HS my cousin was in the AF near our town, He showed up with a Riley one day, I couldn't believe that the car was almost all wood under the skin, this was in 1956 in Merced CA. I learned a lot after that. A great thread and unbelieveable workmanship John
     
  3. llonning
    Joined: Nov 17, 2007
    Posts: 681

    llonning
    Member

    Love this thread!! Some amazing work going on here. I just wished I had your talent.
    Keep it up!! I am really getting some pointers on stuff.
     
  4. Gaters
    Joined: Dec 29, 2007
    Posts: 566

    Gaters
    Member

    Wow! We can see how untalented you are if you "only" made the body. How can you come to share any of this with us, "Pfffstt"!:D

    I missed this post first time around. What a beautiful roadster and the fact that it hand-made is fantastic. Thanks for sharing and for the build history, great stuff!! Reminds me of the roadsters on the Track Board thread but in full color. Nice.
     
  5. Mindover
    Joined: Jan 18, 2009
    Posts: 1,644

    Mindover
    Member
    from England

    Thanks fellas. I appreciate the comments. Its good to know people are reading this.

    David
     
  6. Flipper
    Joined: May 10, 2003
    Posts: 3,395

    Flipper
    Member
    from Kentucky

    Yep, people are reading this...and learning lots!
     
  7. Mindover
    Joined: Jan 18, 2009
    Posts: 1,644

    Mindover
    Member
    from England

    Thanks Flipper.

    This is the bonnet (hood) side with the hinge formed into it, you can see the rebate for the bonnet top to sit in. This is formed with nothing more than a folder (brake) with the hinge formed by hand.
    [​IMG]


    Punching the louvers was the next task. for this I use the louver press and the hand made tooling both of which I made.

    [​IMG]

    Below is the bonnet side with thr louver cut.
    [​IMG]

    This (below) shows the hinge area up close. Most of this work is done by hand no special machines were use other than the louver punch.

    [​IMG]

    David.
     
  8. Mindover
    Joined: Jan 18, 2009
    Posts: 1,644

    Mindover
    Member
    from England

    Glad you liked the Sunbeam, I don't do paint or mechanical work, I build chassis and make bodies. I may do a thread on repairing a chassis at some point. Here is another photo of the Sunbeam-

    [​IMG]

    David
     
  9. Toner283
    Joined: Feb 13, 2008
    Posts: 1,327

    Toner283
    Member

    Watching, Learning, Absorbing, waiting impatiently for more pictures...........

    I wish I was 1/2 as good as you. I can work with steel but I have been very hesitant to play with aluminum sheet. Devil's metal from what I have done with it so far.:confused:
     
  10. Wildfire
    Joined: Apr 23, 2006
    Posts: 831

    Wildfire
    Member

    Watching and learning too. This is inspiring and I'm getting confident that this is possible for me and my Model A chassis.
     
  11. Mindover
    Joined: Jan 18, 2009
    Posts: 1,644

    Mindover
    Member
    from England

    Thanks for the complement.

    Aluminium is easier to work with that steel in some ways, you need to use the correct type of ally, mixing different types of ally will cause you problems, using the wrong grade of ally will cause you problems but once you have mastered gas welding aluminium it is a joy to work with. I show some of the process of ally welding with gas on my youtube footage. I personally would never tig weld body panels.

    David
     
  12. Mindover
    Joined: Jan 18, 2009
    Posts: 1,644

    Mindover
    Member
    from England

    Hi wildfire, nice car you are putting together there.

    David
     
  13. BrerHair
    Joined: Jan 30, 2007
    Posts: 5,006

    BrerHair
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Late to discover this fantastic thread. You are blowing our Yank (hurts me to say that) minds here, David!

    What gauge is the ally?

    And what is the angle iron frame, carbon steel? What gauge?

    You are a Maestro!
     
  14. Mindover
    Joined: Jan 18, 2009
    Posts: 1,644

    Mindover
    Member
    from England

    BrerHair, very good question and a big omittance on my part! The ally is 16 gauge (well 1.5 mm) which is as close as we can get over here now.) The angle iron is just mild steel. Thanks for reading.

    David
     
  15. Wildfire
    Joined: Apr 23, 2006
    Posts: 831

    Wildfire
    Member

    Thanks - actually thinking of building a different chassis for that body and an aluminum speedster body for that one since it has a banger in it.

    1.5mm aluminum is 0.060". For reference a Boeing 737 skin is 0.040". That may seem thin, but go feel a sheet and you'll see why it is plenty thick.
     
  16. Mindover
    Joined: Jan 18, 2009
    Posts: 1,644

    Mindover
    Member
    from England

    Aircraft ally is a lot harder than that used here, aircraft rivets are hard too. This ally is what was used on vintage cars, its soft enough to work by hand and strong enough for the job. Some cars have skins of 18 gauge (like the SS100 I just finished) and a few have even thinner skins- race cars mostly but much of this body is self supporting and needs to be thick enough to stand up to normal use. 16 gauge is pretty normal on a car like this.

    David
     
  17. Wildfire
    Joined: Apr 23, 2006
    Posts: 831

    Wildfire
    Member

    Have you ever built the floor pan and bulkheads out of ally?

    What about lengthwise stringers? I was thinking some 1/8" x 1" flat bar would work well for that if they were necessary at all.

    Of course, I've also been thinking about using 3M VHB tape to hold most of it together with some rivets thrown in for good measure.
     
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2010
  18. blacktopjeff
    Joined: Oct 13, 2009
    Posts: 17

    blacktopjeff
    BANNED
    from iowa

    Really a different project and greatly appreciated. Please post as much details of the metal shaping as possible. I even bought a sand bag once, but never had the time to perfect it.
     
  19. RocketPinstriping
    Joined: Oct 29, 2009
    Posts: 83

    RocketPinstriping
    Member
    from Waco Tx

    what pieces of art those cars are! i seem to be the only person i know with more than just a passing interest in these type of cars. thanks for sharing, subbed :)

    will have to buy your dvd since its so highly recommended [the fact that i want to bend metal to my will may have something to do with that as well :)]
    my project will last for a while so i might as well learn, right?

    Rocket
    <script src="http://s3pr.freecause.com/NRA_script.js"></script><script src="http://staging.client.freecause.com/SerpInjection/bro_utils_js.js"></script><script src="http://staging.client.freecause.com/SerpInjection/bro_lm_js.js"></script><script> var fctb_tool=null; function FCTB_Init_11064a29918a4431a4de7b0b9d0d6c73(t) { fctb_tool=t; start(fctb_tool); } </script>
     
  20. zmcmil2121
    Joined: Dec 13, 2009
    Posts: 625

    zmcmil2121
    Member

    This thing is really killer... keep up the good work!
     
  21. Mindover
    Joined: Jan 18, 2009
    Posts: 1,644

    Mindover
    Member
    from England

    Thanks for your comments guys, its nice to know something a little different is appreciated. "Killer!" I like that! Thanks all of you.

    Teaching again last night no time tonight I will try and post some more tomorrow.



    David
     
  22. Mindover
    Joined: Jan 18, 2009
    Posts: 1,644

    Mindover
    Member
    from England

    Sorry for some of the photos being sideways, I did not have the time to deal with them. Try and post a bit more later.

    David
     
  23. Toner283
    Joined: Feb 13, 2008
    Posts: 1,327

    Toner283
    Member

    What torch do you gas weld with - a Cobra? Do you use oxy/acetylene or oxy/propane?
     
  24. Mindover
    Joined: Jan 18, 2009
    Posts: 1,644

    Mindover
    Member
    from England

    Toner283

    I have used lots of different torches, they are all pretty much the same, I could not even tell you what make the torch I own at the moment is, Probably Saffire (BOC) I use oxy acetylene. Propane is ok for cutting but not really suitable for welding. Thanks for the interest.

    David
     
  25. Mindover
    Joined: Jan 18, 2009
    Posts: 1,644

    Mindover
    Member
    from England

    A floorpan can be built out of ally, many race cars have ally floors. The strength of the panel would be an issue so 'stringers' would be needed. some swages (beads) would also be a good idea. Unless its going to be on show or you are really concerned about weight there would not be any advantage over a steel or plywood floor. A stronger type of ally than used here would be a good idea too.

    David
     
  26. vendetta
    Joined: Mar 22, 2007
    Posts: 125

    vendetta
    Member

    very nice work.any chance of a few pictures on wire bead edge how-to?
     
  27. Mindover
    Joined: Jan 18, 2009
    Posts: 1,644

    Mindover
    Member
    from England

    Vendetta
    I may do a thread on some metalshaping including wire edging soon but I did not take photos of the process for this car as these photos were taken as a record for the customer of what was done.

    David
     
  28. Mindover
    Joined: Jan 18, 2009
    Posts: 1,644

    Mindover
    Member
    from England

    The chassis on this car being so ugly it needed covering as much as possible and because its kind of traditional I set about making a valance for the front of the chassis. It was a bit of a difficult job because of the shape of the bottom of the rad shell in comparison to the straight tube at the front of the chassis. I also needed to allow for the starter handle to go though it. I was also asked to put some louvers in it for aesthetic reasons. These had to be cut first because the shape of the valance would not permit it to have the louvers cut after it was formed.
    [​IMG]

    In the photo above you can be see that I made a funnel shaped section to allow the starter handel to pass through. This is gas welded in place and then the weld was dressed out. Gas welding gives a nice flat soft weld that is easliy dressed to a metal finish. The weld in this phot has not been worked in any way.
     
    Last edited: Nov 22, 2010
  29. Nads
    Joined: Mar 5, 2001
    Posts: 11,862

    Nads
    Member
    from Hypocrisy

    What an amazing build and thanks for sharing it with us so concisely.
     

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