Projects What!!? another 27 on 32 chassis!??. Scratch build body.

Hi Kasper, yes I did say earlier in the thread that I made them from two pieces because they are deaper than they are wide. It is difficult to fold any part that is deaper than it is wide, you need special tooling. I don't have it and I don't know anywhere that does. I could have joined them in another way, perhaps with a butt weld but this was the most simple way of ending up with what I needed.

David

 

Oh sorry about that, I must have missed it before. I see what your saying though, you'd have to have a good size swan neck on a press brake to get in there.

Cheers Dave

 

I have not posted for a while, been very busy with customer work but I managed to get some work done on the skin for the cowl on Saturday. I will put some photos up tomorrow if I get time.


David

 

Just so y'know for next time Dave - our metal fabricators have some good sized swan neck tooling...

 

Now you bloody tell me!.

I may contemplate making a few of these bodies at some point, so I may take you up on the offer. I will buy an original to copy before I make another one though!

David

 

Here are the photos of the beginings of my cowl panel, This is not the easiest shape to make being a double reverse. I did contemplate doing it in one but its too big a section to wheel and get a good result so it will be in three pieces.



David

 

This photo is actually previous to the one above and shows the section part wheeled.



David

 

Here are another couple of shots of the cowl sections, it looks a bit exaggerated at the moment, that is because there is enough metal to wrap around the frame back and front so the curve has to follow through if you see what I mean.



It meant a lot of stretching to do it this way but less welding at a later stage. welding in this area may have caused problems so I decided to do it this way.

David

 

Nice work Dave, what about a few pics of what you're working on - in the background as well. The red chassis looks interesting

 

Glad to see updates and really liked watching your DVD too.

 

Bob, I may put a few photos of the other cars up in another thread at some point if I get time.

Go Jeep, thanks, I am glad you like the DVD, 'twas a lot of work - like most things worth doing...

David

 

This is what I have so far...





I used the paper pattern I showed earlier to get the shape of the blanks.

It matches the profile gauge I made from the original well so I am happy with that. Still quite a bit of work needed to make this a finished panel.

David

 

I'm doing something wrong? I click on your links and get the same DVD & Website each time? By the looks of your DVD & Website no doubt your work is wonderful!
Good luck with the project.

 

My bad, I didn't wait long enough for the pics to load! Now I can see your work IS wonderful!!

 

woodienut, Cheers! glad you like it. I did a bit more on the cowl today, I will post some photos a.s.a.p.

I took a look at your woody on the hub garage, looks like you did a very good job on it.
it turned out nice!.


David

 

Looking good David! Not that I would of thought it would be anything but coming from you. Can't wait to see more progress

 

I have a feeling your cowl is going to be a lot smoother than the one you took patterns from...

 

I formed the corner of the cowl (near the door) this makes it look more like the proper shape.






I am going to put the swage (bead) in the back and the rebate for the bonnet in the panel after I have it in one piece.

David

 

I welded this together and got quite a bit of local distortion, I was expecting to get a fair bit because of the double curve. Welding anywhere near a double curve is going to do that. I have dressed it out to a reasonable standard but it still needs more work. I would like to work out a better way of doing this so I can do some more with less work. I have a few ideas but any sugestions are welcome.

I will post some photos soon. If I can't get a good metal finish I will make another one in a different way. Things don't always work out perfectly first time.

David

 

I am no expert but try moving the split out towards the curve at the edge. The tighter bend at the edge should warp less as it is stronger than the shallower curves in the center of the piece. When I worked in my dad MG resto shop some of the cowls were split out there. Of course those had 'eyebrows' in front of the driver and passenger that was an extra piece as well!

 

Cheers jfg455 that is how I did the cowl on the '23 I showed earler in the thread but the shape on this is not so pronounced, these areas are always difficult to metal finish. I intend to use no filler on this and I want to find a way that will work for the future. It looked close to perfect until I welded it. I tried to get the joint in a curved area rather than in the double reverse. I think I will get a result with this one but I want to produce more in the future so I am looking for a shortcut. There may not be one...



David

 

I'd do the top in one piece and join it in the middle of the roll ,2 or 3 inches up from the door hinge.

the sides would be a piece o' piss to make and the top would be ok with less distortion on the flatter area of the cowl.

Are you gas welding the joins and will you be fitting a cowl vent David?

 

fleet-master, The problem with that is that the double reverse continues about a third the way into the top of the cowl panel, so both sections need to be double reversed if you join there. There would be just as much dressing out to do.

I dont want a cowl vent.
David

 

I agree with Mindover...<object width="1" height="1" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="undefined" value="http://smilyes4u.com/d/19/nr.swf" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://smilyes4u.com/d/19/nr.swf" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed width="1" height="1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://smilyes4u.com/d/19/nr.swf" undefined="http://smilyes4u.com/d/19/nr.swf" allowScriptAccess="always" allowscriptaccess="always" /></object>
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welding through a double reverse isn't too bad..but then i use gas not TIG,as I think you do too Dave?
You just gota remember to bump up and not dress the weld 'into' the panel...
Manufacturers usually used to lap 'em and lead fill 'em. Speeds up the process.
My T bulkhead was made out of 6 sections, most joins in the middle of reverse curves.
If it was easy .....Everyone would be doing it!!

Paul

(btw...your makin me feel like a right hack..the quality of your work is premo!!)

 

fleet-master The thing is on your body there is a lot of shape to hold the distortion. the difficulty with this is the lack of shape. It will show every ripple and mark. That is why I joined it further up. I am thinking I could do it in two pieces, forming the double reverse in the panel by pure stretch on the back edge. The joint in the middle of the panel shouldnotcause any problems. I gas weld, I am not too keen on tig there is no real advantage and gas gives great results.

David

 

Thought I would post a gas weld



This was done by my employee James whom I taught.

David

Oh and cheers spacebull1

 

I welded the parts above together, I got quite good results but I have been thinking about this quite a bit.



I spent a short while dressing out the results...



David

 

Brilliant!

 

Fantastic H.A.Z. there James! Wow, looks like a machine did it. David, what's the name of those "chaulking gun" style clamps your using and are they available in the states?