1930s Era Champ Car - new project

I did some more work on the driver compartment buck. This buck is a little unique in that I am making it to fit onto the chassis with the steering components in place so I can shape the body in situ.




I blanked out the side panels.






Next, roughed out the firewall with room to fit over the trans hump.
Then started to fit up the sides.

 

As always - super nice work!!!

What is situ?

 

awesome 'n huge project

looking forward to the updates

 

"in situ" = "in place"
I think its Latin or something.

 

Love it. 18 gauge carbon steel?

 

I stuck the sides on and made the tiara:



Yup 18 ga mild steel.

 

The cowl is roughed in. It will be trimmed, rolled and wired on the top edge. A cutout will be added for the steering arm, and a gage panel added below the steering wheel.

 

Absolutely AWESOME!! I love it.

 

After some tappa tappa and some welding, then some more tappa tappa here is the cowl ready to edge wire and skim coat.

 

Very cool!!!

What does "edge wire" mean? I've never heard of that?

 

I am envious of your talent. Seriously.

 

chaddilac,
You may not know the term "edge-wire" but I'll bet you've seen examples of it. It is a proceedure by which the exposed edge of a piece of sheetmetal is wrapped around a small diameter wire to add stiffness and strength to the part. You can find mucho examples of it on early fenders where the wheel well opening is edge-wired to give strength and fatigue resistance. Also it is commonly found on steel bodied pedal cars to keep Junior from cutting himself on exposed body edges. Most frequently 1/8" or 3/16 welding rod is used. In champ car cockpits it was common for the wrap to be about 1/2" in diameter to prevent driver injuries if he rudely should contact the body.

I plan to use wire of about 1/4" diameter. I think that will look about right and be fairly easy to wrap the skin around it. Usually the egde is hammer formed or rolled in a semicircle, the wire is laid in the trough, and then the wire is crimped in place by hammering the body closed, encasing the wire at the lip of the body.

I'll take photos of the process as I go.

 

Thank you Bob. By the looks of your Deuce project it looks like you are a talented man yourself. Stop in when you pass thru Frenchtown. I'll buy the Margueritas.

 

Ahhh Yes!!! Ok... makes sense!!!

 

That cowl is a work of art in it's own right. Wow.

 

wow is right that cowl is beautiful!!! great build!!! subscribed

 

My hoodlum hot rod buddies helped set the body sections up so I can get a measurement on how long the drag link needs to be. With that in place they'll be able to push me around whilst I make "Vroom vroom" sounds.

 

Absolutely fabulous. You have earned the right to Vroom Vroom all you want!

 

I really like the big straight six! The valve cover giving the DOHC look is really out there!!

 

Thank you Frank. I hope to embelish it with lots of little period correct copper and brass bits, like oilers with glass sights, plumbing fittings, orange plug wires with Rajo clips, braided wire harness, etc.
Also I want to polish the stainless steel and take it out on a track and heat it up to where it takes on a golden patina, then lean it out enough to get the primary pipes to turn blue. Some folks try to keep polished stainless spotless / flawless. I prefer the look of it after it has been driven hard and discolored. Like Scotch, its an acquired taste.

 

Nothing like having it look like you actually USE it!! Houses shouldn't be messy, but should look like someone lives there too, not like a "Better Homes" photo shoot is about to take place! That's just not comfortable...

 

I thought I'd repost the pic of the Zakira original reproduction Miller I sat in for comparison to my progress. That one went for a touch under $1,000,000.

 

dunno how i missed this thread, but i'm subscribed now!!!

 

I'm in the same boat as you. Sub'd.

 

After another winter hiatus I am back on the "speedracer" project. I am doing the steering drag link and associated stering nacelle to conceal the pitman arm:

 

Here's a push-off board I made for the truck:



It gave me a chance to practice on my hand lettering skills. I want to paint fancy numbers (gold leaf? engine turned?) on the car.

 

Nice work, Frenchtown Flyer. Engine turned gold leaf looks great to my old eyes. Subscribed

 

Frenchtown Flyer, Boy do you have some skill built into this racer. I bet it would be able to do some fairly hot laps when you turn it lose. Looking forward to your first Hot Lap Viseo !

Dave

 

That is one cool project! Always wanted to build something like that, you have amazing talent.