I wanted to start a thread where I can periodically put updated photos on our various projects. Where I work we build custom "super cars." By this, I mean that we build (from the ground up) replicas of some of the world's rarest cars. Right now, the three that we are building are replicas of cars of which fewer than 2 are known to exist. Our replicas are not identical, but they are similar enough to be convincing. The shop owner got his start fabricating aluminum Cobra bodies and Ferrari California Spider skins. He still takes an occasional order for one of these bodies. All of our bodies are aluminum. Right now they are handmade with hammers and an English wheel. My boss is a master with the torch, and gas welds all of the aluminum skin. Our current builds are: 1957 Ferrari 250 GT Coupe Speciale Pininforina #0725 We have finished all of the framing (except for the hood structure) and have started to verify the body panels for the rear clip). We still need to get the glass cut, vacuum form the light assemblies, and build the removable hard top. Then it is off to the upholsterer and painter. Here is a recent picture: The next project is a 1939 Delahaye Type 165 Cabriolet like this: It is being built on a custom chasis with Jaguar independent rear suspension and Jag V12 engine. Here is a picture of the buck getting channeled for tube frame fitting. The buck has been mounted on the chasis for allignment. After the tube frame is fitted we will cut the spot welds to remove the frame, remove the buck, and then weld up the frame. Here is also a picture of the donor motor we got this week before and after it was "un-injected." It will be wearing a pair of 4-barrels over new intake manifolds. Our third project is just getting underway. It is a 1939 Duesenberg Coupe Simone. It will be powered by a GMC 702ci V12. We inherited this project from another shop that wasn't performing, so the engine isn't quite the way we want it yet. We will be making custom aluminum valve covers that go the entire length of the block as well as a sculpted air cleaner housing that will top both carbs combined. As we reach milestones I will update this thread with pictures of our progress. In case you are wondering, our shop does not have a website. We do only comissioned work and referrals keep us busy. Untame
Those are some pretty cool looking PROJECTS your working on, would be great to work on that kind of stuff.Keep posting,maybe some details and discriptions on how you do certain parts.
Amazing skills - thanks for posting. Any in progress shots of the aluminum being formed and how you fix it to the tube frame, for instance, would be great. Could you post some more please?
I'll try to get a few more pictures. Everything we build starts as tube steel and sheet steel / aluminum. The shop owner is the aluminum guru, but he is trying to train us humble under-lings. He uses a wooden hammer and shot bag to sculpt all of the rounded corners. The English Wheel is used to work the gentle curves of the flatter portions. Each component is then assembled with gas welding and worked until the seams are impreceptible to the touch. Someday I hope to be able to do this -- I haven't even tried yet. We bend steel tubing to the body contour in strategic locations to form a "space tube" frame for the body. When the tubing must anchor the body skin we weld on a 20 gauge flange the length of the tube and the body is bolted to it (discretely). The Ferrari is starting to get body panels hung, but the Delahaye is in the process of having the tube frame bent and the flanges shaped. We have a full-size buck pattern in paper for the Duesenberg, and we are going to start building the buck as soon as the Jag and GMC V12s are gone through and tested (maybe in a couple weeks). Each car is a unique challenge. In some cases all we have to work from are pictures from the internet or scale models. We are getting ready to have a 1:16 scale model of the Mercedes 300 SLR computer scanned. These scans will be enlarge to a life-size pattern (including cross sections) for the creation of forms for the stretch-forming press. We are also talking about doing batches of hard-to-find body panels for the restorer/hot rodder market. If you have any suggestions let me know. Untame
So are you gathering up materials and using the shop at night and build your own sweet ride ,I would Of course with his permission
LOL. I'm building a '30 Ford hot rod, and occasionally I take a part in with me to work on it. There isn't room for me to take up space with my own project, though. Once I start fitting the back of the John Deere combine I'll probably do a lot of the work there. Here is my project thread on turning farm junk into a hot rod: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=549846 I'm not really that into the kind of cars our customer comission. Way too stuffy and exclussive. Untame
Not really, but sort of. I suppose a couple of them are configured uniquely. The Ferrari drivetrain is a V12 out of a 1969 Ferrari 365 GT donor car. The Delahaye will have the 1978 Jaguar 5.3 liter V12 (converted to carburetion). The Duesenburg will have the 11.5 liter GMC V12 (with electronic ignition, aftermarket oil pump, and dual Demon 500 cfm Road Demon carbs). We are talking about actually casting our own engines for the Mercedes 300 SLR replicas. That engine was a straight 8 made out of 2 blocks with the output shaft coming from between them perpendicular to the crank to a transmission in front of the driver. We are beginning the monumental task of trying to locate an original engine to break down and examine. Does anyone know where I can get one? (Maybe this deserves its own thread.) Untame
The Jaguar engine definitely looks better without the fuel injection! Just need to get the pair of intake manifolds and carbs and a set of headers. But first, time to clean up the aluminum. The cam covers are going to be bead blasted then repainted. The raised sections will be polished to a high shine.
Here are a few pictures showing the way we build flanges to connect the body to the tube space frame. The picture on the wooden buck is the Delahaye, the others are the Ferrari trunk area.
Here are some more shots of the Delahaye buck. The front end and the front fenders. You can see the tube frame mated to the fender buck for fitting and some front end aluminum sheet metal being fitted.
Nobel prize winners, record-holding pilots, people who win major lawsuits, "have-a-holics"... the typical crowd. It is a dream job. I'd work there for free, but I don't complain about the paycheck. Untame
We fired up the GMC V12 on the stand. Here is a vid: <iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/P2tRD-y4wyw" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="480"></iframe>
Wow!! Nice work!! What do you use between the steel frame structure and the aluminum to keep them from corroding?
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please keep posting anytime you want. I love seeing this type of coverage and keeps me motivated on my project that is linked below. Are visitors allowed at the shop? What area of WI are you in?
I'm not sure what you mean. The steel tube frame will be primed and painted. It is within the body, so it doesn't see any weather. I don't know of any other corrosion protection that is necessary. We are north of LaCrosse (SW Wisconsin). We have had visitors by appointment. Untame
We recently did a mock-up of the body panels on the Delahaye buck -- I think my boss took a picture, so I'll see if I can get a copy from him. Hopefully in a few weeks we will be ready to remove the buck from the chassis and install the Jaguar engine and transmission. Then the tube framing will be welded up. We started cutting out the Duesenburg Coupe Simone buck -- it is huge -- a full 20' long. The GMC V12 is ready to be delivered along with a Tremec TKO 600 transmission to a local race shop for installation. We contract out the chassis construction and driveline setting. Once we get the frame back the engine and transmission will come back out so the buck can be installed on the chassis. The Delahaye chassis is sporting a 1988 Jaguar suspension (independent rear). The Duesenburg is being built on a chevy truck chassis that was stretched a couple feet. Untame
The Jaguar V12 is coming together nicely. Here is a picture from a couple days ago. I spent the better part of a week cleaning this engine with a toothbrush. First with mineral spirits to degrease it, then with "Tarminator" to get off the tuff stains. I finished it up with a spray down of the block with acid etch to give it a fresh color. All of the painted parts are being powder coated with black semi-gloss. The cam covers have been blasted, and I spent most of today working up the raised portions to a shine with 1000 grit. The flat part of the covers is going to be laser-engraved with our trademark. We decided to stick with exhaust manifolds rather than headers. The exhaust manifolds are being blasted and powder coated black. The custom center-draft intake manifolds have been ordered and should arrive any day. It is a 2x4 arrangement, but I am going to adapt them to 2-barrel carbs and run a pair of Holley 7448 carbs (350 cfm each). This will give us the equivalent of 500 total cfm of 4-barrel carburetion. Rebuilding the distributor was a bear. The distributor bearing was a size that "almost" didn't exist. Fortunately I was able to locate one for a very modest price of $4.26 after several days of searching. The valves are being done right now and hopefully I'll have the heads back next week. I've replaced the gaskets and seals on the bottom end, and I'm anxious to get the top reassembled. Once it is back together we will run it on the stand before installing it. The engine will be gorgeous once it is completed. I think it will look right at home in a 1939 Delahaye Type 165 Figoni et Felashi. Untame
WOW, that's awesome! Some great old world craftsmanship, this is really great to see, thanks for posting!
I got the front and bottom sides of the Jaguar V12 rebuilt and reassembled. I also rebuilt the power steering pump and had it powder-coated. The alternator was completely disassembled and reconditioned including 8 hours of sanding and polishing the case to a nice brushed aluminum finish minus all of the casting welts. The alternator fan is still at the powder-coater along with the bracket to support the ignition amplifier (it is actually the old AC compressor bracket that I modified for the ignition amplifier). The custom intake manifolds came in! Thanks to Kelly Burg (and LocomotiveBreath here at HAMB for hooking us up). I'm picking up the heads on Monday, and I hope to finish assembling the top end this next week. I still need to order the carbs. I'm recommending a pair of 350 cfm Holley 7448 2-barrels to the customer, but this customer seems to be more obsessed with appearance than performance. He'll probably say he wants to ditch the manifolds and install 12 individual single barrel Webers. If I have to compromise I might be able to talk him into a couple 3-bolt 2-barrels: either Strombergs or replicas. I finished assembling the skeleton for the Jurassic-proportioned Duesenburg Coupe Simone. It is 20' long. Now we will start working on "fleshing it out" with shape details that aren't represented in this skeleton. Our chassis is a from a Chevy 1/2 truck and we had to stretch it about 2'. On Tuesday the GMC V12 and Tremec TKO 600 are being delivered to the race shop for installation on the chassis. (The buck in the foreground is a Ferrari Califorinia Spider buck on loan to our shop for a body-only build. To take this picture I had to stand in the corner of the shop on a stack of 4 Ferrari wheels and tires.) Finally, here is a picture of our new shop mascot -- "Overkill, The Rat Rod Buck." The "buck" part is a pun, get it? This amazing non-typical rack and skull was found 50 yards behind our farm house. It had at least 16 points before the mice got a hold of it. I painted it red oxide primer and the antlers gloss black. I didn't get any pictures of the Ferrari, but the front hood framing has been completed and the front clip is being fitted. It is really starting to come together. The customer is in the process of getting us another donor Ferrari to rebuild in a similar way. We also have a couple more projects hovering in the wings: A Delahaye Type 135 restoration, and a custom Bugatti build. In the meantime I'm chipping away at my '29 Tudor hot rod. I hope to get the donor '69 302 and tranny pulled out and into the shop today. I might also get my Holley 4-barrel rebuilt. The 1965 Fairlane K-code intake manifold should make it to the machinist Monday for fresh surfaces. I've located a 1950 Ford F1 locally that I'm robbing the front brakes off of for $50. I've also got a pair of later Ford spindles on their way from Colorado for $50. Once the snow melts down some more I'm going to yank a Ford rear-end and axle from a junk van in our yard.
What can one say but WOW, It always amazes me when you post photos from your work and the rest of us get to see what you guys are turning out.
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