Projects Yet another Vicky project

Little by little.

Beefed up the shell support and sunk the front screw a bit more to clear the insert.




Whipped up some brackets out of 1/8" steel.


Mounted plate and lights. All body tabs are inline in case I change my mind. I can put in a rail of sorts and mount things anywhere.

 

Wasn't planed but tail lights are on L shaped tabs that can be flipped and give a tiny bit of adjustment.

Wide


Narrow.

 

1 vote for wide. Love the car!

 

Thanks, liked the lights out too at first but bringing them in that little bit kinda makes the body look less like a brick.

 

Little more progress. Got the big hole in the roof filled the other day. Made a flange out of 1" X 1/8" steel with 4 rounded corners cut from a single large disc I had in the scrap pile. Drilled it and the roof for 1/4" and then enlarged the holes in the roof to 3/8" to allow for shrinkage. Once the flange was back on and snug it was wrapped with 1/4" steel rod and 3 bows with roughly 1/2" arch added.

This whole thing was more of an experiment than anything but turned out pretty decent. The bows were first tacked in and the 18 gauge sheet set on top looking like it just might lay down. Double checked the bows for consistency with a piece of strap across all 3 and welded them up. Threw the fitted sheet back on and tacked it in place starting in the middle of each span working to the corners.

The bows retained most of their shape although flattened in the center and the whole thing is nice and tight. All I care is that it doesn't oil can, drains water and can be wrapped with vinyl. Surprisingly the flange didn't shrink any measurable amount though the sheet did pull in a bit with heat. Tried to move around a bunch to minimize it. There will be washers and nylon lock nuts holding it down, all hidden when finished.

 

Really wish this thing was just 1" taller inside. Think twice before chopping channeling or sectioning, especially if you're foolish enough to do all 3.

Seats can be simple but mine ain't. Needed to lean it to keep from hitting my head, ramp it up in the front so my legs can fit and still have my ass all the way on the floor. Here's what I came up with for a base. Some furniture quality 3/4" plywood panels with "butt holes", steel pockets and cut up hinges and hardware from some of my dads old bass boat seats.

 

Got it at a pretty good compromise. Just enough headroom and fairly comfortable leg room. Had to have hinges in order to get the battery door open but made positioning and mounting seat easier. Just need to trim 'em up a bit on the uppers for seat belt clearance.

 

Little more done the in last couple days. Finally got the door gaps fine tuned at the front and fully welded the top all the way around. Also split a lot of conduit to beef up my roof braces. Roof will get layered with 1/4"-3/8" foam top and bottom and wrapped with vinyl.

 

Looks great. Glad to see that you've had the time to kick this project back into gear.

 

Thanks, getting easier and more fun since the hard stuff is out of the way. Usually hate bodywork but am almost looking forward to it after all the metal work I've got in this thing.

 

Got the windshield opening corners rounded up some more so there aren't holes to see through. The last thing that bugged me was still having a piano hinge on the windshield so I camouflaged it a bit by making up some "fangs" out of 1/4" steel and welding them on the ends. Also act as a stop to center the hinge.

Trimmed the original garnish moldings to fit and shortened and moved the gas pedal up to a more comfortable position now that I've got some idea of what my seating position is going to be.

 

Crappy door latches, pretty much everything rusty, broke, bent or loose.

Before.

 

Weld, grind, weld, grind.





Ace Hardware find to repair square hole and bushing, universal stop key.

 

Originally planned stainless screws with tack welded nuts but came loose after welding so just plug welded them on.



Holes enlarged and everything beveled for welding.

 

Lug washer to reinforce top plate.





New pins spun on the drill with a file out of Grade 5 3/8" bolts.



Good to go.

 

There was a bunch more to it but became to involved to keep taking pics and the new springs are '32s. Too late now but anybody know how close '32 closed car latches are? By the pics they appear like they'd be interchangeable.

 

For the other A Vicky owners.

Went down to the local So Cal today and did some comparing to a '32 closed car latch, now available new for $200 a pop and can even be had with a built in lock. Only real difference being an abbreviated interior handle slide with repositioned screw and a beefier latch block or whatever it's called. Shouldn't take more than a drill and file to make the door work with it.

 

Not much done lately. Made a fiberglass fan shroud by using some methods found on the H.A.M.B.

 

Tried but not able to add text to pics. Fan disc is 1" bigger than fan and core panel is just a bit smaller than core to keep shroud from rubbing on tanks. Edges were covered with shipping tape and waxed, then stretchable cloth stapled over and 4 coats of gel applied. Trimmed on ends with DA sander and still needed a little coaxing to get off form. Backer board was also taped and waxed and flanges formed from cloth stapled to table. Was then covered with 4 layers of fiberglass cloth inside, trimmed and coated one last time with gel. Still needs a final sanding.

 

Nice work looks "store bought"

 

Slowly but surely.


Built some new better radiator brackets.

 

Shroud sanded, drilled and painted.

 

Was seeing fatigue issues with similar F1 shock setups, cracked frames, broken bolts and thought I'd beef mine up.

 

Cooked up some funky turn signals out of '40 Chevy? fender mount lights. Bobbed, filled the bottom and added a reversed cap with bullet. The rest is 1/8" steel and 3/8" rod.