Interesting Project

[1987M505]

Just a few pictures of my latest brainchild... This is just a hobby for me, I don't claim to be any type of draftsman, craftsman, panel beater, etc... This is all done from scratch.

It started with a vintage Formula Vee Chassis. The chassis can run VW or Porsche 4 cylinder engines... Here is a rough fitment of my floor pans/rockers.


Next I level/balance the car and begin scratch building a buck.


I pencil out the wheel to wheel profile of this mid-engined "Special" from my minds-eye.


I now fit and refit to determine the exact height, width and rake. I build the opposing side at the same time and screw the two together for a final shaping and sanding.

Now its time to start giving some shape to the side side to side profile.


My next step is to shape the nose and then work my way back to the tail.


I cut the nose, determine the high and low points (or inner and outer) and build stringers off of them to give my front end the shape I'm looking for.


I do the same with the tail and then determine the rake of each of the high and low lines and tie them together.


Finally one half of the car is a mirror image of the other so the body is taking shape. There is still fine shaping to be done but I am very pleased with the look so far. View from the front.


Rear View


I began a rough fit of my panels.


Thanks for looking and Happy Motoring~
Chris

[GH85Carrera]

Nice. That should be a fun project.

[9dreizig]

wow, cool project sub'ing

[1987M505]

Here's a picture of one of many inspirations.

[kaisen]

I've been following this on another site, and it is a pretty amazing process. Please post here more often!!

[1987M505]

Hey Thanks Eric! You're not too far away so if you ever get up toward Alexandria you should send me a message and stop by if you'd like.

Chris

[oldE]

Sweet Mother of God!

There is a LOT of work there and tons more to come.
You Sir are one ambitious Dude.

Best with the "Frankfurt Flyer"
Les

[stomachmonkey]

Very cool.

Love the way it's turning out.

Don't let Tim see this, he might get ideas.

[Rot 911]

You have some unbelievable fabrication skills!

[Flieger]

Originally Posted by olde

sweet mother of god!

There is a lot of work there and tons more to come.
You sir are one ambitious dude.

Best with the "frankfurt flyer"
les

+1

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by oldE

Sweet Mother of God!

+1 Looks like an awesome project. I would love to hear how you are shaping the panels.... I assume you are hammering and then wheeling them out of sheet stock then while occasionally checking them by holding them over the wood buck?

D@mn... my dirt race car body panels will be child's play compared to what you are accomplishing!

Please keep updating the project here!

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

.

Don't let Tim see this, he might get ideas.

Too late! The damage has been done

[masraum]

Wow, spectacular. I'd love to have something like that.

More pics, more info!!

[Z-man]

Incredibly cool!

[1987M505]

Hi Tim,
You're on the right track with how things work. The buck was built for fitting my body panels and determining the shapes and placement of the support structure (this may be backwards in regard to how the original "specials" were built). Once I get the body shaped I will use the buck to make structural templates and then shape those out of aluminum as well with some steel reinforcements/framing.

First I make a paper template and lay that out on sheet aluminum.


I then cut my rough shape out of aluminum.


On the seat I used my knees, elbows and anything in the barn that had a shape resembling what I wanted (i.e. pipes, workbench corners, etc) to shape the piece of aluminum. Here is a rough idea, you can see the bends are not symmetrical but everything comes into shape as you work the metal.


Then I use the wheel to create my crown for the seat area and give the backrest and bolsters some character. This seat will have a simple tube framing, reminiscent of what they used in this era (late 40's early 50's). The seat has been further cut down and shaped out more since this picture.


Here are a few pictures of a rare Rometsch racer from the same era.






This shows more of the way things are constructed.

[LWJ]

That is KILLER!

I have been dreaming about a similar project for years. I can't imagine pulling it off however. My hat is off to you. Love it.

Larry

[herr_oberst]

Subscribing.

[1987M505]

A quick update. I've worked my way down the right side of the racer and now begun welding a couple panels in place. As I mentioned (maybe too many times) this is new to me and I basically have a few books and videos and a big dream...

The pictures were taken with my phone. I will have much better ones later...

Here you can see the panels are taking shape.


And I now I have welded my first seam on the car (my first seam ever...) and begun to dress the seam.


Here I have wheeled the front fender into a general shape and tacked a seam.


I've been taking my time as I go. The planning is almost as time consuming as the fabrication. I've thrown out a few pieces as I learn to wheel and I've been able to save a few that I thought were too far out of whack. It's really one of the best things I've done for "me" in a long time. Definitely therapeutic!

Chris

[Doug E]

Nice work ... very impressive ! Keep the updates coming.

[azasadny]

Incredible project!!