A Bit More Progress

I have posts on here about making it.

 

WOW,you are one talented and gifted person. I cant wait to see it finished.

 

Thanks.

Are you extending your cowl?

 

Yes I am, or I should say yes I did.
Im just about finished with the glass work on the inside of the body.Hopefully Ill finnish it this weekend.
Im also going to try and post some pictures.I also need to change my avatar,that picture is about a year and a half old.

 

You should make a dvd on how to fiberglass. Your work is unbelievable.

 

That's a very well thought build. VERY impressive.

 

Thanks man, but I really do consider myself a "weekend warrior". Just a bit nuts and really stubborn. The bodies I see from Spirit and other vendors really inspire me.

As I mentioned on Fletcherson's thread, I've started working on the doors. I have to put good sized doors in this. I'm too old and stiff to be climbing in and out of this thing. And the way the seats and dash are, I'd have to literally step on the seats to get in and out.

The doors will done similar to the rear deck lid. Except this time I laid out the cut with 3M 1/8" fine line tape. Doing it this way leaves the tape's impression in the mold, and then the final part. Making it easy to cut to the shape.


So, tape and parting boards in place.




Then wax, masked everything and sprayed PVA.




Then tooling gel coat.




And lay up and bracing.




Then the parting boards are removed and the same process is done on the inside.





The 1/8" fine line tape is sprayed over and removed. Leaving an exact cut out matched to the molds and final door skins.



The recipe I used on these door skins was;

3/4 oz. cloth against the gel coat
1.5 oz. mat
12 oz. woven roving
1.5 oz. mat
12 oz. woven roving
2 mm core mat
1.5 oz. mat

The thickness is right at 1/4", super rigid and strong.

 

Are you saving all of your molds so you can build more cars later?

 

No room to store 'em. They're truly one off molds.

I do still have the seat molds. I might use them in some way to build the area behind them.

 

I just wondered. It's a lot of work for a one off project. But I get the labor of love thing, lol! You have demonstrated such excellent talent with this, it seems almost wasteful to have to discard the molds. At least you know for sure that you have one of one!

 

If I had thought about it in the beginning I would have bought them as you finished them and had a bad ass car in Oklahoma.

 

Really interesting project. Like the flush side repeaters as well.

 

For about 18 years I custom made office furniture for the company I worked for...everything from stools to wall units. I made jigs for everything, so I could reproduce parts or whole units as needed. I stored them and a lot of my hard woods in an old coal bin at my mom's house...a room that before that was a junk room filled with worthless stuff that hadn't been used for 30+ years. I went to get the jigs to do a book case...all of the jigs and the wood were gone. Mom had someone clear out all that old junk

 

I'll keep this going since it's gonna be quite a long process.


I got the skins trimmed. The openings roughed out. And the skins fastened in place.





Now that's what I'm talk'n bout! Some serious entry and exit room.





Spent a lot of time on these supports. They're plumb to the car's rake and along with more bracing serve to hang the hinges.

 

So I've been working on these door hinges. The goal here is for the front edge of the doors to tuck inward as they're opened. The same way a daily driver's doors tuck in behind the front fenders. It's a real trick. I don't now if I'm there yet.

The next step is to temporarily attach the hinges to the door skins and see if I'm even on the right track. Everything bolts together. I can move the pivot point forward or back, and change things as needed.







The hinge plates will attach to a 3/4" tube frame. Something like this-

 

WOW great engineering .

 

Thanks Butch. This part of the build is a real stab in the dark. I've already had to spend a day remaking the hinges.

No matter how much I plan, I never know until I just get into it to see what works and what doesn't.

 

Amazing, simply amazing! Your work is in a class by its self.

Jim

 

Thanks Jim.

Those are just stacked washers between the supports and hinges.

Once I get the pivot location set, I'll make something for whatever the space is.

 

If I'm not mistaken that Steve Lang's Willis and his door details?

You have awesome engineering and conceptual expertise. This is the ONLY 'non standard' Bucket that has ever appealed to me. Everything you have done works and that's a hard trick to carry off. You have solved so many 'so called' problems with a T Bucket, like ease of access, modernisation of the original idea and style; for the next generation of rodders that come after old sods like me. The styling (although not my idea of a Bucket) is second to none and believe me, if had the space, money and time I would be asking you to do a clone for my garage. And I have to add your quality of the workmanship is second to none. There are subtle touches in your execution that will past many by, but those that appreciate art and engineering will always see them.

Its not much, but my CONGRATULATIONS to you, Sir. I can't wait to see the final car.
G