Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Dans car is actually airbagged all around, so in those pictures it is sitting on the ground. His normal ride height will be about 4 inches higher. I think it will be a mindblower when he pulls into a cruise night and sits it on the ground. Also, the tank in the back looks like a nitros tank, so I bet a lot of people will think that's what it is.


I haven't seen that RP you are speaking about, but I can envision the look. Bet it is cool.

Good luck with your own plans.

Don

Here it is... Tell me what you think!

http://www.rodandcustommagazine.com/...adster_pickup/

Oh, that one? Yeah, it is super nice. There were some posts on here a while back. Seems it cost somewhere in the neighborhood of one million to build, and when it sold (I think on Barrett-Jackson) it only brought a fraction of the money the builder wanted. I forget the specifics.

But you are right, it really is a beautiful car. Too rich for my blood though.


Don

Yeah way too much money. I would love to have something like that but not all the chromed up chassis or nothing, just the stance and style with the old spoked wheels (which is what the 40's look I am guessing)?

Yeah, something along these lines.


Don

or this one.

Don,
The process is really simple.
Basically you fab up a plug out Expanded Polystyrene foam, the white stuff cheap coolers and drinking cups are made of (there's a reason I didn't refer to "Styrofoam" but that's a whole nother story) to the shape of the inner tunnel.
You can get this from a variety of sources in sheet, block form.
Working tools can consist of any of the following-Bread knife, hacksaw blade, utility razor, band saw can all be used for cutting.
Rasp, surform, D A , 40-80 grit abrasives for shaping, finer grit for finishing.

Once you've shaped the plug to fit, you seal (assuming you're using Poly resin) it. Sealers would include any of the following. Water based acrylic enamel paint, Latex house paint, or even a coat of thinned Elmers glue. Absolutely no solvent base materials.

Once the sealer has dried/cured use of a parting agent is optional but recommended.

Lay up your glass over the plug, if the working side of the glass is going to be finished ie. exposed to open view, take appropriate steps to facilitate (build).

Allow the glass to fully cure.

Once cured flip the plug over and carve a basin in the center of the plug.
Fill the basin with Acetone and set aside in a well ventilated area away from sparks or open flame.

The acetone will dissolve the EP, you more than likely will need to clear the cavity and add fresh Acetone until the majority of the foam is dissolved. If you used a parting agent in conjunction, you should be able to break the plug free prior to complete dissolution of the foam.

Clean, trim, fit your new tranny tunnel!

So in the application I am doing, I would form these sheets around the transmission (allowing some clearance), coat it, and use that as a male plug?

If so, how do you join the sheets together at the seams? Tape of some sort?

Sounds interesting. Tell me more.


Tom.........I looked for the post you mentioned to me. Couldn't find it. Have you done it yet? PM me at the other place.


Don

Think of the game Battleship

Don,

The method I described would be stand alone. Layed up off the vehicle.
Lay out a 1" grid on 2 posterboards then locate the centerlines in both axis's and highlight them. From the centerline dividing the width, assign the letter A to the first line right of the centerline. Assign the letter B to the next, C to the following line (continuing working to the right) D to the next and so on until you've ran out of lines.
Moving back to the centerline assign letters to all the lines to the right of the centerline using lower case letters ie. a,b,c,d, etc.
Repeat the process for assigning lines for both fore and aft of the centerline for the length poster board. However use numerals for designators such as 1,2,3, on the lines fore of the centerline and -1,-2,-3 aft of the centerline.
Do this to both boards.

Youll pull your dimensional measurements from the cut out in the floor pan for TOTAL length divide it in half, and transfer these to both posterboards locating out from the centerline both fore and aft, draw a line across the width of the sheet at 90 degrees to the length centerline at both fore and aft locations. Lets say these lines intersected at 18 (fore) and -18aft (for a TOTAL length of 36".
Now measure the widest measurement at the cut out on the firewall for the bellhousing and it was 24" divide it in half (12") and transfer this measurement on both sides of the width centerline on FORE line 18. You should now have indicators on 18L and 18l Now take the width measurement at the aft position 10" again divide by half 5" and locate on Aft line -18at the E and again at e positions.
Lay a tape measure/yardstick along the cut out on the floorpan and working from the bellhousing back transfer the contour of the cut out onto the grid using the steps above. You don't have to indicate every inch, just where the contour changes.
Once you've completed this, you can connect the dots and you have a accurate but rough outline of the Topview of the tunnel.
Refine by eyeballing curves and contours and adjusting on the grid.

Repeat the process on the second board using the highest point of the bellhousing for total height and locate points of contour on the A,B,C / a,b,c, gridlines.
Label this side view.

Now that you have both layout patterns you can obtain the needed amount of EP for the plug.
If you are making your plug up from several pieces you can use Carpet Tape to affix the pieces together to form a rectangular block.
Once you have the block, draw centerlines in both axis's on all sides using a sharpie.
Cut out your patterns and trace the outlines on to the blocks aligning the centerlines from the patterns to the centerlines of the block.
Cut the sideview outline on the block first, making sure you remark the centerline back on the block after cutting.

Now cut out the Top view sections off the block and again replacing the centerlines after cutting.

Using your patterns you can now shape to finish form.

Clear as mud huh?

I've got to crash, I'll follow up tomorrow with diagrams that might pull this all together.

No, it is actually pretty clear. How does an electric carving knife work for this? I've used one of these in the past, and it cuts some foams well, so probably would work ok here too.

Thanks for the detailed info, I may give this a shot if I can figure out exactly how to measure my trans/bellhousing accurately enough. I'm not good at measuring stuff, so I usually have just put something over the top of the trans and laid up the glass over that. However, I saw a guy building an entire car on TV one night, and he did it essentially the way you describe.

Thanks again Tom.


Don

Hey Itoldyouso, it might have been my gallery that you were looking at. I have built a couple of shifters this way...

Don---I assume that what you and Supa-Roosta are discussing is building a glass transmission hump to work for your car. I know a very neat and simple way of doing this, and would be happy to explain if you want. Do you have the wooden floor glassed in now, with just a cut out area for the tranny hump and driveshaft loop"---Brian

Originally Posted by J. Robinson

Hey Itoldyouso, it might have been my gallery that you were looking at. I have built a couple of shifters this way...

I went back and looked at your gallery, yep, you are the guy. Thanks for the ideas. Great looking cars and gallery BTW.


Brian, your posts are always informative. Please do put whatever in here you think would be helpful. I would like this thread to be everybody's, and the more ideas and info the better. Those colored graphics you do leave little to the imagination, and make things very clear.

No, I haven't laid the floor in yet, but may actually start on that this weekend, but first I want to work on the rest of the shifter and brake pedal assembly.

Thanks to supa roosta, J Robinson, and Brian for the ideas and help. Lord knows I need all I can get.


Don

Don---when you make the plywood (I assume) floor, leave a 1/4" to 3/8" gap between it and the sides of the fiberglass body. If it actually sets up against the body, it will leave a visible line on the outside of the body that no amount of filler, putty, nor paint will hide. Cut fiberglass cloth or mat about 8" wide, and let half of it overlap onto the plywood all the way around, and the other half spans over the gap and up onto the inside of the body. When it has "set", flip the body over and repeat from the other side. There is a fair bit of measuring and cardboard pattern making involved in cutting out the hole where the transmission hump needs to be, and that has to be done before the plywood is glassed into place. There are as many ways of making these patterns as there are feathers on a duck, so I'm, not going to say much about that. The tranny hump, though----this is a kind of neat trick. Since there isn't much room in the cab area of a T-bucket, you want the tranny hump to be as small as possible, but you don't want the tranny to be hitting or rubbing on it. When I built my 27 roadster, I had an old "dummy" 350 automatic that I used to set up the mounts (it was a home built frame). I installed the engine and tranny, and bolted it in place. I glassed in the 3/4" marine plywood floor in the body, exactly as I explained above.---Now heres the neat part. I decided that I wanted a 1/2" gap all around between the fiberglass tranny hump I would build and the actual transmission.---So----I took an old broom handle and sawed it up into peices 1/2" long. I took my trusty glue gun, and glued peices of 1/2" long broom handle all over the top surface of the old transmission, with about 2" spaces between them. I then took a small tub of drywall mud, and troweled a layer 1/2" thick all over the exposed surface of the tranny that stuck up above the floorboards. The peices of 1/2" long broom handle ensured that the coating of drywall mud was uniformly 1/2" thick over the entire surface. I let it dry for a couple of days, then gave it a couple of coats of Johnsons Paste Floorwax on top of the plaster. I then layed up the fiberglass mat over the entire plaster surface, and let it extend about 4" out onto the surounding plywood floor and up onto the firewall. I used about 3 layers of mat, with 1 hour flash off times between layers. I let it dry overnight, then unbolted the body, walked to the back of it, and gave it a good yank straight up. Then my sons and I lifted the body off. Some of the plaster stayed on the tranny, some stuck to the fiberglass, but it is easily removed with a putty knife and air nozzle. I was left with a perfect fiberglass transmission hump, with an exact 1/2" gap between it and the transmission, all around.----Brian

Brian: Some really good ideas there. I knew some of it, like never to put the plywood up tight against the fiberglass body, as it will show through, but other things you suggested were new to me.

The idea of the cut up broomstick is a super way to get that uniform gap all the way around. The plaster is another good idea. I just read a story about Ed Roth, when he built the "Beatnick Bandit" and some other cars, he used the plaster male mold idea too.

When I built the hump in my '27 I shaped cardboard over the transmission and painted a couple of coats of fiberglass resin on it to make it ridgid, then I put wax paper over it (big butcher size) and laid the glass up over that. Since this hump is going to be much larger than that one, either of the methods you and supa roosta have explained will probably work well.

I think what I will do for the plywood is run two pieces, one down either side of the trans hump and driveshaft tunnel, then form something (maybe thin aluminum) over the driveshaft hoops. I will then build up fiberglass cloth over that aluminum. I'll make it so the aluminum is only a temporary form. For the trans tunnel, I will use some of both of your ideas there, because I'm not sure yet if I will do the hump on the car frame or off.

Thanks again, and if anyone else has any ideas to interject along the way for any subject, please do. The more ideas that come into this thing the better, and they will give some other builders some great options based on real building experiences.

I really appreciate you guys participating in this thread, and also for reading it.

Don