Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Well, at least I refrained from using the good blue or green stuff.


Don

Don---I would never try and dissuade you from doing lots and lots a' work, but why not just lay some more tape over whats allready there and just lay up 3 or 4 layers of mat over that???---Brian

Ken Thurm---Nah, I'm letting Don be the "buildmeister" for now. I build a hotrod about every 10 years, and since I built the yellow roadster pickup 3 years ago, I should be good for another 7---and then I'll be 67, and too old to build another anyways. I built that 27 T about 11 years ago. I don't really have good garage facilities where I live now, and even though I built the roadster pickup here, I layed awake till 3:00 every morning for a year, afraid I might have set the garage on fire welding---and the garage is under the front bedrooms.----really---I doubt that I will build another hotrod in this lifetime.---Brian

Yeah, Dan actually made the same comment about just going over the aluminum, but I think it would come out too bumpy. Plus, I have never built one of those molds you see where they cut pieces of plywood, put them every so often, and join them together with slats of wood. I have seen entire cars built this way, and want to see how it is done. So it is kind of an experiment too. Somewhere down the road I would like to build a one off, fiberglass sportscar body, and this might be good practice.

Don

Originally Posted by brianrupnow

Ken Thurm---Nah, I'm letting Don be the "buildmeister" for now. I build a hotrod about every 10 years, and since I built the yellow roadster pickup 3 years ago, I should be good for another 7---and then I'll be 67, and too old to build another anyways. I built that 27 T about 11 years ago. I don't really have good garage facilities where I live now, and even though I built the roadster pickup here, I layed awake till 3:00 every morning for a year, afraid I might have set the garage on fire welding---and the garage is under the front bedrooms.----really---I doubt that I will build another hotrod in this lifetime.---Brian

Sorry to hear that! I think you are a true Hot Rodder. I really hope you change your mind some day, innovation is a terrible thing to waste.
I belong to a car club with 26 members. They are really some of the who who's in this industry. I just turned 60 in January and I'm the second youngest member. So maybe it's not to late.
Just a friendly thought, Brian.
Ken

That thing Looks hugh in there!!! I know that you have hugged the tranny as close as you dare but How much room do your feet actually have? I guess that a big guy don't have a chance fitting in one of these huh?

Good thing I used to be a ballerina, huh?? Not as bad as I thought it might end up, but I will have to wear regular tennis shoes instead of the wider one I usually wear. By keeping the door upholstery thin I should be ok, but it will be left foot brake, right foot gas for sure. Good thing I normally drive this way, a throwback to streetracing days.


Don

Don.
Looks great.
Remember the lost foam technique I told you about previously?
Well you are essentially doing the exact thing using the plywood.
My suggestion is get some 1" or 2" foam sheets from the local lunber yard used for insulation (they are usually 4X8')
Cut them down as you would the plywood mentioned earlier.
Bond them together with 2-sided carpet tape and shape to your desired contour, now you have your mold.
Glass over the mold.
After the glass has set, invert the body and gouge out the foam (no parting agent needed). Whatever foam remains, wash out (dissolve) with Acetone or Laquer Thinner.

Wa-lah!!! You're done. But with 1/2 effort and time !!!

Don
Your hump is looking good! WAY more elaborate than what I did.
Have you thought of adding a sloped toe board? The interior insert that came with my body has one and it makes a big difference in foot room. I can post a pic tommorrow if your curious.

You are right about glassing over the covering being rough. I made ribs out of 1" lumber and covered it with thin aluminum roof flashing. I then glassed over that. The glass didn't stick to the aluminum and it was easy to remove from the bottom. The top surface will need some more finishing.

Didn't mean to hijack your post.

Mike

No hijack Mike, that looks really good. No room for the toe board, but I can see where it would help.

Tom, tell me again about this foam thing. Do you build a solid shape like a big block, or just foam every so often? What do you carve it with, like maybe an electric carving knife?

I'm interested.


Don

Brian and Don: Thanks for the help on posting pics. I had clicked on "go advanced" before, but never scrolled down far enough to find "manage attachments". I knew someone here could straighten me out...

Don: More great looking work! It's almost a shame to cover up all that nice woodwork. Have you considered doing some wood trim work in your interior later? I have a wood dash in my coupe that draws lots of comments and compliments.

I have finally begun work on my track-style T. I picked up the turtle deck and a sprint car nose at Daytona last Saturday and began fabricating my frame Tuesday. When I get far enough to show something, I'll post a pic (or start a thread?).

First off Don I wanted to say how pissed I am ........... sorry jealous. LOL You have a shop with 3 or more work's in progress. Fantasic works, your work and your sons work on the cars are top shelf. Your sons vision to see such a ride is beyond my comprehension. I wish my project is half as good as the work that I have seen here by you and your sons. It will be later this year before I get to start. Adding an expansion to my barn hope to be done by June or July, so I can run the air compressor and a 60 watt light bulb at the same time. Keep up the posting, I'm hooked can't wait to see the end cars.
Brad

Jim, thanks a lot, and I'm really happy to see you got some parts for your rod. You've got to do a thread on the build.

Brad, thanks to you too for the nice words. I am pretty proud of the kind of work Dan does. He is a pain sometimes with this perfectionism, but I have to admit it is paying off for him. Everytime I look at his '29 I find some detail that is really special.

Get going on that barn addition, we need more rods being put together on here.


Yesterday Tom (Supa Roosta) suggested a method of using foam to create a transmission tunnel, and Ken Thurm seconded it, saying he had done this too. I have only one thing to say to the both of them.............THANKS GUYS, I OWE YOU A BEER.........NO, MAKE THAT TWO BEERS.

I used this system today to build the mold for my transmission tunnel, and it is really slick. I bought a couple of bags of 3/4 inch thick styrofoam insulation at Home Depot and also picked up the carpet tape Tom suggested. The guy who invented double sided carpet tape has a strange sense of humor. This stuff is murder to work with and cut. It was the worst part of the whole ordeal, but even that wasn't as bad as what I had planned to do in wood.

What I did was cut a whole bunch of half circles that matched the aluminum hoops I had made yesterday, and glued them into one big unit with pieces of the carpet tape between each one. It made a pretty solid unit that I was able to rough out with an electric carving knife and finish with some 40 grit then 80 grit sandpaper. This stuff shaped like putty, and was great to work with. It makes a real mess in the shop cutting it, but the shop vac took care of that.

I am not finished shaping it, and still have to finish it back into the driveshaft tunnel area, but the hardest part is done. A little more shaping and I can start laying mat and resin over the top of it.

Anyway, Tom and Ken, thanks for this tip. I owe you guys one.

Here are some pictures of where it ended up tonight. Those black marks you see are where I painted the ones where my aluminum strips were. I painted them so that I wouldn't grind down any further than that level, or I would have been too close to the tranny.

Don

Way to go Don!
Lookin good.
Now that you have the mold building down, the next step on your next project will be vacuum bagging carbon fibre
After you clean out the foam, you might want to wrap some mat on the underside of the floorboard and up into the cavity of the tunnel to tie it in real good...

Yeah for sure I am going to fiberglass on the underside too, for strength and appearance. Don't want any groundhogs that I run over to be saying bad things about how it looks under there.

I will be very glad to get this part of the build done with, as it is the messiest part, what with all the fiberglass grinding and styrofoam shavings. At least when I start the bodywork I can wheel the body outside and keep the mess out of the shop.

Plan for today is to finish up the tunnel foam, and maybe get some mat laid on top of it. Thanks to you and Ken, I am in a better position timewise than I probably would have been.

Don

Oh, BTW, for anyone thinking of doing a fiberglass project, let me give you some advice on the supplies you are going to buy. Do not buy your fiberglass at any of the marine discount store chains (Like West Marine or Boaters World) They carry the prepackaged stuff and charge you 5 times what it is worth. You want to either find an old time marine store where they sell the mat and cloth by the yard, or a fiberglass house that sells it the same way. Also, you are going to need LOTS of materials. I bought 10 yards of mat and thought I would have enough for the rest of my life.......wrong. I may have to go back and get some more before it's over. I also bought 3 gallons of resin, thinking Don would have some for his T bucket. I am now half way through the second gallon, and will use a lot more before I am done.

You are also going to use lots and lots of throwaway brushes, plastic mixing buckets, stir sticks, and latex gloves. If possible, buy these in bulk. You can recycle the plastic buckets as the cured resin pops out of it when dry, but I have been just tossing them because I don't feel like fooling around with them.

You will want a couple of pairs of decent scissors........one to just cut dry cloth or mat with, and one that will get all sticky and ruined because you will use it to cut the fiberglass as you are doing the work. Buy some that you don't mind tossing when the job is all done.

It is amazing how much fiberglass, resin, and tools you go through doing this work. Everytime I go to the local marine store I am spending another $ 100 bill, and not walking away with a whole lot of stuff. Also pick up at least a gallon of laquer thinner and maybe some acetone for cleanup and dewaxing, and lots of rags to go with them.