"the next one" - Scratchbuilt Mid-Engine Sports Car

[invision]

Testing the fit of the new windscreen. With the new windscreen on hand, final sheet metal fitting can be completed. After paint...we're after just under a 3/16" gap between the body and the glass.


Getting started on some more of the inner structural components. Finger brake being used to create one of the seemingly few straight line bends for the door hinge posts.


Door hinge post sitting on the A-pillar web


Thanks for looking.

[Paul Barrett]

looking good, what is the screen from out of interest?

[invision]

It's an aftermarket windscreen for a Triumph...with the overall size reshaped a tad to fit the required perimeter.

Thanks Paul.

[remmoc]

Brilliant work as ever , using words like perimeter means your a real engineer unlike my " cut it to fit the hole " which is what i would of said

[DWDarkWheels]

It's hard to know what to say. I just had to pop on to say I'm still watching this brilliant work.

[invision]

Starting the next stage of this project, joining the panels to create assemblies.

Forgot to take a picture how the butt joint for the rear fascia initially looked ...but here we are after the first set of tacks were planished and actual welding began. The key to minimize distortion during welding process is to skip around the joint controlling the amount of heat generated within the panels. When you can comfortably place your hand on the welded area...you're good to continue on.


Looks pretty rough at this point...but welding is complete. Now time to clean it up.


After grinding the pride(bump) off the weld, the HAZ area needs to be hammered and dollied to stretch the material again and remove any distortion. During the welding process material shrinks distorting the panel to some degree.


We're almost done. It looks smooth, but after the panel is installed a few areas need to be touched up until the welded is completely invisible.


The body's door jam assemblies have also almost been completed and set off to the side.

[invision]

Work on the roof's structure had to be wrapped up before anything could be started within the interior. And I was really itching to get into the interior and start carving/shaping the foam panels that would facilitate as plugs for composite panels.

So, after tweaking, installing and tweaking the roof's main structural components some more, the corners were trimmed back and finalized with additional pieces.


Vertical corner filler pieces created, clamped, and tacked into place.


You can never have enough vice-grips...


This pretty much finished up the body shell ... for now.

Before any interior work could begin, I had to get the doors temporarily mounted to the shell..without hinges... so that interior panel plugs could be accurately created. Fixtures were fabricated attaching the doors to the shell after they were properly spaced.


Thanks for looking...more to come..

[wheelspinner]

Fantastic work.

Do you have a concept sketch or designs that you work to?

Regards

Steve

[invision]

Jan 23, 2014 21:27:11 GMT wheelspinner said:

Fantastic work.

Do you have a concept sketch or designs that you work to?

Regards

Steve

Hi Steve! Yes, I do have the final concept...but it's in my mind. When I close my eyes, I see it done with every curve and feature the way it needs to be. Sketches are created along the way to communicate how a part should be fabricated to whom ever is working on it. However, to complete a final illustration is difficult as it's hard to make myself happy.

Thanks for checking out the progress.

[blackpopracing]

Jan 23, 2014 16:59:02 GMT invision said:

The body's door jam assemblies have also almost been completed and set off to the side.

I can build some pretty cool stuff, but some peoples skills are totally awesome, hats off to you for your metalworking skills.

[invision]

Thanks Blackpop!

[optimusprime]

Jan 24, 2014 1:46:00 GMT invision said:

Jan 23, 2014 21:27:11 GMT wheelspinner said:

Fantastic work.

Do you have a concept sketch or designs that you work to?

Regards

Steve

Hi Steve! Yes, I do have the final concept...but it's in my mind. When I close my eyes, I see it done with every curve and feature the way it needs to be. Sketches are created along the way to communicate how a part should be fabricated to whom ever is working on it. However, to complete a final illustration is difficult as it's hard to make myself happy.

Thanks for checking out the progress.

Good stuff.

Do you start with running gear in mind, and then 'design' your build to fit, or do you design and than see what fits? (if you see what i mean?)

Gotta say again, you have some skills!! Always look forward to any updates to this thread.
Fantastic work.

[wheelspinner]

We have a show in the uk called Chop Shop with a guy called Leepu he uses a similar method of design(all in his head),his long suffering mechanic Bernie and the viewers only know what the car looks like when Leepu finally finishes with the hammer and welder.

[07lilredwagon]

this is amazing work...very very inspiring

JP

[invision]

Jan 24, 2014 18:45:07 GMT optimusprime said:

Do you start with running gear in mind, and then 'design' your build to fit, or do you design and than see what fits? (if you see what i mean?)

Gotta say again, you have some skills!! Always look forward to any updates to this thread.
Fantastic work.

I always come up with a vehicle's body concept/design first. Then, as the body design is refined I'll develop the chassis design. Suspension and drivetrain components are either acquired from appropriate production vehicle donors or in certain cases created from scratch ... it all depends on the customer's wish list and budget.

Thanks!

[invision]

Jan 24, 2014 20:06:49 GMT wheelspinner said:

We have a show in the uk called Chop Shop with a guy called Leepu he uses a similar method of design(all in his head),his long suffering mechanic Bernie and the viewers only know what the car looks like when Leepu finally finishes with the hammer and welder.

Sounds like a cool show.

Don't get me wrong, when I say that the 'final' look is in my mind doesn't mean that sketches of R2 don't exist. They do and we have them posted in the shop. However, we build the vehicle and not the drawings. What that means is that if a better idea comes up along the way for something it gets implemented. The design is a dynamic process...

[invision]

Jan 24, 2014 20:18:22 GMT 07lilredwagon said:

this is amazing work...very very inspiring

JP

Thanks so much JP. I'm very honored by your comment.

[Zagato]

Amazing work indeed.
I have a question..........
I am guessing money is not your main motivation, more the design and build challenge of a scratch build.
Would it not be much more profitable with your skill set and equipment to build tool shop replicas of classic sportscars?
A perfect Jaguar D type or Porsche 550 spyder bodyshell is a very valuable commodity.
Maybe not challenging enough to copy something but very profitable!
Please keep posting your incredible work, it's fascinating.
Nick

[invision]

Jan 25, 2014 8:00:47 GMT Zagato said:

Amazing work indeed.
I have a question..........
I am guessing money is not your main motivation, more the design and build challenge of a scratch build.
Would it not be much more profitable with your skill set and equipment to build tool shop replicas of classic sportscars?
A perfect Jaguar D type or Porsche 550 spyder bodyshell is a very valuable commodity.
Maybe not challenging enough to copy something but very profitable!
Please keep posting your incredible work, it's fascinating.
Nick

Great question!

Profitable...perhaps. However, there is are a few factors that come to mind, specifically 'copyrights' and 'intellectual property' that prevent people from doing this.
I love classic sports cars and while there's nothing wrong with building one, two or more for myself...one can't start building and selling them to the public.

Anyway, as you mentioned above...I enjoy the challenge of creating one-off rides that you won't see at the next stop light. I really wasn't going to get into mentioning this in this thread, but a good friend and a long time supporter has asked me to design and build him a roadster based on the '32 Ford. While he likes the simplicity of traditional styling, he wanted something that had more of a road race look incorporated into the body. There are a few photos on my facebook page that you guys can check out. Not sure if you'd like to see a build thread for it here...

Thanks very much for the kind words Nick.

[wheeler]

The pics of the Speedster on Facebook are mouth watering, I for one would love if you'd keep a thread for it here aswell!