1962 Rochdale Olympic - Let's crack on

[alolympic]

Really great to see another Rochdale owner on here ;D
Loving your car and your changes blownrochdale - the arches fit in very well and your boot access is very novel! It looks you have the advantage of being handy enough to do some good work yourself.
It would be good to see more info if you could start a thread, and hope to meet up when the cars are ready in the small world of Rochdale owners....

[alolympic]

So, time for an update I think.

For those of you have been following the thread, the car has been in a fibreglass workshop for quite a while. Much bodywork modding has been happening....

As ever with this car, it’s not been easy. After much measuring, it’s become obvious that the outer bodywork isn’t straight. This doesn’t surprise too much, after learning that the car had previously been taken off the road following an accident. This has meant that trying to get centimetre perfect with the bodywork has been nigh on impossible. The good news is, we’re pretty much there.

So, with different wheels all round, with very different offsets, as well as rolling diameter, the previous flared bodywork needed a nip and a tuck. The rear of the car proved the easier end, the shape flowing organically, albeit after a lot of hard work.







Whilst the rear wings were being reshaped, we made the decision to move the petrol filler. Originally, the Olympic has twin fibreglass tanks with a filler cap on each wing. The twin tanks had long since gone, replaced by a single MGB tank and one of the filler caps was a dummy. Inspired by pretty much every period racer out there that I admire, we have moved the filler to the centre.

Not only did I want the filler cap moved, I wanted it recessed, so it doesn't sit too proud.







The new filler cap fits in really well (sorry, I didn't get a photo).

Again, not revolution, but I think it’s going to be a better look.
So, the front arches gave us some grief. Turns out the front wings are not symmetrical, which may be no surprise to people who have worked on Rochdales. I think this is mostly a product of the previous crash and rebuild that the car had gone through years ago. Anyway, the first attempt just wasn’t right for me.
The arches were too bulbous and oversized for the wheels. The workmanship was good, but the shape was wrong. It kind of reminded me of Escort Mk1 bubble arches. Great if you need a lot of vertical space for wheel movement for a rally car, but not right for the Rochdale. A shame, and the guys were good enough not to be difficult about starting them again....







If the wheels had a different offset, I dare say, they could have worked, but the point of the new wheels was for the car to handle as well as possible, and the smaller offset was important in this.
So, needing to get it right next time, more photos were shared as a work in progress, to ensure I was happy with the shape.













So, last Friday, I went back with crossed fingers to see the progress.
This time, it instantly felt right when I first saw the car. What did strike me is just how different they now are to the previous arches the car was wearing from the last build. I loved the pumped arches originally, but it was always obvious they were pretty extreme. I look back on photos now and the car looks almost cartoonish. Not sure if it is just my taste changing but I look back now and think the arches were too in your face. I'm no purist but they just didn't respect the original shape of the car enough. It was a real head turner in that state, but I think the new shape has a subtle, purposeful look, more sensitive to the original shape.

Anyway, this is where we have evolved to -










I think they’re a real success. The arches hug the tops of the wheels, the radius is a nice, close curve around the wheel in profile and the arches taper down towards the original bodywork, without any obvious lip. The lower offset on the front wheels have meant a much more modest front end.

Gone are the days when the car can provoke a reaction based on the widened bodywork, now it will be about making an impression by soaking in some of the finished details that I have planned.

What do people think??

[Seth]

Oh yes!

I winced slightly when I first got to the initial front arch re-make. Rears were good but fronts were as you say, like someone had added Escort bubbles. Now? So, so much better. Perfect in fact. Just looks like its always been that way.

[Del]

Love it. It has a look of something very expensive that I can't put my finger on.
But as Seth says, it looks *exactly* right.

[ettorebugatti]

Very subtle and elegant, is it actually wider than OEM (OMG, I said it)?

Love the tyre 'warmer' look, may be you should go 13" wheels

Is that the actually rear window shape? I might suggest that a similiar rear window shape of a AR Giulietta Sprint Speciale might work well with the warp around rear window.

[alolympic]

Apr 22, 2013 22:21:05 GMT Seth said:

Oh yes!

I winced slightly when I first got to the initial front arch re-make. Rears were good but fronts were as you say, like someone had added Escort bubbles. Now? So, so much better. Perfect in fact. Just looks like its always been that way.

Apr 22, 2013 22:26:04 GMT Del said:

Love it. It has a look of something very expensive that I can't put my finger on.
But as Seth says, it looks *exactly* right.

It is very expensive ;D

Apr 22, 2013 22:28:08 GMT ettorebugatti said:

Very subtle and elegant, is it actually wider than OEM (OMG, I said it)?

Love the tyre 'warmer' look, may be you should go 13" wheels

Is that the actually rear window shape? I might suggest that a similiar rear window shape of a AR Giulietta Sprint Speciale might work well with the warp around rear window.

The front track is now about 4 inches wider than standard I think we worked out, the rear, still a lot more.
The fibreglass you now see in the rear window isn't the shape we are going for. That is just a new skin, which will be cut back and used as the lip for the new shape. The change is going to be subtle, just a little more curved than standard.

Thanks for the positivity guys, it's great to get encouragement.

I've also just purchased some new seats off ebay, after many many weeks of seemingly going around in circles. Modern high backs, going to be cut down for a period look. I think these are really going to work.....

[stealthstylz]

I nearly did a small sick when I saw the first versions of the front arches, was quite worried that it was gonna remain ugly till I scrolled down and read that you'd got them to do them again.

The new versions are utter perfection, really could not be improved shape wise at all. Awesome job!

[Deleted]

That's looking excellent, particularly the new arches front and rear. It definitely has more the look of a piece of fibreglass exotica with the freshly profiled front wings than it did with the bubble arches.

[mdh]

Front arches were def wrong first time, much better second time round.

Will you keep the K seres, or swap it out for something else?

[Siert]

Very nice indeed!

[v8ian]

Apr 22, 2013 22:28:08 GMT ettorebugatti said:

Love the tyre 'warmer' look, may be you should go 13" wheels

Rochdales have to be my favorite of the british kit cars/glass cars, all the mods have worked to enhance the shape of the body, and before what Mr Bugatti says about the tire warmers, they had somehow reminded me of Chevron B6s with big sidewall tires with Goodyear or Avon stenciled on the sidewall would look the nuts on the Rochdale,

[sonus]

Looking very nice

I skimmed the thread to find the original rim specifications, but could only gather that they were 16". Could you shed some more light on size? Width, bolt pattern and ET and possibly the tire dimensions as well?

Where they split rims with classic(?) build from Image?

[alolympic]

Apr 23, 2013 8:10:52 GMT sonus said:

Looking very nice

I skimmed the thread to find the original rim specifications, but could only gather that they were 16". Could you shed some more light on size? Width, bolt pattern and ET and possibly the tire dimensions as well?

Where they split rims with classic(?) build from Image?

Umm, from what I can remember;
8.5" width
4x100 PCD
ET is approx 0, or maybe even minus something, I could measure.
Yes, Image RM2 in classic build.
Tyres were 205/50 on fronts and 225/50 on rears.
The wheels are currently at home, awaiting a good ploish for me to sell on, unmarked.
Let me know if you're interested

[79cord]

Glad to see the progress & well worth the extra effort. Looks like both front and rear now flow nicely into the body rather than looking like additions.
Seeing the remains of the original frt arch 'strakes' I wonder if they deserve a tiny side indicator at their frt, to give them a new starting point.

[sonus]

Apr 23, 2013 9:48:47 GMT alolympic said:

Apr 23, 2013 8:10:52 GMT sonus said:

Looking very nice

I skimmed the thread to find the original rim specifications, but could only gather that they were 16". Could you shed some more light on size? Width, bolt pattern and ET and possibly the tire dimensions as well?

Where they split rims with classic(?) build from Image?

Umm, from what I can remember;
8.5" width
4x100 PCD
ET is approx 0, or maybe even minus something, I could measure.
Yes, Image RM2 in classic build.
Tyres were 205/50 on fronts and 225/50 on rears.
The wheels are currently at home, awaiting a good ploish for me to sell on, unmarked.
Let me know if you're interested

Thanks

I would have been interested if they had been 4x114.3 PCD

They will probably go down well with the VW boys

[RobinJI]

As others have said, those new arches really are perfect! They look elegant and period, like you'd expect from a factory produced special, rather than something that's been built recently. Personally I even much prefer them to the arches you had with the old wheels, good work!

Also I know we can't really see the wheels, I think their overall size is much more suited to the car proportionally. Generally, I'm loving all the changes you're making, can't wait to see it progress.

[russman]

Sorry if I missed it but what garage is doing all the glass work? Looking for a good place myself.

Car looks fab by the way

[Paul H]

Apr 22, 2013 22:16:32 GMT alolympic said:

Looks really great! However I can't help but think that the strake in the wing needs to be better defined in the rear part of the flare where it flows off from the edge of the arch, in a similar way to how it would have done originally. Can clarify with a sketch if you pm me your email address

[Colonelk]

Its amazing the difference that arch makes

[yoeddynz]

Much betterer!!! The bubble ones previous did look horrid.

Have you chosen a paint colour or will you stick to the colour you had chosen before all this new work.

personally I think it would suit a deep pastel colour rather than metallic. Keeping it sort of period race car looking. Something like a mint green, light blue, aqua shade. But really deep good quality paint to pump it out.