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Old 05-08-2009, 07:31 PM
Kerry Pinkerton's Avatar
Kerry Pinkerton Kerry Pinkerton is offline
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: Near Huntsville, Alabama. Just south of the Tennessee line off I65
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Default The Art Deco Imperial Project - Part 4

THE ART DECO ROADSTER PROJECT
3/16/07
I called Dutch Comstock today and told him I sure wished I'd paid more attention when he was talking about bead rolling and pre-stretching.

I've had a John Brown Boogiemanz bead roller for a couple years but never really used it.

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What I'd never done was master the pre-stretch in order to get the panel flat. I knew you had to do it but had no idea how much.

So I cut a bunch of 18 ga and started experimenting. It tool about 10 attempts before I figured out the correct amount of pre-stretch so the panel was flat when the bead was put in.

I was pre-stretching on my wheel and figured out something. This particular machine is the 48" Crown that I had at MM06...the one with all the extra metal in it and super, SUPER stiff. What I discovered is that I could set pressure with the handwheel, load the metal with the quick release and just wheel until I could tell the machine had stretched all it was for that setting. This gave me a consistent stretch for each bead and as long as I don't change the adjuster, I should be able to make all the beads I need quickly and easily. A more flexible machine would require another way of montioring the stretch because the frame has more spring load.

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Anyway, here is the first panel on the car. The floorpan under the drivers seat. I laid out the beads I wanted, did the pre-stretch and beaded away. It took about an hour for this panel. I did have to do a little hammer work to tweak a few spots.

There is a flange on the front of this panel and the panel in front of this one will fit under the flange and be rosette welded together. Obviously the seams will be sealed but the laps over instead of under will keep water from being driven in the seams.

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I got one bead a little crooked. They do all end in the same place but don't look like it in the photo.

I had some stiffeners made from 16 ga that will go under the floor. The stiffeners are shaped like this:


--\__/-- bad drawing...

3" wide, 1/2" deep and 1.5" across the bottom. They will also be rosette welded to the panels.

I'm certainly not a bead roller wizard but feel much more comfortable with it. John's machine is super stiff but I've got the handwheel in a very awkward position and it's too small. My left arm is probably going to feel like it weighs 100lbs tomorrow.

3/18/07 Didn't get a lot done this weekend. Had some machines to get ready to take to LineX tomorrow and had some 'stuff' in the paper and had people calling and dropping by all afternoon. Didn't sell much though.

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Some folks on MetalMeet gave me some really good advice on construction. Specifically, the cabin needs a complete subframe that is bolted to the chassis. Makes a lot of sense.

Anyway built the last two panels for the left floor. I'm getting pretty comfortable with the beading process. These last two panels probably tool only an hour total.

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I rosette welded the front and back pair of panels together and laid them on the cross braces and the subframe (the one Rod Doc suggested) I'll probably screw the two panels together for mockup and weld later so I can remove them easily as Richard suggested). Here is the floor board sitting on the stiffners and subframe rails and those sitting on body mount pads for height. I'll trim the inside line of the floorboard after I get the trans and driveline humps made.

Obviously the stiffners are just sitting there and will be trimmed to clear the driveshaft tunnel . The tunnel will be the 'beam' that supports the center or the floor pan once everything is welded in place. Until then, I'll leave the stiffeners running full width.

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You can see the subframe rails and one of the stiffeners the above photo.

The photo makes the panel look warped but it's not???

I think it will be nice and stiff with no resonance when welded together.

The seating position is pretty good. The drivers right heel rests on top of the slight ledge to use the gas pedal and brake. The left foot can sit on the 'ramp' or on the ledge. The ledge is required in order to clear the shift linkage and wiring harness connections. I'm not sure I'll keep the footwell exactly like this but it's close enough for mockup and can be changed until I weld everything together. I can drop the ramp down but loose width... I'll have to thing about it. I want to make sure there is plenty of room for the tranny connectors and linkages.

At full extension, I cannot reach the firewall flange with my left foot . I've still got some trimming to do but believe the engine/trans will lift up the inch it needs to clear the tranny mount and then easily slide forward for removal. The tranny hump will be a bit complicated but I want as much foot room as I can get and still be able to get the tranny out.

The passenger side won't need the hump/ledge.

I'm planning on finishing the floorboards and screwing them together for mockup.

The subframe idea got me to thinking and gave me an idea that I'll probably use. I've been worried about galvanic corrosion of the aluminum to steel. I think what I'll do is get a piece of 3x3x1/4 aluminum angle. This will be BONDED to the steel of the subframe rails. This new bonding stuff is incredible. The metal will tear before the bond fails....

I can trim the bottom of the angle |_ to match the curved profile (top view) of the body. The body skin can wrap UNDER the angle and be screwed or bolted to it. With 1/4" angle, I can drill and tap for bolts/screws to hold the panels in place. I hope that makes sense.
The floor pans are 18 ga. The stiffeners are 16 ga and the subframe rails are 14 ga. I have some 85psi urethane that is 1.5" thick and I'm using that for temporary body mounts. I have to clear the muffler rings in the X member which are 1" above the top of the frame so 1.5" gives me clearance.

3/21/07
Not much progress. Got a wooden firewall mocked up.

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Redid the front of my floorboard to change the step to just an angle. The Dakota gas pedal will work fine and I've got plenty of leg room

The Dakota brake pedal will bolt up also once I modify the pedal arm a bit.

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Here is a view from the drivers seat. The hood will be just a bit over the air cleaner and the tops of the fenders will be about 6" above the tires.

I'll have to watch out for small children.
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4/10/07
Been a while and not much has happened since the Bugly April Fools Meet. The chassis was stripped and trailered and sat outside while we worked on the roof and assembled machines to take to SunNFun. Its' supposed to rain tonight so this afternoon my son Cam and I pushed the chassis back in the shop. '

Before we did I wanted to hang the fender profiles we cut out at Bugly and take some long distance shots. The photos Tuck took at Bugly just didn't show the big picture because we couldn't get far enough away. I wish I had had time to put the firewall and rear cabin wall in place but we didn't. Hopefully your imagination can make this work. The firewall is about 4" behind that blue tarp covering the engine. Cam has the seat back a little farther than it will actually be. With me in the seat (6'2"), there is about 6" behind the seat.

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The hood line is lower than the top of the fenders and noses over to the grill which is even with the front of the fenders.

Tomorrow I hope to have time to cut out some sections for one of the fenders so I can have something to take to SunNFun. This will be something the airplane guys can relate to as it looks like a big wheel pant (airplane fender). The fenders will have a 12" diameter over most the length and taper down at the ends. The buck will be reversible.

With the help of Mark and Tuck at Bugly we finished the floor pans on the passenger side but don't have any photos. I'll try and get her back outside and take some photos with everything done to date if the weather clears and we don't have too much stuff in the way.

4/12/07
Got the trailer about loaded and was able to get a little work done on the fender buck. Wray Schelin posted a photo of a sheet metal buck he was designing for the original Bugatti project. This is a modification of that approach. I made a template and cut them out with my plasma cutter. Once they were cleaned up of all the slag, I stacked them, clamped them, and ground the edges to the correct profile and consistency. While still clamped, I cut a 1/2" wide slot 6" long. A tab was welded to one side and and I'll weld one on the other side tomorrow.

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I've still got to do a couple different profiles for the front where the fenders taper down and also at the rear. I'll need to make a stand at working height also. Should be able to get that done tomorrow. And grind off the extra screw length.

The slots in the plates are for spring clamps to hold the panels in place.

I'm planning on using the same buck for both sides. The fenders are the same on both sides of the center except for the intersection of the fairing and wheel opening which I'll just flip flop. At least that's my thinking. If that doesn't work, I can easily make another set of templates.
04/13/07
Finished the buck and got it in the trailer. WHEW! Got a couple private messages requesting more detail so here are some finished shots.


I intended to cut some clamp slots in the front piece but obviously forgot. There is a henrob guy at SunNFun near us and I'll just tote it down there and cut a few. It's fairly heavy...about 50 pounds I'd guess.

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I wanted another web in the front but just ran out of time.

I mentioned last night that I cut a 1/2" wide slot 6" long in the metal all at once. This slipped over the skinny part of the wood fine but on the back I cut a slot with a saber saw that the metal slides into. There still is that 6" at the end that holds the wood all together. The legs help make it rigid also.

I'm pretty happy with the buck. Wray had a good design idea. I know he was planning on cutting them out on his plasma table but he'd still have to deal with the slag. I resolved that by clamping them together and grinding them to the same profile.

If we were indeed building different parts around the country we'd have to come up with some way to make the bucks the same...waterjet maybe? Not an issue for me since I have no math or CAD to deal with...

I'm not sure I have enough detail in the bucks. I may need to add some additional stations. We'll see.
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Kerry Pinkerton
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