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

The front fenders

Cutting into yet another new sheet after creating a template of the general shape required..

The electric shear can create wavy edges while cutting the metal if pushed too fast so I usually, try to lay out/cut the sheet in a way that the wavy edges remain on the drops. However, at times the good piece may still end up with these distorted areas. The slapper and a flat dollie are used to even them out. Also, putting the perimeter through the wheel with some light pressure will take care of this issue as well.


Left and right pieces both start out nice and flat. However, 2 reverse curves in one panel will take care of that very quickly.


I started with rolling the piece though the wheel with the rubber wheel installed to give the panel some rigidity while working it.


Witness marks were made to indicate areas that I need to stay away from as they cannot be rolled...yet. The panel was then flipped over, having only the centre rolled to create the concave area. At this point the steel upper wheel is installed and after a few minutes of alternately rolling one side and then the other with some pressure...the fender is starting to take shape and fit the buck. However, there's still a long way to go. Areas to push and pull are highlighted.


Almost there...smoothing out and preparing to tip the body line features and edges into the panel. The wire frame's features are traced onto the underside of the panel. Also a bit of excess to trim away.


At this point this was far enough for the passenger side... the driver's side needed to be caught up.

Topping off the build with the roof panel.

I was getting a bit anxious as the time was approaching to create the roof panel as I've never shaped a panel this large. The shape is simple enough...it's just managing the size. Normally, some would approach fabricating this in 4 pieces - the sides and front curvature pieces, followed by the main area panel...which would be welded to the 3 perimeter pieces. As you guys have seen, I've got a few marble loose up there ... so figured why not try it as one piece. The other thing is that I didn't really want to do all that welding/finishing.

The same shaping principles used to create smaller pieces also apply large ones...except for handling the size of the sheet. The throat on our wheel is large enough to accommodate over 1/2 the panel so 'washing out'/smoothing the panel wouldn't be an issue...

The roof panel was started by creating a flexible template on a fresh 4'x8' sheet.


The piece was cut out and preliminary wheeling pattern marked out.


After about 1/2 an hour of shaping the roof panel marks the 68th and final major panel being shaped... It's easy to over shoot the shape, therefore I like to take my time and sneak up on the curvature. Overshooting isn't really that much of an issue since you can wheel the perimeter to get the centre back down...but that means more time spent wheeling.


Later, after final shape tweaking, the edges will be trimmed and feature lines will be created.


So back to the wheel with my dad...pushing the areas over the doors up to attain the prescribed curvature.


Dropped the roof skin on again and marking areas to be adjusted...




A shot from the underside if the roof and the wire frame buck. The skin needs to conform to the this buck precisely. It's close, but has a long way to go yet...


Bringing up the centre section of the roof some more by starting to wheel it again...1/2" at a time.


Rolling on....


... and on...


...and on... It's getting close...and shiny. The upper wheel and lower anvil are transferring their mirror smooth surfaces onto the material being rolled.


Trial fitting the panel...again. A few more adjustments before the features are put in and edges tipped.


Perimeter edges need to have excess material trimmed.


Edges trimmed away and prepped for tipping.


Pheu!

Thanks for looking!

Love it!

SIMPLY AWESOME - I can't even think in 3D let alone work in it.

Still makes my jaw drop.... and i'm not jealous at all ..........

Whats the legalities like with regard putting a 'home made' car on the rd over there?

Pieces for the rear hatch are laid out and being prepped for assembly.


Fitting the pieces to the buck and scribing the underside of the dovetail panel so that the vent holes can be cut out.


After cutting out the vent holes, the panel was run though the tipping wheel to brake a starting bend. These bends can now be formed over the buck for a true fit.






Guess it was a few days later when these panels for the front compartment were shaped...didn't have the camera around to get some shots. Now they need to be welded and finished. Next thing to tackle are those big holes in the hood...

Here's a little progress that was made on R2's rear end.

The rear fascia pieces were already clamped in place and scribed and with most of the major shaping coming to an end it was time to start trimming and welding things together.






Lower fascia being fitted to the wire frame buck.


Lower and upper pieces are clamped and ready for welding.

Some pictures of the pieces that make up the front fenders coming together as well as detail work around the headlight areas.

Top section of the driver's side finder 'clipped' into place on the buck in preparation for ...


... the two lower front and rear pieces to be lined up and tacked into place. Final welding will take place off the buck. You may notice that the piece being tacked is on a slight angle at the moment. As you guys know, it's crucial to precisely align the surfaces being welded. Once tacked, I flexed the panel into position and adjusted the joint with a hammer and dollie. I was aware that there would be some springback of the panel when removed from the buck but that would be addressed by relaxing the lower feature.




The main body feature was sharpened up using our tipping wheel after the convex/concave surfaces were created with the english wheel. Getting the initial lines straight was one of the bigger challenges since the guide marks were on the underside of the panel while it was being pushed though the wheel. Aside from working the metal at the seam during tacking/welding and rolling the front lips these pieces weren't touched with a hammer or slapper.

Now onto the other side to hem the lip around the headlight area. After the first pass the feature is still a little bumpy. The trick for a nice result is to take your time during this procedure otherwise it will require a little more finessing to smooth out. At the time I was working on this ... I was in a hurry...


A bit smoother, but not great as there are some flat spots that need to be worked out.




During final welding of the panels I'll go over that touch up the small inconsistencies.

Thanks for looking fellas.

This is so far beyond awesome there are no adequate words. Thank you for sharing.