New Olds (boat tail speedster)

[kapri]

Cracking progress Dave

[Olds]

Thanks Kev. Slowly getting there. Trying to get a balance between 30s roadster and late Edwardian steampunk. It would be very easy to go too far into the fantasy genre with this one.

[merv]

Like what your doing Dave, will this be at Basingstoke

[Olds]

Probably not next year. Not planning on having it on the road until 2016.

[the coppersmith]

found this late last night while cruising the internet, looks similar??

[Olds]

Very nice. Bentley R type Petersen 6.5 supercharged. A lot lower than mine will end up (underslung chassis) and a bit more expensive 
Not a lot to show at the moment. Just spent two days slowly bending up the tubing that will form the cockpit perimeter (top edge). Made from three lengths of 16mm OD 3mm wall cds tube.  11 bends, 8 of them compound (two different directions and differing radii). Followed by three large progressive bends to get it all to match  the chassis curved chassis rails and rear section and it all has to be symmetrical. At times it was really doing my head in.  Should have started off with a straight framed chassis.
Think I have it all sorted and hopefully will weld it up to the mounting rails and the steering support soon.

[Manky Monkey]

Can't imagine how that'll look -it's like watching someone put a jigsaw puzzle together when you can't see the picture on the box 
Hope your back's feeling better now Dave.

[Olds]

Thanks. The back is slowly getting better, but can only work for a couple of hours before wanting to lay down.  
'Jigsaw'  tack welded together  (hope it makes sense now). Just need to make the supports that go between this and the base frame/front hoop. These will be a combination of 40 x 20 box (drilled like the front hoop) 16mm cds and 8mm round bar.

[Manky Monkey]

Aah, yep, now I see.

[Olds]

Front supports made with more holey gussets. These will be on view so trying to make them look a little bit nicer than plain ones.

[kapri]

Nice detail.

[Olds]

Thanks.
More brackets and Gussets made. Slowly working my way around the cockpit. Hand rolled and wired edges take some time in 1.5mm steel, but give a nice finish. Perhaps I should invest in a beading machine.
As you can see the sides are going to be very low.

[Mendalot]

Real craftsmanship there Dave,  I know it would be difficult, but I would love to see some pictures of how you work the metal to get the edges on the gussets, what do you use as an anvil?  What about a tutorial video, esteemed Master??

[Olds]

No problem.
I use my large vice and whatever lumps of metal I have laying around to beat the sheet on.
The following pics show forming a wired edge and a beaded edge
Bending allowance I use is 3 x wire diameter for wired  and 1.5 x for beaded
First you knock the edges over along the scribed line being sure not to form a tight bend.
For beaded this needs to be 90 deg. For wired, I knock it over a bit further.

[Olds]

The wire is the put in place and the edge slowly hammered over, making sure to keep the wire trapped in place. This is a plain wired edge, flat on the side that would normally be seen.
To get a raised wired edge, you need to make a former. For thin gauge steel a bit hard wood is good (mahogany chair leg  ) for thick stuff over 1.5mm, a lump of brass will do or you can make a tool from steel. Main thing is it has to have no sharp edges that can dig into the work.
With the seam side down, slowly move the former along the edge hammering as you go. Do this lightly, in several passes to avoid creasing the metal.