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Looking amazing - you will be taking the shop elves up to the hardware store in it in no time!
Quote from: crueby on April 09, 2019, 12:29:06 AMLooking amazing - you will be taking the shop elves up to the hardware store in it in no time!Hello Chris,Thank you, I just hope that I get it completed before I forget how to drive. My "to do list" is now about four times longer than when I started this project I wish that I had your wood working skills and the required tools to do all of the body work. Have a great day,Thomas
Quote from: Ye-Ole Steam Dude on April 09, 2019, 12:47:25 AMQuote from: crueby on April 09, 2019, 12:29:06 AMLooking amazing - you will be taking the shop elves up to the hardware store in it in no time!Hello Chris,Thank you, I just hope that I get it completed before I forget how to drive. My "to do list" is now about four times longer than when I started this project I wish that I had your wood working skills and the required tools to do all of the body work. Have a great day,ThomasI can help out with wood parts, have a shop full of brown-stuff tools and decades of practice with them... That era car is mainly flat panel bodywork, aren't they? Got plans?
Thomas, that makes perfect sense to me. I have made lots of furniture, rooms, boats, even restored horse drawn sleighs. Don't rule out panels with a curve in one axis, easy to build with thin ribs covered in flexible plywood. Compound curves are harder but doable. Marine ply and epoxy can build many shapes. Covering the edges is a great idea, adds strength too. Oh, and extra projects are fun. Breaks up long projects with something new, and there is no hard deadline on the Marion, the build is the funnest part!
The chassis is looking great, Thomas!Can't wait to see the body take shape now.Are you going to try driving it around without the body before you disassemble it?Kim
My "to do list" is now about four times longer than when I started this project
Keep up the good work Thomas!
Nice progress on a very interesting project QuoteMy "to do list" is now about four times longer than when I started this project Oh man, that's how I feel I really need an early retirement - unfortunately not something I can afford the next 9 years .....
Let me warn you now about retiring, when you do you will find that you had more free time when you were employed
Hello Chris @cruebyI am attaching two pdf drawings and let me state that is by no means a final design, these drawings are just to give you a general idea of what I have been thinking about: 1) showing just the outline of the Body, front, side and rear views. I have removed all the round corners and shapes to make it simple, but this can be changed if needed. 2) At the very bottom is shown the actual chassis (steel frame) and then in Green is the Bottom Rail ( this would be a part of the wood skeleton ). Note that it sits directly on top of the chassis and the ½" thick plywood floorboard would sit on top. The side panels cover this area and is shown better in the second drawing. 3) Above the Panels at the top would be the Top Rail shown in Red. This too is better depicted in the second drawing. The 1-inch radius shown would be a part of the Top Rail. Note that the Deck (top of the body) would be flush with the Rail, whereas the Side Panels would be inset by 1/4-inch. 4) There would be vertical Stays along each side for added strength and horizontal Stays going side to side for added strength. 5) The Rails would be fairly easy to make ( good close-up cross section of each shown on the second drawing ), obviously the hard parts would be the transitions from the sides to the front and rear and the angled areas and the opening in the cockpit area. 6) If need be, the Body could be made in two sections with a visible vertical seam just aft of the cockpit and ahead of the service doors on each side, under the drivers butt. By the way, the driver is drawn to scale at 72" tall for a reference. 7) There will be a “raised” Hatch opening on the aft deck for access to the engine compartment.Drawing #2, The relief area along the face of the Rails (top and bottom) are shown to be ½" allowing a 1/4" thick piece of plywood to be inserted leaving an additional 1/4" of “inset”. I am assuming that the Panels would be held in place with “brads” or “staples” and a good glue. 9) I plan to make the Body Tabs from 1-1/2 x 1-1/2 x 1/8 steel angle and cut them 2" long. They will be located all around the entire inside perimeter of the Chassis and not sure of the exact spacing at this time. 10) I am thinking about getting some 3" wide black tape (heavy duty like electrical tape) to lay down on top of the Chassis before bolting down the Bottom Rails to prevent any direct contact of wood to painted steel.Hope this is enough for you to review and determine if this “Skeleton” is doable or not. Again, I am open to all suggestions.One more thought I want to share with you. One of my original plans was to build the Body out of plywood and a conventional “stick” Skeleton and then cover the entire surface with several layers of a “cloth” fiber and then glass over (resin ). This would maintain the authentic appearance of an original 1800's Horseless Carriage, be super strong, fairly light weight and easy to build. The BIG downside would be the countless hours of sanding that dog-gone fiberglass to achieve the proper finish where no cloth would show in the paint. Your thoughts??Have a great day,Thomas