taaron76 Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Me too! This one is on my work bench now. Lots of details in there. Great build! Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 More pics coming guys, be patient.. I just got back to work on it today. Mostly spent time getting the body wet sanded and polished. I will be starting back on this build in ernest the first of the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaftygas Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) About BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH time!? Edited January 4, 2015 by jaftygas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaftygas Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Jaftygas apologizes for the previous post I didn't know that word was cussing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Howdy Guys, finally got time to post something on the corvette this evening. I have a few things to post about so it's gonna be a couple of posts to get it all in. Though I didnt get much chance to post anything over the holidays, I did take time to wet sand and polish out the vette so the body is now ready for detailing. continued on following post........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaftygas Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Like a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DynoMight Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Just falling together like always Jim! You do absolutely epic work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Next thing I worked on was what I was gonna do for tires and wheels. I decided to go with the kit supplied stock wheels and tires, but I had to come up with a way to make them work and still add detailed 4 wheel disc brakes to them. So here is my solution. to start with I dug out a set of 4 wheel rim backs from the parts bins. Then using the kit supplied custom wheel backing inserts I lined them up on the back side of the stock wheels. This allows them to slide over my scratch made axle pins.. It will make sence later. To get the kit custom wheel backs centered to the stock wheels, I used then kit supplied stock wheel backs and slid a evergreen plastic rod, the same diameter as the custom centers, through the stock backing centers and then using testors cement added a few drops and adjusted them till they were centered to the stock wheel backs. The reason for using testors cement, was because it gives a little bit of time for ajustment before it sets up, and once it does set up it welds the parts together. And yes I did dechrome the back of the stock wheel where the custom center back was cemented. Once the cement was dried this is the result. Next was to come up with a way to get the photo etched disc for the disc brakes to mount to the wheels.. And this is how I did that. I first assembled the disc, then using a large piece of evergreen tubing, (about the same diameter as the axle insert on the wheel backing) I CA glued it to the photo etched brake disc. This is how it will sit on the wheel back. You'll see later in the build how it will all work out to the suspension. Continued on in the following post............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaftygas Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 You da man Jim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Next up I have been working on the front suspension. My idea was to give the vette poseable front suspension. To do this it is gonna take a little more work than the rear end did when I made rotating rear axles. I'm glad the kit came with 2 complete front suspension A arm assemblies, this makes mock up, test fitting and aligment much easier. Now since I'm detailing the front suspension, I got rid of the molded on shock detail and drilled out the spring areas... I also drilled out the holes for the torsion bar mounting points since the torsion bar will be used to keep everything lined up during the mock up. I'm using the custom suspension part by the way. Not a issue since both are the same except for how the wheels mount... I also cut off the tie rod mounting arms from the front suspension. I'll deal with adding some back on when I get that far. Then I drilled straight pin sized holes with a pin vise, through the A arms and into the spindles.. these will be for the bottom pins once I cut the spindles loose. Next I re-shaped the spindles so they wouldn't look so square where they meet the A Arms. Round rod was drilled out to the diameter of straight pins and then holes were drill for the same through the top A arms and into the tops of the spindles.. these will be for the top spindle pins once the spindles are cut free. Next straight pin sized holes where drilled into the mounting points of the torsion bar Next the upper A arms were tacked into place using liquid tape, and then the kit supplied springs were set in place. The springs will be replaced before final assembly with scratch made springs and shocks. The kit ones are just gonna be used for now for test fitting and alignment purposes. The rest of the suspension was then set into place and pins inserted to check everything for fit and alighment Continued on in following final post for the night............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 After getting everything together for test fitting, It's clear that the spring area of the frame will need to be thinned down a little to allow for the front spindles to have clearence to turn once the spindles are cut free. Shouldn't be too much of a issue though.. It will take just a little carefull grinding with the drumel tool. I'll deal with that tomarrow.. I also hope to get the Tie rod work done and seperate the spindles from the suspension. I'll be making the rotating axles for the spindles out of evergreen round rod, back sides of the round rod can be heated up and flattened and then when the wheels are ready to be installed, they can be cemented to the axle rods. But you'll see my plan for that when I get that far. That's pretty much it for tonight.. we'll see how far I get with it tomarrow. Thanks for looking and the comments guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Just falling together like always Jim! You do absolutely epic work. Thanks Glen, But I can only wish it was falling together. I always seem to find the hardest part of a kit to detail lmao. You da man Jim. Thanks Joe, I'm pretty pleased with how it's turning out so far. I was a little concerned about the paint at first, but after getting it wet sanded, I think it's gonna be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Amazing work Jim. Glad you have this going again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang1989 Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I was wonderin' where you got off to. Great work Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 Amazing work Jim. Glad you have this going again... Thanks Carl I was wonderin' where you got off to. Great work Jim Hi Joe Thanks, Just got busy doing the holiday thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) Update Today. Worked on finishing up the mock up on the front possable suspension. This is gonna take a few posts so be patient while I get them all up today. Started out by thinning out, with my moto tool, the spring and shock mount area of the frame on both sides, and adding the top mounting pins for the spindles. Continued below in the next post..... Edited January 7, 2015 by microwheel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 I never like using kit supplied coil springs whenever I can make my own . So I grabbed some craft wire and a screw the same diameter as the kit coil spring and made a couple of my own. The craft wire was wrapped around the threads of the screw and then removed. Once that was done they were cut to length to keep the scratch made ones the same length as the kit supplied ones. Once they were test fitted they were set aside for now... Continued below in next post........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 Next up was to make some scratch made front shocks to slide down inside the springs.. Several sizes of evergreen round rod and tubbing were used and cemented together with tamiya model cement to make the shocks.. They were test fitted through the mounting holes and cut to length. The fatter ends don't need to be perfect since they sit up where most of it can't be seen anyway. Once competed they were set aside to allow the glue to set up. At this point rotating axle pins were made also from round rod that was heated up on one end to make a pin head. I like using plastic axle pins over the metal ones that some kits come with. It allows me to cut them a little over long in case I need to ajust the wheel with disitances in the fender wells. Here is the springs and shocks and pins test fitted with the frontend assembly. Continued below in the next post..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taaron76 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I never like using kit supplied coil springs whenever I can make my own . So I grabbed some craft wire and a screw the same diameter as the kit coil spring and made a couple of my own. The craft wire was wrapped around the threads of the screw and then removed. Jim, what gauge wire are you using for those springs? Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeBee Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Not sure how I missed this one, but it's looking good Jim, I love all the little detail touches you put into your builds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10thumbs Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Hi Jim, Great work, very realistic. Thanks for the tip about the coils using a screw, I wish I knew this one earlier, but this is why we're here. Look and learn! Good progress. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) Next I cut the spindle to tie rod arms loose from the extra suspension part that came with the kit, leaving a little extra plastic to allow me to shape it to fit the suspension assembly I have been modifiying. I cemented these onto the modified spindle while they were still attached to the suspension assembly and then drilled out the tie rod ends and attached the tierod to the spindle arms using straight pins. At this point the spindles have not been cut away from the suspension assembly yet. This is to keep everything lined up. Piano wire was inserted into the lower A arms and cut off, while the spindles are still attached to them so once the spindles are seperated from the arms they would be pre-aligned. Straight pins were also attached and cut off to size to attach the torsion bar to the suspension and use as a main alighment point. Continued below in the next post.......... Edited January 7, 2015 by microwheel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) FInally the spindles were cut free from the suspension assembly and everything was mocked up to the frame to check for fit and function. Spindle Axle pins in a straight on position Spindle Axle pins turned to the left Spindle axle pins turned to the right.. With everything mocked up, tested and functioning, the parts were dissasembled and now its just some cleanup and then everything will be ready for paint. More to come as I get things done. Thanks for following along.... Edited January 7, 2015 by microwheel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 Jim, what gauge wire are you using for those springs? Tim I'm now really sure of the gauge Tim, I bought it along time ago at hobby lobby. I know it's a medium soft craft wire that comes in a big spool. And it was cheap if I remember right.. So getting a few different gauges of it wouldn't hurt the pocketbook to badly if you want to get you some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microwheel Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 Hi Jim, Great work, very realistic. Thanks for the tip about the coils using a screw, I wish I knew this one earlier, but this is why we're here. Look and learn! Good progress. Michael Thanks Michael, and glad I could share a tip with ya. I learned that one way back in the late 80's lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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