afx Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 Nice to see some progress on this Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted December 5, 2018 Author Share Posted December 5, 2018 On 12/4/2018 at 6:14 AM, afx said: Nice to see some progress on this Bill. Thanks. I haven't been working on models for a while, and really started to miss it. There's a lot of two-steps-forward, one-step-back inherent with this particular project, and it can get frustrating because it feels lie having to do everything twice sometimes. But as with everything else in life, one small part at a time, it will eventually get done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted December 5, 2018 Share Posted December 5, 2018 Another very cool project. Keep er' goin' ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted December 19, 2018 Author Share Posted December 19, 2018 While closing in on the final suspension bits on the bench, I remembered I've been called out for using a 4-link front end setup on a car that represents the late 1940s, early 1950s. While it's true this setup didn't find its way on to many street-rods until Pete and Jake's popularized it in the early '70s, it was in wide use on track cars much earlier. Here are two shots I have on the hard drive for verification from the early '50s. I've seen it in a film released in 1949 as well. Joe Sostilio's car photographed in St.Paul in August of 1951: Wally Campbell's car in 1953: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede70 Posted December 19, 2018 Share Posted December 19, 2018 Beautiful work - charting the progression of everything plus the articulation of new techniques always fascinates me. Further, it seems we both derive a high from granulated airborne glue from old builds we carefully break apart and reconstruct! Thanks for sharing... Mike K./Swede70 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 6, 2019 Author Share Posted January 6, 2019 On 12/19/2018 at 6:09 PM, swede70 said: Beautiful work - charting the progression of everything plus the articulation of new techniques always fascinates me. Further, it seems we both derive a high from granulated airborne glue from old builds we carefully break apart and reconstruct! Thanks for sharing... Mike K./Swede70 Thanks for your interest and kind comment. Yeah, I love making stuff from junk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 6, 2019 Author Share Posted January 6, 2019 (edited) It's pretty much impossible for me to build anything anymore without it at least LOOKING like the steering works. Lotsa extra PITA, but to me, the improvement in first-glance realism is well worth it. And I've finally done enough different types so it goes pretty quickly...usually. Below is the dropped tubular axle familiar to everyone who's ever built a Revell '32 Ford kit. It's more-or-less period correct from the late 1940s up until the present. First trick is to surgically remove the spindles and stub axles. I start with a drum sander on the Dremel, and finish with files. All you want to leave is the king-pin boss at the end of the axle. Once the boss is cleaned up nice and square and round, it's drilled .020" with a pin vise. Work alternately from the top and bottom, paying close attention that the drill runs true in the center of the boss. Work carefully and the holes will meet in the center. Straight pin shafts, .020" steel, are used for the kingpins. They're plenty strong in this application. The spindles are made up from channel stock, with the axle ends carefully fitted inside. Spindles are shaped to look like spindles, and stub-axles are glued into centered holes. These stub-axles were sized to be a nice fit in the centers of the front wheels, and the ends tapered to represent dust caps for the wheel bearings. Below, you see the wheel installed on the stub axle, as the spindle is installed on the axle. Let the stub-axles dry at least overnight before you do this, and they'll be plenty strong to hold the weight of the model too. A Q&D check was made of the angles of the kingpins relative to each other. Pretty close, eh? Angle of the kingpins is close enough to reality for me. Final camber is determined by the angle the stub axles make with the spindles. And so...we have a front axle with poseable steering. Edited January 6, 2019 by Ace-Garageguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Henderson Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 amazing, yet so simple. Thanks for the how to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 Plus, you won't have any trouble parking it with those little marker balls up the front to guide you! Sorry, mate, couldn't resist! I love the direction this car is going and have to admit that it had never occurred to me to convert a kit dropped axle to working steering. I have scratch-built straight tube axles before but this is a classic case of "Why didn't I think of that?" Cheers Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 6, 2019 Author Share Posted January 6, 2019 13 hours ago, Ralph Henderson said: ...Thanks for the how to! Glad you find it possibly useful. 8 hours ago, alan barton said: Plus, you won't have any trouble parking it with those little marker balls up the front to guide you! 8 hours ago, alan barton said: ...it had never occurred to me to convert a kit dropped axle to working steering. I have scratch-built straight tube axles before but this is a classic case of "Why didn't I think of that?" Glad you found it possibly useful too. I did a tutorial a while back where I go into a little more depth...and should be updating fairly soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ismaelg Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 I just spent about an hour carefully going thru this complete thread. No need to repeat how impressive your work is. One of the areas I like the most in this hobby is the research we go thru so our work is accurate. Very inspiring work, techniques and looking really good! Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 On 1/7/2019 at 9:20 AM, ismaelg said: I just spent about an hour carefully going thru this complete thread...One of the areas I like the most in this hobby is the research we go thru so our work is accurate... Thanks for your interest and kind comment. It means a lot. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So...the rear suspension was only previously mocked up to establish the ride-height and related overall "look". Time to finish it up. One way to attach springs to old Ford axle bells is with heavy-wall tubular hangers welded to the bell ends. A big bolt or stud in the center of the tubes picks up the spring shackles. Below, styrene rod stock is being used to represent the tubular hangers. It's necessary to keep both ends of the axle bells "clocked" correctly relative to each other, so I've put in a piece of threaded rod and some nuts to keep everything aligned during fabrication. I also like to keep the bolt-head detail on the axle bells aligned with the cast-in reinforcement ribs in the quick-change housing, if at all possible. I've mentioned it before, but I typically thin the ends of the axle bells to get away from the toylike look most kit parts have. Next thing is to remove the cast-on shackle-blobs from the spring, and replace them with something a little more realistic made up from more rod. I'll stack two short lengths of rod on each end, to represent spring eyes and shackle bushings, and go back later to make shackles from .010" strip stock. Below, after being trimmed, the "shackles" and axle hangers have been drilled .020" to accommodate more pivots made from steel pins. The spring was kinda rough, and looked too narrow as well as brittle. To alleviate both problems I laminated .010" sheet stock to both sides. After trimming and dressing a little, it's beginning to look almost respectable. And now for a couple of steps back. In the process of making up the spring hangers and shackles, I failed to keep my measuring true. You have to remember that a couple of millimeters in 1/25 scale equals a couple on INCHES in full scale, and that WILL show, and affect the ride height and stance...most definitely. Rather than rebuild the fiddly little parts on the axle I'd just finished roughing in, I decided to remove the rear crossmember and build a new one that would put the axle centerline back where it needed to be. Not really a great loss, as I'd never been really happy with the salvaged crossmember I used originally anyway. Carefully measured this time, and jigged / fixtured so things will set where they belong. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 The only hairpins I had for the rear that came close to what I needed had damage, and required some repair. The idea is to get them INSIDE the rear bellypan, to allow for as narrow a track as possible for streamlining and aesthetic reasons. Hairpins like this would definitely be too light for a car that was to be drag-raced, but would have been OK for the relatively gentle acceleration encountered during dry-lakes runs. Below, installed with appropriate styrene bolt-heads at the pivot points. Next, the rear wheel well filler panels were clearanced as required. The hairpins just clear the seat during full deflection of the rear spring. Though it's unlikely this little car will ever get raced, it's my habit to get as close to functionally correct as I can. Finally, up on her feet for the first time on the final suspension pieces. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldnslow Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 You are the "ACE" of fabrication Bill . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Lacy Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Looking awesome, Bill! I just love the firewall and foot well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Very interesting and useful! I might be about to start on a project that could use some of this rear fabrication stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afx Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Top notch fabrication. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchy Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Hi I have been watching this build since the beginning- excellent work and thanks for sharing. All that work for the body to become the plug, that’s true craftsmanship. Big pat on the back! looking forward to more, thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatMan Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Wow! Great stuff! Learning a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 On 1/12/2019 at 8:57 PM, oldnslow said: You are the "ACE" of fabrication Bill . Thank you sir! On 1/12/2019 at 10:37 PM, Dennis Lacy said: Looking awesome, Bill! I just love the firewall and foot well Glad you approve, Dennis. On 1/12/2019 at 11:05 PM, Snake45 said: Very interesting and useful! I might be about to start on a project that could use some of this rear fabrication stuff. Thanks. I'm always happy when somebody sees something they might be able to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 On 1/13/2019 at 7:13 AM, afx said: Top notch fabrication. Thanks a lot. Seems I've seen a fair bit of pretty fine fab work coming from you too. On 1/13/2019 at 7:49 AM, mitchy said: ...All that work for the body to become the plug, that’s true craftsmanship. Big pat on the back! looking forward to more, thank you! Thanks, and glad you're following. On 1/13/2019 at 10:09 AM, MeatMan said: Wow! Great stuff! Learning a lot. Thank you too, sir. It's always rewarding to hear people are learning from some of my posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jantrix Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 Very nice. Keep it going! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Metallic Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 I've been through the entirety of this thread multiple times now, and it's a pleasure to read through your buildup every time. It feels like it's actually getting close to a final mock-up before paint. I'm really looking forward to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Marischal Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 This is a consistently fascinating thread. Thanks, Bill. One question, where did the seat come from? Did you make it too? (Sorry if I've missed that bit.) steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Laski Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 I’m loving it, Bill! I love threads like this where I can learn a thing or two. Keep it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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