charlie libby

you don't have enough lotus kits yet? looking good Andrew, keep up the nice work.

hi andrew, took about 15 to 18 hours total for each, making the rim, the center the, center hub and drilling 160 holes. cutting and fitting 80 wires. but i think it was worth it. 2 more to go. going back on the fenders for awhile till my eyes come back to normal. i am doing the right rear next. i have the front hammer form shaped. nice to hear from you also mark,thank you.

hi mark ,hammer forms have been around for along time. i have been using them 30 or 40 years. i don't know idea they were. hi francis your wheels look great. here are a few pictures of the 2 halves of the fenders soldered together. and the filler between the fender and the body. the inside of the fender in picture 2 shows the solder. this was done with my favorite solder tool the resistance solderer. great tool. the wheels are looking good. 128 holes in each wheel, not counting 80 spot faces on the center hub to give a flat spot for the .035 hole to be drilled. the center hub is bolted in from the backside. they have 4o spokes only half ,40 more to go in each. i dont know why they look twisted in the picture, they are just straight .035 stainless safety wire. i have about 15 to 18 hours in each wheel and i have 2 more to go. i made the bore in the wheel .002 smaller than the wheel center then heated the rim so it would expand and dropped the center in on a spacer for the back space and let them cool. no glue needed.

hi mark , i have made spoke wheels before but these will be difficult. machining the angles for the spokes will be the tough part. i went to work on the rear fender today. as you can see i completed wooden buck and it looked about right. i started one half of the left rear and i think it came out pretty good so far. i did not notice that i was almost out of brass Sheetmetal so i ordered more today. this is going to take a large amount of brass to finish. here is a few pictures of the hammerform and the fender half . when i do the other half they will be silver soldered together. it took about 2 hours of hammering and had to be annealed 3 times.

hi Francis , your wheels look great. your whole project is as always an inspiration to try harder for me. i hope someday to see one in person.

hello and thank you to all of you for taking the time to look. working away on the body. got the rear section between the body and the fenders complete . just getting started on the rear fenders. these 2 section are very time consuming to get right. very happy with doors and hinges , they fit and work well. i will finish the fender in wood to make sure i like the overall shape and size before i commit to brass. i think i found a wheel that i like . its on the 1936 bugatti 57G ,the tank. looks difficult but i am going to try one and see.make the rim and center in aluminum and the spokes german silver. i will finish the rear fenders and then attempt the wheel. still looking at and for engine pictures. since this car never existed i can use what ever.the 1 to 1 car i started was small block ford. but i want something European i would use the jag 6 if i had not just used it. the bogatti type 57 if i could find better pictures and just modernize it a little. I'll keep looking. maybe a modern BMW straight 6.

took a week to get on door hung. making the hinges and getting the inner hinge plates in the right place was tricky. i am going to finsh thr trunk hinges and build the shocks before i do the other door. used one long pin to get the hinges in line with each other so they open with out binding. they work very easy. the fit and gaps are fair.just a little finish work at bodywork time.

hi john, noel and mike. nice to hear from you and thanks for your suggestion. still thinking on the engine and transmission. looking at a lot of pictures. got alot done on the rear suspension. need to make need mount Coilovers. i have been working on the doors and rear deck lid. i also got the inner windshield frame soldered in. mounting the hinges on the doors was pretty easy, get them in the correct location on the car will be little more difficult. hope you all had a great Christmas and have a happy new year.

finished riveting the hood side panels ,forgot pictures. started on the independent rear and got a good start on rear brakes. got to make the 2 half shafts and the lower a-arms next. still dreaming up the chassis design ,not sure yet. andrew ,the motor is still up in the air. i am still looking at pictures. i have to decide soon so i can get it machined and build the chassis. i think almost anything will fit. i cant find any side view drawings of this. any info would be a great help

Hi francis, really looking good.your front subframe is really amazing.glad your back to work.

hey tarheel rick, i lived in concord and harrisburg for 35 years while i worked in nascar. nice to hear from you. i also spent 4 years in the air force. got the doors formed and fitted, long process. made the hood sides and am not quite finished with them. got the belly pan attached with 1 mm. screws . windshield frame and roof are soldered on . got to start making decisions on frame motor and rear end. david and trevor, thanks for looking and your nice comments. hi francis , back to building i hope

hi everybody, nice to hear from all of you. thanks you for all the comments. the english wheel seems to be working well but the aluminum wheels are not going to last very long. i will have to make steel ones. the upper wheel my friend carl recommended using a bearing of the correct size in place of the wheel. i have made some progress on the main part of the body. alot of silver soldering, filing and sanding. iam going to cut the rear window and solder the roof on. i think the doors ,hinges and latches will take forever. have not made a final decision on how i will do that. I'll come up with something. pictures of the hammerform for the belly pan. got the doors cut and hood sides marked out . i will spend the next few days finishing the roof and windshield frame. hi francis very happy to hear from you. it must be getting cold in Canada.

got the English wheel up and working i might make a minor design change but i used it quite alot today and it seems to work quite well. better than expected. got the main part of the body buck complete and started on the rear portion of the car. i will do the bottom of the rear and then the sides. the aluminum side was just to try the wheel. i am going to try the back section in aluminum to see if i can solder with out destruction.

finally done and i think it finished well. like all of them some things you might do different. i very much appreciate all of your comments and thank you for taking time to check it out. i hope these pictures came out well. you may have noticed i am not much of a photographer. i am already working on my next project and should be interesting.

I did a full size car years ago i am trying to find some pictures

This was drawn by an argentinian adaubon artist. It was the only automotive picture that he ever drew.persang bugatti replicas in argentina actually owns the rights to the car. I will try to find some more later and more complete pictures of the 1 to 1 car.thank you all for your comments.

wow andrew glad u kept going . awesome model

you know you are welcome anytime Andrew. just started a new car, and a new thread. got to do under glass this weekend. where is Francis / are you still out there?

just getting started on this project. i believe its going to be a long build. i am building an English wheel to help with the metal forming, i hope it works. i just got the metal today to build the frame for it, I'll get started on the it tomorrow. i had pictures of the car blown up to the correct 1/8 scale dimensions and am building a body buck from those. i have a few pictures of what i have done so far. i built this car body in full size a few years ago and sold it unfinished. last i heard it is in a hotrod shop in Detroit being finished. i can only find a couple of pictures right now.thanks for looking.

Thanks claude,i hope you enjoyed it.i am going to start the buck for the new body tomorrow.hi andrew, i should have the material for the frame foe the wheel tomorrow.looking forward to trying it out. It might take a little experimenting to get the wheels right.you should stop by and try it when its up and wheeling.thank you

i think the 32 is finished .got the windshield formed and installed . i think it looks pretty good .got started on the english wheel. need to order material for the frame now that i have decided what it will be made from. ill get pictures on under glass this week i hope. the english wheel is the beginning of my next project.

Be out of town that weekend.

andrew they changed the date and location for the nnl show,but you probably know. thank you claude and donato for looking and your comments. continued assembly. got almost all the wiring done,finished the radiator hoses. put the entire body on mostly to make sure it all fit right. i found a major problem with hood. i am in the process of fixing that,it will take awhile. fuel lines and fuel filter are in. clutch line and reservoir are on. i haven't finished sanding and polishing the main body maybe tomorrow or sat. getting close but the hood will hold me up for a few weeks. then the english wheel,still drawing and thinking.thank you all

assembly continues. machined the fittings for the fuel line at the carburetor. got most of the wiring run. the wire ties are a time consuming effort. i finished the seat and upholstery. i think the leather came out pretty nice .i have to install the eletric fuel pump and the fuel line going forward to the webers. not alot left to do . maybe have the body on by the end of next week. turned 69 last Friday and my birthday present might eat up some of my time. that truck is a blast to play with. andrew i am looking at your info and i hope maybe to make one of those shows.

thank you andrew