Codi

Randy, this post kinda snuck by me. Looks great as always. Don't let up on her. Cheers, Tim

Just a dazzling build. Great extra details that no one would likely consider. It's truly been fun watching this buld as you progress. Cheers, Tim

Very well executed Niko. Your paint turned out fantastic and your engine bay shots show some really nice details that are often overlooked. Cheers, Tim

Thank you Scott. Well, finally made some headway on the tunnel today. Should have it completed in the next day or so. But here's some pics of where it's going. It's finally starting to look like something to me. The plate bolts to the brackets I soldered to the bottom and upper frame rails. Cheers everyone!

Thanks fellas for you compliments. Well, I wasn't happy with that one either. So, new drawings and I made a new plate that I AM finally satisfied with. I'll have the plate and trans tunnel done by the weekend and will post some updates then. Randy, the process sounds simple enough but for me it was time consuming as I'm still a rookie when it comes to machining. The steps: a. Did the rendering at a 10:1 aspect ratio. i.e. for every 1mm I enlarged to drawing to 1cm. b. Made a simple tool to hold the stock and protect the plate/table beneath it. c. Used a rotary table and bolted the stock down and plotted all of the marks with a center drill where the holes were to be drilled and then did so. d. Milled the piece down to a thickness that was very close to the final thickness. e. Used a 1/16" mill end and started from the center of the crank hole and started removing in a circular motion at a depth of.07mm. Moved the mill end outward by .75mm and did the next circle.....and repeat until done. Flip it over and do the same to the other side. f. Put the angle cuts and trim the edges and it's done. Hope that helps. I know you asked how I got the finish on it, but to get to that point, there was a bit more ahead of that step to do it properly. i as I "practiced" making 4 different finishes / methods before taking my original plate and attempted to put it on that piece. After a day of staring at it, I just wasn't thrilled. So that's why I made another one. Cheers! The final one.

Slick Chris. Keep er' going. Cheers, Tim

Pete, I'll bet that paint is spectacular in the sun. How about some outdoor shots? The pair of Willy's really make for a nice photo. Cheers, Tim

Great job John on both. LOVE that drag car. And I'm very very jealous of that nice sunny snow free weather. Cheers, Tim

Great progress Chris. The updates are of your usual high standards. Thanks for sharing them. Tim

The original plate was machined in a horizontal manner....the new one (the old that I re-did) is more like a real car in that the machining was centered off the crank and expands outward towards the plates edges. I like it better and it's time to move on the next part of the build. Cheers.

Kerry, Dave, Mike and Randy....well thanks but I'm going to mill the faces again with a different technique to attempt to get a truer machined pattern. Dave (comp1839) was kind enough to share some insights on how I might improve the finish with some "tweaks' on how I set it up and machine it. So...thanks again but i'll either have something better to share OR, I might just have to make a new one from scratch. That's the learning curve. I'm confident that I can pull it off though. I totally agree wtih Dave that this piece is "front and center" on the car and I should do my best to make it the best that I can. Cheers!

Chris, you'll have to get your mill 1st and then your lathe. Once you get started with, you'll be "hooked". I'm slow now as my learning curve is steep. I spend 80% of my time planninng and prepping to make a part. 20% actual machining. I want to get to where it's the other way around. And thank you too for your note. Emerson, the tools are great but it's best if you have a mentor as you begin too. There are so many things that an experienced machinist knows and can share that will shorten the curve a bit. It's more the knowledge as much as it is the proper equipment I believe. You buy tools, but the knowledge.......hmmmm. Art & John & Jiim, coming from such capable people in your own right, your comments put a big ol' smile on my face. I think you'll like what it looks like when I get the plate tied into the chassis next. I'll post sometime early next week I believe with the results. Then the funny cage is up next followed by the rear suspension!! That'll be a fun one. Cheers everyone!

Chris, Joe and Scott, thanks guys. I couldn't help myself, I got the plate done but I need to shorten it by 1.5mm at the bottom. No biggie but somehow / somewhere I made a mistake when I did my plan. I followed it but it was just wrong by thattttt much. I wanted to try to get a billet look for the finish instead of a smooth as glass appearance. The plate IS smooth as glass of course. Next post should be 4 or 5 days with it attached to the chassis as part of the trans tunnel. Cheers

Chris, we get caught up in the details (trees) sometimes....take a minute and look at YOUR pic of the "whole car" and enjoy what you've created for a moment. That's so sharp...............................okay, times up, now get back to work! Tim

Nice

Jeff, great start. I'd say for a "beginner" you're doing JUST fine. We're getting quite a few scratch builders right not on the WIP and Drag categories, always enjoy seeing more. Did you do the wheels too? Cheers, Tim

Hi Guys, A couple quick pics of what I've been spending my time on. I could have free handed the mid-plate and had it done in 2 hours. BUT, I wouldn't have learned anything new AND it wouldn't have been quite as nice as what I'm trying to do instead. I'm milling the mid-plate of alum. and messing around with different mill ends to get a finish that I think is kinda cool. I saw this piece as an opportunity to experiment and learn how I might eventually make my rear wing struts for Henry out of aluminum. This "exercise" will provide valuable experience for when I attempt that. The 1st pic is the rendering showing the design and where to drill the holes etc. It took me TWO hours to do the drawing. Dave (comp1839) would have had it done in less than 30 minutes. BUT, it's so cool to draw something then trust the machine and your read-outs to plot everything else. And trust what you draw. I hope this works is all I can say. The drawing is over a foot tall btw. ( The next 2 pics show the mid-plate on the tool I made to hold the aluminum. In these pics I've center drilled (size Triple Zero) the necessary holes that I plotted out. Next is to drill them out with # 71 and #74 bits depending on the hole and the larger ones will get drilled at the very end. The blue marker on the alum. just helps me see what I'm doing. Unfortunately it's hiding the milled surface that I got so far, which I think looks VERY cool. I'll drill out the ends of 1/16" brass rod and tap and thread them so I can secure the plate with 1.0mm threaded bolts. I'll solder the other joints and tubes that connect elsewhere on the trans tunnel. Lastly, I thank each of you that have been following along and are enjoying the build. I assure you however, not as much as I am. Martin (Lowlife) thank you for the compliment. (the one where you stated I sound like a nice guy) so far as my building skills, I assure you there are many other builders on this forum that blow my work away. I won't go into naming names as I'm sure I'd omit someone and therefore might offend. We each have our own skills and building style. I'm glad you appreciate mine. But again, thank you. Cheers to all. Tim

Aaahhh, Randy. I'm getting closer. At the moment I've spent a ridiculous amount of time honing my beginners machinist skills. I'm making drawings (takes me 2 hours what comp1839 does in 30 minutes) and rudimentary tooling to make a machined aluminum mid-plate right now. The machining is under way and hopefully if I don't do something stupid, it should be done tomorrow and look pretty good. Then some fairly quick trans tunnel fabbing to tie this together and I'll post. I did complete the chassis jig "backbone" which is very handy for setup purposes and soldered the chassis side rails onto the outer chassis tube rails so I can eventually affix the body permanently to the chassis. I'll share those pics as well at my next posting. Cheers and thanks for thinking about "Henry". (you'll note how personal the build has become as its no longer "the Henry J".......just Henry. Speaking of which, where's YOUR updates post? Tim

Manny, Michael and JC, thank you for the compliments, I am truly flattered. We finish them and put them on the shelf and sort of forget them as we move onto the next build. But when I recieved my copy of the magazine, of course I went out and bought some more. Just for posterity right? Seriously, to have the build be received so positively by fellow builders means a lot to me. Brian, wow. That is a heck of a background you have. And your assessment of my skills is greatly appreciated. I look forward to seeing some WIPs soon of yours and welcome back to the hobby. Lastly, I'd like to thank Harry P. and MCM for his (their) assistance in putting together the article for the magazine. He truly did justice to the car and build and was VERY generous in the coverage he provided for it. Again, thank you. Cheers, Tim

D-R-O-P D-E-A-D G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S cheers, tim

Fantastic update Art. You and Randy D. have us all drooling over your fabrication skills. And the best part is that there's more to come. Cheers, Tim

Truly inspiring work Randy. Just stunning. Tim

Randy, NICE is all I can say. Love your build and always look for you updates. You didn't disappoint. Cheers, Tim

My bad Bill...if I'd taken 2 seconds to read your very first post on this build, I could/would have saved you the time to explain your path on the car. Looking foward to your next progress post. Cheers, Tim

Bill, this is such an interesting (in the best way) concept and build. it's easy to see why everyone likes it. Any thought on blending the bodywork on top that sticks up at the rear of the cockpit and blending it in to the headrest fairing. When you show the awesome side profile I'm "seeing" a beautiful curved line following the rear fender that would blend so nicely into the front hood. It would require a bit of tapering and shaping on your part but seeing how much you've accomplished (successfully I'd add) I think it might be worth the effort. I hope I didn't step on your toes. Either way, you've got a winner on your hands. I'll be sure to follow this one. Great engine choice too btw! Cheers, Tim