gasser59

Thanks so much for your interest fellas. It keeps me motivated. Here's a few pictures of the making of the steering wheel center. I have some thicker printing plate that's 0.01" thickness and it holds up to more handling than the thinner stuff I have which is 0.007" in thickness. Sorry for the lack of image quality. I had to use my phone as my camera battery was dead and I really didn't want to wait for it. First I drew out the 3 spokes on the aluminum stock and then scribed them so I wouldn't rub off the marker by handling it. Then using my cut-off wheel, did a rough cut just outside of the scribe marks. http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq96/flyfshr/Scale Auto Builds/Walts Puffer Too/SWheel1_zps2qsrer4n.jpg This next shot is of the piece cut out and sanded with the holes drilled in the spokes. The holes get slightly smaller as they go away from center. I used an oversized bit turned by hand to remove the burrs sand smooth out the edges of the holes. The styrene wheel in the shot(s) is what i'll use for the outer ring. I'll cut the spokes down to fit this ring, probably tomorrow. http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq96/flyfshr/Scale Auto Builds/Walts Puffer Too/SWheel3_zpsqs7utnby.jpg And finally, here's a couple shots of the finished piece after the spokes were bent forward. For the center, I have a hole punch that I'll use to punch out an appropriate size piece of metal to help cover the straight bends in the spokes. Thanks for following along guys. Comments welcome.

I just have to comment on this one again as it is so stunning and I often come back to study the pictures one again. This build is of epic proportions and rates as the most inspirational build of where i'd like to progress in own skills. Thanks for posting Tim and I for one am glad you returned to the hobby. Cheers my friend.

Thanks Chris, Art and John. I'm planning on making the center section, metal part, with the thicker printing plate I have on hand. I don't think the thinner stuff wouldn't hold up to all of the handling, drilling and sanding. We'll see how it goes. I hope to get started on it this evening. I'll be sure to post some progress pictures. Thanks for your interest.

Thanks Ray. I appreciate your interest.

Thanks Dave. I hope to get back to the bench later this week.

Wow doesn't even cover it. Dave - you are the machining master and I'm really stoked you're back to the bench. You certainly haven't lost your touch. I sit here in the front row with my popcorn and note pad. BTW - your 1:1 is a real beauty. Have you built a scale model of that yet?

Impressive work my friend. Glad to see you're adding a few more pieces but not overdoing it.

Michael, Dan and Billy - thanks so much for your comments and following along. I've enjoyed this build and sharing it with all of you. More to come so stay tuned...

OK Paul, whatever happened to this build? I know its too big to move to the back of the workbench. Do tell.

Thanks John. I use a very thin silver wire that I twist together while leaving a small amount of room to allow me to move the twist to the side seldom seen, in this case, down. I actually think it was was a single strand of silver from a larger wire.

No apologies necessary brother. We need to talk about your sheet metal supply in the near future.

Here's a couple better shots of the left side pedal since the other one was blurry. Also completed the steering arm and linkage rod as it comes out of the cockpit. And a shot of the almost complete chassis. Still have the steering wheel and tins to do. In a couple of the reference pics, there's some bracketry coming out of the rear of the frame that holds the parachute and a push bar, I imagine. Still working out the details on that.

Yes I am doing the Ford turtle deck body. I think John's been sniffing to much Alclad and got confused. LOL Thanks for the comments fellas. Yard chores this morning for a bit and then a fruit run for work and its back to the bench.

Spent most of today at the bench with the exception of watching the Iowa game. Got a lot of the interior details hammered out. First up was the brake reservoir and handle along with the plumbing to the rear axle. Next up was the clutch pedal. I had already made the two tabs on the frame to house the pedal. I made it out of printing plate and drilled it out in an effort to simulate less weight. Sorry the pics blurry, I'll get another one when I post more pictures later. Next a bunch of time was spent on making the seat belts from medical tape and colored with a silver Sharpie. I made a vintage style box type for the latching side. The seat was painted several weeks ago with gloss black and after it was dry, I used fine sanding pad to dull down the edges and high spots to show wear. More bench time tonight and another update either later or in the morning. Stay tuned.

There's almost more of the body laying on the workbench as there is glued together over the frame. Nice work my friend. Those missing areas that have the curved body lines on the lower corner of the windows look like they'll be a challenge but probably not for a body man such as yourself.

Thanks John. I usually cut the printing plate with a small sharp scissors or at times, depending on the intricacies of the cuts, I use an X-Acto by going over the intented cut several times. If you try to cut it with one pass, you'll end up with misshapen metal. I always smooth the edges with several different grades of sanding disks and remove the burr. If you take some time, this stuff polishes up to a mirror shine.

Thanks Michael. I'm not sure I've mentioned this to you before but I use a lot of really small wires that are intended for tying up flies for fishing. They come in a variety of colors and thicknesses and are fairly readily available. I would think you'd be able to source some locally over there, the birth of flyfishing.

Last night was spent on getting the dash complete and installed. On the right side is a '60s style tach from Detail Master. The left side has a couple of switches and all of these are twisted together and wired to the rear of the engine. The steering box is painted with metalizer and ready for install tonight. More tonight. Thanks fellas.

Dailed and tuned in my brother. Looks like you got cut happy with that razor saw.

Thanks for following along guys and I appreciate your comments. Hopefully more done tonight.

And a few more progress pictures showing a few other items of interest. Since the engine is now mounted, I plumbed up the gas lines to the rear mounted fuel pump. Next up is the metal dash / bracket that will hold the steering box and tach. The center hole is for the steering box and the tach one is yet to be punched. Showing front and back. Tabs will be glued to the underside of the frame crossbar. This will get some cleaning up and removing the burrs. And finally I built a handle for the right side of the cockpit from a heavier gauge printing plate. That's all for now. I was planning on working on the seat belt but I see they were grey in the original so I need to see if I can find a grey Sharpie. The work continues. Thanks for following along.

Finally some concentrated bench time and a number of small things worked on and a few completed. First up is the gas pedal. I had made an extra when I build my Altered Ego project so all I had to do was mount it in place. As you can see, its made entirely from printing plate. I also wired up the linkage to the Holborn injectors. Still need to work on the return spring. Here's a couple of pictures. The first two show the pedal and the last one shows the linkage.

Thanks Michael and Danno. A bit of bench time in yesterday and the motor is in, plumbing is done and currently working on the seat and belts along with the mounts. I'll post some pictures later today.

Thanks brother Chris. Feeling much better today.

Thanks Codi. Back to the bench this weekend. At least that's the plan, but then, that's always the plan. Anxious to hear about your Sherline.