Bantam Fuel Altered - New pics 1-7

[Codi]

Thanks guys, I've not had much bench time as we had over 20" of snow here.  I'm going to quickly re-do the rotors as I forgot to add some of the detail to the "backside" of them & I've started the Lenco trans.  In the meantime, I've been going back & forth with John Teresi and he shared some great ideas for a diamond pattern quilted seat pad that I want to do for this car.  More on John's ideas after I get some materials to test with but John has had some great success with his attempts at this. Today i stumbled across a common material that I spent just a couple bucks for. What you see in the pics is a quick cut out pad and colored with a Sharpie permanent black marker.  5 minutes.  The pad is not glued to the seat as I have to re-do it with a few tweaks and cut-out for the seat belts.  The material has a proper thickness and it's flexible so it will take the shape of the seat beautifully if I use it. The material is from a common dish washing glove with a diamond pattern print on the palm side for gripping wet dishes etc.  The R & D continues.............cheers, tim

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Codi

[John Teresi]

Tim......WOW man......that is some thinking out of the box.......I think you may have nailed it with the diamond pattern look......that is way better than what I came up with......I think after painting it with some acrylic paint and some light weathering it will look like the real deal.......do you mind if I try your idea on my next project?

 

[gasser59]

That is way outside the box and looks like the perfect fit.

[Impalow]

oh man... those calipers.... I'm drooling over here...  and I cant wait to see those mated with that quick change!   This entire thing amazes me....the dish glove texture is just genius... thanks for sharing that one.

[Codi]

John, yeah I read that acrylic is the way to go if I decide to paint it.  It actually looks pretty close as is just with the marker. Already thinking about how to add the "snap" rivets to secure it to the seat.  Fake ones of course. 

Thanks also Brad & Eric for your comments AND continued interest in this one.

Today spent a lot of time getting most of the Lenco ready for paint & then final detailing / assembly.  I used a couple PE pieces that I drilled & modified from Futurattraction.  The Lenco is the 3D piece that Paul Mendoza re-scaled per my request.  I had to sand down the one flange that meets the reverse and 2nd gear case as I wanted bolts in it but I couldn't get them drilled out it's so tight. So I machined & drilled on in Renshape. Drilled out the many sundry other holes in both cases for detailing later.  I really wanted to replicate some of the connecting rods & shift levers so I spent the better part of the day drilling etc.  The first pic I have a pencil pointing at the connector for the shift tower to the shifter. I took stainless steel tube, drilled # 79 bit holes in them and then used .20mm jewelers slit slaw to cut them down the middle.  The pic explains what I'm attempting to replicate.

Here's what I was able to replicate.  I had to fab 3 of those brackets in total and drill out the L-shaped lever (cam?) that the rod attaches to.  The curvy looking lever that is drilled repeatedly is for reverse. I wanted something of a different color so I made that one by hand out of titanium sheet.  The pistol grip looking piece is for 2nd gear.  The brass bracket was fabricated to attach the lever to.  The pink looking flange that joins the 2 cases is the Renshape piece I noted above.  Nothing has been glued together yet as an fyi.  Paint first.  Cheers, tim

 

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Codi

[GoatGuy]

Fantastic job Tim. It is turning out great. For the trans blanket, try what I did.....I took a label from a t-shirt because of the small, tight weave and sprayed it flat black. Looking forward to more of this here at ModelCars University classroom.

[Mooneyzs]

Tim... Wow my friend. You continue to just blow me away with what you are doing on this build. the linkage work for the transmission is outstanding. And using the glove for the seat cover is just awesome. This build gets better with every update. Top Notch work!!

[Nytrozilla]

Next thing ya' know Tim, you'll be making gears to go inside the tra.......SHUT UP JOE!!!!!!

[Mooneyzs]

Next thing ya' know Tim, you'll be making gears to go inside the tra.......SHUT UP JOE!!!!!!

Joe... you are giving him ideas....  

[mr68gts]

Next thing ya' know Tim, you'll be making gears to go inside the tra.......SHUT UP JOE!!!!!!

i can just picture how that conversation went....haha. Mostly because I know how mine go....lol

[comp1839]

the whole package here is just outstanding, tim! the shift handles, linkage, shift tower, the reverser......amazing workmanship!!!!!!!!! when you realize how small this is and the level of accuracy you produce.........just wow!!!!!!!!

[John Teresi]

Hi Tim.......with your small work ........and Comp1839 `s  Big Work.......your both a pair of Mechanical Geniuses ......love the work that you both produce

Tim ....this new up-date is just pure Eye Candy......thank you for sharing your Fantastic skills

 

Edited March 18, 2017 by John Teresi

[Codi]

Thanks Dave (GoatGuy)  I won't be putting a trans blanket on it.  I'll have too much time & effort into it that I don't want to cover it up.  Gotta get a break in this weather so I can do some painting.

Chris, thanks too.

Joe, making gears (?)  you have my thread confused with Daves(comp1839)......that's the kind of stuff he can / does do.....me..........not so much.  

Paul, thanks again for making that trans in 3D print for me........

Dave, thanks for all the insights & information to assist with this build.  You guys should have seen the weekend emails going back between us over caster / camber & other "fun" suspension geometry "stuff"...............appreciate your patience with me Dave for bugging you on all that!!  

John, Dave is most certainly in another league.  Think major leagues while I'm playing on the farm squad.    Thanks though all the same. 

Today I started the front suspension.  Took me the entire morning to get the front axle done but it was the first piece that I needed to get started. A LOT of brass rod was sacrificed to get one that was correct.  The shocks I assembled are from RB Motion btw.  My hope is to replicate the set-up used on the Super Thief Altered back in the day.  Cheers, Tim

 

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Codi

[John Teresi]

Tim......Man O Man.......it just gets better and better WOW!!!!!!

[Pete J.]

Tim, any pictures of the jig you used to get the uprights parallel.  I would be very interested to see it if you have it.  Very clean front end!  Love the solder work!

Edited March 20, 2017 by Pete J.

[gasser59]

Tim...as a functioning front end guy, I really love your work and the selection of an example. I'm really interested in seeing how you'll be doing the spindle and steering arms.

[Pete J.]

Tim...as a functioning front end guy, I really love your work and the selection of an example. I'm really interested in seeing how you'll be doing the spindle and steering arms.

Same here!  I have a brass hot rod that has been on the back burner for a while, trying to figure that out. 

[Codi]

Thank you fellas..........I wanted to address Pete & Brad's question.  Pete, I drilled holes in a piece of wood & put 2 pieces of stainless tube in them.  They were my anchors. I  slipped twin pieces of brass tube over them and checked them for vertical.  Next I put the axle between the two, used tape and 2 small machinist angles to keep them aligned. Soldered and done.....well, sorta, the one side I had to fuss with 3 times till it was correct.   Brad, my intent is to machine the spindle bracket and solder the spindle into them.  I'll probably not bother to go to the trouble that I did on the Henry front spindle struts of having them be threaded on.  I'll probably just glue the wheels onto the spindle and secure the wheel cap over it.  The steering will turn.  I'll draw up the spindles and figure out a thing or so before I start. I want to get the axle & spindles done so I can come up with a practical way to secure the axle at it's proper angle before going onto all the other bracketry etc.  The list of pieces to fabricate kind of surprised me when I put it together to be honest.  There's more to it than what you might think although I know you guys are well aware of that.  I remember Dave saying that he likes this part of his builds,  I'll reserve judgement till I see how I do with this.   Appreciate the question(s).  Cheers

[Mooneyzs]

Tim... Holy Smokes could you have a better front Axle.... Man that thing is gorgeous and looking Killer. All of the Hard work you are putting into this is totally paying off. You have raised the bar so high for the rest of us. Hope I can only be half as good you and the other top notch builders out there. Amazing work. always blowing me away.

[Davewilly]

very impressive work Tim.  Looks fantastic !

[comp1839]

excellent craftsmanship tim.  and i mean craftsmanship!!!!!!! love the direction. love the front end you're duplicating!!  VERY COOL!!

[gasser59]

On my '25 T build, I made the spindle and the steering knuckle out of brass and soldered an RB Motion stainless steel tube  all together and its really strong. Once cleaned up, I think it looks great. I'll get a picture posted tonight.

[bobthehobbyguy]

That front axle is beautiful.  Your soldering is so clean. Most of the solder8ng done end up with big blobs of solder. Looking forward to see you do the front suspension.

[iBorg]

This is more of a textbook than a build. Thanks for sharing! I keep on looking and getting so many ideas how to improve my work.

[Randy D]

You are doing it again my friend.   You continue to post updates that showcase your craftsmanship that is truly outstanding !!!!!

The shifter hardware with the clevis and linkage is so nice and then those beautiful  matching graceful curves on the front axle...WOW

 

Randy  

...and the glove thing is so cool!!!!

Edited March 22, 2017 by Randy D