Cooper barn find

[absmiami]

suspension brackets from Evergreen strip

front and rear  - eight in total

 

[Dogfish_7]

Very cool project and looking forward to watching.

[absmiami]

time to add some engine bay frame tubes - still in catch up mode - this was done bout a month ago

once again - evergreen and liquid glue

the 3rd shot shows how well you can repair a body shell gap or break with renshape ...

[absmiami]

by the way - dogfish

is there a certain beer that you are particularly fond of ?

[absmiami]

today's photos :

additional eng bay frame tubes plus a shot of the Merit rear susp kit part

the uprights will be cut away and probably used in the model

and the leaf spring will be made from brass strip or perhaps nickel silver

also will make a transaxle "box" to hold the half shafts - probably got to scratch those too - we'll see

the brackets supporting the leaf spring will magically appear in the next download

[absmiami]

So the rear leaf springs are perched on some brackets   Made these out of some evergreen channel strips

first glued back to back and then filed and drilled and filed again

[absmiami]

The brackets are then liquid glued on to the top frame rails

now these rails are curved - down  - and they don't run parallel  -  John Cooper was the last race car builder to rely on chassis tubes that bent every which way

continued to do this for years on his grand prix cars - til his drivers, and his competitors, like Chapman, convinced him that this was not a real good idea ....

- so the brackets are filed at odd angles and glued to the

top rails with the strip sitting on the brackets to guide placement - that's where the leaf spring sits ...

[absmiami]

the brace in front of the leaf spring brackets acts as a chassis brace and pick up for the rear shocks

evergreen bent at each end, filed and drilled

[absmiami]

1. the engine cover /tail in place for fit - with the brace ends jutting out to pick up the shock tubes
2. the tail opening is for an oil tank filler cap - so I'll need to make an oil tank
3. there I a gap between the engine cover and the top of the role bar - will have to correct this - the gap should be minimal

[absmiami]

Dept of Corrections :

when the white metal front susp arms from the Deeks kit are attached - I saw that one of my chassis braces was mis-placed

so I removed it and glued in a new brace that will sit directly below the front leaf spring brackets - which will be made fr Evergreen like the rear ones 

 

 

 

[absmiami]

Dept of corrections II 

sometimes I lose the written posts

sometimes I lose my mind

oh well

I have now corrected the roll bar height with some plastic and putty - visible with the brown rings

the bar should now sit up close to the engine cover and right behind the top of the racing seat - I'll use the kit seat - which is quite good

and now there is a hoie in the bottom of the shell - in case you wondered where the engine went - engine soon

[absmiami]

attn. gramps ...

have you perused the Profil24 website lately ?

they are making a certain Jaguar kit you mite find tempting ... and in the correct scale ....

[absmiami]

so I sawed away the nose of the Merit partial build to:

     retrieve the front suspension assembly

     and  to have a two part assembly that is more accurate than the top - bottom kit original parts

the suspension assembly was then sawed apart - I will probably use the uprights in some modified form

[absmiami]

now that the nose is sawed apart - you can see the difference in thickness of the merit molded plastic compared to the

casting made by Guido of Scalekraft, once I did some thinning with some sanding drums

easier to thin Guido's resin castings than the injected molded plastic used by Merit - and this allows me to add all this other stuff ....

just viewed Randy's brass carbs in his GT40 build

YIKES 

 

 

[absmiami]

now have the front suspension brackets attached

 

[absmiami]

the fuel tank sits on the frame rails with the fuel cap poking out of back of the nose cowling

made from the block of renshape - files and sanding sticks ....

brackets supporting the tank are made from evergreen "H" and "L" shaped stock - liquid glued

renshape has no grain - so I can paint it alu or use some sort of foil - probably gonna paint

[absmiami]

 the engine - where's the engine ? - needs an oil tank

the tank in the Cooper Mark IX sat on the back of the frame - with it's cap peeking thru an opening in the tail

as with the fuel tank - it was made from Renshape - shaped with files and sanding sticks

the cap is one of the Deek's kit white metal parts

[absmiami]

http://www.permagrit.com/index.php?cPath=80_82

free plug

I use these files and rotary sanders to shape renshape

they work fast and do not clog ....

renshape doesn't like  metal files  .... accept to leave file markings for bead welds etc

 

 

[absmiami]

oops

gotta take an Irma break !

see you on the - other side .....

 

[absmiami]

hunkered down in Jupiter and still w power

so here's an update w some work that was actually done a couple months ago

the kit engine casting -  a Norton Manx - is a two piece affair that shows its age

but it's a start ...

[absmiami]

so the casting did not include the  bottom of the crank case - which I am adding - it will poke out of the bottom

of the engine bay - just some evergreen strip and liquid glue - then  sanded and filed to shape

and some initial crank case details  - again fr bits of evergreen stock

[absmiami]

these are some internet images of the Norton engine - showing the driver's left side of the engine

[Gramps46]

Great project.  Want to wish you the best in the storm and after.

[absmiami]

have you ordered your Resin Jag D yet fr Profil 24 ??????

oh, the storm ...

luxuriating in air conditioning 100 miles north of Miami -

house will be fine - whenever we get back  -  florida "gold coast' did much better than the Naples ft Myers area ...

 

[absmiami]

some more detail - including some structural webbing cast into the crankcase - added w bits and pieces of evergreen strip

the head removed for some more mods

and the crankcase sides lacked the cast fins or slots

added with sections of evergreen railroad siding sheet