Lola T-70 Mk III

[Scale-Master]

Thank you Mike S.!

The battery cable ends are made of brass.

The terminal bolts and washers are machined aluminum.

 

 

Edited March 6, 2022 by Scale-Master

[Scale-Master]

The lugs for the carrying strap on the sides of the battery were made from milled brass and thin sheet styrene.

[Scale-Master]

I added the positive and negative symbols to the top and the two little caps.

I drew custom decals and printed them for the labels.

[absmiami]

That’s one nice battery…

[Scale-Master]

The battery hold-down clamp/strap.  Brass and aluminum.

[Scale-Master]

I figured I'd make the terminal for the starter solenoid too…  Just a little more brass.

[Scale-Master]

The fuse block box was milled from resin and styrene was used to make the latches and mounting bracket.

A little paint…

[Scale-Master]

I made decals for the fuse box and lightly distressed the top one as often the printed ink gets scuffed.

I did a little dirt and dust wash around the crevices and the mounting hardware has been installed too.

[Scale-Master]

The cut-off switch was also milled from resin as was the switch knob.

Custom decals were made for it too.

I also finished the starter cable that runs from the switch to the solenoid; the smaller wire feeds the fuse block.

[Scale-Master]

I made the plug for the alternator and the hot lead with a small eyelet and nut. 

The loom was made by wrapping .0085 wire around .039 diameter wire.  The leads for the tach and battery for the distributor are also poking out.

I added the signal wire to the solenoid (with another tiny eyelet and brass nut). 

[absmiami]

Nice !!

[cobraman]

Absolutely beautiful work.

[Scale-Master]

Thanks Guys!

 

Time to work on the body again.  I had gotten the doors to fit pretty well along with the other body parts, but knowing the changes I would be making to the chassis would affect the body I didn't try to make them fit as well as I intended to.

The first adjustments were to do some inner door jamb work.  Plus one of the doors had fatigued from handling so it was drilled and steel reinforcement pins were installed.

 

The right door ended up with a low spot on the top rear and on the front next to the fender.  Sheet styrene was added to fill as well as reshape the edges and corners.

The rest of the body in those areas was reshaped at the same time.

Still more to do, but a step in the right direction…

[Codi]

Hi Mark, well, it was fun catching up on your progress and I can get "lost" enjoying all the little details you've fabricated BUT, seeing the body in primer, even a partial shot, after fixing the door.........I gotta say that is just crisp looking.  Fantastic as always.  Tim

[Scale-Master]

Thanks Tim!

 

I fabricated a pair of rubber floor mats...

Made custom decals for the Lola logos.

[Scale-Master]

Now that the inner door jambs have been fleshed out, the final adjusting of the door lines should be achievable.  

[Scale-Master]

I got the engine cover and doors to open and close smoothly and uniformly, but the doors and their panel lines still needed some adjustment.  I added material (more sheet plastic) to the roof to make the left door align better.  The A pillars also received more material for the same reason.

These shots give a good indication of how much material (white styrene) was added to true up the body panels.  I did not use any putty at this point, just styrene and CA.  Hopefully this will be under primer for the last time soon…

[Scale-Master]

Once I got the door lines better than the real cars I've been using for reference I turned my attention to the door handles.  I like the cleaner smooth look better than the T-bar handles with the deep dimples that came in the kit.   The sleeker GT40 style handles made sense since the same guy designed both cars.

I cut out a section of the doors to fit the brass inserts I made to receive the handles.

After they were located uniformly I filled in the dimples too.

[Scale-Master]

I machined the aluminum door handles too.

The inner door panels were given some attention and a few more magnets as well.  I was using screws to attach them to the doors when I started, but the magnets will make for a cleaner look.  Up until now they were just being used to align the doors to the body. I haven't decided if I'll fill the two bottom holes on each on yet, or add a small pull bar.  Depends on the inner latch handle…

[Codi]

Love the solution you came up with on the door handles Mark.  In aluminum, it really pulls it together.  Cheers, tim

[Pete J.]

Definitely like that version of the door latch.  Good to see you today!

[Scale-Master]

Thanks guys!   Yes it was very nice to see you too Pete, despite the occasion.

 

I made small doors for stowage for the inner door panels.  The knobs are steel.  I painted the doors to match the wheels and the recessed areas of the panels are body color.

The inner door handles are fabricated from aluminum.  I also added a latch mechanism to the front of the doors for safety.  The front and rear latch pins are aluminum.  I'll add the two fasteners to the bottom of each door panel when they are permanently installed to the doors.

[Scale-Master]

On my list of ancillary parts is a pair of saw horses to support the hood when it is not on the car. 

I started with some brass C channel and rectangular box stock.  I milled the box stock into another size of C channel for the tops.  I soldered the perimeter of the A frame together. (As fun as making them fold up seemed at first, their job is to show off the car part safely first.)

 

Next I cut the angles for the bottoms of the legs.

[Scott Colmer]

Color!   As always, excellent work, Mark!

[Scale-Master]

Thanks Scott!

 

I soldered the sheet metal stiffeners to the A frames.