charlie libby 1935 indy style road car

[charlie libby]

i have built 2 of these in aluminum 1 to 1 years ago with 1930 model a running gear. i always wanted to do one more modern and low  with big tires and a powerful motor. so i am now going to do it in 1/8.i have started on the offy 270  and here are a few pictures. i will try to find some pictures of the 1 to 1 cars as a reference. these cars were built from original blue prints drawn by a man whose name was Ray F. kuns. the green car and the white car are 2 of the from that print.the bare aluminum is the green car. i built the brass body , chassis and wheels years ago. and decided to finish it only a little different. i havent decided on rearend but i am thinking independant quick change and streight axle front with quarter elliptic springs . i have a nice aluminum droped axle i made i think would look good. let me know what you think suggestions are welcome.

 

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Beautiful work, sir.

[iBorg]

I'd love for a tutorial on how you built the body......very nice work.

[absmiami]

Very nice

[Bainford]

Excellent projects, both the 1:1 and the 1/8. I am seriously impressed with that brass body work. That's a skill I envy.

[charlie libby]

hi trevor thank you for your comments .are you close to oak island ? hi mike thanks for looking. hi andrew  you are close to my world in port st lucie.this is the cylinder block side plates that bolt on.the slots are .032 and the fins are.016. 

[misterNNL]

Another display of incredible craftsmanship. The ability to analyze what needs to be done then render it accurately in scale with these methods is amazing.

[Codi]

WOW Charlie..........just WOW!        cheers, tim

[absmiami]

Actually.  I’m closer from time to time than you think -  I don’t recall from the Corvette build - do you “sherline” - or you use a larger lathe ?

[charlie libby]

hi andrew i use a grizzly mill and a bolton lathe.  maybe a little large for modeling but i am happy with both. hi tim always nice to hear from you. andrew the corvette is also in this forum. made the cylinder liners and press them in the block.i have the side covers done for the cylinder block and am working on the covers with the vents for the crankcase. i am trying to do this project with more patience and making drawings of things before i machine them .i mostly just put a piece of material in my machine just start cutting and draw and figure along the way. it seems to be working beter .fortunately the blueprints for this engine are readily available online.

[Codi]

Love the newest post Charlie.   The engine IS gorgeous.   Today I was in York Springs Pa. and visited a race car museum.  The main theme is sprint cars with some drag thrown in.  I took some pics of some cars that I thought you might appreciate. I apologize in advance if I'm hi-jacking your thread in any way.  Not my intent of course.  The fabricator in Allentown was selling the aluminum body he made many decades ago as an all inclusive car for $925.   Yup.  Not a typo.  Anyways, here are the pics and I'm sure you'll get a smile or two.  Cheers, Tim

[alan barton]

I have been really enjoying this thread so far, Charlie. Your workmanship and attention to detail is breathtaking.  I am a big fan of early oval track race cars of any sort and am currently building a Model T based early sprintcar similar to yours in general proportions, using a vacformed plastic body that I made.

Your brasswork is inspirational.  Did you have to do a lot of annealing to get that reverse sweep in the cowl up to the windshield?  

And thank you ,Tim, for the museum photos.  I need to put that one on my list if we ever get to travel to the USA again.  I have been fortunate to spend a fair bit of time at both the Speedway Motors museum in Lincoln Nebraska and the Knoxville Sprintcar Museum in Iowa. Problem is, you go to these places and want to build every car in there!

I look forward to seeing the assembly of your Offy!

Cheers

Alan

[AmericanMuscleFan]

Another gorgeous project Charles!

This engine is absolutely spectacular my friend, your great skills are still very well highlighted here, you give me ideas that I don't need right now...  I will come and satisfy my cravings here, you have everything we need to get our eyes on, great art!!! ?

[charlie libby]

thanks for the awesome pictures i luv those old cars. when i worked in nascar we went to indy testing and went over to the museum and they took us to the basement to see the stuff not on display and it was insane. hi francis ,almost done on the mustang. i think the little offy is coming out nice. i just started on the hemi head and i am going to put pistons in the cylinders as well.i have been having nightmares about cutting fins in aluminum.  i am amazed at how tall this engine is.it will be over 3 inches tall with the cams and covers on. allways has been one of my favorite engines. i will put a few pictures of the chassis on soon.its one i built a few years ago and the body as it looks now. the chassis will be modified alot from its current state. thank y ou alan for your kind words. always nice to hear from people from around the world. 

[Straightliner59]

Excellent work on a very cool project! I just love vintage race cars--of any type!

[absmiami]

Yup

[charlie libby]

engines coming along. it is looking pretty good. i have been working on the head for 2 days,got one more day to go.i took some pictures of the chassis i will be modifying for this build.its all brass including the wheels. new front and rear suspension and new wheels and ties. thanks andrew and daniel.

[misterNNL]

This is the type of inspiration we can all thrive on. Thanks for sharing your talent with us.

[Chris Smith]

I am always taken aback by the talent a machinist has, especially when his vision comes alive. I will be watching ?

it is amazing that these types of cars can corner at a decent speed

[absmiami]

Well they didn’t really corner …. If the track wasn’t banked - they just slid …. I grew up 4 miles from the Langhorne Speedway.   But the track was winding down when I was a tike and I never got to see a race there - to my regret …

[AmericanMuscleFan]

I LOVE all the work and craftsmanship you have done on the engine Charles, you have talent my friend! ?

[OldNYJim]

I’m a little late discovering this thread, but I love what I see!  Really inspirational building!  

[Venom]

Charles, thanks for posting your work like this... it’s a beautiful thing to watch... and a very fine craftsman you are!

[Paul Payne]

Charlie, this is wonderful stuff- It's like seeing The Miller Dynasty come alive!

[charlie libby]

continuing with the engine. i am going about this a little different than the last to models i amm going to totlly finish on section  before i start another . before i jumped aeound alot. i will finish the engine totally bfore i go on to other parts. i know it should be done that way but some times i am impatient. here are a few more pictures . i decided to do a few parts in brass for contrast. the small rectangles with the holes will be the cam bearing caps they will bolt to the cam boxes you can see in the pictures on the vice.