Dual Cowl Roadster..final update before the final

[Peter Lombardo]

It has been a while since I last posted anything on the forum. I have been very busy and just haven’t found much time. And on top of all of the activities, I just got into a reading mood and finished the first two books in the trilogy by Stieg Larsson and have begun the third. I don’t think that I can recommend these even though the critics raved about them….but that is not important now.

If you think I am long winded and write a lot, I am nothing compared to this guy. As these books average 580 pages each….it’s like “War and Peaceâ€.

Anyway, I was not planning on posting any “in progress†shots of the Dual Cowl Roadster I am working on until it was finished. I wanted to wait until it was done as it is going to incorporate many features, some a “first†for me and some that I have done before. This is going to be a build that brings many unique features together in one place.

I think I will go back to the beginning with this car and bring the story up to date. If you will recall this car began as my update of the combination of the 1938 Buick Y-Job, the 2003 Buick Blackhawk (GM’s update of the Y-Job) and elements of the 1941 Chrysler Newport Dual Cowl Concept. As many of you know I really love the Art Deco School of design, especially how many auto designers of the era incorporated those design elements into the most elegant autos of the day. Art Deco was huge in Europe. The French, who I think really understood design concepts so very well, really made the most of it.

Well, taking design elements from the three afore mentioned cars, I created a mold for the body out of sign foam. From that I vacuum-formed the body and a few tops. Next I cut open the interior area leaving the cowl between the two seating compartments. I cut open the four doors and made hinges out of brass wire and aluminum tubes. The inner “base†door panels were glued on and I used Bondo putty to form the door jams. The door hinges and jams were very difficult because the body has compound curves where the bottom sticks out further than the top. Tricky to get right but I think I have it working fine.

Next I cut out the vacuum-formed windshield and mounted it along with lower side braces and a small molding where the front of the windshield will set on the front cowl.

[Peter Lombardo]

Then I cut out the hood area. I was not content to leave the hood plain so I cut small louvers out of tiny quarter-round plastic stock. I measured off the location on the hood where these louvers would go. As you can see, I made four rows on the hood. Once the louvers were glued on I began working very slowly from underneath with the sanding drum on my Dremel to carefully grind away the plastic under the louvers. Once I was down to less than the thickness of paper I switched to sandpaper. As you can see in the light, the louvers are all opened up. On the underside of the hood, from an excess body I had, I cut out a cross member support to reflect the supports that an actual car would have under the hood. I made a set of brass and aluminum hinges for the hood so it will tilt up from the front. Later I have a set of mini struts that will be mounted on either side to help hold the hood in the open position. I have mounted a magnet on the firewall, protruding out under the hood with a smaller magnet attached to the hood underside. Man, that magnet set up is really strong.

Further up front, I cut out the headlight areas and the grille opening. The grille is made up of 22 horizontal bars held on the back with 3 crossbars. Once the horizontal bars were set, I used my Dremel to grind down the shape to fit into the opening and blended the contours slightly protrude out of the opening giving the front end more curve and flow. I was also looking incorporate a similar look that the Buick Blackhawk has.

Edited August 27, 2010 by Peter Lombardo

[Peter Lombardo]

After much deliberation with myself, I finally opted for the retractable hardtop. Originally, I made a soft top convertible frame from brass strips and rod. I actually worked very well and folded up right into the rear boot, but as is always the case with new ideas and projects I have come up across too many obstacles and I do not want to hold up this car any more than I already have. The difficulty I had with the convertible top is in the material. At first I used the liner silk material that you find inside a tie. I have plenty of old ties and actually have a few in the right color for this car, but that material does not have any “give “in it. To work properly it needs a little give so it will stretch a little as the top closes and folds down on itself. I even tried the upper section of old pantyhose (I know…sick), but that was too thick to be realistic looking. I think spandex may work, but not being a cycle’er I don’t have any and have decided to put the convertible top on hold for now. Later, I will make it work, one way or the other.

I cut the hardtop in half and formed hinges out of brass stock. Next I formed a brass and aluminum hinge for the top so that it swings down, upside down, into the trunk. The front half of the top folds down on top of the rear and the whole thing fits, rather snugly into the boot. There will be an arm under the top which will force the front half of the top to swing out over the windshield as the top lifts up and out of the trunk. A number of years ago I build a custom Ford F150 Lightening that has a motorized top that folds down in to the bed with a cover that opens. That truck has 5 motors under it. I later built a customized 55 Chevy truck that has a retractable top and I limited that to only two motors. This will not be motorized as I do not want it mounted to anything. On the 58 Chevy I did with the remote control sunroof, I had the room to mount the one motor, control unit and battery on board, but this does not give the room for two motors and necessary battery power so it will be manual. The trunk top will be double hinged on the sides so that it will “slide†rearward and then up. When the top is in the up position, the rear trunk piece must slide beneath the top so it needs to have double hinge system so that it can move in multiple directions.

I have not yet begun the interior. It will have seats carved out of foam and them vacuum-formed. The seats and the door sides will be covered in real leather. I have some very soft and thin leather that will be glued on. The upper door units and the dashboard will have real wood trim. I have some nice thin veneers for the job.

The chassis is a slightly stretched out Firebird unit from the late eighties or early nineties (I think) it was a garage sale find . I am using the motor from that Revell kit but have made head covers like the ones on the Corvette motor. It looks pretty cool. Not that you see much of them, I made the front wheels pose-able, just because.

One of the only things I did not have to think about very long was the color. This car will be Jet Gloss Black ( it may have a slight gold/copper metalflake dusting over the black….not sure yet) with a black and wood tone leather interior. As you can see from the grille and the engine block, the trim will be copper.

Last year my brother did many of the 3-D graphics on a motorcycle. Let me explain. There is a guy down the street, North Jersey Customs who builds custom bikes. My brother does graphic design work on a number of his bikes. Last year he was entered in a three state contest…a biker build off, if you will. The event was in PA and it had a bike from NJ, NY and PA. The attendees voted for their favorite. My brothers guy won…very cool. His bike was all done in black with copper trim. As you can see, it looks great. Well my brother had left over copper leaf from the work he did on the bike and he gave it to me. I have been waiting to have the right car to use it on, and this is it. The grill, windshield, and side trim moldings will be copper, along with the engine block and a few other trim items. The wheel center spokes (only a very little is visible) will be copper and the rims are chrome.

This puppy has a long way to go and I have many more hurtles to over come, but I have this finished, one way or another.

Now, on a small business note…there are still a few guys who have not sent in their money for their bodies of this car. I don’t like being a pain in the rear, but if you have forgotten to forward your few bucks, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks for getting al the way through this tomb. I don’t expect to update this any further until it is finished. Thanks for looking and for you guys who have this car, I expect to start seeing some work on them. Come on! The water is not too cold or shallow.

[Peter Lombardo]

The opening headlights are a rather new item for me. I cut out the opening, and from another body I cut out the cover area. To these “covers” I attached triangular shaped arms that swing out behind the covers. I then fabricated stand units that the cover arms are mounted to. My plan is to attach a thin piece of brass wire rod between the two units with an arm in the center that will come down between the engine and the radiator. By moving this arm, if all goes as I plan (I Hope), the two light covers should open and close together. There is a planned large single headlight attached to the base unit which will be mounted behind the light covers. I kinda’ lifted the design of the light covers from the Cord. It just fit my eye so well, I had to incorporate the design into this car.

As you can see I have very limited wheel well openings on the design. I think it goes so well with the Art Deco look. I just wanted to hint at there place on the fender. Next, using plastic strips I added four moldings to each fender. The original Y-Job has many very thin chrome molding on it’s fender. I wanted to simulate that component in the design without a direct copy. I lengthened the moldings and made them thicker, then I incorporated the taillights into the molding design by working them in between the top three moldings. I wrapped the lights around the rear quarter panel so as to provide rear lights to the side of the car, as the federal mandate would require. I plan on adding a wrap-around turn signal to the front under the headlight opening and slipping in between two of the front moldings.

Edited August 27, 2010 by Peter Lombardo

[Peter Lombardo]

sorry, it got a little out of order..but it is all there in one way or another....sorry.

[randx0]

excellent working features .I appreciate you showing how you did these . It really helps me visualize how to go about adding similar features on my models which tends to be a sticking point. I love your take on this classic body I hope mine turns out half as nice! keep it up

[brett]

wow !!! If books were this interesting I might read more lol. Amazing amount of working things you have going on here and it all looks pretty good to these eyes. I dont know what else to say really but wow seems to cover it

[RodneyBad]

WOW!! Just Incredible..

Awesome to watch it come together.

[Kustommerc]

Wow! Beautiful work as always Peter, As You know, I too Love that Deco- Styling, You've really hit the nail on the head with this one ! absolutely Kool! I eagerly await the updates...

[jeffs396]

Good stuff Peter!

Very neat working features!

I too would like to see others ideas & interpretations of their Art Decos...you & I are the only ones that have posted any progress pics

C'mon guys, Peter went above & beyond by offering us these beauties at a bargain price, please hold up your end of the bargain & pay the man!

Edited August 27, 2010 by jeffs396

[Romell R]

Peter I wanna be just like you when I grow up! This build is OUTSTANDING!!!!!

[charlie8575]

WOW!

Was that the model you were offering to us earlier?

That looks fantastic, I really like what you're doing with it.

Charlie Larkin

[Jantrix]

Wow. Peter. Amazing work. I'd love to see a larger wheel opening in the front though.

[Foxer]

Amazing, Peter! This is even BEYOND your typical sliding sunroof, and such! The design itself is stunning and would compete with those great art deco designers of the 30's themselves. The operating features are amazing. And, I really like how the tail lights were incorporated and how they will look!

[BigEdsGarage]

WOW! Talk about taking scratch building to the next level.

Seeing this type of work is really inspiring. This site has some very gifted builders and it is great to see all the details of their work shared here.

[old-hermit]

VERY impressive and after looking at all that eye candy I need a cigarette

[crazyjim]

Fantastic, Peter. I'm going to keep watching this fantastic build. Right now though, I have to agree with Old-Hermit and go have a butt.

[mopar01lee]

wow wow wow wow ...just mind blowing ....100 thumbs up bro

i like this one alot keep the wow comin..

later day my friend

Davin

Edited August 27, 2010 by mopar01lee

[curt raitz]

Good stuff Peter!

Very neat working features!

I too would like to see others ideas & interpretations of their Art Decos...you & I are the only ones that have posted any progress pics

C'mon guys, Peter went above & beyond by offering us these beauties at a bargain price, please hold up your end of the bargain & pay the man!

Hey...I'm workin' on it - finally got an idea on what i'm gonna do

just goin' thru the donor kits lookin' for a chassis to use

Oh yah - great job Peter!

I love all the "hingy things" you are using

[Peter Lombardo]

Hey Guys, thank you so much for the kind words...I really do appreciate them. Curt, I am looking forward to your rendition of the car...if it is half as sharp as Jeff's, it will be great. Again, thanks guys.

[Tony T]

Looks great, Peter!! I have a few projects I want to get through before starting on mine.

[Mike Kucaba]

Everything you've done here has been fabulous.I would only change your color choice and do a very dark met. blue like Midnight Blue.JMHO

[Paul Payne]

Peter, the car is just awesome, your working features are great. The Phantom Corsair had bumpers that wre three slabs of chromed metal stacked one above the other, bottom furthest out. This look or something similar might really work with the four accent slashes.

[curt raitz]

Hey Peter...here's my inspiration - kinda!!!

at the beginning...

Yes, that's an Allison Engine...

frame assembled from parts box...

frame w/Allison engine - gosh that thing is BIG...

removed 2nd cowl...

front cowl and panel lines puttied in, new panel lines, etc. drawn in...

thanx for lookin'

back to the bench...

[Jim Gibbons]

Wow. Curt; I'm really diggin' your interpretation. Can't wait to see all of these Under Glass.