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Old 01-07-2015, 10:16 PM
Kabous Kabous is offline
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Default Metal Cobra buck

Gents

Two years ago I started on a Cobra buck after reading some threads on the subject and following a few builds. I then decided to jump right in, sheeze..

First a rail was build on which the universal copier could slide along the vehicle on bearings while taking measurements every 100mm.

I had the car for one day and it took 10 hours to take half the measurements (from rear to front - duplicating the data for the other side). Me and my brother work right through the night. A thickish builders dampproof was placed on the car to prevent marking the car with the pointed steel rods (couldn't obtain wooden ones as it was all somewhat bent)

Here is the only pic of that night's work as we were pushed for time

Universal shape copier.jpg

I then feed all the data into a 3D program. It unfortunately only had a mesh that could be used with one dimension at a time. It was used to see if the measurements obtained made sense. Here and there a mistake was made and could be refined a bit. The final correction was done during lofting.

Attachment 30816

Next a white board was used with lines drawn every 50mm and the measurements obtained of every 200mm (in critical areas every 100mm) alongside the car was plotted and a ss ruler used to connect the plots and a pencil line drawn alongside it to determine the shapes and bend the flat iron into the desired curves with a ring roller i made (if you want to build muscle, get yourself one of these and save on the gym membership).
Where the radius was too small, a hammer was used to whack the inside of the curve on the stump. Abused the snot out of the poor stump.

The slots were cut in after the ribs were correctly shaped

lofting.jpg

lofting 2.jpg

The rear ribs


lofting rear.jpg



Ring roller. In the middle of the rollers is the profile i used to bend the pieces on its side. The handle is stored at the top.

ringroller.jpg



A platform to support the ribs was built. It needed to be moved around, the legs can swivel out so that the buck can swivel like a rotisserie and height of frame adjusted so that the legs will push up in the boot and engine bay spaces. A Sub-frame was added to house the adjustable fasteners that positioned the ribs at the desired height in a specific position.

platform.jpg

fastener.jpg

ribs & fasteners.jpg



The next few photos is of the complete buck with and without the doors. The cross sections are held together by a nut on each rib connected by the screwed in bolt. The longitudinal ribs are put in place from underneath.

The problem is off course that after the body is made on the buck, the buck cannot be extracted from the body because of the rounded shape at the bottom of the body. The idea is to take of the ribs from the inside by first loosening the longitudinals, then the lats and if necessary, the sub-frame and nose piece which is because of its many parts, welded together as one piece. Collapse the buck from the inside so to speak.

B11.jpg

B2 no doors1.jpg

B12.jpg

B13.jpg

B14.jpg

B16.jpg



On a personal level, it took some doing to get this far as it was really unchartered waters for me. Just as i was ready to start with the shaping part i lost my nerve but luckily a beaten-up old land cruiser FJ45 followed me home and he looked so sad i decided to look after him first. I am almost halfway but there is still lots of body work and mods to be done that will help me acquire the skills necessary to tackle the Cobra body.

It should take me a year to finish the cruiser - hope to jump right back in where i left off with the Cobra.

Cheers
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Last edited by Kabous; 01-08-2015 at 09:09 AM.
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Old 01-07-2015, 10:29 PM
Mike Motage Mike Motage is offline
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Very nice!
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Old 01-07-2015, 10:32 PM
Barry Barry is offline
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Looks good Cobus! And you're learning a lot about shape information - where things are in space - which to my mind is key once you know how to move metal.

You really should make a plan to get to my shop since we are so close - I'm on Blaauwklippen Road. My # 083 461 3493

You might also be interested in a slightly more advanced course I am running in February...
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Old 01-07-2015, 11:40 PM
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Kerry Pinkerton Kerry Pinkerton is offline
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VERY impressive buck!
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Old 01-08-2015, 12:41 AM
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Frank.de.Kleuver Frank.de.Kleuver is offline
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That's very impressive. I still have to make my buck and was planning on wood but this is almost like a piece of art. Food for thought.

I'm building a Cobra also. I'm using a poly body as a buck. This has it's advantages but also it's drawbacks.

Thanks for posting.

Frank
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Old 01-08-2015, 06:31 AM
RockHillWill RockHillWill is offline
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Very, very nice work. In addition to be a useful tool, it is also a work of art. Do not destroy it!
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Old 01-08-2015, 11:57 AM
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thingsthatfly2 thingsthatfly2 is offline
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wow very nice! I also like your work area! looks well lit and comfortable! is that a ship container with a side door?
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Old 01-08-2015, 10:00 PM
Kabous Kabous is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry View Post
You really should make a plan to get to my shop since we are so close - I'm on Blaauwklippen Road. My # 083 461 3493
Barry, once I am onshore beginning Feb I will contact you.

Yes Brent, it is container but with a sliding door. It hangs on two bolts where the heads slide in a slot cut at the bottom of a rectangular tube.

Thanks for all the positive feedback
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Last edited by Kabous; 01-09-2015 at 04:36 PM.
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Old 01-09-2015, 10:40 AM
John Buchtenkirch John Buchtenkirch is offline
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FINALLY……. a buck I could actually use and be happy with !!! Stations aren’t too deep or too close so I can instantly view what’s going on from the backside as I get closer & closer to the final correct shape….. I absolutely love it. You could build a buck for me any day sir. ~ John Buchtenkirch
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Old 01-09-2015, 12:18 PM
Mike Motage Mike Motage is offline
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Thank you for showing all the steps in documenting your model and how you transferred that to your buck. I especially like the ability to adjust the stations. Again thanks for showing yet another way to build a buck.
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