"The Next One" - Handcrafted Mid-Engine Sports Car

[keith]

WOW, that has some lines!

[ronholm]

Originally Posted by keith

WOW, that has some lines!

no kidding..


Do you have any conceptual drawings? I don't think I have ever seen a full picture of what you have in mind for the final look.

Or is that top secret?

[invision]

Originally Posted by keith

WOW, that has some lines!

Thanks Keith. Making all these pieces is like a large jig-saw puzzle .. I love the challenge.

[invision]

Originally Posted by ronholm

no kidding..


Do you have any conceptual drawings? I don't think I have ever seen a full picture of what you have in mind for the final look.

Or is that top secret?

Hi Ron, I haven't posted any sketches or renderings of this vehicle. I love surprises.

The entire vehicle was designed on paper so to speak... from the chassis right to all the accessories. But, as it's progressing, if a better idea comes along I run with it. I build the car...not the drawing.

[invision]

A few things are running in parallel...depending on my mood and whether additional hands are at hand.


Fabricating the side scoops. A few passes in the wheel to develop the feature. Next thing to do is tip the leading(left side of panel) edge.


The first piece of the roof's substructure is underway....but can't be completed till the front windscreen surround is in place. Using 18Ga material for this area. The skateboard wheel in the tipping machine gives a nice smooth finish on all the curved bends.


Once the windscreen surround was finalized with a 3/16" gap around the glass the remaining structural components for the roof were created.


With the help of my Dad on the other side of the wheel to support the sheet, we rolled the rear hatch's dove tail area. This completes all the upper pieces for the rear hatch. Now time to glue them together somehow ...

While we're in the stage of creating the panels we only focus on shaping, not really stopping to start scribing/fitting/welding the pieces together. That will come later.

Thanks for looking.

[Jim Stabe]

Nick

Looking good, how long before you can roll it outside so we can get a look at the whole thing? What are those seats from, they look like they have a lot of side support?

[123pugsy]

Is the opening made for a Vette windsield?

[invision]

Originally Posted by Jim Stabe

Nick

Looking good, how long before you can roll it outside so we can get a look at the whole thing? What are those seats from, they look like they have a lot of side support?

Thanks Jim

I also can't wait to get it outside and have a look at it...at least on the frame table. It's a good thing to do that once in a while to make sure the proportions are right from 300yards away. Soon as the body panels are more or less assembled work on building the chassis will start.

That seat is from a fiero. Not too worried if it gets a few welding/grinding sparks on it as I have a new set of race seats going in later. It's only used for mock up.

[invision]

Originally Posted by 123pugsy

Is the opening made for a Vette windsield?

Using the same glass we used in Rhythm - Triumph ... but custom fit. Now, while the windscreen is the same, the contour and design of the roof is different as I wanted to freshen up the look. You'll see what I mean after I get the roof skin photos posted.

pm sent.

[invision]

When my dad and I were building the body for our Rhythm - specifically the upper rear 1/4's, due to tool limitations, they were created from 5 pieces. And there was nothing wrong with that. But, creating, fitting the pieces to each other and welding them was a really tedious process.

Since we built the English wheel, I've had some practice making pieces for R2 and other projects. The thought crossed my mind about making the upper 1/4's for R2 as one long piece to eliminate some welding. However, the thought was a bit intimidating. Reason why?... the 1/4 had 3 reverse curves - one for the fender flair, one on top to accentuate the taillight and one for the dove tail. You'll see what I mean in the photos below.

So here it goes.

Interchanging the upper wheel with a rubber wheel provided a consistent initial roll. Placing the panel on the buck shows just how much more curvature the 1/4 panel requires.


Switching back to the hard upper wheel and moving some metal fast. I'm not worried about the tracking marks as they'll soon be smoothed out. The tracking pattern can be seen throughout the panel ... the ends are starting to curve downwards.


After some rolling, the 1/4 panel is starting to take on a nice shape. But we have a little ways to go yet...


Most of the tracks have been smoothed ... the next step is to create the fender flair(reverse curve #1) and the tail light feature.


After putting in the fender flair, the panel needed some more material to make the reverse curve 'right'...meant some more wheeling...


The reversed curve fender flair is coming in nicely, but we've lost some curvature in the horizontal plane...so a few more passes in the wheel to bring it back in before moving onto the taillight feature(reverse curve #2)


1/4 Panel almost there...a tweak here and a tweak there...then onto the other side. You can just make out the taillight feature and the dip(reverse curve #2) on the top. When the panel has the right shape it should sit there without forcing it down with clamps.


Here is the 1/4 panel for the other side being fit to the buck...some more wheeling is still required to get the centre up/ends down...can't just depend on the squeeze clamps.


Thanks for checking out the build.