giving this car a go... its been a real challenge, the firewall being the hardest piece so far. not done with it yet. Here's where im at so far.
Engineer for a living, metal hobbyist at night.
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AWESOME work! Very, very, very Impressive. Nice high-rail late 550 chassis replication there.
I bow to you, sir!
Keep it coming, this is stellar stuff!
Fantastic! Is this a home shop? Are those two PullMax machines?
Like Danny said, keep posting updates.
@toreadorxlt wow!..that's some amazing stuff!....i hope ferdinand porsche is watching from above....he has to be surely impressed 
Nice power hammer , did you have the ribs of the buck cut or did you use the Shrinker / stretcher ?
Outstanding metal work!
Jason
Wow.
Ambitious!
Truly amazing craftsmanship. Please keep posting your progress. You may have a high end market for this, either way your work so far is dazzling. Nice shop as well. I have great respect for the talent and skill it takes to fabricate an aluminum bodied sports car. Can I place an order for a Spyder and an AC Cobra please?
Move over Wray Schelin........Bruce
@LI-Rick posted:Fantastic! Is this a home shop? Are those two PullMax machines?
Like Danny said, keep posting updates.
This is my home shop. The two big green machines you see are power hammers. One I fabricated, one is 100 years old.
@dlearl476 posted:That’s sweet! And quite a project. It also reminds me, I need to go check on the local guy’s Spectre project.
I know tanner. The metalshaping community is quite small. He is doing a fantastic job on that, and the design is amazing.
@imperial posted:Nice power hammer , did you have the ribs of the buck cut or did you use the Shrinker / stretcher ?
I have a full CAD file I made including the chassis table, and I chopped up the file and cut them on my CNC plasma. They are very inaccurate and will be redone, and the entire nose reshaped.
@aircooled posted:Move over Wray Schelin........Bruce
Wray is a good friend of mine, and I started off my journey at his class. Highly Recommend his class for anybody who wants to get into this stuff. Even though we shape with different methods, I have stayed in close contact with him and visit every other month or so. I have put some eyes on Adams project and taken some notes off the Bruce Kimmons pieces he has.
I live about 30 minutes (with traffic) from Wray's shop/school and get over there about once a quarter when I visit an old friend who lives nearby. Wray and his family are the nicest people around and what he's done to continue the metal-working trades is wonderful. It is a bit surprising how many people have circulated through his classes, and that is great!
Dude.
Absolutely Wray is the Master in my opinion. I don't know how many of his videos I've watched. Some more than once. I'm fascinated with how he moves metal around. Especially with the great big wood hammer ! You know he knows his stuff when he picks that one up and gets the result before your very eyes. I've often thought about taking one of his classes just for the experience of watching magic happen !...Bruce
I'm gonna put that class on my bucket list.
Again, @toreadorxlt thanks for posting your project here. Most impressive.
Another master metal shaper is Lazze. I much prefer the way he works metal into shape, without beating on it. If interested in metal shaping check out his website, he has a lot of videos.
@LI-Rick posted:Another master metal shaper is Lazze. I much prefer the way he works metal into shape, without beating on it. If interested in metal shaping check out his website, he has a lot of videos.
Lazze is a very talented man. But If you do this long enough, 'beating' on the metal is inevitable, particularly on more complex inner structure pieces. I couldn't imagine making the firewall with just a kick shrinker, bead roller and wheel like he tends to gravitate towards.
I personally prefer the power hammer for major shaping. When done right with your dies tuned, panels come out with the surface appearance of never being touched (im still working on that). I can make it barely hit, or move metal so fast you can see it. Everything comes back to hand work for detailed areas, and you'll need lots of patience. No way is wrong.
@toreadorxlt posted:you'll need lots of patience.
Other than lack of experience, I'm certian this is my biggest hinderance with metal working, welding, painting, headliner replacement... well let's just say everything I attempt to DIY.
How do we get experience? practice and patience grasshopper... Ok then give me patience..NOW!!! 
OK, @toreadorxlt, I have a shop question;
Over on the wall behind your air compressor is what looks like an air cooler made of copper pipes attached to the wall. What is that? Part of a system to cool and dehumidify the compressor air for spray painting?
There are a few other things I’m curious about in your well-equipped shop, but that one stood out.
Thanks, gn
@Gordon Nichols posted:OK, @toreadorxlt, I have a shop question;
Over on the wall behind your air compressor is what looks like an air cooler made of copper pipes attached to the wall. What is that? Part of a system to cool and dehumidify the compressor air for spray painting?
There are a few other things I’m curious about in your well-equipped shop, but that one stood out.
Thanks, gn
I see a valve at the bottom on the far left one Gordon maybe to help stop air loss. All those lines may be to route air to multiple locations throughout the shop. Having individual lines may help cause less of a drop in air pressure so two people can work in different areas at one time. I imagine there is an air dryer or several air dryers on that system somewhere.
I get caught up in the sensory overload I don't even see half of that stuff the first 10 times I look at the pictures. Lol
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@toreadorxlt what your doing is impressive and inspiring. I see that and think if "I had those tools and some experience I could do that too". Then I remember I don't have enough patience to struggle through the lack of experience it would take to get me good enough to make something I wanted to make. Certainly didn't as a high-schooler, collegiant or even a younger engineer. As I get closer to retirement I've started to learn patience.
Thanks for sharing and please share more as you go. It's really interesting to see.
Wow! That guy sounds like some of the over-caffeinated people I used to work with!
I guess I was right - It's a compressed air dryer. Makes sense, given the air-powered equipment sitting around, as well as having dry air for spray painting.
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Yeah Gordon, not my favorite presenter, but this does explain what the plumbing is and how it works.
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