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

[andygp]

Beautiful work - thank's for sharing.

[iNVision]

Thanks very much for the great comments Gents.

While working away, I get so involved that I don't always remember to take photos of how the piece gets there ... guess its something I need to work on. :-| When my dad is in the shop he'll usually grab the camera and shoot some in progress stuff.

For this next part I want to keep 'detail shots' of the actual hinge and pivot in my back pocket...at least for now. However, here are a few pictures of the door shell integrated with the impact beam structure which itself connects the pivot to the latch area.

After the inner door shells were spaced and mounted into the openings work on the hinges and impact beams could begin. That 1/4" rod at the top is only temp...holding the shell correctly spaced within the opening.



The plan was to create a hollow hinge so that the door's control wires could pass through leaving a clean jam perimeter. The second challenge was to have the doors open diagonally upwards (butterfly) through the use of a single pivot pin. Here's the door opening for the first time on the new hinge...will it work?



Success! The door swings up as designed. Now to install some cylinders to make the swing effortless. Open 3/4's of the way already provides sufficient space to get into the vehicle comfortably. The door can now be finalized with the installation of the latch, window frame, glass and handles...later on.



Thanks for looking.

[Carbuilder]

Nick great looking so far keep the pictures coming.

[fmcsteve]

Hey Nick, its a fascinating build and more pics as you go would be really cool, maybe invest in a cam corder and hang it on the wall, the wireform and door openings would have made my day

[iNVision]

Firewall located and installed. The centre section which was temporarily removed needs to be trimmed before going back in.


A view of how the inner fender protrudes into the cab. The frame will shoot diagonally past the front of the hole you see under the inner fender


Inner front fender mocked up for the first time after being created by the english wheel. A little tweaking here and there will have it sitting where it needs to be. Now onto the other one...only in reverse!


Fabricating the seat rail supports.

[jlrussell4]

Great job Nick. You have documented the build very well - thanks.

[Rick (madera)]

Nick,
After following your first build, and seeing how you made the panels and welded them in. I must say you have done your homework! The panels on this car look so much better and your workmanship is fantastic! You should be proud of yourself

[andygp]

Nick,

Could you give a noob an idea of timeline!
How many hours to date to get to the stage shown as above?
And how long would it have taken you to make - say the complete door with inner/outter skins/hinges etc?

And can we see some more pics of the actual hinge if possible?

Brilliant work - keep the updates coming.

[iNVision]

Originally Posted by jlrussell4

Great job Nick. You have documented the build very well - thanks.

Thanks very much Jim.

[iNVision]

Originally Posted by Rick (madera)

Nick,
After following your first build, and seeing how you made the panels and welded them in. I must say you have done your homework! The panels on this car look so much better and your workmanship is fantastic! You should be proud of yourself

It's a matter of mileage I guess. The more I hammer away at metal shaping, the more I realize how much more there is to learn... :-? And strangely enough, I really focus on shaping the panels without relying on hammers to smooth out mistakes.

The other thing that's different than the first build was having designed R2 on paper prior to starting the build as well as creating the wire frame buck as a base. It has helped immensely in fabricating panels correctly the first time. Though there are times when I find myself tweaking the actual design here and there if something appears awkward or if I didn't think of something all the way though initially.

Thanks for looking. I really appreciate your feedback Rick.