Hello again,
The last week and a bit has all been about the front end of the chassis - although I had made some progress by last weekend, there wasn't much to show for it. The early stages were slow-going as it was important to make sure the main tubes running from the base of the screen to the nose were correctly aligned - eventually they will be tied-in to the fibreglass shell, but they also give me the shape of the bonnet. Once the front frame is sorted out, I can start making the moulds for the bonnet and the base of the windscreen.
So, the first job was to locate the fibreglass top shell so I could be sure of getting it in the right place every time - this wasn't a ten-minute job. I made a pair of support towers to add to the front of the jigframe, and drilled through the flange at the front of the shell - but only after more than a few measurements, checking, and double-checking!
Once the shell was positioned I could continue adding the tubes to the floor of the chassis - all the larger ones have extra ali or brass internal reinforcement, as before, and the main joints are pinned for strength.
In the next photo I've started adding the verticals for the main front suspension mounting frame, and the radiator supports:
Throughout all this I was modifying the lego framework to suit, depending on what access I needed and where I had to add new tubes. Add in the extra internal reinforcement and the time required for each tube soon increased beyond my normal half-hour or so.
With a few more diagonal braces added, the front of the frame was now
relatively complete:
It's solid enough that I can now start working on the patterns for the new sections of bodywork - no doubt I'll add a few more tubes during the next week or so, though. There's a removable cross-brace which fits into the front bay, for example, but that's a job for later.
With a little trimming the mk1 front bulkhead was added:
Still fits! It's not really needed for the next stage of the build, but it's pleasing to see it in place like this - the plan is working, so far. Most of it will be hidden by the fuel tank, oil tank, etc, but it still needs to be right!
So, now to start on the next round of bodywork moulds...
Hello Al - yes, Gunnar Racing have certainly done some interesting builds in the last few years - the 917 videos are rather good, too! They've done a few 935's, so there are some good shots of the more 'standard' parts of the car, even if it's not necessarily the same as the Moby. It all adds to the flavour!
Have a good week, everyone.
SB