Lola T-70 Mk III

[Scale-Master]

Until the doors are modified and installed the work on the bulkhead and engine cover is on hold. The front roll bar was made the same way as the rear one.

[Scale-Master]

I sawed the oil and fuel fill columns off the tub. I doubt I'll reuse them; probably machine new ones, but they are not very visible with the dash installed either…

[Scale-Master]

When I mounted the front roll bar to the cowl/windshield frame I paid attention to get a good fit for the windshield. But now the hood/fenders/nose doesn't fit very well to it. Not a surprise and an easy tradeoff. But it also turns out the dark blue plastic the body is molded in is really brittle.

A goal from the start was to not have the body panels under tension when assembled, but now it is very important due to how many cracks and parts have broken under just modest stress. Brass reinforcements have been added along the way including the pins and machined tubes for mounting points at the cowl. To cut down on the load/stress I had to add mounting points to the front of the tub and hood too.

[Scale-Master]

A little sheet styrene and reshaping remedied most of the discrepancy at the cowl/hood panel line.

[Viccario]

Awesome work, looks superb!

[Scale-Master]

Thanks Viccario!

More shimming and shoring up to try to true out the tub and body. I added several support ribs to the tub in the side pods and the rear of the side pods are now anchored to the tub with screws too.

[Scale-Master]

I designed the wheels for it in SolidWorks. Because seven spokes… They will be a combination of 3D grown masters and machined aluminum parts.

[Scale-Master]

After I made the front wheel, (different offset), I designed the outer rims even though they will made of aluminum on the finished project. This way I can use them for mocking up the car.

[Scale-Master]

The inner door panels needed a lot of clean-up. This one still needs more…

Both inner doors mostly cleaned up and with mounting holes added.

I added mounting plates and locking strips to insides of the doors.

Dry fitting.

[Scale-Master]

Door hinges "before".

The part that clamps the hinges to the roof didn't look strong enough to hold up to the disassembly and reassembly that this project will require so I reinforced it with stainless steel tubes that will accept the spring steel rods.

[Scale-Master]

The right side door fits better than I expected, but it needs some serious work.

The left side door does not fit as well as the right side, so I will start to rework it first.

[Scale-Master]

Before I can make the doors fit I need to put the center section of the roof in, and that part is too weak by itself. So first I added the roll cage side bars. Each side has a 0.062 steel rod for strength.

[Scale-Master]

Finally the roof center section could be cemented in place. Three steel pins help strengthen it.

[Scale-Master]

After a lot of reshaping by sanding and adding material I got the left door kind of close to fitting the more complex contours of the cowl and bulkhead. It's just sitting on the body loose.

[Scale-Master]

Then I reworked the right side in a similar fashion as the left. It still needs more work too, but not until I get the left door to this stage.


But the right side is hinged.