Hand Formed Aluminium Body

[rogerguzzi]

3 hours ago, John Bonnett said:

Go on Brad, remind me. And what made you change the firing order? Fantastic looking engine bay, a real credit to you and the care you have taken with the rebuild. Beautifully done.

And me as to how you did it?

Roger

[thebrookster]

6 hours ago, RedRooster said:

If anyone wants to know more about that I'll explain later. 

Of course we want to know more. Spill the beans man!

[RedRooster]

First it helps to have enough things going up and down which you do on a V8. 

Now a bit of history on the small block Ford or SBF as it is generally known. Originally cylinders 7&8 fired consecutively which was fine in a car as the speed varies all the time. However when used in marine applications the speed is generally constant, this caused harmonics to be set up and Ford had a lot of warranty issues with wear. So roughly late 60's early 70's they moved the firing order so 1&2 went bang bang which were closest to the damper. 

This is the reason most V8s sound like tug boats. 

What I did with my cam grind was to revert to the old firing order which no one stocks anymore, I don't think I'll be at full power very long anyway. 

[John Bonnett]

A bit of a morale boost

 

 

[Escadrille Ecosse]

Brrrm, brrrm...

Excellent stuff John. Looks like progress to me

[John Bonnett]

1 hour ago, Escadrille Ecosse said:

Brrrm, brrrm...

Excellent stuff John. Looks like progress to me

Thank you. I'm four years into the project now, so having it moving under its own power was a real milestone and something to which, I'm sure, every single one of us here can relate, and perhaps even more so than the first start-up. 

[Hamish]

Fantastic John. That’s brilliant.

[Nick Jones]

3 hours ago, John Bonnett said:

I'm four years into the project now

 
That’s gone quick

[John Bonnett]

9 hours ago, Nick Jones said:

 
That’s gone quick

Frighteningly quick Nick and sometimes I'm quite daunted at what a long way there is still to go until I look at how much work has gone into it to get it this far. That helps to put things into perspective.

I'm hoping for completion next year in time for La Coupe Florio in St Brieuc in September. 

[John Bonnett]

The buck for the front end has taken an inordinate amount of time because I have made a lot of subtle changes to the curvature in order to produce the visual effect that I'm after and more crucially, something that I have a better than evens chance of reproducing in metal. The attached photos show the artist's impression, the buck and the buck with paper draped over it to give an idea of how it might look. I think we're there now.

[John I]

That is a labour of love and will look beautiful. Just jealous of that workshop there’s masses of room and a few big tools to make you drool.

[Nick Jones]

Coming on well John. You get to do some more of your favourite part now 

[Hamish]

Wow !!!

[Escadrille Ecosse]

Very, very impressed at that

[John Bonnett]

Thanks Chaps, it always gives me a great boost to receive such kind words and encouragement. Thank you.

[RogerH]

Am I green with envy - not in the least (honest) (really)

 

Roger

[RedRooster]

What you got in the back of your shed John? 

Nice work as aways, hope you bring it around one day so I can have a poke around. 

RR

[John Bonnett]

3 hours ago, RedRooster said:

What you got in the back of your shed John? 

Nice work as aways, hope you bring it around one day so I can have a poke around. 

RR

Brad, good to hear from you. You mean the other side of the doorway at the far end?  That's the Machine Shop

If all goes to plan, the project will be finished during next year in time for the Coupe Florio in St Brieuc in September. Perhaps we could arrange to see you there?

[RedRooster]

The other door in my garage got commandered by the boss as a tack room 

Will try for the Coupe work allowing, perhaps we could see you here the building site is almost done...

[John Bonnett]

5 hours ago, RedRooster said:

The other door in my garage got commandered by the boss as a tack room 

Will try for the Coupe work allowing, perhaps we could see you here the building site is almost done...

Your garage is as big as Ikea so I'd doubt if you'd miss an odd section or begrudge it to your long suffering Nicole. September is a long way off but it would be nice to meet up one way or the other. 

[Spit131]

On 7/4/2023 at 5:01 PM, John Bonnett said:

A bit of a morale boost

 

 

 

[John Bonnett]

I notice my last post was back in September so here we are a couple of months later with a quick update. Although I was under the impression that the buck for the front end was done and dusted it became apparent that some of the stations weren't quite right and needed reshaping to allow the curves to follow through and this took quite a bit of time but the buck has to be right because if it isn't then there's no hope for the finished panels, so time well spent. With the remedial work on the buck completed , the first bit of metal shaping took place and this is the section immediately adjacent to and rearward of the headlight and because of the large amount of shrinking needed, it was, I thought,  potentially, the most difficult sub-panel of the whole front end but in the event, everyone of them has fought me to the bitter end so there was nothing to choose between them. The section containing the bulge which I was expecting to be a doddle wasn't (and isn't) because  even though the plywood hammerform was tightly clamped, the edges of the panel distorted into a wavy line. I wrongly decided that the edge needed stretching which was totally wrong and I ended up with the wavy edge ten times worse than it was before I started. It did of course need to be shrunk so I have made a start and the situation is slowly improving.

So here are a few photos of the piece parts which will eventually be welded together to make the skin for the forward hinged bonnet.

[John Bonnett]

PS The diagonal stripes on one of the panels are caused by low tack tape which is the first stage of making a flexible shape pattern. This is useful in ensuring that two panels have the same curvature.

[Escadrille Ecosse]

Seriously impressive. And good to see more progress, especially given the battle required

[Hamish]

Very impressive work John. 
the woodwork on the”buck” alone I am in awe of. 
but the follow up metal work is just wonderful. 
just amazing John.