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Update 34 - Second fit front wings, radiator and Intake design and fabrication

In the last few weeks we have managed to progress with some more work on the blue and white car.

First up, was sorting out the front wings. Last time we'd made the basic cuts to get the wings onto the car but the front end had not been set-up so we'd left the front end raw.

So this week saw us use our front end alignment jig to get the inner bay panels tweaked to be in alignment centrally as well as fitting round the radiator. A slight bellying in the section in front of the crosshead.

We also checked width, making sure the wings overlap the wheels equally both sides and that the leading edge of the wings are both aligned in the horizontal plain both at the bottom and the top.

With all this clamped in place we fixed two bolts into the wing by the bulkead, one at the top most part of the wing and one in the lower front.

The reason for only putting these in, is that it allows you to fix each dimension but being able to adjust and measure as we went. Additionally we didn't want to complete putting holes in the section of the wing in front of the crosshead as we wanted these to be completed when the cowel is made.

The in the end we have mounted the front wings for the final time before paint.





Next up was the finalisation of the intake... this has been a bit of a journey. Many different ideas have been explored.



Three sets of trumpets, two different filter back plates and two different depths of filter.......

This is the situation as we left it



A quick trial fit of the trumpets finds that the longer trumpets are going to be the ones to go for.







Having test fit the back-plate it was clear neither the shallow 30mm deep backplate nor the 60mm option was going to be any good.

Looking at the filter alignment we could either put the filter on the inside our outside of the inner bay pannel... (no idea exactly how this was going to be attached... but it gives an idea of the next design challenge - how to attach the filter)

This pic shows that with the filter on the inside of the bay panel its not going to work either - which means that the filter in its entirety it needs to be over the wing.



In the end something completely different.

Make an alloy backplate but attach it to the back side of the trumpets.. rather than part way up, have it welded to the back of the bell-mouths.

So, as in previous years, I need to make a alloy back plate with suitable spaced holes. Tracing the outline of one of the backing trays this gives an outline.

Next up is to find out where the holes need to go.. this starts by creating a template.





Using the mock up, the correct spacing found and having made the blank back-plate. The holes were cut and slipped over the trumpets.

Good to see things worked out fine.







Unfortunately we don't do out own ali welding on site, but handily I have a mate down the road who sorts me out when needed so popped these off to him for a welding job.

Handily he did them pretty much straight away so not long to see if everything worked out as expected.

Just back from the welder.





Today saw the intake mounted to the engine.







You can see this bring the filter (the 60mm one) mounting point right over the wing (into what will be the SS bonnet scoop). Due to the fact that the opening of the trumpets is level with the back plate we don't have the issue with the mouth of the trumpet becoming obstructed by the inner filter edge as it curves round.. It also means that we have been able to off-set the back-plate to suit the available space.

So with minor fettling of the inner edge of the filter plastic casing we have this..... looks pretty smart.







That brings us up to the point of having the car ready for the bonnets and cowel made. So off with Woodstock from the trailer and on with the blue and white car...





Now onto focusing on Woodstock...

Harrison my son has come up to play with the cars as well, he's had as much fun as his dad and grandfather.

First time behind the wheel.



Testing out the back deck..making sure daddies roll bar is safe.

Great shots, interesting information and great to see the family tradition has another generation to go at least!

Great report and such attention to detail on the air intake. Nearly ready for racing.

As I have been fitting replacement steel wings all round I have watched your installation with great interest. As my car is a '79 the running board section of each wing had a few through bolts and plenty of screws holding it to the under side of the chassis/door frame. These tend to pull the panel somewhat unevenly onto the a narrow edge. I also noted from a recent Miscellany that later cars now have a "gutter" that the running board sits on. Looking at your pics I think I can see a similar support plate. If I am correct a bit of advice here would be appreciated.
I have also studied your Gemma steering box installation as in the past I did a straight swap with an original Burman but found the steering limited by the arm hitting the cross wire on LH lock. Another alignment job I've been looking at while the wings are off.

simon

Simon,
The "gutter" or recess is carved into the wood... Woodstock is a 72 car and we are going to change both the front and rear wings so can take a look at the shape of the body at that point as well and take a few more pics for you.

I suspect this (with some concentration) could be added to a car without it. You would then have a smooth run-down for the wing to follow.

BTW... use stainless steel screws when you do yours.

+1 thanks

Update 35 - Bonnet's and Cowl plus a small side project

Progress on the Blue and White car's bodywork has been swift. Steve from Vintage Sheet Metal has been in touch to show some of the progress pictures he's taken.

Thanks Steve for taking the pictures

When we took the car up to VSM we brought along the old cowl to give some idea as to the height of the original cowl, as we're convinced that it didn't run a full height cowl originally giving more of a low line front end.

Now, to give you some insight, the cowl took the brunt of the impact into the Castle Coombe armco at 55mph. It was pretty very twisted and when Steve had got his hands on it, we'd bent, twisted it to try to get it back into some resemblance of it's original shape - we'd written it off as scrap.

Well, you'd never believe this but Steve's managed to do some serious metal bashing and rolling to get it back to it's original shape - respect!

Before:


After:


Next up, the bonnets, we'd salvaged the brass brackets for the centre hinge but the hinge itself was toast. In terms of the bonnets, we wanted super sport style with the scoop giving plenty of coverage to the air-filter. Steve's done a great job, the shots below showing where he got to when he had the serious question of:

"how many louvres?"

..........well when presented with this sort of choice... picking a number can actually be a bit tough....So.. where to go with this one.... Ah.

"as many as will fit!!"

These are currently being punched into these beauties.







So sometime this week, it will be collected and readied for paint.

Side Project - Helmet Paint

So in preparation for heading back to the track and tbh inspired as a gift to my wife as part of her birthday treats. Back in Jan at the Autosport show I hooked up with a helmet painter. Piers Dowell of PDP design who does all Stilo's helmets for the UK (read most of the F1 grid) and a whole bunch of other amazing art.

A sample of his work is below along with a link to his web-site which has a more complete gallery:



http://www.piersdowell.com/

So, having found an artist, onto the designs - well with Anne driving Woodstock and with inspiration of a Austrian artist (google Hundertwasser images) we have the following design:



and whilst it not not in the original plan, we added to the job-list reticently with the following design being produced based on inspiration of vintage Salt Flat hot rod racers along with wanting a caricature of both my wife Missprint and son as woven in somehow. I think Piers has come up with a fantastic design. (The caricatures will be coloured in on the actual helmet).



So having waited for 4 months for our paint slot to come round (did I mention Piers is a VERY busy artist). The helmets are ready to collect next weekend. So some pics of how they have turned out will be posted next week.

Needless to say Anne and I are really pleased with what Piers has managed to design for us and I can only expect that the final result will be beyond our expectations. Having popped up to visit Piers in his studio (a good 3hrs drive for me) I can also say he's a really nice guy and the quality of his work is really something.

Looking forward to next week's developments.

What talent!

As interesting as ever, Andrew. What a great job on that mangled front cowl and the helmet designs are great. When do you expect to be competing this season? Gerry.