Willys Jeep Panel

[darkside]

The time has come to start on this one. I was hoping to finish the transport first, but that is gone thanks to a box falling on it and destroying most of it.

NNL East's main category this year is Resin and although I don't care about the contest part of it, I would like a display on the main table.

I bought this last year at NNL, it's an RMR kit.



My original plan was this.



2D doesn't always transfer to 3D as planned. When I just started mocking it up it was obvious this wouldn't work. It just looked goofy with the front tires sticking out so far, the track was just too wide.

So now we're going in more of a hot rod direction.

The first layout of how it will look.



This will be my first voyage into the world of resin. I know it will be a learning experience.

[tool]

should be cool looking forward to seeing it at NNL EAST !

[dogfish7]

That's a hard to find resin.... cool!

[sixtiesdragracer]

Nice looking project. Keep us posted.
Barry

[Big Ed]

Cool project DS. Different, for sure. Maybe some of us members can meet-up at NNL.

[darkside]

Jan 8, 2013 21:34:53 GMT -5 dogfish7 said:

That's a hard to find resin.... cool!

I had no problem attaining this kit. I contacted Ron at RMR about a week before NNL to order it in hope he could bring it to the show. He informed me he had none in stock, but would try to get one together. Having heard the many horror stories about resin casters, I didn't have my hopes to high, well medium high maybe.

I found him at the show, introduced myself and he said "I've got something for you". I was a kid in a candy store! He was a real nice guy to both deal with and to chat with, plus he's got some cool stuff.

If you want, PM me and I'll give you his email address .

[darkside]

Well let's dive into this project.

First up, a new floorpan from .040 sheet.



The driveshaft tunnel is 3/8" tube cut in half with .030 sheet for the sides. The tubs are also .030 sheet.



In the body.



The firewall is .040 sheet and the door sills are .030 bottoms with the .010 sides.





Some more in the body pics.





This is pretty much the stance I'm shooting for.

[darkside]

I'm leaning towards twin straight sixes on this one. I want to do something like my twin engine Corvair using a transaxle. I looked around at pics of various transmissions and transaxles and designed my own.

I still need to add some webbing and details, but you can get the general idea.







In place in the floorboard to check for fit.

[darkside]

I'm almost done with fabbing this up. The suspension will mount to the transaxle case instead of the axle tubes. I need to build the frame before I finalize the mounts.

The webbing is done, I added a rear cover with bolts made from .030 hex rod. The bars on the back are both braces for the axle tubes and airbag mounts. the short rod on the top is upper suspension mount.

[darkside]

I've got the frame started, along with the rear suspension.

The frame rails are .080x.100 square tube, stacked two high and cemented together. The notches are .040 sheet, again doubled and cut to shape.



At this point I'm just getting an idea of what will fit and what won't.



It's very basic, but it fits good so far.





Now it's time to start playing with shapes and try to "purty this thing up a bit".

Airbag mounts are made from 1/4" tube and some scrap sheet, the crossmembers are 3/64" rod as are the suspension links.





Getting close to having a roller on the desk.

[darkside]

I started playing with the front of the frame and the front suspension. I extended the frame about 1/4" and notched the bottom of the rails for the lower control arms.

I made some simple looking lower control arms, they're very thin like a F-1 car. They're also pretty fragile, so after cementing them together I gave them a coat of crazy glue and set them aside for the night to dry and help harden up the part a bit. Once I can handle them I'll start figuring what the rest of the suspension will be.

I found some headlights that work well with the design from a 39 Chevy. I sanded a notch into each side of the new shell I'm making and got the headlights to fit nice and snug.

Here's the latest mock up shots, this should be very close to the proper wheelbase and stance.





It looks lonely in there doesn't it?



It looks like I will have a pretty big void between the engines if I set it up this way. That could lead to a very interesting intake or aircleaner combining both engines.

[Steve-o]

WoW !!
That some project ....
Looks like it is coming along real well !!! ;D

[badroadahead]

I love that whole drive train. Very nice.

Will you reverse the other 6?

Dave

[fredm]

You are a master craftsman and your work is just amazing!!!!!

[darkside]

Thank you all for the comments.

I've had a productive couple of days.

I started cutting and fitting until there was a front suspension sitting in front of me. The arms are all 3/64" rod, the ends are .100 tube (I think).







Getting an idea of what the roller will look like.









I did a little filling and shaping on the grille shell, along with making mounts for it. The cover for the rear end has been started, I think the back part will be either hinged or clear.

I decided to make a cage for the Jeep. A whole bunch of .100 rod was bent, cut and notched to come up with this.





The frame has 6 locating pins, 4 of these also locate the rollcage, 2 extra pins at the rear locate the back of the cage.



Everything in place. the cage almost disappears in the body.