Bob da builder
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 posted on 22/5/02 at 07:49 AM |
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Side panels BTM fold
Im at the stage of making the side panels, have got them marked out ready for folding... the fold under the suspension to return back to the chassis
is shown as two tapered fold lines in the book..is it two 45 degree angles or a radius between the lines???
Which will look better???
Cheers Rob
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paulf
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| posted on 23/5/02 at 09:40 PM |
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quote:
Im at the stage of making the side panels, have got them marked out ready for folding... the fold under the suspension to return back to the
chassis is shown as two tapered fold lines in the book..is it two 45 degree angles or a radius between the lines???
Which will look better???
Cheers Rob
Im just fitting my front panels, i would not use the drawing from the book as the dimensions do not seem right. I made a paper pattern and recut it
several times as the hole positions were all way out from the book positions.
To form the bottom curve i made a jig using a 2ft length of 2 inch od tube and welded two bits of inch strip on to the centre line of it, these i
clamped to the bottom chassis rails and aligned the angle with the nosecone and top rail . I then attached the top of the panel and the vertical joint
with a few temporary pop rivets and bent the panel by hand. I just need to trim the bottom and drill for fixing.
It also takes a bit of fiddling to get the join to the nosecone correct. If you make and attach the tubular jig first then you can use it to form the
paper pattern around also.
Paul.
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Bob da builder
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| posted on 24/5/02 at 07:16 AM |
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Sounds like a bloody good plan!!
will give it a go!
Cheers
Rob 
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 24/5/02 at 09:35 PM |
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dont under estimate how much easier the alu is to fold if you anneal it by heating and using soap as a temperature indicator. really easy to
manipulate if you do this.
ask if you need more info!
atb
steve
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Bob da builder
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| posted on 27/5/02 at 07:29 AM |
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Hi,
Tell me more??? i guess that heat will help things but how can you tell the temp with soap???
Cheers
Rob.
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 27/5/02 at 01:26 PM |
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quote:
Hi,
Tell me more??? i guess that heat will help things but how can you tell the temp with soap???
Cheers
Rob.
This was talked about quite a lot on TOL I think.
What you do is to get a DRY bar of soap, and rub it over the areas you want to soften. Then, get a blow rorch on full blast and heat, from the bottom
(cos the heat will rise) the soap lines. You will cover about a foot every two minutes. Heat until the soap goes between caramel brown to black. The
soap is indicating that you got to the annealing temperature. if you dont use soap, you could move too fast, or worse, melt the panel! I found it
quite hard to reach melting point with a blow torch, but watch it when you get to corners.
Leave it to cool, and once cooled it will be nice and bendy.
DONT burn you hands - wear welders gloves cos it gets HOTTTT.
Dont worry about all the movement in the panel when heated - it will flatten and shape to how you want it once cool. Its working well for me.
The nasty mess left by the soap wipes right off with water, just like soap should
ATB
Steve
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 29/5/02 at 07:35 AM |
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quote:
Im at the stage of making the side panels, have got them marked out ready for folding... the fold under the suspension to return back to the
chassis is shown as two tapered fold lines in the book..is it two 45 degree angles or a radius between the lines???
Which will look better???
Cheers Rob
Rob,
Sorry I took so long to post this but, you know... 
It's a curve - I used the same method as Steve G, bending it round a steel tube clamped to the chassis via a couple of welded-on bars (I have a
diagram, if you want one).
I did a card pattern first to get the holes in the right place, then went for the metal.
My sequence was:
1. fold the top edge to 90 degrees and rivet it to the chassis. The rest of the sheet now hangs vertically down.
2. attach the bending tube in the right place (in fact, mine was still there since the card pattern).
3. heave, push, struggle, swear and various other techniques to bend the sheet over the tube to meet the underneath of the chassis.
4. bang the back of the sheet to meet the underneath of the chassis at 90 degrees.
Loads of clamps are helpful - I use the plastic springy ones from B&Q - and a good selection of swear words are essential.
I still hate panel work... 
David (who's just finishing off his rear panel - the last one )
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