I've be playing again with my nose.
Before I make it permanent by drilling holes I'd value your opinions, good or bad.
My only worry is that it will restrict air flow, but I do have a whacking great rad in there. (RH Coolman)
Many thanks
Paul G
p.s. Please ignore cable ties.
[Edited on 15/3/07 by 907]
Rescued attachment PhM-Grill-s.jpg
I'm still lovin' your work
I don't think it should hinder the airflow too badly as long as the rad is tight up into the nose you should be fine.
That's one Seven that stands apart from the crowd. Very impressive, I love the new grille, thumbs up from me 
BTW What colour are you painting it ?
Paul,
Please do not tell me you have created that nose cone from aluminium sheet with your home built english wheel???
If you do, you will force me to denounce all other relegion and worship you as the new god of locost!
Ooooooo, what's it's take of speed? 
Looks good, though the mesh is very tight??
I think it looks good.
I do think that the bottom vain needs a slight kink in it as well though.
is it wrong to start finding you attractive and find myself thinking of having your babies?
That looks FAB!
I'd be worried about the airflow restriction - do a simple test, how easy is it compared to a lump of ply to push through the air?
so the restriction ......... fit it!
Might not be what you want to hear,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
It's the dogs danglies !!
Jason
Nah it's naff I'll take it off your hands for a tenner
Looks great but I'd be worried about the airflow through the tight mesh
Wondered what you were up to sunday. Second the bottom vane though.Don't you just hate some people?
Hi paul, looking good but in my humble opinion I think you should set the mesh back towards the radiator to protect it, and 3 or 5 vertical bars to
give the old style chip chop grill effect. If you are concerned on air flow put a more open mesh.
atb Trev
A wider mesh would look better and give less restriction.
Nice job
Thanks for the replies chaps.
Kendo & Rusty, your right.
If I run a weld across the bottom vane while holding it under tension it would kink it a fraction.
They are folded from 1mm sheet to form a 30 x 10mm U section.
The fan is between the mesh and the rad and I was trying to hide it as much as possible.
You can still see the wires that run down from the top right to the fan.
Thanks again for the comments.
Paul G
Hi Paul,
It's looking good...moving on from the rolling chassis I first saw 3 and a bit years ago!
The grill looks good, but just thought it might look a bit more dynamic with 3 or 5 slats? It's a similar principle to car alloys, which usually
have an odd number of spokes...like my favourite Compomotives!
If you put in 5, you might have to make the slats a bit more delecate, or it could look a little cluttered.
Just some thoughts, but it's looking good!
Tony of Sunderland origin.
I would go with an odd number of horisontal bars, and odd vertical like Trev says. A different mesh might be an idea.
you must put a bend on the bottom slat, never put straight lines on a car. Sorry about the spelling, but if you think about it, Its your
falt.
Oh By the way got my new phone, i will give you a call over the weekend
GAZ
Gorgeous bit of work - though agree about the restrictive mesh and the bottom lat.
IMHO - that is the best nose I've seen on any se7en type car... you may be approached for it as a future pattern.
VERY WELL DONE
Steve
Def' wider/bigger mesh - but still AWESOME work.
mesh is too tight; makes no difference how big or efficient the radiator is if you cannot get sufficient air through it.
Paint fan etc: matt black if you are worried about it being seen through the grille.
Hi Paul, I've been away and have only just seen your new grille. It looks really nice. If you did decide on a more open mesh material it might
well enhance the appearance as well as permitting a greater airflow. I'm looking forward to actually seeing your car hopefully this Summer.
Best wishes
John
Look fantastic!
But I would use a much less restrictice mesh myself... I've be worried about the air flow.
I think less restrictive would look nice too.
HTH,
James
Hello!
I agree with the comments above, odd number of bands and add a kink. I think three vertical bands might look good, slightly less prominent than the
horizontals. Looking good though!
Absolutely stunning work (as usual!).
I would echo the concerns about the mesh though, Locosts aren't reknown for ultra efficient cooling inside their tiny engine bays at the best of
times.
I can endorse the comments about the mesh - as previously discussed, the mesh I'd used was a lot more open than yours, but it still restricted
the flow.
The woven stainless stuff I've got now seems to be helping quite a bit - it's mostly open space.
David
personally i wouldn't go for the kink, i like the plain view - i think it looks nicer than the welded bit in the middle. If you can get rid of the colour distortion then i might change my mind.
Paul,
Are you planning to grind off the weld on the angled bits? That would make the progression down the bars more 'logical' (if that's the
word!)
I do like it though...
David
quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
Paul,
Are you planning to grind off the weld on the angled bits? That would make the progression down the bars more 'logical' (if that's the word!)
I do like it though...
David
quote:
[Being a +4 my hole is bigger than everyone else's.
Paul G
Nice work Paul.
I have nothing to add other than to snigger at the bigger hole comment.
Firstly, thanks for all the comments.
Secondly, please excuse the grotty photoshop pic below.
As you can see, my son obviously doesn't get his 'pooter skills from me.
If I was to use 5 bars spaced equally, the intersection of the bars and the edge of the nose hole, (my +4 hole )
starts to become hard to shape, and to bolt in position. (black arrows in pic)
Also, they start to lose uniformity, the top one especially becomes much shorter when viewed from above.
I'm trying to keep the car looking wide & low, and have been told by the "crew" at Newcastle that vertical lines don't
do this and horizontal lines do, hence horizontal bars in the grill.
Three bars just don't look enough, and five are hard to make and fit, hence I ended up with four. Sort of grillage and +4 bars.
(Who can laser cut me a Sutol +4 badge? )
It seems a shame not to use the small mesh as it cost me, sorry, my "guvnor", an arm and a leg.
At the moment it's held in with cleco's, but if I use M3 nuts & screws it will be dead easy to change.
I think I'll use it for now and keep an eye out for larger mesh for the future.
I'll pop out and bend the bottom bar as soon as daylight breaks and post another pic. (Qually was exciting wasn't it)
Thanks again
Paul G
Rescued attachment grill-008-ch-s.jpg
Paul
How about a single floating bar that sticks out just a bit from the nose. It could be U shaped and the legs attach to the frame thru the mesh.
This would provide minimal bumper function and if polished stainless should look nice as well.
Hi again
This pic shows my plan for fixing the bars in.
It's one of the offcuts with an end plate and an M4 thread that I will Tig in.
About 10 amps and a steady hand required. Oo err.
Paul G
Rescued attachment grill-2-005-s.jpg
quote:
Originally posted by locostv8
Paul
How about a single floating bar that sticks out just a bit from the nose. It could be U shaped and the legs attach to the frame thru the mesh. This would provide minimal bumper function and if polished stainless should look nice as well.
Paul,
I'm going to be a pain (for a change? 
) and dissent from the collective opinion.
Everything about your car's bodywork is curved, and I'm not sure that these angular bars really match - but I'd probably have to see it
"in the flesh" to get the whole picture.
I'm wondering whether gently curved bars would look nicer. However, I do appreciate that they'd be a PITA to produce...
David
quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
Paul,
I'm going to be a pain (for a change?
Everything about your car's bodywork is curved, and I'm not sure that these angular bars really match - but I'd probably have to see it "in the flesh" to get the whole picture.
I'm wondering whether gently curved bars would look nicer. However, I do appreciate that they'd be a PITA to produce...
David
) I would still be tempted to use an odd number. cut them out in card and have a play. You can use a curve over the length of the spars and tighten
the rad at the centre so the the spars are still relate to the point of the nose. It would be nice to see an image of the whole car as it is hard to
give oppions when looking at a small part.
Rescued attachment dad grill.jpg
I'm afraid I couldn't make those Gaz.
Even if I had a set of purpose built ring rollers I think they would ripple.
Nice pic though.
Atb
Paul G
quote:
Originally posted by 907
I'm afraid I couldn't make those
quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
quote:
Originally posted by 907
I'm afraid I couldn't make those
But you're our metalworking hero! You can't admit defeat...
Could you not fab them by bending round tube then flattening it? I would think you would have to overbend because there should be some spring back.
quote:
Originally posted by locostv8
Could you not fab them by bending round tube then flattening it? I would think you would have to overbend because there should be some spring back.
I like the look as it is but I would make the Mesh louvered and hide the gaps behind the grill bars like so.
NoseCone Mockup
That way you would get the airflow without changing the look much.
[Edited on 18/3/2007 by Keith Weiland]
Ooooooo.
I like that idea Keith.
If flow is a problem then that's the way I'll go if I may.
Cheers
Paul G
p.s. Got any more cracking ideas like that?
Hi Paul
I've used similar material and have been able to introduce a gentle curve using the shrinker. I hope the picture will show that there is very
little crinkling or distortion. The underhang on my slats is onl 8mm so the shrinker has sufficient material to get a grip on. I was wondering if you
could do the same if you felt you needed more curvature.
alb
John.jpg)
I don't think that Paul needs much curvature (er - I mean that Paul's grille bars need much...) so that may work.
DJ
I like Kieth's idea and perhaps the flattening of tubing could be used to an advantage. Create the slats of mesh with attaching tabs. Bend the
tubes to shape ahd flatten then cut down the middle attaching the tube to the slat with the open area.
Jim
Hi All
Stepping back to the planning stage (2 years ago) of the shape of my nose my son and I envisaged a pointy front.
I dragged out an old pic of the foam model we made at the time. (see below)
I don't think that curved grill bars go with the pointed nose.
Most of the time our cars are viewed from close quarters at shows, pub car parks etc, and with a car as low as a seven
the view from above is as important as any.
It's for this reason (and the fact that I can't make the curved ones) that I'm going with decreasing angled bars.
One problem with an all ally body is that it does look the same all over, hence the contrasting metal finish of the bars.
That's why I've fitted wheels that have black centres, just to reduce the "shiny all over" effect.
Many thanks for ALL the input, even though I have only incorporated some of it.
Cheers
Paul G
Rescued attachment lotus pics 075.jpg
Paul,
When it comes to the crunch, it's your car and you can do with it whatever you wish!
I still think the welds should come off though, even if it does make polishing a pain... I am quite sure that it will look a lot more
'integrated' with that done.
Can't wait to see it all finished.
cheers,
David
[Edited on 19/3/07 by David Jenkins]
quote:
Originally posted by 907
Ooooooo.
I like that idea Keith.
If flow is a problem then that's the way I'll go if I may.
Shouldn't there be 7 bars?
How thin can you make them?
Reminds me a little of the "shark-nose" Ferrari F1 ('61 or '62?)
quote
Reminds me a little of the "shark-nose" Ferrari F1 ('61 or '62?)
Off thread but a friend of mine built a buck for a Shark-nose Ferrari and I'll try to attach it. Believe me it is a work of art and workmanship
that takes your breath away.
John.jpg)
quote:
Originally posted by locost_bryan
Shouldn't there be 7 bars?
How thin can you make them?
Reminds me a little of the "shark-nose" Ferrari F1 ('61 or '62?)
Hi John,
I'd like to see you get my Lotus 907 in that.
Anyway, the 3rd former back is half a mil out.
atb
Paul G