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Hi guys!

I've been into hot rods and custom cars since I was a kid. For over 10 years, I've been learning the art of metal shaping starting out with a set of about 9 hammers, some dollies, and a 3/4" rubber mat and things have kinda evolved from there.

I'd like to extend my hand in appreciation to all the members who have the same passion for cool cars and enjoy taking the time to share their knowledge and experiences.

I was hoping to share a completed project built entirely from scratch out of steel. It was designed and built using SR-71 Blackbird influences with some styling cues borrowed from classic European sports cars as well as American muscle cars of the late 60's... The interior design was based loosely around a fighterjet cockpit. Our goal was to create something that may have resembled a factory produced elegant concept supercar in the 60's. This basically got me hooked on sheet metal shaping.

Here's a photo. If you guys feel it's "too out there"...it'll be removed.



Thanks very much!
____________________________

Nick M.

A journey in design and fabrication begins with a vision, a single pen stroke ... and in some cases the blow of a hammer.

Some projects: http://www.facebook.com/iNVisionPrototypes

 
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Welcome to the forum. I dont know about the other posters, but I like it!

 
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Thanks very much Roger! Really appreciate the thumbs up.

Here are a few more shots...

We used a hotrodded Chevy350 putting out around 370HP mounted in a reverse rotation manner...pulleys face the rear of the car..for better weight distribution.



The interior design was loosely based around a fighter jet cockpit.



And a photo of the top rear 3/4...



____________________________

Nick M.

A journey in design and fabrication begins with a vision, a single pen stroke ... and in some cases the blow of a hammer.

Some projects: http://www.facebook.com/iNVisionPrototypes

 
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Here are a few photos heading out to one of the local cruise nights.

 
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Looks good on the road!

 
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Thanks again Roger! Yeah, it's a blast to drive. No electronics to control the performance of the vehicle...it's all old school... so you can't be asleep at the wheel. With no ABS nor traction control you get a true sense of the road...both dry and wet. And when the secondaries open up...you better be hanging on to the wheel! Intoxicating is the best way I can describe the acceleration.

 
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Nothing wrong with old school. Some of most powerful cars I have ever driven were 'old school'

I had a pontiac lemans, a 72, had it in 74, and it registered 160 and then some! Wow that car could move, and it came that way. I didnt do anything different to it.

I can imagine the feeling. Good for you

 
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I was wondering if you guys would be interested in seeing something along the lines of a build journal on the car. If so, let me know if it would have to be in a particular section of the forum.

 
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Sooo...here goes.. I guess the best place would be to start with the chassis and how it was built.

The main chassis was designed and fabricated specifically for this vehicle in our shop from scratch. DOM tubing was bent into a full length frame - 2 continuous rails per side(stacked one over the other with a web in between) to create an I-beam effect. A FWD engine cradle from a mid-size vehicle which had the lower A-arms and sway bar already incorporated into it was mounted in the rear with Thunderbird McPherson struts utilized for the rear suspension. Rhythm's front suspension uses a twin A-arm setup with manual rack and pinion for steering.


The DOM tubing provided the perfect opportunity to eliminate cooling lines between the engine and rad by running the coolant within the frame itself.


16Ga sheet metal formed to create the rear inner fenders. The factory 'caps' that the McPherson struts bolt into were blended into the surrounding metal.


Primered and ready for paint.


All painted and assembled. A trunk was incorporated into the design behind the temporary V6 engine.

The car ran with the he transverse V6 until the SBC 350 was ready, then it was deep 6'd. This little change made putting your foot into it a little more fun...at the expense of a much smaller trunk. To maintain Rhythm's theme I picked up a hot rodded Chevy 350 and mated it to a Caddy Seville TH325-4L trans(4spd). The added weight and shift in weight bias within the car was a large concern. So with specific component upgrades, mounting the engine in a reverse rotation manner (pulleys facing the rear) and pushing the engine to the front as far as possible without compromising the CV angles we were able to fit the powerplant in quite nicely.

With any project, as I'm sure many know there is always a tweak here and there. In this case, there were 4 major tweaks...first, we had to create a BOP plate to connect the trans to the engine...which wasn't too bad. Second, with the unit sitting backwards, we ended up with 4 reverse gears and one forward gear! Wild huh? So, that meant flipping the differential 180* though the use of another adapter plate. The other added benefit was that it lowered the unit by 1.375"...lower centre of mass is always an added benefit. In doing that though, the stub shaft had to pass though between the crankshaft journals. Even wilder huh? This lead up the the 3rd tweak whereas a hole was made in the oil pan, sleeved, and therefore allowed the shaft to pass through. When the oil pan is installed there, the sleeve has 3/16" clearance between it and the journals that move past it. Correct spacing was accomplished by carefully measuring the distance from the rear of the engine block to where the centre of the stub shaft was to be. Then the adapter plate with specific thicknesses were created to get the spacing just right... and finally 4th, the design and fabrication of a set of reversed headers.

Here are some of the initial pictures of the mock up.

After the rear BOP plate was created ... I needed a set of heads.


As mentioned above, adapter plate thicknesses played a crucial role in centering the drive axle between the crank journals...definitely followed the "measure 3 times...cut once" rule here.


All together and bolted. Unfortunately not a runner yet...


Some math to determine the correct centre of mass ...


In about an hour everything was stripped out and clearanced for the new engine.


Trimming out the old mounts...


You see what I meant about the stub shaft...




I didn't like the appearance of that 'stock' air breather...so I came up with this cold air induction housing after a few hours.



Did a little tuck shrinking to create the housing's shape.


Shaping and scribing the duct attachments.


Mocked up in the vehicle...now its time for some primer and paint.

When the top turbo fans are switched on, the engine loves it... all that extra air.

 
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Nice car. A lot of work though! I wish I could have a car like that one