Fiberglass 101/201: Body/Nosecone from Scratch

[JonW]

I used the Cushing design and modified it to fit my taller engine and the stock donor radiator to develop my station buck. Aluminum is cheaper than the West System. The tools to shape aluminum may not be cheaper unless you use a hammer and a tree stump like the old timers did.

[Jawfish]

Thanks for the pics JonW....

I eventually want to build one for the street down the road, but with an all aluminium body...
I already have a sweet 4AGE -T50 package for it.... hmmm so many tihings to do, so little time...

Fred

[Lotus19]

Wow! Great aluminum work Jon. Definitely inspiring.. I really want to learn how to shape metal and eventually get good enough to make my own body.

Any members in the S.F. bay area do aluminum metal-shaping? I'd love to learn.

Joe

[KB58]

Same here, I'd love to learn how to do that. I suspect thought that it means getting an English Wheel and hammers, and simply spending time at it.

FWIW, a buddy said that factory race teams embraced composite early one. Imagine the 100s of hours spent making replacment body panels on race cars, ones damaged in every race. Once a mold is made, making copies is a million times easier that pounding metal.

That said, there's something very attractive about metalwork like this, as it shows true craftsmanship at the "Nth" level. For some reason, composite doesn't do that. Of course, if the metal is painting, no one will know the difference.