For those of you who have seen this project around you pretty much know how it all started. However, for those of you who haven't here's a little back storey before I get into the build jouney.
Basically one evening, when I was around 16ish my dad and I began discussing whether to keep searching for a classic vehicle to customize or ... an idea totally off the wall.... venture out and build something from scratch. We were having a hard time to find something cool to bring home and customize so this led us to sketching out a few conceptual drawings for a custom mid-engine vehicle.
We looked at some styling cues found on classic European sports cars as well as American muscle cars of the late 60's..thanks to all the photos I was collecting over the years. And probably the most significant design element came from the SR-71 Blackbird. This machine played a key role with regards to the shape of the vehicle - such as the concave surfaces flowing from the front fenders and into the turbos...my dad is really into planes and jets. The interior design was based loosely around a fighterjet c0ckpit. Our goal was to create something that may have resembled a factory produced elegant supercar in the 60's.
A shot of the SR-71 depicted on the car's show poster.
Then the fun began - building the car. By this time I was 19/20...for the prior 3 years after my homework was completed...of course . I would sketch out ideas, learned how different suspensions worked, studied chassis designs... and so on. I still have the 3" binder full of this information I scrounged(from the library since the internet wasn't that mainstream back then) as well as a Chilton's Automotive repair manual covering vehicle repairs from the late 50's and 60's. My dad insisted that this was an important step prior to tackling such a project...
So, under his guidance and with the limited tools I had available to me I learned how to shape metal, weld, do bodywork, and paint. I had some experience repairing our own vehicles, but not to the degree required in creating an entire car. That came from just picking up the tools and getting into the work.
Rhythm was handcrafted from flat sheet metal entirely from scratch and taking 8 years (8000 hours) to complete. As for the powerplant, I utilized a 'hotrodded' 350 Chevy V8 mounted in a reverse rotation (pulleys facing the back of the car) manner to push as much weight ahead of the rear wheels. The vehicle is licensed as a fully functional road vehicle.
Well here goes the actual build. By no means does it cover every aspect of the journey, it'll give you some idea. Some people on this site may be able to pull off some or all of this fabrication work in their sleep, I leraned as I went and while I've learned a lot there's always more to learn so I'm by no means an expert. Anyway, enough blah blah blah... hope you enjoy.
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 her 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 3 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 get the centre of mass correct...
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...
Installed and first time out to a local show none the less for a shakedown.
The powertrain has been running really well for the past 2 years...have about 5500km on it. About a year ago she coughed through the carb...just a fluke...while I was starting it and the thought of that foam filter catching fire came to mind right away. Later that same day, I got a out a sheet of steel, the tucking forks, and slapper and started shaping a cold air induction housing to replace the aftermarket mesh air breather...
Here are some photos during the fabrication and initial install of the cold air induction housing.
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.
-- Edited by invision on Thursday 23rd of February 2012 10:12:10 PM
-- Edited by invision on Friday 24th of February 2012 07:47:16 AM
-- Edited by invision on Friday 24th of February 2012 07:50:44 AM
-- Edited by invision on Wednesday 15th of April 2015 09:49:59 AM
__________________
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.
Ok...here goes the exterior sheet metal segment of Rhythm's build.
As a precursor to the pictures, the only tools I started with to shape the steel panels was a set of about 9 hammers(you'll see them hung up in some of the photos), some dollies...creating more as were required, and a 3/4" rubber mat. Unfortunately at the time, I was unaware of Lancaster shrinker/stretchers, English Wheels and planishing hammers...they would have made life soooo much easier.
The turbos were created by first rolling the sheet metal over a large PVC pipe...then planishing the material with a hammer and dolly to stretch it and give it the convex curve. To smooth out the highs and lows, the turbo was sanded with a long board to illuminate the highs ... followed by more hammer and dolly work.
This was created using a very primitive english wheel that I built using two truck bearings shown below...
In an effort to speed up the process I was wondering if two steel wheels, one with a crown...the other flat, would produce the same result as me stretching the metal by hitting the hammer against the dollie in a longitudinal direction. After scrounging some bearings, box tubing, and utilizing the adjuster on our press I came up with this crazy machine.
And while there were some serious drawbacks like the height between the anvil mount arms, and the extremely narrow point of contact ...it worked! Yes, there was some tracking in the pieces...but most of them were smooth out running perpendicular with really light pressure...and the remainder with the good ol' hammer and dollie.
Yes, that was a Jag hood, that was cut up and 'readjusted' for a more aggressive appearance.
All the pieces for the fascia cutout and prepped. Each piece had the 5/16" edge/lip tipped over a custom shaped anvil with a hammer. It was truly a difficult task(at the time) to create a consistent edge that could be butt jointed with the next piece. You can also see how much more length was added to the hood not only by staggering it, but also by adding the piece at the rear. The pivots created to flip the hood forward were tucked in under the fascia(the yellow things).
Flirting with a new feature out of cardboard to flow the front scoop into the headlights.
The DOM frame can just barely be made out ... inside the front scoop.
Thanks for looking. More to come...
__________________
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.
Creating the upper faux scoop for the front hood...something I'd now form out of one piece.
Hood all welded up and headlight surrounds being fitted.
At this stage I believe we were getting ready to finish bringing the bumper feature around the corner.
Looking back...I can only remember all the hours of welding and hammer/dollie work...
Gapping the trunk lid with the body.
Here is the body just prior to the high build 2K primer stage. The signal lights still needed to be finished. Some of the welded joints where skim coated with MarGlass...a fiberglass reinforced body filler prior to primer. I'm sure some will dispute this, but speaking from experience nothing beats bondo or MarGlass adhering directly to metal when properly prepared.
Before skinning the doors some trick mirror brackets were developed to raise the mirrors over the turbos. They're held on with a single hidden fastener and conceal the wire for the power mirrors. From this picture you can see how the front door gap curve comes out into a horizontal plane. Days were spent to make it open WITHOUT binding. Moving that curve even 1/8" forward or back didn't allow the door to open.
P/S completed ... and matches the drivers side. Preparing to attach the flute feature to the turbo. Later a one-off marker light will be installed into this area.
Another perspective of the rear. Laying out for the flute feature on top of the turbo. Sitting on the roof is the interior ceiling liner... the only glass panel created for the car.
Backup light mounted as well as bumper feature created and finished. Learned the tuck shrinking procedure through some experimentation when creating the bumper corners...tho I didn't know what it was called back then. The rear deck has a placement for sequential signal lights. It's kinda hard to make out but some torch shrinking took place to rid the upper deck of some oil canning. Filler being applied to clean up the jams.
After the initial coat of high build primer, the body was guide coated again...and blocked out. Then an additional coat of high build applied in the lows.
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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.
OldGuy, I think you could have stopped at 'crazy'.. :D Always had a few loose marbles rolling around up there...why else would I get myself into such projects... @_@
__________________
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.
I'm applying the 3rd and final coat of red dyed high build. Yellowish(not dyed) was the first, then the purple(happened to turn out that way after using up some old bases), then the red.
Giving the arm a break...
Three coats of base were applied...
...followed by 4 liberal coats of clear to create that 'deep' paint job.
I do have to say that making the transition to the B/C paint system from the single stage urethanes had a fairly easy learning curve... though applying the clear was a little tricky at first...Taking my time and just watching for that 'flash' resulted in non of those evil runs and sags. Saying that, I reluctantly took the paint finish to the next level after learning how to cut and polish the clearcoat on this project...without burning through...
Thanks for looking...next photos I think will be on fabricating the interior.
__________________
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.
It's been a while since I've had an opportunity to continue with this thread. Druing the past few months I've been helping my parents provide palitive care for a family member who recently passed away from colon cancer. Seems that it's becoming an ever growing epidemic ....
Anyway, had a chance tonight to get some more photos up of Rhythm's construction progress. With the paint done work on the trim began.
All the trim started from 1"x2" solid aluminum stock.
Front Grill & Side Turbo Scoop Surrounds: The some of the 1"x2" aluminum stock was run though the table saw and ripped into 1"x0.25"x28"LG bars. These bars were then curved by hand(24" adjustable wrench and 2lb sledge) to the required shapes as illustrated with templates.
Side Flutes: 1"x2" aluminum stock was cut to the approximate lengths required. Short stubs were then welded onto the ends at right angles. These pieces were then clamped in the mill using a custom jig. Using a router bit, the excess material was trimmed away leaving a rough triangular shape.
Trim in various stages of completion. Final shaping of all the pieces were done with a rasp, followed by progressively finer files, sand paper and buffing machine.
I recall I had one of the final pieces sitting on the bench in front of me as a reference while I was hand shaping another. A buddy dropped by and got watching what I was doing. He picked up the completed piece and asked...where I bought the trim from. Taking a step back, I simply pointed to the piece clamped in the vice that was being worked on.....
Wheel centre caps created from scratch.
Special clips to hold the centre caps in place.
Thanks for looking. Interior is next.
__________________
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.
Must have just missed your message as I started my last reply. Thanks very much Beachcat. I just work away at something till I'm happy with how it comes out. You should have seen the scrap pile after this project was done.
__________________
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.
And some more... Wire frame buck created for the dash to door piece to form the metal on. It's basically a template.
Stock TR7 window channels incorporated into the new door perimeter that was blended into the roof for a seamless appearance.
Too bad all this metal work was covered with upholstery.
Due to the time between going to school and coming back to the shop to work on the car on weekends I was always amazed at how fast the panels would corrode. In many places you see green, yellow,.. and yeah.. that rose colour... well they are primers/paints i would mix up and spray onto the metal to prevent rusting if I knew I would be away for an extended period of time. The only thing with that was that I would have to remove it later...very time consuming.
We didn't want any visible fasteners when mounting the panels. So they are fixed to the door in such a way that when you remove one screw, tilt the upper panel, they unlock from each other. The grab bars are made from stainless steel oval tubing.
Making the ceiling mold.
This is the only fiberglass panel in the car!
Heads up display incorporated into the ceiling panel. Also a classic chrome dome light with trick map lights on the sides...one of the very few off the shelf components.
Next photos will cover electrical... Thanks for looking.
__________________
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.
When it came to wiring up the vehicle...there was nothing really out there for an existing harness to do what I needed done. I looked at the Painless system..but for the cost and me still needing to modify the majority of the harness...it was a no go.
Sooo, I ended up designing and building the wiring harness for the car ... from scratch. Wires, plugs, controls used from a Pontiac and 2 Caddys. To minimize splicing ...each wire was removed from the 'original' plug and plugged into empty plugs chosen for Rhythm ... and for the wires that needed to be spliced... each was soldered and taped.
Organizing all the harnesses required for each area of the car.
After I had developed the wiring schematics, harnesses were stripped... wire by wire as per colour required. By the way, you can see the row of hammers that were used to create the body.
A few feet of wiring...
Initially I believed it would be a simple job wiring up the car with a carburated engine ... boy was I mistaken. As you all know...circuits were needed for the engine, gauges, wipers, HVAC controls, power windows, cooling system, power locks, power mirrors...and lights...the lights were fun...since I wanted to retrofit the '58 Fairlane lenses with LEDs... which I will leave for another day.
Thanks for looking.
-- Edited by invision on Thursday 31st of May 2012 08:00:56 AM
__________________
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.
For that c0ckpit inspired interior, a brushed stainless dash panel was created.
After creating several templates from cardboard and aluminum sheeting used for soffits/eve troughs to get the gauge spacing and component locations just right, the final piece was laid out and cut from a sheet of stainless. Once all the holes were created it was taking shape...except for one thing. The grain in the brushed stainless sheet didn't flow correctly with the curvature of the dash...so had to recreate a new grain using some 80 grit sand paper. Since the panel wasn't a true circle, running my fingers along the edge worked pretty well as a guide. This was during one of those sleep deprived moments were creating an actual fixture to hold the sanding block and have a guide that ran along the edge seemed like too much work at the time.
Trimming edges and cutting the holes out in the stainless. You can see the aluminum template in the background.
VDO Gauges installed.
-- Edited by invision on Monday 4th of June 2012 08:42:19 AM
-- Edited by invision on Monday 4th of June 2012 08:43:14 AM
__________________
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.
We wanted to do something really trick with the taillights and create a 'turbo' effect on each side of the vehicle. One night on my way home from work I saw a '57 Fairlane for sale. On a whim I stopped in to ask the owner if he had any left over parts - specifically the taillights. As it turned out, he updated the ones his car and gave me the originals. It was a pretty sweet pinch...even though the bulb reflector shield was missing since I would be modifying anyway.
With the help of a friend who is an electronics guru, we designed and he built the sequential circuitry for the lights. The LEDs are set up in two rings. The outer ring indicates running and turn signals while the centre indicates the brakes. Initially white LEDs were used behind the lenses(pictured below) however, we discovered that they were kinda dim. After some thought, we decided to try red LEDs....BINGO! It's all about the length of the lightwave...and how the red lens filters out white light, so - red lens with red LEDs. I went though and changed the LEDs(94 per light) to the red type resulting in a huge difference.
This is what they look like installed(only running lights on) and was taken before the white LEDs were changed to red...so they're not as bright during daylight hours as they are now. At night it's a totally different experience. When I get a moment I'll take a new picture/video of the new LEDs in action.
The lights mounted on the sides of the centre section were actually marker lights and converted over to 6 LEDs bulbs each.
The lights sequentially flash when the signal lights are operated - so for instance when the left signal comes on...the Fairlane light starts, then the lights on the deck individually come on moving from the right of the picture to the left. The light on the far right is the centre brake light.
Thanks for looking.
__________________
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.
. I would sketch out ideas, learned how different suspensions worked, studied chassis designs... and so on. I still have the 3" binder full of this information I scrounged(from the library since the internet wasn't that mainstream back then) as well as a Chilton's Automotive repair manual covering vehicle repairs from the late 50's and 60's. My dad insisted that this was an important step prior to tackling such a project... 
It came with time and a lot of trial and error...and there's still soo much to learn. The car is a blast to drive. 