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SplitPersonality Samba Member
Joined: September 26, 2004 Posts: 630 Location: Norway
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Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 2:29 am Post subject: |
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I totally love this thread and process - thumbs up Steve!
On the rear end....I realize you want to go period correct "904"-style "straight cut" on the styling...and that is a great thought and would be super cool..
But / and if you just can not get it to work with the Ghia roof and wheel location...you might need to / wan to think outside the box and go for a totally different rear end treatment...
Here is one example:
My car, the "HPD Special" was hand built in Sweden during 1958-60 on a 1949 VW chassis shortened to 356 wheel base. Windshield is from T1 Ghia and roof is mainly from Saab 92. Rear window from Peugeot 203. The front design is similar to the Okrasa Special (but yours is much better proportioned!) .... while the rear end is more 356 Abarth Carrera type...smooth and curved. The rear end is the best part of my car I think - it might be an idea for the Okrasa Special as well?
...just a suggestion.... You are doing great! |
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kiwisteve Samba Member
Joined: March 04, 2008 Posts: 188 Location: UK
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Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 2:51 pm Post subject: |
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wow that's amazing. I'd read about the car recently and got inspiration.
Drum roll please... I've finally managed to complete the model work and got my designs "down on paper" so to speak. Here's the finished product - this is about as far as I can take things design-wise (run out of talent), so I will be boxing up the model and sending it to Al this weekend. I mucked about with the door gap lines (tried designers tape, then pen, then went back to designers tape: it's too thick (3mm) but it gives a lovely line), and I finally settled on the window treatment: did just a line with red windows, then silver, before settling on black which seems to work best. I'm delighted with the how it's turned out - if Barry made this I'd be thrilled; no doubt Al will make it look like a three year old's attempt! But at least I feel I've had a hand in the design of a period race car
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kiwisteve Samba Member
Joined: March 04, 2008 Posts: 188 Location: UK
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Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 3:04 am Post subject: |
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All boxed up and ready to send to Al... looking forward to seeing his handiwork!
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63Ragtop NZ Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2007 Posts: 895 Location: West Auckland
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Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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looks good to me!
well done. _________________ If you can't join them, beat them! |
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kiwisteve Samba Member
Joined: March 04, 2008 Posts: 188 Location: UK
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 1:04 pm Post subject: |
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sorry it's been such a long time in updating the thread on this. too much going on! well after much head scratching we've ended up with a final design. thanks to Al Brown, who has brought a real professionalism to the final design. Now we've just got to build it
Oh, and here's the final colour scheme, obviously with the silver strip up over the roof. This is the early McLaren colour scheme, used before Bruce went to orange. A nod to another kiwi albeit one who was a more prolific racer and manufacturer!
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bally Samba Member
Joined: April 29, 2006 Posts: 1182 Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 3:45 am Post subject: |
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Looking good Steve - you must be getting rather excited at the prospect of it being finished - it's still a long way off but having the design sorted is a big milestone to have achieved
Dave |
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JWDII Samba Member
Joined: January 03, 2011 Posts: 157
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 12:46 pm Post subject: |
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looks good!! I keep thinking Ferrari dino the more I look at it. _________________ this space for rent. |
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kiwisteve Samba Member
Joined: March 04, 2008 Posts: 188 Location: UK
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 1:57 pm Post subject: |
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Damn I'll take any comparison with a Ferrari Dino! |
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JWDII Samba Member
Joined: January 03, 2011 Posts: 157
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Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 10:37 am Post subject: |
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kiwisteve wrote: |
Damn I'll take any comparison with a Ferrari Dino! |
_________________ this space for rent. |
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tisius Samba Member
Joined: July 11, 2011 Posts: 1570 Location: Rotterdam,NL (+Chicago,IL)
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Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2014 3:15 am Post subject: |
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usariemen wrote: |
I pictured this one today. Also unfinished since a while.
The lines where not bad.
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Awesome, so now we have a "poor man's porsche" (the 914), a poor man's Jaguar E-type (see above), and a poor man's Ferrari!
But seriously, I love this thread and I'm impressed, it just works like a champ!
Personally I would have sticked to the first tail design that was hammered out in aluminum (the one with the sleek ass ) That looks classic. _________________ drive it like you just robbed the bank
you don't have to be crazy to be into VW's, but it sure helps!!
.... if it ain't dutch, it ain't much! |
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kiwisteve Samba Member
Joined: March 04, 2008 Posts: 188 Location: UK
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Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2014 11:39 am Post subject: |
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a small step forward but a big step for the Okrasa Special this weekend… (sorry to steal someone else's line) we dusted off the special to begin transferring all the measurements from the model to the wooden buck….
measuring up the model as accurately as we can: depth, height and length from the rear axle line:
then transferred onto a large sheet of paper which will be used as the reference for making the stations for the buck:
Good progress and we hope to accelerate progress from here! |
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henry roberts Samba Member
Joined: February 24, 2003 Posts: 1274 Location: australia
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Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2014 5:29 pm Post subject: |
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great to see some news.
btw, nice "roll around" wheels. |
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kiwisteve Samba Member
Joined: March 04, 2008 Posts: 188 Location: UK
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Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 4:04 am Post subject: |
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mightymouse Samba Member
Joined: May 26, 2004 Posts: 4220 Location: las vegas
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Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 8:06 am Post subject: |
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love when this thread comes up. _________________ Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.
Thomas Jefferson
Note to EVERYONE.
Know your ZDDP levels or you WILL lose a cam and lifters. |
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orb666 Samba Member
Joined: December 21, 2005 Posts: 55 Location: New Malden UK
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2014 12:49 am Post subject: |
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Way Hey, great to see it progressing Steve
Orb |
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kiwisteve Samba Member
Joined: March 04, 2008 Posts: 188 Location: UK
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Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:03 am Post subject: |
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Well the Okrasa Special has moved forward significantly in the past few weeks. When I last wrote we had finished the model and had started translating the model dimensions onto paper and then we were going to transcribe them from the paper onto plywood stations, that would then be assembled into a wooden buck.
Progress was slow but steady, but it meant it was going to be a long old winter of measurement and noting! So I decided to shortcut the process - some might argue it's cheating but this project has been running for seven years and I'm desperate to now finish the car. So I called in 3D Engineers who do this sort of thing for a living - check out their website and have a good rummage around the site, it's wonderful. Aside from being a thoroughly nice bloke who seemed very knowledgeable, Stuart (the owner) had some impressive credentials, having done scanning and buck work for Ferrari 250GTO, Jaguar XJ13, AM DBR2, etc.
Stuart turned up with his bespoke 3D scanning equipment and spent a day scanning the model. He was thoroughly impressed with the model, remarking that it's the furthest progressed design work that he's come across since setting the company up. Stuart also scanned the chassis and roof, to ensure the model would line up with the existing reference points. Fortunately they matched almost perfectly.
After a few calls with Barry to clarify details such as the model rising above the existing rear window line on the chassis itself being correct, Stuart supplied a series of images that were sent to the CNC machine shop last week. Stuart is due to deliver and install the finished buck on the chassis this coming Wednesday, and Barry can start rolling ally! Enjoy the images. http://3dengineers.co.uk
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bally Samba Member
Joined: April 29, 2006 Posts: 1182 Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:29 am Post subject: |
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It looks amazing Steve - I cannot wait to see the bucks in place
Dave |
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kiwisteve Samba Member
Joined: March 04, 2008 Posts: 188 Location: UK
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 2:55 am Post subject: |
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Feels like we're beginning to accelerate up through the gears now and really getting some pace to this project now. Yesterday Stuart turned up from 3D Engineers in a little Mercedes car and like the Tardis proceeded to unpack more than it seemed possible to contain in such a little car. It did really look like a giant jigsaw puzzle, except this one came with a handy man who knew how to piece it all together!
It took a couple of hours to construct but it all went together first time with little fettling.
Meanwhile Barry had stripped the Okrasa Special back to a bare chassis, reminding me how purposeful and beautifully designed and constructed the chassis is.
And then the big moment arrived, installing it on the car. Barry and I crossed our fingers a bit I think, praying it went on okay. Stuart on the other hand, having done this many a time before, jiggled, tweaked and fettled, knowing the thing would slot together like a pre-cut jigsaw.
And I must say it's a beautifully made jigsaw. The beauty of a CNC-machined buck created using the latest 3D scanning equipment means it's amazing accurate and smooth. The joints are all press-fit, the radius on curves perfect, and the angles all exact to the degree.
We'll start with her best side then…
Here we're still fiddling to get the height of the buck sorted on the chassis so it looks a little like the car has too much rake going on.
Rather annoyingly, in fact it's REALLY annoying, but the photos don't do the buck any justice whatsoever. I don't know if it's the flat light, my iPhone, or the fact that the buck is made up of a host of stations that don't work with the human eye very well (or a combination of all three things) but it works a whole lot better with a cover thrown over it.
Barry and I have a day or so worth of fettling to get the buck to sit 100% accurately on the chassis, and then it's onto wheeling ally. Hoping to have the body finished next week
I must thank Stuart, who owns 3D Engineers - lovely chap and hugely knowledgeable. It's businesses like his that allow for historic racing and classic car restoration to continue to flourish in this country and make it world class. His story is a typical one: he decided to roll the dice and leave corporate life after he saw a niche in the car restoration world. It took him five years rather than the planned one to establish the business but after tentative steps he's now carved himself a solid place as an integral part of the coach-building world. Well done Stuart. |
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Jack O'Neill Samba Member
Joined: March 23, 2009 Posts: 102 Location: Israel
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Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2014 4:02 pm Post subject: |
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kiwisteve wrote: |
His story is a typical one: he decided to roll the dice and leave corporate life after he saw a niche in the car restoration world. It took him five years rather than the planned one to establish the business but after tentative steps he's now carved himself a solid place as an integral part of the coach-building world. Well done Stuart. |
...aaaand I guess I found my new career! Where do I sign?
Awesome project, man. I lurk around it a lot, and love when there's news on it. But after those last pics, I wish I could enter my screen and lend you guys a hand assembling that! |
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henry roberts Samba Member
Joined: February 24, 2003 Posts: 1274 Location: australia
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 2:11 am Post subject: |
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awesome progress. this will be something else when completed.
a quick question. with the design of the chassis, how are you supposed to get the gearbox out? |
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