1/4 scale '41 Willys

Go big or go 1/4 scale is what I've always said.

You're going big, I love it.

 

I decided to make and install the dash before welding in the roof. This was formed over a hammer buck.
The bracing for the trunk lid has ribs for stiffening so I made an anvil for the shopdog with a ball bearing for the punch and formed the ribs. I tipped the edge on the bead roller and used the shrinker to form a vertical return and then tipped again for the lip that will take the skin. The waves indicate too much metal so they need to be shrunk to help form the curve.







One tear needs to be welded up where I over stretched and a little clean up to sharpen the rib shape and then hinges and some sort of latch.

 

Looking great!

Where'd you get that giant Vise Grip clamp holding the dash on? That thing looks 4x as big as any I've seen.

Excessive detail on the trunk bracing!

 

The trunk would have probably been OK without and inner brace, but would have still needed a perimeter brace. I had a chance to see what a real one looked like so I copied it.

I skinned the trunk today and mocked up the front fenders to the body. I may weld in the roof in tomorrow.



I had already made the hinges, so after I found out the lid actually fit the opening I spot welded the anchor below the rear windows.

 

I'm still amazed!

 

I am on my fourth bag of popcorn.
Looking really good !
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Here you go Pat.
The roof was welded in yesterday.
Then today I tipped the fender mounting flange and hammer shaped the mating surface, but the it keeps changing. More of the same tomorrow.

 

Let us know when you take this to a show.
I want to take a video of people's jaws dropping when they walk up and see it.

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Wow! I don't know I should be surprised by the standard of your work but... keep the updates coming. Please

 

Will do Peedee.
I always get a good response from the crowd at the Hot August Nights Swap Meet in Reno.

 

I couldn't get the right fender to match the body with an even gap at the flange and still retain the buck shape of the fender itself, so plan B was initiated. I bent a strip of the 24 gage sheet 90 degreesand use the shrinker and stretcher shape idt so it would follow the belt line flare and still give me an decent gap. Then I clamped it in place and trimmed the fender for a butt weld. There is still some hammer and dolly work, but the gap is good and the fender retained its shape.

 

A couple hours today.

 

I saved the front fenders for the last thinking I would have developed some expertise in metal shaping, but it was like going back to school. There are reverse curves in the nose and transition to the engine bay that had to be shaped, so I split the fender and will weld like I did for the rear.

This is the left side before shrinking the flange to the shape of the fender itself.



I made dies for the Shopdog to form the recess for the grill. The black marks are from a plywood shrinking disc that was used to tighten up distortion in that area.



All the parts for the front, just some fitting and shaping. The entire assembly will be set up to tilt forward for access to the engine.

 

That's really far out.
Be sure to put up a video camera to record the expressions of people when they first see it.
Lots of jaws are going to be hitting the floor.

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Yep, I have to do that once in a while to see if I'm on the right track.

 

I have been having problems getting the front fenders symmetrical over the wooden bucks, so I decided to make a hammer buck to either fix what I have, or make a headlight panel and weld it in. First a clay mold was made of each fender, then a POP pattern. I added a MDF backer and a boss so I could mount it in on a dogleg in my bench pocket.
Here is the first use of the horn gate. I used the rammed offset pouring basin for this mold and "Y"d from the end of the horn to feed both molds at the parting line. I vented at each pattern with sprue cutter and dished out a basin to accept the volume from the offset basin. I used one of my smaller NaSi basins for a headlight ring that was also fed with a horn gate and a single 1/8" vent. The last mold is a headlight rim with a conventional basin without a vent.







In the foreground the first headlight ring drained to the weir and filled the entire vent.
Next the second headlight filled nicely with no vent.
And in the rear the two hammer bucks with only minimal shrink on the vents and no shrink tears in the body. I used a small sprue pin for this mold and it didn't match the horn as far as bi-film theory requires, but it didn't make any difference. The entire pour was absolute junk in regard to folded oxide inclusion and it had nothing to do with the gating. I cut the last of the melt I pigged off and it was loaded with junk. I don't remember where the ingots were from, but I might start cutting ingots to check if I am not using virgin wheelium.



Except for the headlight rings these are for onetime use and since I will be hammering on them I cleaned them up and drilled a hole for the dogleg.



I had scored a line down the center that could be aligned with the centerline of the fender. This is the amount of skew I had been trying to work with on the wooden buck. In a couple hours I had both fenders symmetrical and a flange turned in to mount the headlight.

 

I showed this to my wife. She was absolutely floored when I explained it's 1/4 scale. This thing is INSANE! I would never have the patience or skills to pull something like this off. I need gratification that doesn't take years to achieve. (typical gen X I know...) Who is getting this when it's finished?

 

It's not just a gen X thing, it's almost everyone. I showed this to my Dad, he's 94, his reaction was not all that dissimilar from yours. It takes a very special individual to do the sort of thing Esc is showing us, I'm in awe, Mad Respect!!