 |
 |
Randy has a new update.
He has started a Forum. |
PAST PROJECTS and things I have done in another life!
|
| Poor track conditions
wreaked havoc on another '41
Willys race car. This one originally had a steel shell with fiberglass
nose, doors, decklid and rear fenders. We're going to go back with all
steel except the doors, which believe it or not, received very little
damage. |
 |
 |
Tom Bauman '40 Willys Coupe
Tom's coupe entered the shop in rough
condition. The doors were actually
welded shut to help hold the body together. This was the first Willys
I had worked on and there were none that I knew of in the area to make
patterns from. Fortunately a '38 Willys coupe body was delivered to the
shop for repairs, which worked out well for attaining measurements and
making patterns. Several phone calls to other Willys owners and borrowing
original parts for making patterns and bucks also allowed us to get this
old coupe back together. After
finishing the body of Tom's coupe,
I made a complete set of patterns, forms and bucks for the '37-'42 Willys
body, with help from many of my friends from the online sheetmetal shaping
forum, MetalMeet.com. I now produce a complete line of Willys replacement
panels for '37-'42 Willys coupe, sedan and pick-up. |
|
Rick VanRiper '40 Willys
Roof Panels
This had to be one wild ride!
Rick rolled this Willys race car a total of 8 times. Fortunately, he walked
away and is anxious to get it back on the track. The car suffered heavy
damage, but is well on it's way to recovery. My job was to build a new
roof panel. Rick is a body man by trade and will be installing the new
roof panel himself, as well as taking care of the rest of the repair. |
|
|
 |
356 Porsche Carrera
GT Aluminum Parts
This is one of those situations
that makes more sense for the
metalshaper to travel to the
location of the car. The
restoration shop required my services to build a new door skin for this
'58 Carrera GT. Simply shipping the door 2000 miles across country was
not going to assure it would fit the car perfectly. To my understanding,
these cars were hand fit at the factory and each one was slightly different.
A 3mm metalfinished gap had to be maintained around the perimeter of
the door. The restoration shop had the necessary tools to do the job,
so it only made sense to make the trip to
do the job onsite. |
|
Ralph
Dehne 1963 Impala Z-11 Aluminum Parts
In 1963, Chevrolet produced 57 of the lightweight
Z-11 Impala's, set up as a factory race car. These cars had aluminum
front fenders, hood, inner fenders and bumpers.
Ralph had the correct engine, but
would have to settle for cloning
a true Z-11 car. Wireform/Bondo copy bucks were made from the original
steel fenders as a guide in making them from .050 aluminum. Aluminum
inner fenders were also made, using the original steel fenders as a pattern.
We plan to build the bumpers at some point in the future. |

|
|
|