Rusty Bowtie
General Category => General Discussion - Intros => Topic started by: trbomax on November 29, 2012, 07:34:51 PM
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My name is John and my car is a little older than the forum was created for. Its a 28 3window that I bought in 1959 as my first car.It rapidly morphed into a hotrod with various sbc's untill in '64 the wood body just wouldnt take it anymore.Useing the original car parts as patterns, I built the molds needed to reproduce the car in fiberglass.The result was a onepiece body shell and all of the bolt-on parts to make it an original looking car. I boxed and x'ed the frame,added a 58 chev 3 link rear and a 48 chevy independent front.The car in my avitar is the original steel/wood car taken around 1963.The 'glass car will be undergoing a refit and refinish starting next spring,with the biggest change ahead of the firewall in the form of a 468 bbc.
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John
Thanks for the first official post! By the way...any "Rusty Bowtie" regardless of year is welcome...guess I need to recognize the real vintage Bowties also!
I may hit you up on mold construction in the future.. I have the book Glass Fiber- Auto Body Construction Simplified by John A. Willis and have made some very small plaster molds. Nothing even near the size of a full fender.
Again...thanks for jumping in the cold water and being the first member to post!
Ed
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John
I just made Pre-30's areas...thanks for pointing me straight.
Ed
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Plasters dont work well for either patterns or molds.You cant get a good finish with them and every part takes a piece of the plaster with it.
Fiberglass molds are best,you can sand and buff the surface to get any finish you would want and multple parts can be made.
The buck or pattern would be made of wood and covered with 'glass,then sanded and buffed, unless you are duplicateing an existing part,in which case the original part would be used as the mold pattern.
I was in the glass fabricateing bussiness for about 20 yrs.Made a lot of parts for White Motors,LMC, and UPS,the 28 is what actually started me off.
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That makes sense, I know with plaster you have to deal with air bubbles, crack potential and the weight of the molds. Fiberglass would have built in strength, be light weight and have some flexibility.
Still may be hitting you for info, ie cloth weight, release wax, gel coating etc
Ed
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trbomax looking forward to seeing some pictures of your 28. Welcome aboard!
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I would like to see more of the 28 also.
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Do you have more pictures of the 28?
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I have about 20 photos that were taken during the last rebuild (around 1965) and a few from car shows that it was in from 1960-1964.Most are scanned in and I could put them up here or e mail them. There are a few mor of the glass car as it sits now at my other barn in toledo that are digital.
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Did you have a old video of this car? I might have seen it.
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Back when I was driveing that one around video cams hadn't been invented yet! When I got the glass car running,I drove it around toledo for maybe 6 months,winter came,it went in the barn, and never ran again.That would have been about 68. That winter I pulled the engine/trans to go thru because the motor was from the last version of the steel car (the pic I posted in the gallery) and it was dead tired. Got sidetracked and stuffed the whole thing back in the barn.Thats the end of the story.The new chapter will begin when the weather gets good enough for me to trailer all the parts up here.
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Welcome aboard John.....It always amazes me how much talent there is in the hot rod world. I don't think that many people could build a glass body form scratch. Looking forward to seeing the pictures.
themoose
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Here are some shots of the glass body car the way it is now. Remember I built this in 1965 and it has been sitting since '68
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And here are some of the interior of the body showing the dash and the glassed in wood that was to be used for attachment of the interior. The body shell is one piece,includeing the boxed pillars,roof , and floor. Fenders,doors,deck lid, all bolt on in the original way. I did take the liberty of reconturing the deck lid and makeing it a flush fit to the body instead of the overlap fit that was stock. Doors,windows,and deck lid are all electrically actuated.
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I don't care how long it has been sitting that car is too kool. I would love to put it to use again, better yet I would love to see you get it back on the road. I love the drag slicks on it. if ya get a chance to roll it out side for some better pic's do it . It might inspire ya to put it back out there. three pedal too kool.
John
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Thank you! Its in Toledo Oh at our old place. I have to move it up here when the weather gets better, then I can start on it.Back when I built that everything was three pedal,nobody would even think about an auto!