Okrasa Special

[steve wright]

thanks Pandora, I reached out to Mark today. hopefully he will be interested in providing advice albeit for a non-Mini car

[Pandora]

is it finished yet?

[steve wright]

Nope, not finished but we are making progress. Note the boot is not the finished article but the mock up that will go in the bin. It's begining to take shape (no pun intended) which is good as it would've been slightly depressing to have put all this work in only to find that it turned to custard the moment it was in the metal.





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[Nige]

sexy.

[MdR]

Something about this picture really appeals to me - can't think why

[911hillclimber]

Lots of little snacks every where, engine stand, carbs on the shelf and stuff and a very shiny special.
I think there will be a deluge of pics and thing soon.
(spanners crossed)

[Barry]

Hi Folks, I was holding off on posting pics, so it looks as though Steve has beaten me to it .

A few things: rear wing has been left a bit long for now, just so we do have some final, final options open to us with the angle of the rear panel, and the length of the 'bootlid'.

When I initially wheeled up the doorskin, it looked very flat indeed, so I ended up wheeling quite a bit more shape into it before it looked 'about so'. The challenge then was to wheel up the rear quarter so that it's shape blends into the door O.K., having lifted off from the wireform. There's still some tidying to do, but we're on the right course I think.

The rear wing has been a bit of a success (I'd like to think) in that it was wheeled from one piece this time, rather than the two of the trial panel.

When I next go up, I think I'll leave the panels shown as-is, and make a start of the front wing. As we're now a little way off of the wireform down the side, and I think it might be useful to able to 'eye' down the whole side of the car before making a call on the final shape.

One interesting thing that I've found with my Hoosier anvils (bottom wheels), is that a) they give very good control over the panel / shape when wheeling but b) given that they have flats (also known as contacts or blows), they are leaving slight ridges through the panels. I've got some spare anvils here which don't have flats (so constant radius), and I might try to true them up and repolish them as finishing wheels. In theory then you'd used the wheels with flats for shaping, and the fully radiussed ones for putting the final polish / finish on.

I have to say that I'm a bit surprised that I might need to do this, as the Hoosier wheels are meant to be just about the best, and I don't believe you'd be expected to run two full sets (so around £850 landed here). It could well be down to technique of course, which is fine. We'll see, and I'm not over-concerned, as it's all get-roundable.

[Barry]

Oh yes, the rear arch is nowhere near it's final shape, as we'll leave that until the whole skin is done, and then map all four arches out so we can make a judgement about what looks best.

[911hillclimber]

I am sure i speak for many following this Barry, i think your results straight off the wheels are just great.
I've chopped roofs (rooves?)on old Ford hot rods, stretched wings in steel and a few other tricks but...
I would love to try this as it would be all-new to me, hence my interest.
I await your development of the returned edges and the mounting to the tub, but the car will be judged by the shape and the colour assuming it will be painted.
Fab thread.
Most excellent.

[Barry]

Thank you Graham .

As for colour: at the moment I'm still gunning for a metal finish, hence the desire to be rid of any tracking marks, although these could easily be D.A'd out. Realistically though, there's a 1000 things that could rule out the metal finish yet, but while there's a chance, I might as well aim for it.

As for shape, it's so tricky to tell at this stage: I think we're heading the right way, and certainly getting a bit of front wing on will really help gauge things.

It's certainly been great having lots and lots of wheeling time, and I really feel as though I'm getting in tune with the wheel: it very much feels 'mine' now, and I'm beginning to get to know what pressures achieve what.

[Gary71]

Metal finish....



Lovely work Barry. Keep it coming!

[911hillclimber]

50 gallon drum of Brasso on order yet?
Metal finish would be v nice and a real test of the body forming.
Can clear coat be applied over the alum before the surface has corroded/tarnished?
Never realy thought about maintaining an alloy body on a road car, but it won't be Barry's Sunday Morning Delight, a new dimension to washing the car for someone!

On a race car it is quite easy to keep the finish, but a road car?
The alloy sheeting used on my Lola keeps it's finish really well through rain and shine, so might have good corrosion resistance in the alloy metalurgy?

[steve wright]

I hadn't told Barry this but I'm planning on leaving the body out in the garden over this winter to mellow it! I'm hoping we can go with a bare ally body to match the other panels, etc, and leave the roof unpainted but wiped over with an oily rag. I'm hoping for a "we found it in barn and just wiped it clean before driving" look. But we'll see. Obviously depends on the finish, but I think it will probably look more genuine and real with imperfections. Bit like women really, I've never been keen on perfect but don't touch IT girls. Rather prefer ones with scars on the knees and a twinkle in the eye.

BTW, the T25 is a mate's - gearbox has shat itself so we're pulling that tonight. It's spot on the workshop floor will be replaced with something a little bit more special in a couple of months to go proper racing in....

[KS]

Looks incredible!

[911hillclimber]

Oddly, my Lola once had a Karman Ghia roof on it.

Will this be a 'Rat special' then?
I certainly think the Barn-find look would really suit the car and the home brewed special that it truely is. Great idea rather than all bright two-pack red...

Ever thought of re-skinning the steel roof with alloy?