Okrasa Special

[steve wright]

Hi Al, yes didn't mean to imply any doubt on your design, it's just that a 1/5 scale model is one thing, seeing it full size and in the metal is another! The boot lid does look amazing: unfortunately photos don't do it any justice as a photograph just seems to flatten it. The rear arches look really aggressive with the sharp lip dropping into the boot lid. We reckon 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch upturn on the leading edge of the boot lid to force cool air into the space above the gearbox to remove heating air from the exhaust. It might also create a bit of a pressure drop which can't be a bad thing in this part of the car. Until next time, next update in 6-8 weeks....

[Pandora]

Al

[steve wright]

As promised, here's the latest instalment on the bodywork. Vic at Mouland & Yates has been busy! I had planned to visit last week but work commitments got in the way unfortunately, so Vic kindly sent me through a few photos to update me on progress.

First up are two nice shots of the front of the car in the M&Y workshop, without the paper boot and headlamp shapes, showing how Vic has tidied up the panels. This gives a really good sense of how lovely the panel work is. You can also see the passenger door beginning to take shape.




Next up is shot of the side of the car, with work focused on finishing the quarter panel areas and sill. Notice the Coke bottle rise from the middle of the door, rising up over the rear arch, before disappearing in the light line down the rear quarter panel. Just stunning expertise on Vic's part to make all the work and testimony to Al's design influence tweaking Barry's original wireworm renderings. What you can't see in the photo is the sill dropping below the floorpan line. We intentionally created the bodywork to sit lower on the chassis to provide a more aggressive look but also so the airflow is channelled under the flat floor of the car.


This next shot is so satisfying! I lost count of the amount of time Barry and I spent trying to get the arse of this car to work, and here it is in all it's glory. It looks wider than it is due to the angle of the photo but it again shows the huge amount of skill required to create bodywork by hand: the rear panel is slightly curved (not flat), tapers under to meet the floor, and obviously has to meet the edges of the other panels with millimetre precision. The treatment of the rear bootlid as it meets the rear window is also obvious in this photo, designed to stand slightly proud to allow airflow into the rear of the car to remove heat from the exhaust which runs directly through this part of the car. In the middle of the panel will be a large square hole covered in mesh to allow the hot air to escape.


This final shot shows the subtle forward rake on the bootlid as it drops towards the rear window, designed by Al to marry the right height for the tail of the car with the rear window, without it looking flat and boring. It also allowed for the lip on the front edge of the panel to make it stiffer. I love this shot as it highlights the way the rear bodywork ties in so well with the side panels. It's not often that you find a car looks good from every angles but so far I've struggled to find anything bad!


More in a few weeks...
Cheers,
Steve.

[Pandora]

Looking good! (If I do say so myself)

Are you mounting the lights on mesh panels too?

It would be interestingto see the effect of filling in the rear quarterlight panel, even without vents/ louvers at this stage. I think it will help tie the form of the spindly roof into the body more cohesive.

On the whole though, looking great!

Al

[Phil Parry]

Looking very ...."special" Steve. Superb photos.

[Pandora]

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I just worked out what was different - there's a lot of length added to the wing behind the rear wheel.

Did you come round to the more balanced over the ultra short look Steve? Just make sure you keep enough tumble home at the base of the rear panel or it might look too 'blocky' and slab like

Al

[Pandora]

Is it done yet?



Al

[steve wright]

Not quite finished but very good progress being made nonetheless! I've checked the model Al and it's exactly as designed. I think what you can see if a trick caused by the untrimmed wheel arch and the rear panel not being fixed to the other panels, so it's sitting proud by a couple of inches. Vic is going to check the model (which they have down at Mouland & Yates) but he's pretty sure that's what's going on. Nice spot though

Work continues at pace on the car: the A-post, B-post and sills are all fabricated now. They're tricky bits to create because there's no design for them: the buck only provides a reference for the outer panels, plus Vic is having to attach an aluminium bodyshell to a steel chassis. Tricky. In addition he's got to make the doors as long as possible because having the engine in the middle of the car, while great for handling, means the length of the cabin of the car is confined to the length of the Karmann Ghia roof panel. There's only so much you can stuff into that length so it means the doors might be quite short. Vic intends to follow the 356 trick of having the leading edge of the door open into the front wing area, effectively cantilevering the door on an offset hinge. Taking of hinges, we gone with VW bus rear engine lid ones as they're small and simple, and more importantly work!



The sill folds under the car obviously but drops lower than the floor so we will have a simple z-shape in it to bring it back to floor height...



The B-post is also tricky as this has to provide the mounting surface for the rear clamshell, which will hinge from the rear subframe and attach via two VW/Porsche front bonnet latches, exactly as the Porsche 550 does. If it was good enough for Porsche in the day, and all that! Vic also trimmed exact templates in ally for the plexiglas windows. I'd already had them made but it was very approximate - this way we have an exact shape and curvature that can be used to trim and heat the windows to shape.



More next time when Vic and Gary will start the process of stitching together all the panels.... Cheers, Steve

[Pandora]

Looking good!

Yup, there is a LOT of hard work just under the outer skin - you don't get nice panels without ten times the work on the hinges / closing panels!

Hope it's symmetrical - that'll reduce the workload, LOL

Al

[steve wright]

Vic is also going to have the front bolt onto the A-post - we were originally going to create a clamshell but it was all too hard, so the A-post will effectively get split in half with one half fixed to the chassis and the other integrated into the front clamshell.

[911hillclimber]

Really good to see this shaping up.
Such skill to interpret and realise the design is quite something.
The rear end looks so good, hope to see it on its wheels soon and out in the open.

[steve wright]

Vic is planning to finish the car in November and I'm down there in two weeks so we'll get it out then hopefully

[Pandora]

But Goodwood is in September????



Al

[steve wright]

[Pandora]

Steve,

Came across a wee sketch I did of how I envisaged the infill to the rear quarter window could form an air inlet whilst also adding a bit of bulk above the waist line to improve the visual balance. The upsweep to tie in with the top of the rear window gives a nice visual tie-in / cohesion to the design

Using steel for the outside of the infill means it can be welded to the roof - the inner could be alloy (or even formed perspex. mmmmm, moulded plastic!)

Al

Okrasa inlet by Alastair Brown, on Flickr