Okrasa Special

[Macaulay]

Stop that English wheel talk nonsence and get back in line! :D

Hehe no i'ts interresting enough alright, just wanted to congratulate
you guys on finding a solution to the front end of the car.
The shape is looking great on the last shots you posted Barry,
the basics are there now.
It has an essence of old Ferrari/Porsche with a touch of Lotus,
inspirations this car most certainly would have had back in the day.

And let's remember this is (and would have been) a 1 off build,
so shutlines, curves, shapes and colour don't realy have to match the
productionline sportcars/racers of the day, it's not like this is buildt to
sell a brand, it's a fun weekend racer.
I would love to see it a bit rough when it's finnished,
don't mind the odd hammer mark and missalignment
(You would have to force yourself to make it a bit squint Barry )
it just gives it character and that cool garagebuildt feel.
Well that's what I think anyway...

Let it roll!

[Barry]

Thanks for your comments on the front, in fact the whole shape has resolved really well. I've not seen the car for a few weekends for various reasons, so it'll be interesting to see it 'fresh' again.

As for the finish, the thought is that I'll aim to do the very best that I can, and as we're bound to have plenty of imperfections, I can say 'ahh yes, but it's a racer see, so it's meant to look like that' .

All sorts of difficulties getting the wheel at the moment: nothing to do with the weather, and nothing to do with Steve Meekin (above). Suffice to say the (different) hauliers have been playing 'move the goalposts', although there's still a chance something might happen this week, even if it only gets the wheel back into the haulier's storage unit. At least it'd be in the right county then. Oh well, time will tell ....

[Ren]

Have you planned to have a vented cover over the side air vent?


Or perhaps a scope like the 904?

[Pandora]

Hi there,

I've just found this thread and read it from start to finish - amazing work by all involved, and the style is bang on for early '60's to my eye.

For what it's worth, I previously started a similar task, but recreating a lost original body, rather than starting from scratch, and how i'd have loved that freedom!

I was working towards a GRP body however, and details which may interest some can be found here:

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/racecar/pandora/body.htm

I was lucky enough to spend 3 1/2 years as a designer learning a great many skills from a boss who started his career at zuffenhausen. no CAD in the studio, but radio 4, tape lines, rigid foam and a (home made) clay oven!

sadly the car was sold to fund home improvements, but went to a very compotent restorer / racer ( who may be familiar to many here!) and should be racing in 2011.

congratulations again on a great project!

Al

[jamie]

My god this is fantastic.

[911hillclimber]

Festive season is now just a memory, the weather is good, fresh and not below zero, the Wheel should now be in the workshop, time to re-start this project!

Graham.

Off to the garage now, I've got my own problems to fix.

[Macaulay]

Great read Pandora, did you ever finnish it? Would love to see the result.
Looks like quite professional work, and probably something simular to
what Barry has to go through.
And making a scale model is realy helpfull in deciding on the final design,
be it in CAD or foam/clay... If I only had the skill.

[louis356]

Oh to be in the states!

http://www.harborfreight.com/english-wheel-95359.html

£260 at todays rates!

[merbesfield]

Oh to be in the states!

http://www.harborfreight.com/english-wheel-95359.html

£260 at todays rates!

I live in the states, but it is still the same Chinese junk sold all over the world. I would like to see this thing in person. I bought a Chinese metal break/shear and it is a real POS. But of course the alternative was 3-4 times the cost. What can you do? We have a HF store here in town, I need to make some time to go by an look around. If it is anything like Northern Tool, I will not be impressed.

[Barry]

Yes, I used one of these recently: well, I say used, more wandered up to it, nearly puked, and ran away. Truly, truly horrible.

On the other hand, the anvils (bottom wheels) were actually very acceptable, and some of the other parts weren't bad. If you viewed it as a parts-bin to take and modify / finish, you'd probably be happy enough.

Al: fasinating project, and very interesting how you developed the station details .

[Pandora]

glad you liked it- new owner is making a lovely job of finishing it off.

Al

[Barry]

Did manage to get up to the workshop over the (busy) holidays, a) to get the wheel in place, and b) to do the roughing out of the second side.

There's no great gain to be had in going overboard on side II as it'll all go in the bin before the metalwork starts anyway. It's just there to give a feel for the overall shape when we wander around it when it makes it outdoors. Side I is the one we'll refer to for actual shapes.

Anyway:

[Gary71]

That wheel is a proper job isn't it?

Car looks fantastic in paper, bet you can't wait to start pulling metal over it.

[Barry]

That wheel is a proper job isn't it?

Car looks fantastic in paper, bet you can't wait to start pulling metal over it.

Yes, I've just had a mail from Steve saying it looks rather heavy . I made up a set of wheels (literally made the wheels, a bit of pipe for the centre, some 3mm sheet for the tyres, and some 5mm steel from Dennis dustcart sump-guards) and mounted them onto a bit of 10mm thick angle iron. With one of the legs on this 'dolly' and the other under the trolly jack, I could easily wheel the 1.1 -1.2 ish tons of wheels up through the workshop and into place on my own. A great relief to get it back to Sussex, and safely in the right place.

And you're right, I can't wait to get going on the metal. Still got to firm up our shape into a formal buck though, so it'll be another couple of months I would think. I might well get one sheet in early though, as there's nothing to stop me having some dry runs to get my hand in .

[steve wright]

Well you go on holiday and the guy moves in and takes over! I don't know why but I somehow expected the English wheel to be smaller Having said that I quietly ran my hand over it and felt the spin of the wheels: you can tell it has a lovely feel to it and I'm quite excited to think we'll be rolling flat sheets of ally into curves with the thing very shortly. That is if Barry will let me near it (which I wouldn't do if I were him)!

Al, I read your website with interest, and what a tremendous project! That must have been a labour of love especially given the extent to which you researched the history of the car. I'd love to see it in the flesh and compare it with the Okrasa Special, especially the chassis and mechanicals. As you highlighted race cars are never static and always being developed, and I've a mind to take the same approach with the Special, although only on the mechanicals. Developing the Okrasa engine with the Shorrock blower, and then installing a Hewland box and building a 2 litre motor with EMPI 88 slipper skirt pistons and Mahle barrels, SPG-crank, dual-throat webers and other period tuning bits that echo the late 1960's Californian drag-racing scene will hopefully extend the life of this as a project. But that's all in the future.

So with the completion of the wireform buck we're finished "phase 1". I have to say it's been a thoroughly enjoyable experience and I've learnt so much, in particular about design. I now look through very different eyes at the design of cars and have to say I'm amazed half the new cars are ever signed off as acceptable, but there you go. Thanks to everyone on DDK for your comments and ideas, it's been fantastic input. I for one am looking forward to the next phase!