Scratchbuilt 1/8th scale 427 Cobra

[bmwmech1]

Originally Posted by mickmate

Hey Garey looking sweet. Give those front hood tubes a bend up just behind the back cross one. The body actually sits above the cowl hoop and that's what holds it up.

Hey Mick, thanks, it's really starting to look the part, now. I have to go back and take some critical measurements of the cowl hoop and the front, upper tube. I think the front tube is too high, because the hood tubes should be more horizontal, so something is off. The hood tubes on the prints don't show much of a bend at all, just a small bow as they run forward, which leads me to believe the front tube is too high. I need to go back and see. I understand the hood tubes and cross tubes define the hood opening and the body rests on and is wrapped around them, so it's a critical enough part that it needs to be right on the money. On the Kirkham forum, I just got a post from David Kirkham concerning the body tubes and an offer to CNC a 1/8th scale wood buck to form the body over! This build has just taken a big step in the right direction if I can get my hands on that! I'm going to PM him back this morning to open a conversation to that end. I know I may have some adjusting to do... the body tubes are close, but in 1/8th scale, being off a 64th is like being off an 8th in 1:1, which is alot, as you know. Trying to do exact bends and keep everything exactly right is tough, in this scale. Not too many CNC bending machines in 1/8th scale, Lol!


UPDATE: Well, I got home and promptly did some measuring and viola... the cowl hoop is too low... by 1/2", or 4" in scale! Massive mistake... I can only deduce that I assumed the measurements were from the bottom of the main frame tubes, when they should be from the top, hence the 4" discrepancy. Ouch! I took an 18" steel rule and layed it from the rear hoop, at the rollbar, forward, over the cowl and on to the front hood hoop and it clearly indicates in profile the cowl hoop and corresponding body tubes are indeed, too low. Not a complete disaster, but a minor setback, which I'll fix, this week... Just thought I'd fill you in...

Garey