help needed with my old clunker please

[Mhobbs87]

Hi all im in the process of building my 1948 Alvis ta14 hoping to load some pics soon of the project.

im looking to make some body trim for various panels. bonnet sides, boot lid etc similar to what you would find on beetles, heralds, old mercs etc and was wondering if anybody knew how to make them or had some advice many thanks in advance mike

 

[hotrodder]

Depending on the look you're after can use some solid bar like for example flat half round stainless. The trim edging the vinyl roof section of this Model A is made from 20 x 4 with m5 studs welded to the back. You can also get various sizes of ally in half round and feather edged bar (usually 6063-t6 IIRC)

If they won't work shape wise etc then can either modify trim from something else... window trims from various different cars cut and shut to fit something else that'd been chopped here... http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=27937 or start from scratch. For body trim i'd be looking to modify something first i.e. find something that's too long and shorten it either by cutting and shutting or reforming the closed end(s). Some custom tooling for a swage/bead roller or a pullmax can be used to make something from scratch and with stuff this thin simple wooden press forms or hammerforms can be made to produce rounded (or pointed etc) closed ends. When looking for stuff to modify a lot of 'chrome' trim is actually a ferritic (magnetic) stainless. OE stuff on Beetles was anodised ally but the trim can bought new made from stainless

 

[Mhobbs87]

thanks a lot mate just the advise i was looking for and thanks for the links cheers mike great looking Model A by the way

 

[hotrodder]

The fit, finish and attention to detail on the A is stunning but that pic doesn't show the more... aquired taste bits. The interior is button dralon and things like the door handles etc are custom cast gargoyles. There's also a spiders web theme going on too. Granted life would be dull if everyone had the same tastes but for me, given the Munsters like touches it really needs a bit more of a cartoony rubber rake. The only hand i had in that car was a couple of the more delicate welding jobs

 

[Chipper]

Did you do the trim hotrodder? Is that a stud welder job. Been wondering about half round s/s for trim, my next car needs trim and it's unobtainable, but haven't come up with a neat DIY way to attach studs. A job to farm out I guess.

 

[Mhobbs87]

yeah munsters look is great, some amazing work gone on there congrats and thanks again for thr help

 

[hotrodder]

Cheers but Burnham Autos deserve the credit, i did a couple of little bits for time and/or 'old man' eyesight reasons

Did you do the trim hotrodder? Is that a stud welder job. Been wondering about half round s/s for trim, my next car needs trim and it's unobtainable, but haven't come up with a neat DIY way to attach studs. A job to farm out I guess.

Just the welding, a stud welder would be ideal but i don't have one so it was done with TIG. Pretty easy job compared to the compound curves needed to get the bar to fit! As the body is glass (relatively thick) used countersunk screws for most of the studs, had to cut the heads off of a couple of them that were close to the edge of a panel.



A few minutes making a simple fixture made it easier/faster to get them centred and straight...

 

[Chipper]

Nice one, cheers. Did wonder if I could get away with MIG and dimpling the body panels a bit. I'll have to experiment on some scrap I think. Although a mate with TIG would do it, if helped with a fixture like yours, and some lubrication (beer).

Did wonder about the curves... they're very neat..

 

[hotrodder]

Did wonder about the curves... they're very neat..

By FAR the hardest part of the job