Downsizing my shop and inventory

[todd3131]

Personally I am glad you posted here and not the classifieds. I admire you for the chance to work on the Bugatti it is a once in a lifetime chance for you and I hope you can share with us the process of the restoration at some point .

Todd

[verrece]

Do you Know that in Argentina there is a company who build a Bugatti replica?
The company's name is "Pur -Sang", maybe, they can help you.
See more in

http://www.carbuildindex.com/21748/p...pe-35-replica/

https://www.facebook.com/pursangargentina/?fref=nf

http://www.pursangweb.com/

[RockHillWill]

Verrece,

I am familiar with those folks. The gentleman that I am working with on the Bugatti. is in contact with them on occasion. This car came from Australia, along with another one. They are familiar with his work on this car.

Roadster62,

It is a little complicated answer. It is my current understanding (I may not be correct in ALL the details) that there were only seven of these built, and three known to exist in 'restored' condition. Apparently, an additional three are known to exist is various state of disrepair and those owners have contacted the gentleman that I am helping to potentially assist in providing body 'parts' for their use. At the same time, my friend has mentioned that he might want to build a 'new' T57 for his own use, as he has access to one of the 'billet' motors that would be appropriate. Because of this multiple potential of needed body parts, he has asked me to build the wooden body bucks and make SolidWorks drawings and other 'fixtures' to replicate each of the body parts. By building a complete frame, it gives us a start on Jim's personal project and a potential platform for custom fitting the body panels for all the bodies under consideration. Also, I LOVE to make SolidWorks drawings and it is providing an appreciated help for my friend. It is also providing me with a new goal of metal shaping aluminum body panels that have to be gas welded, and apparently, I like a challenge. It is also my understanding that this particular body style was designed by EB's son Paul, and that provides for a strong interest in this particular design. The current owner of the car just recently turned down an offer of 1.2 million dollars for the car.


I have started a section of my website for this project, but am way behind on uploading pictures. I will be getting to it soon, and will provide a link, because I don't think everyone here on the Fordbarn is appreciative of this type of post.

[Roadster62]

Bugatti had a son named Paul? Fake automobiles are one thing, now there producing unknown kids? Bob

[mike657894]

i need two briggs 30 fordor front door glass 24 in wide

[RockHillWill]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Sorry there Roadster. I was just chatting off the top of my head, from a distant conversation, not from a historians view point. Why did you not provide us with the correct answer?

[Jim Mason]

Will, sorry to hear you are getting out of model A (even if it is just a down sizing). wish I was closer I'd help remove early 28 parts. Pass my name on to the guy that bought the fasteners..I'll eventually be in the market. That bugatti looks like a sweet project.

[RockHillWill]

Good morning, Jim

I am having a great time on this project, but I also miss a great deal, the large group of friends that I hung around with, including you.

I will PM you the name of the gentleman that acquired the bolts and hardware, and a link to my website that will soon be showing the progress pictures as soon as I can start loading them.
Here are some misc. pics of the project that I am working on. Not sure they will be appreciated here, so will keep it to a minimum. Your discovery of your Bugatti picture was right on, but not the particular car that I am involved with.

Shown are: rear fender bucks, fixture for restoring and or building a radiator shell, the car at the upholsterers, us removing the transmission and clutch assemblies
and I am making a 'flexible shape pattern of the right rear quarter panel, so that we can turn it inside out to repair the left side quarter panel.

I am amazed at how much work my friend gets from cars being pulled from so-called high end restoration shops. Many of my friends here on the Fordbarn are capable of doing better work. He works alone and has a 5 year backlog. I am providing minor assistance on an early '51 Delage Ghia, that was supposed to belong to Juan Peron the dictator of Argentina. I have personally seen five (bullet?) holes in the floor of the trunk. I am going with him and that car to the Amelia Island show.

Dans2015 007.jpg

grill1A 017.jpg

Jims1 052.jpg

Michigan 007.jpg

TennSoLyon 001.jpg

TennSoLyon 008.jpg

willy2b 014.jpg

[Gary Karr]

Will, you and your shop are doing masterful work. My hat off to you! I wish I had the talent and knowledge that you all have to take on such projects. What a wonderful experience to be able to work on such rare vehicles as the Bugatti. I had the fortune of working part time in high school and college for Tom Barrett in Scottsdale (Barrett Jackson Auctions fame) and was able to work on and drive some of the most exotic automobiles on earth such as Bugattis and the like. I would love to see your facility someday and watch what you all are doing. Again, congratulations on such incredible work.

[RockHillWill]

Thanks, Gary, you know you are welcome at any time, my friend. Just to be clear, I am not the prime restorer by any means. The car is being restored near Nashville, Tenn. and I travel there to help Jim on the car. My main contribution was helping to scan the car with a 3D camera, then use that information to use SolidWorks software to make wooden 'egg crate' bucks to build the fenders and body panels. I get involved with some of the mechanical work and have learned a BUNCH about repairing and making wood components from Jim, and he has taught me a great deal about making gas tanks from scratch, and we built a muffler for the car at the last metal meet that I hosted. It seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am having a great time with it.

This particular car had been to a 'qualified' Bugatti restorer, and it was embarrassing to see the poor quality of the work. As I said before many on this site (especially you, Hunter and others) are capable of doing a better job, and Jim is an unbelievable talent, capable of creating parts out of thin air from pictures and history books. Seven of his cars are featured in a $150 coffee table car book highlighting European coach built cars. Here is a picture of a car he restored, and we took to Hilton Head last year. It is a 1929 Rolls Royce Phantom I Town Car.

Stop by any time, my friend, I'd love to chat with you again.

Allardhiltonhead 118 Large e-mail view.jpg

[RockHillWill]

Merry Christmas to those that are amenable to that greeting!

It has been a great pre-Christmas week. I am to the point where I can see the back wall and one side of the shipping container. One visitor took a pretty good truck full of 'stuff'. An excellent brake shoe machine and almost 400 brake shoes, a number of steering columns, rear axle housings, two good clutch housing and a few bell housings, including an excellent one from a 4-digit car. Two good rear fenders, a nice steering wheel and a bunch of transmission housing and shifter housings, and a fixture to rebuild clutch assy's that included a Blanchard ground plate to simulate a new clutch disc thickness.

We uncovered (8) plastic storage crates full of new wood pieces that were part of the Kansas purchase. They were not grouped according to application, but I estimated that there were over 350 pieces of Model A wood 24" or less in those boxes. I also still have (2) 55 gallon drums with some of the longer pieces of wood. I remember seeing a list of instructions as to what pieces went where, but I have little experience in Model A wood construction so they are likely to end up being used in my newly acquired wood stove.

I took two large trailer loads of 'stuff' to the scrap yard, but it was not very profitable, as scrap prices are way down in this area. I inadvertently took a large tube that I made to assist when installing the worm gear on a steering shaft. I had it next to the door and must have pitched it when I was not paying attention. I also pitched the tools & fixtures that I made to hold starters, generators, distributors and steering boxes for assembly, and a group of windshield frames.

The next visitor gave us both a good surprise. I had rat-packed almost a 50 excellent '30-'31 headlight buckets, that were left over from a 'run' that I did installing cad plated socket holders in the stainless steel shells. A friend of mine had 1500 headlight rivets made from the archive drawings and I made a tool to reinstall the rivets by using a fabricated box frame and a modified piece of steering column to 'set' the new rivets. When we were looking down towards the bottom of the lower boxes, we discovered a long lost pair of boxes that I had forgotten about. One box was full of original horns (four were complete). The other had (11) carburetors in it.

Tim, I also found two pair of useable short front bumpers. I will be sending pictures.

Under a pile of old inner tubes, I discovered a tool that I made to assemble the rear brakes. It is made from a torque tube welded to a '30-'31 wheel and a cut down rear end housing with partial trailing arms. You can assemble the entire rear brake system including the emergency brakes, then remove them as a single assembly, while standing up next to the work bench. It's been a great week and a great year.

Again, Merry Christmas to all.

[RockHillWill]

Weather delay, but more progress is being made.

A pretty severe weather pattern has dumped 6" rain in two days, filling our pond to capacity and encroaching on the front yard, but stopped short of getting any water in the house. the shop is on a hill, so no issues there. Runoff from the pastures gathered surface 'stuff' that ran up against some of the fences and have knocked sections over, allowing a few of our goats to visit the neighbors. Water over the driveway cancelled a pair of visitors over the weekend.

Had a visitor on Monday that helped me with more '30-'31 wheels, bumper supports, 25-30 assorted original drip rails, about 200 pounds of new wood pieces as well as some windshield frames, axle housings and a front end alignment tool. He got two VERY nice '-30 front fenders, four doors from a '30 Briggs Fordor and an excellent LF door for a '30-'31 Panel delivery. (I still have 3 right side doors.) I scrapped three rear doors. He also got a five gallon bucket of original choke rods and one of the larger barrels of original brake rods that were the better selected ones, and a very nice lower seat spring and a pair of front springs that were in excellent condition, but I don't know enough to tell what they were for.

I still have over 200 pedals that I will probably move to the shop as I also uncovered the fixture that I made to rebuild the bell housings along with a fixture that attaches to it that allows me to put new pedal pads on and align them with each other and the openings in the floor board while assembled on the bell housing fixture - works every time!

Still have very wet ground at the container, so scrapping will be held off for a few more days. Thanks again for those that have helped me move and not throw away some of this 'stuff'. I also get to see more of my Model A friends.

PreChristmas 001.jpg

PreChristmas 003.jpg

PreChristmas 004.jpg

PreChristmas 007.jpg

[RockHillWill]

The need for more room has just been increased. In about a month, I will be receiving the first shipment of the new Tommasini English wheeling machines that are being imported from Australia. This shipment of the first six machines sold out very quickly. As a side note, for those of you that are serious restorers, another batch of these machines are being cast and I will add your name to the buyers list if you have any interest. (PM me) These machines are valued around the world as they are designed by 48 year experienced coach builder Peter Tommasini, and they are VERY competitively priced. (sorry about the 'commercial').

The water has subsided, fence repairs are about completed and parts removal will probably start again the middle of next week, so if there are any more interested 'visitors', you are welcome to come by before the 'scrapping' resumes.

IMG_0007sm.jpg

IMG_0008sm.jpg

IMG_0009sm.jpg

[wrndln]

Will,
I assume the three pictures you just posted are of the English wheel machine Tommasini makes. They look totally different from the several English wheels I have seen. Is there a website or place to read how this machine is used?
Rusty Nelson

[RockHillWill]

Good afternoon Rusty,

Yes, these are the first shipment of these to the USA. Here is a link to his website: http://www.handbuilt.net.au . click on 'machine tools' to see this particular machine.

I am one of the owners and administrators of this website: http://allmetalshaping.com

We have over 12,000 members made up of all forms of metal shaping and there are always many folks that will show how they have made and use all forms of metal shaping equipment. You might have to join to see all the pictures, albums, classes, etc., but is just a formality to weed out spammers and the like. Several Fordbarners are members there.

The primary purpose of the English wheel is to move sheet metal between a large upper wheel and a smaller diameter lover wheel/anvil in a manner that can put a low crown into a piece of sheet metal like a door skin, by using different hand maneuvers it can result in a more highly crowned panels, like fenders, and it is often used as an 'iron' to smooth out small irregularities or dents.

On the Panel delivery, I made the lower halves of both front doors, both complete back doors, both quarter panels and the entire 'dropped floor' area from scratch and the English wheel was the most used of all my shop equipment in doing so. The P7 Pullmax was instrumental in forming all the character lines in those parts after the wheeling was completed.

There are MANY thoughts on how a wheeling machine should be operated, but it is a highly sought after tool by the serious restorers that are capable of actually forming their own metal shapes as opposed to those that get by with replacing parts. One of the most confrontational issues regarding the wheeling machines is weather a cast iron one is better, or not, than a fabricated steel tubing wheeling machine.

At my next metal shaping event, the 'Redneck Roundup' there is a good chance that Peter might be attending to demonstrate some wheeling machine techniques, along with a gentleman from Sweden that will be giving training classes on the use of the Pullmax machines. Also in attendance will be guy from the Netherlands that will give demos on how to use a new fixed stroke reciprocating machine that he has developed and is now having manufactured in the US. This 'Redneck Roundup' is similar to the event that I saw you at in Minnesota at Dan Pates on Route 56.

It's nice to speak with you again, Rusty, and I appreciate your business as well. Thank you!

[wrndln]

Will,
Sorry, I didn't notice the scale in the pictures you posted. I now see there are 6 of the English wheels on the pallet. I guess I am a little slow today (and other days too) and didn't notice there were 6 wheels, as they didn't have the bases and actual wheels on the yokes. Is there something unique about Tommasini's English wheels? It seems to me, the main important thing on English wheels is the "throat" depth the wheel has to allow larger and odd shaped items to be wheeled.

BTW, I did sign up at the allmetalshaping.com website about 2 years ago. I also attended the work shop at Dan Pate's shop in Dennison, like you mentioned. Dan is doing some fender metal work for me, as I don't have the skills to make the bead on model A fender very straight.
Rusty Nelson

[RockHillWill]

Rusty, Dan is an excellent metal shaper and has every metal shaping tool known to man, LOL. The thought of the throat depth is commonly thought to be a large consideration in wheeling machine design, but I learned early on that is not a good consideration, as flex in the wheeling machine is the most discussed topic of wheel design. If you stop and think about it, you only have to have a machine with a throat depth up to one half the width of the largest panel you wish to work on, as you can change sides and continue to do the other side. The deeper the throat is, the more propensity there is for flexing and that brings out the other major discussion regarding wheeling machine design. The modulus of elasticity for cast iron, cast steel and fabricated A36 hot rolled steel is not similar and that has an effect of initial flex, flex 'creep' and residual distortion, all of which effect the effective working pressure between the two wheels. If your interest is in making a smooth transition in panel shape, this varying degree of working pressure will make it difficult to have a good result.

Further, sometimes heated, discussions continue to unfold regarding the use of full radius lower anvils vs lower anvils with flat spots around the perimeter, with some folks thinking the full radius lower anvils respond to manual manipulation of the sheet metal panel ('pumping') more smoothly than using the varying pressure of the wheel to form a panel using the lower anvils with the flat spots. The varying pressure method is, in my opinion, more difficult to maintain using a fabricated steel tubing wheeling machine because of the long flat sections of the frame joined at sharp corners. The different lengths of flat tubing and the sharp corners allow for non linear application of load and the A36 steel will take a 'set' that requires a small but constant changing of the adjusting wheel.

Peter's wheeling machine is cast with a smooth flowing curve as viewed from the side and the cross section of the casting is varied as the upper arm transitions to the backbone of the machine. It is Peter's contention that this allows for a smoother application of the load that will result in smoother panels with less pressure.

I have used Peter's cast iron wheeling machine with the full radius lower anvils on some of the Bugatti panels and have really grown fond of the full radius lower anvils. By using more hand manipulation vs more wheel pressure, even I have been able to see an improvement in my work.

[RockHillWill]

Weather drying up around here. Got a few fence section back in place and have begun to move field debris and took another load of Model A parts to the scrapyard this afternoon. I found the rear renders that my friend Per, from Sweden, and I made for the speedster. They were made by cutting four sedan fenders in half, match fitting the outer halves and then welding back at the seam to make two 'roadster' fenders. These two fenders along with the two welled front fenders that I set aside for the speedster were moved to the attic above the shop with the 'stash' of other fenders that I have stored there.

I'm down to about 40 square feet of 'heavy stuff' that has to be cleared, and I will be ready to re-stock this container. I was able to set aside most of the fixtures that I have made to some openings on the shelves that were created with this move. It won't be much longer. Thanks again for those that have helped in this project. It has been nice to get the room, but handling all these parts have made me miss doing some of the Model A stuff that I had been doing. I still have fixtures to match mill manifolds, rebuild clutches, restore bell housing and pedals and service brake cross shafts, and most of the smaller 'tooling' that I keep in the main shop. I have used two '28 - '29 radiator shells to begin making a 'cover' for a 40HP 10kw back up generator for the shop.

20140610_160807.jpg

20140610_162832.jpg

20140610_165619.jpg

RRSat 001.jpg

[RockHillWill]

Just received word that the Tommasini wheeling machines have left Peter's shop and are at the dock, waiting to be put on board. They are expected to arrive in about 30 days or so, and I have to get the container finished clearing VERY soon. If there is any remaining interest in a visit, PM as soon as possible, as clearing has to be completed.

There is at least one member of this Fordbarn community that has purchased one of Peters wheeling machines, and a couple members have also attended one or more of Peter's metal shaping classes that I have been fortunate to host.

As an aside, if any of you Model A restorers or sheet metal enthusiasts have an interest in acquiring one of these wheeling machines, the pricing has been more closely determined. The wheeling machine itself will be $3,100 for the next order only! A 'wheel' package is available from Hoosier profiles, here in the US for $750. These upper wheels have been made to accommodate the larger hub/bearings that are part of the Tommasini design, and include a 3" x 8" upper wheel and lower anvils of 4", 8", 12" and 24" full radius. Crating for shipping will be about $100 and nationwide shipping has been made VERY reasonable thru Fastenal. PM me if you have any questions.

[C26Pinelake]

Did you post this stuff on the Swap Meet section? Wayne