Ford F3L and David Piper

[Leopold Figl]

Hi guys,

thanks a lot for the nice words, I honestly appreciate what you are saying.
Scott, I didn't think that in this forum tooling was of interest. Nice to see however, that the stuff that really consumes a lot of thought and attention is something of interest, too.

If you want to build a bending tool like that one I could share some of the experience I had wo far with you: For example the wooden blocks are a little critical. I have designed the static block so that the max pressure that the pipe exerts on it is I think not larger that about 30MPa (I have to look up my notes, so don't take this number for granted). That is a little much if you consider the birch plywood. What you could do is to make this block longer towards the mandrel carrier, or use e.g. plastics (like PA or POM) for the job.
The round wooden die is not so much of a problem, however the pipe exerts a "opening" pressure on it as it tries to become oval during bending. So what you have to make sure is that if you glue together plywood the glueing interfaces have to be very good, means the surface should be well preparedn and while the glue sets you should have a proper amount of pressure on the package.

Tell me if you need some more info.

 

[Doug Clark]

Hi Leopold,

I just looked at this thread yesterday and had to post...
This is amazingly awesome work, I thought that I was making a decent attempt at doing things 'properly' but you've ratcheted up the bar by orders of magnitude. Big respect.

 

[Leopold Figl]

Hi guys,

Hi Doug, thanks, I appreciate what you say. I guess that "bar" that has been mentioned a few times is quite imaginary ;-)

Well attatched are some pictures of the weekend progress.
My father had to show off some of his woodworking skills by making the shift knob in a way so that it looks like the checkered flag.... I was really impressed. It is currently awaiting its 3 layers of varnish.
I could manage to make all the weld on fittings for the waterpipes, do the welding, dye penetrant testing and polishing. Now we are ready to install the pipes and continue with the last left panels on the monocoque.

 

[Harry Hudson]

As always, stunning workmanship on a truly fantastic project.

Keep up the great work and please keep on posting

Tom

 

[Leopold Figl]

..some updates from the last weekend:
We fitted the waterpipes and installed some quite important panels.
Now there is just two full days or so missing to complete the sheet metal work on the monocoque and finish it.

 

[Jack]

Very, very nice!

 

[zollis]

Molleur , I agree with you , this work from Leopold is super.

Z.C.

 

[ralph]

. . . nothing short of brilliant! Thank you for posting

 

[Leopold Figl]

..as we currently got some time to do more fabrication, we could manage to finish the monocoque.
It is easy to carry even though the fuel cell and the water pipes are already fitted (..and don't forget the 12kNm torsional stiffness).
As today is the birthday of chassis #1 we will take the liberty and have a glass of Zirbenschnaps.


Greetings and best regards from Austria!

 

[Jack]

Amazing fabrication! Beautiful..

 

[Mick Ridley]

Leopold,

You must be really pleased.......

That is brilliant.......

 

[Chris Huck]

Looks stunning!!

 

[EGLITOM]

Leo

very nice !
Looking at this A Pillar´s size ( if you can call them so), are you planning any sort of rolecage ?

TOM

 

[scott]

excellent pictures Leopold ---
a great shop scene if that is indeed an Austrian "Alp"
in the background . . . . . .

thanks for your listing of the construction details regarding
your woooden bending fixture.

scott

 

[Jim Craik]

Leopold,

Cheers!

To a fabulous job, Happy Birthday!

 

Unbelievable!!! I can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[Richard]

Leopold,

I know you have heard this before but it is worth repeating... your work is absolutely stunning... that is one of the prettiest bodies i have ever seen... your workmanship is Olympian...you deserve all the praise you can get... true

 

[Leopold Figl]

Dear Gentlemen,

thank you very much for your progressive comments. We totally appreciate..

Just so you know we didn't run on idle in the mean time, however some very demanding metal parts had to be machined (of course conventionally, CNC technology is limited to the body moulds ;-) ), which kept us busy.

some of the steering parts prior to installation:

shifting lever with locking mechanism for reverse gear:

shifting mechanism assembled for testing:

and parts polished prior to final assembly:

.. meanwhile best regards from Austria

 

[Olivier S]

Hi Leupold!

I'm waiting for your updates with impatience!

I should stop looking at it because I almost have an erection each time! OK, I may have some problems, but, hey! I can't control this...

More seriously, would you drop me your email?

Thanks

Olivier.

 

[nic]

Servus Leopold,

First off I think it's been said a few times but it has to be said again and again. Fantastic project!! Thoroughly inspiring stuff.
I also have a project I would like to get going and will use similar techniques. I have a CATIA model that is getting close to completion and will also use a prototype foam but do not have a supplier yet. Can you tell me which grade of Necuron you used for the moulds and also which supplier you used? An approximate cost of the material would also be good to know.
Keep up the good work. I am looking froward to seeing the result of your hard work. It's like watching a really good movie (for car geeks like myself) is this thread!!

regards

Nic