Scottie's Tribute A352 build - Page 42

Scottie22 · #**821** 9th May 2014, 22:16

I have just bought a new toy, a sheet metal cutter.

I have owned hand nibblers, air nibblers, air shears and all sorts of like stuff, and still have most of them.

They all have one thing in common, they work, but only on really thin metal.

Give them some thick beefy steel and they are not really up to the job.

My new toy was chosen with care, it was not cheap, and is top of the range.
It will cut up to 4mm thickness of mild steel, 4mm of alluminium, and 2.7mm of stainless steel.

And it does all this in real style!

It absolutely batters it's way though it all,really quickly, and more importantly, does the cutting with no distortion.

It is 240v electric, and has a 625watt motor.

I just wish I had got one of these earlier. I can now plan more exotic stuff for the car, like stainless steel headlight surrounds, which ought to be a doddle to cut out with such a machine.

I shall be inventing jobs as an excuse to use it!!

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landmannnn · #**822** 10th May 2014, 10:49

Want one. Does it really cut 4mm mild steel?

Scottie22 · #**823** 10th May 2014, 13:00

I don't have steel that thick to try it on, but that is what the sellers claim.

The way it cuts the steel I have, I wouldn't doubt it.
It's basically a large nibbler, a punch if you like, when cutting, it sounds like a machine gun and a shower of the punched out fragments fly toward the floor, really awesome!

redratbike · #**824** 10th May 2014, 15:52

Have you got a link please???. If it does stainless I may be able to use it on the exhausts I modify

scratch that it won't will it be too tight to get in???l I think

Scottie22 · #**825** 11th May 2014, 08:44

Not having done a link before, I am not sure this will work, but here goes:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2614400518...84.m1439.l2649

Scottie22 · #**826** 11th May 2014, 08:47

Hey! it worked, (thank you Paul)

Redratbike, you would either have to start cutting from the edge of the work, or have a hole the right diameter to fit the cutting head into I suppose?

Scottie22 · #**827** 11th May 2014, 09:12

Redratbike:

Landmannnnnnn:

(and anyone else interested)

Here are the head measurements of my new toy which may help you decide if it's any use to you personally:

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redratbike · #**828** 11th May 2014, 11:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottie22

Hey! it worked, (thank you Paul)

Redratbike, you would either have to start cutting from the edge of the work, or have a hole the right diameter to fit the cutting head into I suppose?

yeah I didn't think it through bugger!!!

Scottie22 · #**829** 12th May 2014, 15:04

I used my new toy in anger for the first time today!

I made four stainless brackets, two for the rear of the bonnet, and two for the rear of the boot-lid.

It is so I can adjust each corner individually, and so get the best fit possible.

I had intended to fibre-paste them in, but in the end, it was easier to use rivets.

When my new cutter realised what I was making, it got quite excited, jumping around in it's box, and all manner of things!

I made the brackets from 2mm thick stainless, it did not really need to be that thick, but I wanted to test the cutter out a bit.

It did not let me down, it showed off and just romped through it with no problem at all.

Unbelievably, this took most of the day. At this rate, the biuld won't be finished anywhere near soon!!

The whole thing is taking longer than I had imagined, but if I keep at it, I will get it all done.

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Scottie22 · #**830** 13th May 2014, 16:04

Yet more work on the bonnet, having strived so hard to get a good successful fit at the rear, I noticed the passengers side bonnet sat lower than the wing it was supposed to match.

Had to be a filler job, I used a bit of plastic to stop the overlapping filler sealing the bonnet up, and whacked it on. it now needs sanding down.

A job for another day.

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Paul L · #**831** 14th May 2014, 07:54

Scottie - All the time you are investing now on making everything fit nicely will be worth it in the end.

Can I just ask how you prepared the fibreglass before you put the filler on?

Cheers, Paul.

Paul L · #**832** 14th May 2014, 10:27

PS
I saw this video on an American forum and thought of you...

Pride of the Jaguar on Vimeo

Enjoy, Paul.

Scottie22 · #**833** 14th May 2014, 10:55

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the video!

The bonnet was dirty and dusty, so I wiped it off, then in the area I wanted filler to adhere, I ran the grinder around. Just enough to rough it up so it would give good adhesion.
In places I went through the gelcoat, but that wouldn't really matter as long as the filler sticks.

On this build I have learned to rough everything up, including (and especially) aluminium, or the filler/fibre paste will not stick correctly.

If you don't rough the alloy, the filler or whatever, sticks to the thin film of oxidation which sits on the alloy surface, and it looks like it's on well, but if you tap it with a hammer it comes clean off! I learnt the hard way.

Hope I'm not teaching you to suck eggs, but you did ask!

Paul L · #**834** 14th May 2014, 15:19

Thanks for the explanation.

I have no doubt I will have a lot of filler to apply to my body shell.

landmannnn · #**835** 14th May 2014, 16:30

I am on my third big tub of easy one, so yes.

Scottie22 · #**836** 14th May 2014, 16:52

All these "light-weight" cars we are building, are probably dragging

god knows how much filler around with them!!

I suppose most of it ends up as dust on the floor in actual fact, where would we be without it?

I guess before filler we would have been "leading" all the low spots!
What a pain. I did some of that on my Mk11 Jag years ago.

Scottie22 · #**837** 15th May 2014, 13:39

Today I drove the beast out of the tent into the sunshine.
Time to sort the bonnet out, again.

I sanded and filled, sanded and filled, sanded and filled, until it almost did my head in, then, dropped the bonnet and it cracked at the back end I had spent so much time doing.

You could hear the swearing two miles away!

I sorted it out for the fourth time, and hoped it was the last.

Eventually I got the bonnet in primer and put it back on the car.

Then the magical moment arrived when I realised it was time to cut out the windscreen glass for the final preparation to begin.

So I cut it out, and was pleasantly surprised to find no rust in a British-made steel windscreen, which was 54 years old,and had sat in a farmers field for around 25 years, in all weathers! Wow! That must be a first.

Here are some pictures.

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oxford1360 · #**838** 15th May 2014, 13:55

It's looking better and better as you get closer and closer to the finish. Well done.

Scottie22 · #**839** 15th May 2014, 14:24

Thanks Ox, I think as the Towed said, it will "suddenly" come together soon, and be almost done. I can't wait!

It seems to have dragged on for ages, but I have only been at it seven months, so I suppose that's not too bad.

oxford1360 · #**840** 15th May 2014, 14:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottie22

It seems to have dragged on for ages, but I have only been at it seven months, so I suppose that's not too bad.

Don't rub it in, I'm just entering year four of an 18-month project!