Pete 367 in brass

[Timmy]

I either need a life, or I need to go back to work lol! Anyway, here's the rest of today's accomplishments

These are the four pieces that make up the cowl

They fit quite well

Three pieces become one

Here it's all fitted together and tacked together, just a couple of tweaks needed

I think it's pretty

Here's the finish solder

It took close to 2 hours to get it filed and smoothed this clean, and there's a touch more to do

Here it's fitted back to the cab, the fits quite good

Sitting on the frame with the roof in place. However, I realized one of my fears, the roof took on a twist from the heat. I should have added my inner structure before I finish soldered it, impatience wins everytime. In the end though it should be good.
Hope I'm doing a decent job of representing a Pete at this stage.

[CustomClod]

I think it looks great. Your well on your way to having a pete! Keep up the great work!
Scott

[SWAGGER]

That's some seriously good brass work there. I think you are doing a great job and I admire your patience and skill. Good on ya!

[Brian in PA]

Looks like a Pete so far!!

Brian

[crawler07]

Great job! And if going back to work is going to slow you down on this project I say stay at home..I cant wait to see more!

[Timmy]

Thank you everyone for the kind words. I was afraid it was looking generic.
So today I started on the hood. I have much more to do to the cab, but I want a small change of pace for a bit

This is the top panel, cut slightly larger then needed

Really it doesn't look much different other then a slight curve added

These are my curved extensions to reach down to the side panel, this also shows the break I use aswell

This makes the last pic make alittle more sense

The needed " I started to solder it" pic lmao

And here I've lined it up to the cab, it looks kind of silly yet, but in the end it should look just right.
Some of you may have noticed I've strayed from the 367 models hood design. I made a fiberglass hood for it, but I just didn't like the look, this hood design is based on a 389 model, but could I get some one to give me the overall height measurements front and rear of the hood. A standard kh hoods dimensions are fine. It would be extremely helpful, thanks in advance
Tim

[Timmy]

I thought I'd add the picture of my original fiberglass hood, it's just the rough form, and I'll keep it around for a future project.

Does anyone think it looks dis-proportionate, I think it does

[TRUCKMAKER]

You make this look like a blast to do and you do it very well! I've got to get some brass and practice soldering. Do you sand your tacks and joints or use heat to smooth them out?

[Timmy]

Thank you for the compliment Truckmaker. It really is a blast working with brass. All I can say is try it! I'm sure it will hook you. As for smoothing tacks and joints, I use many methods. I use heat to smooth as well as a stick for lead. For the most part though I scrap and file and sand. It's slower, but using heat on larger joints will work against you, too much heat and your parts start to float out of alignment. It sucks when it happens, and can quickly turn you from working with brass.

And now.......

Today's progress

This is the cardstock side I cut, and scribed onto my brass sheet

I didn't cut the brass near as high as my cardstock cut out because it seemed to high to me. I also added 1/8 or 3mm to the top and bent it

If you look closely at the seam, you'll see the bend at the top, this bend will keep it true to the top, and keep the warping to a minimum

I failed to take a picture of the grill reinforcement as I was doing it, it's sitting in the middle

Here's how I installed both sides, a couple clips and work fast

And here's the almost finished product

From the back

I decided I should mock it up a bit to see if my proportions are correct

I'm really happy with the look

And I thought I'd put a stack there to get a feel for the progress

I'm liking the look

Next up are the fenders, and the rear reinforcement, then the hood hinges. I'd like to put the old style 3 piece steel wheels on this truck to give it an old school feel, does anyone know if anyones making such a wheel?

I hope you enjoy
Tim

[dsm4g63punk]

Wow this is really coming along! You sure are a brass master! keep up the amazing work

[Timmy]

A brass master.......
I'm not so sure, but thank you for the compliment
As for polished versus painted I'm still tossing that idea around. If I could get larger sheets of brass, I wouldn't second guess it, polish it all the way. However I'm using 4x10 sheets which is causing more joints. But we shall see.
I didnt get as much done today as I'd hoped, I had to clean shop a bit(I could find $:&@) however I did get a start on the fenders

This was the first form I made. My hope was to be able to form both sides at the same time

However, if you look closely, it doesn't follow a consistent curve, it's to flat at the front

So I built a new one, but I decided to only build one side, and work one side at a time

So I cut a fender blank, and soldered it to my form

I then began hammering it around using my trusty dollar store brass hammer
That's right, I got it at the dollar store, and I use it almost exclusively, and I have purpose built hammers in my tool box!

Unfortunately that's as far as I got. All my hammering woke the baby and angered mommy, so I had to stop.
I'll be back at it in the morning, I'm going to start by heat shrinking the edge to form a nicer curve.
Thanks for looking.
If there's another way to form this fender, I'm open to ideas
Tim

[Timmy]

This truck seems to just fall together lately.
I was able to finish one fender about 85% today. I used two methods of shrinking and I'll explain them with the respected pictures

On the outside edge I heat shrank the edge using my torch. I didn't do it all the way around the way as I didn't want to have the heat ruin the rest of the fender

But after some hammering, it left a fairly wave free roll. It's not perfect, and I can still work it a little, but the brass being thin to begin with, and my introduction of heat, I decided to leave this side alone at this point

So I got ready for the other side

Now because this side meets the spacer on the inside, I cold shrunk the edge by twisting the edge with very fine needle nose pliers, then gently hammer the fold together. It's not the quickest way, and leaves a dirty edge unless you spend hours dollying it till its perfect, but it will work on the inside where I'm soldering anyway

So like I said, I went about 85% finished, but the end result looks decent

I need to build the spacer yet so the fenders will sit square

But even without them it makes the truck look more complete
Now the fender is supposed to have a low crown (curve) in it, and I have not yet put one on, but I think it looks cool just flat like this.
What do you guys think?
Tim

[doodlebug]

Hey Tim, have you considered a scale sized "English Wheel" for smoothing the formed part's? As for reference material, Ultimate Sheet Metal Fabrication by Timothy Remus,
Advanced Sheet Metal fabrication by Timothy Remus.
Link to picture's of various english wheel model's and wheel's, http://www.google.com/search?q=engli...w=1024&bih=603
Look's great so far. Do you have to anneal the brass when working it?
Cheer's, Neil.

Very nice

[Timmy]

Those are both amazing references doodlebug. I own the advanced book and taken two work shops with Ron Covell, but really hadn't considered a scale sized wheel. I had considered using the bench mount one I have at work, but ultimately decided it was just to large to do such a fine job. Do you know of anyone making a ready made scale wheel, I'd be very interested to see one
Tim

[doodlebug]

Hey Timmy, I don't know of a scale wheel for sale. But it is something else for machine shop friend's to consider building for sale. Glad you have the book's!
Cheer's Neil.

[Izzy]

Youve come along way in a short time! very impressive...... I think I better stick with Styrene though...... I'd have a big glob of lead by this point........

[ihbuilder]

Originally Posted by doodlebug

Hey Timmy, I don't know of a scale wheel for sale. But it is something else for machine shop friend's to consider building for sale. Glad you have the book's!
Cheer's Neil.

Neil , I'm getting there I just got to get them on the lathe and mill

[doodlebug]

Steve, You the man! Can't to see what you come up with.
Cheer's, Neil.

[Timmy]

A scale English wheel would be fantastic Steve! Have you got a picture of even the drawings for it? I'd love to see them if you do!