Trial Fit Tub Etc...

[frank drakman]

Steve,

Well..I have been on the List for a couple years now and I usually do not feel too confident about giving "advice". I did go through much of what it appears you will be doing so I will give you a little about what I went through...If anyone has any comments fire away..I had asked a similar question over a year ago and I remember Viv James giving me some good hints.

Firstly I guess the big initial decision is what you are going to do about the wood/metal of the tub. There are many routes to go. Each route has its own advantages and disadvantages:

1. Buy a premade tub

Advantage - It would be a lot easier and save you hundreds of hours and likely lots of heartache.

Disadvantage - Initial outlay of money is substantial.

2. Buy the woods you you need from one source and skin the body (with either purchased metal pieces and/or with metal you already you have.

Advantage - You may save quite a bit of money over #1. A good metal man can fit the metal took your wooden skeleton.

Disadvantage - From what I have read - the wood you buy may not fit particularly well with the wood you may be saving and even the metal you expect to be reusing.

3. Cut your own wood and have the metal made to fit over that.

This was the route I took. I bought a 15" two wheel bandsaw (in general the two wheeled ones are stronger than the three wheeled ones). I purchased the ash from a couple different sources. I went to small mills and had the wood cut for me. The problem here was I waited almost a year for one source to get me the small pieces he said he could provide and much of what was cut and then kiln dried for me was cracked and not usable. I would recommend going to a larger lumberyard where you can see what you are buying even if the cost is a little higher. I had it suggested to me to leave one side whole while the other side is rebuilt so that a reference is always available. I think that would work quite well but in the end I followed what Sherrill in his book described. Essentially, I started from the back and worked forward. I built the tub on the chassis - some suggest otherwise. Sherrill speaks about a number of potential pitfalls - I would definitely not rebuild a tub without having his bible with me. I remember a big debate about whether to glue the joints or not. I glued very few. Many people will say do not glue any. I know Viv James has glued all his joints with no problems at all. Sherrill has lots of advice about getting the correct "lines"...eg the front and rear of the hood..ensuring that when you are done that the hood sits well on the rad shell and that it lines up well with the front quarter panel of the tub. The only wooden pieces I ended up buying were the two small pieces that sit under the corner of the scuttle. I had heard that it is very difficult to get all those angles of that wood correct (plus I did not have original pieces to copy). I ended up combining the two lower pieces of the rear wheel arches making them from a single piece of ash - it was not easy I think I had to make each twice before I got the correct angles. There are so many potential pitfalls - I remember having troubles getting the wheel arches to move as per Sherrill's measurements. Boy..Doing a tub this way is not for the faint hearted. I ended up using a product here in North America - West System epoxy - to coat the wood. This tub will not rot!

I used some of the metal I had but most was made for me by a very good bodyman in town here. I am sure if I had bought metal panels from someone I would probably have had lots of problems getting them to fit - Murphy's Law. Again it is important to make sure that as you go through the tub making that you check how the hood hangs - so that the front and back line up well. That is why when you do your tub you will have to have the radiator and rad shell on to help line up the hood.

The guy who did my metal work had done a lot of work on my wings prior to the tub. For example we had made one rear wing from scratch and almost the other. That was definitely the wrong thing to do. Tub first and then the wings. When it came time to put the rear wings up to the tub the rear wings did not conform very well to edges of the tub - not even the piping could hide the gap!

In any case enough of my rambling..I hope this helps.

Rob Greaves

[seabrook@en.com]

Dear Bob & Group, We can supply a proper coachwork kit that fits. We make the wood pieces in our shop as original & the pieces are the very best avaliable. When the wood framework is correct, many many problems are eliminated. We also supply some of the sheet metal pieces & they also fit. Craig Seabrook Whitworth Shop seabrook@en.com TC/0911 Tammy Greaves wrote:

> > Steve, > > Well..I have been on the List for a couple years now and I usually do > not feel too confident about giving "advice". I did go through much > of what it appears you will be doing so I will give you a little about > what I went through...If anyone has any comments fire away..I had > asked a similar question over a year ago and I remember Viv James > giving me some good hints. > > Firstly I guess the big initial decision is what you are going to do > about the wood/metal of the tub. There are many routes to go. Each > route has its own advantages and disadvantages: > > 1. Buy a premade tub > Advantage - It would be a lot easier and save you hundreds of hours > and likely lots of heartache. > Disadvantage - Initial outlay of money is substantial. > > 2. Buy the woods you you need from one source and skin the body (with > either purchased metal pieces and/or with metal you already you have. > Advantage - You may save quite a bit of money over #1. A good metal > man can fit the metal took your wooden skeleton. > Disadvantage - From what I have read - the wood you buy may not fit > particularly well with the wood you may be saving and even the metal > you expect to be reusing. > > 3. Cut your own wood and have the metal made to fit over that. > This was the route I took. I bought a 15" two wheel bandsaw (in > general the two wheeled ones are stronger than the three wheeled > ones). I purchased the ash from a couple different sources. I went > to small mills and had the wood cut for me. The problem here was I > waited almost a year for one source to get me the small pieces he said > he could provide and much of what was cut and then kiln dried for me > was cracked and not usable. I would recommend going to a larger > lumberyard where you can see what you are buying even if the cost is a > little higher. I had it suggested to me to leave one side whole while > the other side is rebuilt so that a reference is always available. I > think that would work quite well but in the end I followed what > Sherrill in his book described. Essentially, I started from the back > and worked forward. I built the tub on the chassis - some suggest > otherwise. Sherrill speaks about a number of potential pitfalls - I > would definitely not rebuild a tub without having his bible with me. > I remember a big debate about whether to glue the joints or not. I > glued very few. Many people will say do not glue any. I know Viv > James has glued all his joints with no problems at all. Sherrill has > lots of advice about getting the correct "lines"...eg the front and > rear of the hood..ensuring that when you are done that the hood sits > well on the rad shell and that it lines up well with the front quarter > panel of the tub. The only wooden pieces I ended up buying were the > two small pieces that sit under the corner of the scuttle. I had heard > that it is very difficult to get all those angles of that wood correct > (plus I did not have original pieces to copy). I ended up combining > the two lower pieces of the rear wheel arches making them from a > single piece of ash - it was not easy I think I had to make each twice > before I got the correct angles. There are so many potential > pitfalls - I remember having troubles getting the wheel arches to move > as per Sherrill's measurements. Boy..Doing a tub this way is not for > the faint hearted. I ended up using a product here in North America - > West System epoxy - to coat the wood. This tub will not rot! > I used some of the metal I had but most was made for me by a very > good bodyman in town here. I am sure if I had bought metal panels > from someone I would probably have had lots of problems getting > them to fit - Murphy's Law. Again it is important to make sure that > as you go through the tub making that you check how the hood hangs - > so that the front and back line up well. That is why when you do your > tub you will have to have the radiator and rad shell on to help line > up the hood. > The guy who did my metal work had done a lot of work on my wings > prior to the tub. For example we had made one rear wing from scratch > and almost the other. That was definitely the wrong thing to do. Tub > first and then the wings. When it came time to put the rear wings up > to the tub the rear wings did not conform very well to edges of the > tub - not even the piping could hide the gap! > In any case enough of my rambling..I hope this helps. > > > Rob Greaves > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.

[Mark McCombs]

I am very grateful to the list for hooking me up with Whitworth Shop just after I purchased and started on TC8126 in June, 1999. I am no novice to the hobby in general, having done several TR-3's, maintaining a TD, etc, but being an absolute beginner with tub construction, I was at a loss as to how I could recreate the tub with the vague pieces that I was attempting to use from 'brand X' sources, especially when this was one car I really wanted to be correct. There is no substitute with the accurate Whitworth products! Regards, Mark McCombs TC8126

----- Original Message ----- From: seabrook@en.com> To: "Tammy Greaves" t.greaves@hyperlinx.net> Cc: Restoredent@aol.com>; mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2001 5:07 AM Subject: Re: [mg-tabc] Trial Fit Tub Etc... > Dear Bob & Group, > We can supply a proper coachwork kit that fits. We make the wood pieces > in our shop as original & the pieces are the very best avaliable. When > the wood framework is correct, many many problems are eliminated. We > also supply some of the sheet metal pieces & they also fit. > > > Craig Seabrook > Whitworth Shop > seabrook@en.com > TC/0911 > > > Tammy Greaves wrote: > > > > Steve, > > > > Well..I have been on the List for a couple years now and I usually do > > not feel too confident about giving "advice". I did go through much > > of what it appears you will be doing so I will give you a little about > > what I went through...If anyone has any comments fire away..I had > > asked a similar question over a year ago and I remember Viv James > > giving me some good hints. > > > > Firstly I guess the big initial decision is what you are going to do > > about the wood/metal of the tub. There are many routes to go. Each > > route has its own advantages and disadvantages: > > > > 1. Buy a premade tub > > Advantage - It would be a lot easier and save you hundreds of hours > > and likely lots of heartache. > > Disadvantage - Initial outlay of money is substantial. > > > > 2. Buy the woods you you need from one source and skin the body (with > > either purchased metal pieces and/or with metal you already you have. > > Advantage - You may save quite a bit of money over #1. A good metal > > man can fit the metal took your wooden skeleton. > > Disadvantage - From what I have read - the wood you buy may not fit > > particularly well with the wood you may be saving and even the metal > > you expect to be reusing. > > > > 3. Cut your own wood and have the metal made to fit over that. > > This was the route I took. I bought a 15" two wheel bandsaw (in > > general the two wheeled ones are stronger than the three wheeled > > ones). I purchased the ash from a couple different sources. I went > > to small mills and had the wood cut for me. The problem here was I > > waited almost a year for one source to get me the small pieces he said > > he could provide and much of what was cut and then kiln dried for me > > was cracked and not usable. I would recommend going to a larger > > lumberyard where you can see what you are buying even if the cost is a > > little higher. I had it suggested to me to leave one side whole while > > the other side is rebuilt so that a reference is always available. I > > think that would work quite well but in the end I followed what > > Sherrill in his book described. Essentially, I started from the back > > and worked forward. I built the tub on the chassis - some suggest > > otherwise. Sherrill speaks about a number of potential pitfalls - I > > would definitely not rebuild a tub without having his bible with me. > > I remember a big debate about whether to glue the joints or not. I > > glued very few. Many people will say do not glue any. I know Viv > > James has glued all his joints with no problems at all. Sherrill has > > lots of advice about getting the correct "lines"...eg the front and > > rear of the hood..ensuring that when you are done that the hood sits > > well on the rad shell and that it lines up well with the front quarter > > panel of the tub. The only wooden pieces I ended up buying were the > > two small pieces that sit under the corner of the scuttle. I had heard > > that it is very difficult to get all those angles of that wood correct > > (plus I did not have original pieces to copy). I ended up combining > > the two lower pieces of the rear wheel arches making them from a > > single piece of ash - it was not easy I think I had to make each twice > > before I got the correct angles. There are so many potential > > pitfalls - I remember having troubles getting the wheel arches to move > > as per Sherrill's measurements. Boy..Doing a tub this way is not for > > the faint hearted. I ended up using a product here in North America - > > West System epoxy - to coat the wood. This tub will not rot! > > I used some of the metal I had but most was made for me by a very > > good bodyman in town here. I am sure if I had bought metal panels > > from someone I would probably have had lots of problems getting > > them to fit - Murphy's Law. Again it is important to make sure that > > as you go through the tub making that you check how the hood hangs - > > so that the front and back line up well. That is why when you do your > > tub you will have to have the radiator and rad shell on to help line > > up the hood. > > The guy who did my metal work had done a lot of work on my wings > > prior to the tub. For example we had made one rear wing from scratch > > and almost the other. That was definitely the wrong thing to do. Tub > > first and then the wings. When it came time to put the rear wings up > > to the tub the rear wings did not conform very well to edges of the > > tub - not even the piping could hide the gap! > > In any case enough of my rambling..I hope this helps. > > > > > > Rob Greaves > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > >