"Factory Look" aluminum door panels

[jakeb]

wow...really nice work. Just amazing!

What bead roller do you have?

[ponchis]

hey would really like to see your car, where in monterey? or how can i get ahold of you? thanks

[Shad]

Alfonso,

Shoot me an email and we can figure out a good time to get together. I'll be in the shop most of this weekend plugging away on her. (Sand City)

bimmerschmitt AT gmail DOT com

-shad

[Shad]

jakeb,

Sorry for the late reply:

I borrowed my friends bead roller for this project since the one my boss has at work didn't have the throat depth needed. It's a Central Machinery #34104 with 18 1/4" throat depth. They're available at Harbor Freight and have the quality you might expect from there. (Not the greatest) The arms would try to spread as I made my passes on the .040" so it was all about going slow and steady and keeping the panels supported to limit the amount of spreading. Also, the dies would shift a little with each pass, so constant readjustment was needed. Even with the 18" throat depth I had to make a couple of passes upside down for the diagonals on the trunk panels. Tedious patience required there.

As with any bead roller: run a couple of passes on some sample stock to make sure everything is working the way you want it to before you start on your final panels. They can be better as scissors than bead rollers if you don't watch out.

Bang for the buck it's a decent little gizmo to have around, and with anything: patience is the key.

HTH

-shad

[Shad]

I fabbed a naca duct cover and screen yesterday for the hood. Mainly to keep the clag out of the airbox and facilitate easier clean up after an event weekend. More selfishly: i wanted it for the "Bimmerschmitt" look I'm going for. (yes I've gone 'round the bend...) If the screen is blocking too much air then it can be removed. When the time comes we'll test with and without to see if there's any noticable difference.

edit: The rivets will be painted after all the fabrication is done. That's a job for the nephews and neices!

[Shad]

final assemby pics:

[alp]

just some door panels a friend makes......

he is based in Texas.

http://www.bigwigracecars.com/home.htm

[Shad]

Those are really nice. I love the quilting effect he's getting. I'm guessing he's using more than a harbor freight roller. ;-)

Thanks for sharing.

-shad

[Shad]

Been busy with family as of late, finally got back into the shop these past two days and whipped up some rear window hold downs. Of course I had to stripe them to match.

Progress is progress...

-s