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The Rouster Indy Roadster

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rharman

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Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
8,860
Location
SoCal
I've been wanting to ask this and I'm genuinely interested so please don't take it the wrong way.

How much of a build like this is "engineered" and how much is "seat of the pants"? I'm thinking CG, stresses, suspension angles, braking, steering, etc.

Thanks.
 
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cornfield customs

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Joined
Oct 19, 2012
Messages
115
Location
Milford OHIO
rharman said:
I've been wanting to ask this and I'm genuinely interested so please don't take it the wrong way.

How much of a build like this is "engineered" and how much is "seat of the pants"? I'm thinking CG, stresses, suspension angles, braking, steering, etc.

Thanks.
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to be honest they go hand in hand. on something like this that is all hand made an one off you have to engineer the pieces as you go. usually figuring things out by the seat of your pants, engineering it as you go, then testing based on knowledge of suspension, steering, brakes. but also a lot if is normal, like torsion bar rates, suspension geometry, brake systems, steering design. those are the same as on other cars, you just have to figure out how to fit it i the car, make it look good, and make it look like it was meant to be there, not an after thought.
 
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Mr onetwo

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Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Messages
2,010
Location
Coastal Maine
gte718p said:
The wooden buck is very similar to how I make carbon fiber race cars and boats. My preference is to fill all the voids with foam and then shape it, but in a pinch I have just stapled fleece to the wood, and covered it with epoxy. A coat of bondo and some sanding and you have a great male mold. Depending on what you want out of the final part, you can either then make a female mold, or just layup the part on the male mold.

I love the connection between older classic techniques and new technology.
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gte...next time you start something like this would you consider starting a thread with lots of photos detailing your process?I think it would be very interesting!
 
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cornfield customs

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Oct 19, 2012
Messages
115
Location
Milford OHIO
a little more progress for the past few days

got the external oil tank shaped, and all welded up







more fine tuning on the tail section pieces, working to get the light lines all squared away and wavy spots worked out



got another low crown panel roughed in, this one is the hood area of the car



 
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gte718p

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Mar 12, 2009
Messages
3,977
Mr onetwo said:
gte...next time you start something like this would you consider starting a thread with lots of photos detailing your process?I think it would be very interesting!
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I would love to. However, don't hold your breath. I moved to Hawaii a couple of months ago. Most of my equipment is in storage or sold. My "shop" is a 42 square foot closet. I don't see it happening again for several years. My background is solar car racing. I will see if I can find any of the old builds and start a thread. Unfortunately I never did a great job documenting the work. I find composites and camera do not mix well.
 
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cornfield customs

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Joined
Oct 19, 2012
Messages
115
Location
Milford OHIO
so i have not been on here in a good while, just been busy with life and the shop, but we have started making good head way on the body going on the chassis.





















wasnt really happy with the way the windshield cowling piece was looking. looked more like and early sprint car, so i modified it



small cowling to deflect air away from injector opening



and a couple pics of me on the hammer making parts for it



 
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tarmy

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Joined
May 28, 2014
Messages
4,690
Location
Nor Cal
Amazing work...and the patience to put it together...

Out of curiosity...how many man hours does a custom build like that take...roughly...?

Beautiful craftsmanship...
 
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cornfield customs

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Joined
Oct 19, 2012
Messages
115
Location
Milford OHIO
a little more progress. got the driver side of the upper **** pit made, then moved onto shaping the other side of the windscreen cowling





also got the **** pit fresh air vent scoop cleco'd on, and notched the cowling around it. not 100% sure why these were on the cars since it was an open cockpit, but my guess was to help keep driver cool from engine and trans heat











hope to keep updates coming on this one. plan is to habe the body all tacked up and kinda hammered back out by detroit
 
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NASTYZEN

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Joined
Jun 11, 2010
Messages
2,823
Location
St-Colomban,Que. Canada
Your project is just awesome and looks to be coming along just fine. Thank you for posting. I hope you realize the talent you have and are getting well paid for your work.
Keep those cups on your ears. All the great pannel beaters I know are deaf...
What?
 
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cornfield customs

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Oct 19, 2012
Messages
115
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Milford OHIO
so i have really been thrashing on the body on this car lately. most weeks in work on other jobs in the shop in the mornings and this one in the afternoons. part of last week and this week i have been full tilt on it trying to get it to look presentable for some of the upcoming indoor shows i will be attending with this in tow. so i changed up the tail area quite a bit so i threw out all the pieces i had already made, and designed new. i used foam board glued together coated with body filler to make a quite solid buck to check the design. then started going to town on panels. wont post a ton of those pics unless requested since i am going to be posting a ton of pics already in this post.

so after starting to rough out some of the new tail we rolled the car out side to to get the first real look at the car with a lot of its top skins.





ok now for some fun stuff

shaping the pass side of the head cowl. went with mallet and lead bag to get the shape beat into the panel

















using the rubber wheel to add the form to the planished panel








then it was time to start welding and finishing the panels







fuse tacked the piece together before welding solid

















got some welding done on some of the other body panels as well







making the last panel for top of the tail



should be making for progress this weekend and week so i will try to post up again
 
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iajonesy

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Joined
Feb 8, 2009
Messages
2,467
Location
Iowa
Yes indeed !!!!!!!!!!! I admire the guys on here that can turn flat stock into compound curved panels and make it look easy and perfect at the same time. If I had the money, I'd be having one of these guys build my Chevy p/u doing their magic on it.

Mike
 
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kbs2244

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Joined
Nov 11, 2006
Messages
14,065
" went with mallet and lead bag to get the shape beat into the panel"
That says tons about your kind of work!
I didn't know the kind of thing was still around in this day of CNC machines.

You are going need a PIC of A. J. Foyt behind the car to prove the point.
 
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cornfield customs

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Oct 19, 2012
Messages
115
Location
Milford OHIO
been working on this a lot the past few weeks. i was not really happy with the shape of the nose so i decided to re do it.

had to make a new buck, this one i made to fit on the car to make sure i liked the looks as i went







used some masking tape to check the shape on the corners





the driver side rough shaped



passenger side of the nose after shrinking





after a little blending



using more tape to lay out light lines to mark them on the panel for fine tuning and planishing





after that was addressed i could move onto the bottom half of the passenger side







then i could move into welding the top and bottom together and putting the nostril in place







 
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Bopbop

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Joined
May 25, 2016
Messages
180
Location
Savannah,Ga
That looks really good. I have been watching the work on your facebook page. One day I want to attend one of yours and Yocum's classes
 
J

jayoldschool

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Joined
Apr 23, 2006
Messages
2,121
Location
Canada
When this thread started, I thought, "that wide two seater is going to look terrible"... I was very wrong.

Nice work, can't wait to see the rest.
 
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cornfield customs

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Oct 19, 2012
Messages
115
Location
Milford OHIO
i know i have been silent on this project for a while, things have just been busy with it and other stuff. anywho, we are hoping to finish up the metal work on the car this week. as of now we just have to button up 2 belly pans, mount tail lights, and some dzus fasteners. here are some pics of it out side from today. excuse all the dirty finger prints all over it, and it still needs sanded to get the texture even across the entire car













 
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Perrorojo

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Joined
Jun 8, 2012
Messages
1,766
Location
Northern IN
cornfield customs said:
i know i have been silent on this project for a while, things have just been busy with it and other stuff. anywho, we are hoping to finish up the metal work on the car this week. as of now we just have to button up 2 belly pans, mount tail lights, and some dzus fasteners. here are some pics of it out side from today. excuse all the dirty finger prints all over it, and it still needs sanded to get the texture even across the entire car













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Fantastic.

Sent from my XT1710-02 using The Garage Journal mobile app
 
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cornfield customs

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Joined
Oct 19, 2012
Messages
115
Location
Milford OHIO
1/2 Cup said:
cornfield customs keep it in the raw aluminium.:thumbup:

Would it be too much to polish it?
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yes way yo much to polish. it would probably take another month to metal finish it enough to polish it out. when it comes to a polished body it has to be damn near perfect and this one if far from it. brushed finished will hide a lot of sins but still allow the car to look good raw and wont be thought to be fiberglass like it would if it were painted
 
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