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Notso Special Body Assembly - More Than One Way To Skin A CarOur Race Car/Street Car Finally Gets Clothes, And A Name: The Notso Special From the November, 2012 issue of Rod & Custom By Kev Elliott
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[1] This is where we left... [1] This is where we left off after installing the steering and pedal assemblies. The cowl sides were in place, bolted to 1/4-inch steel floor sections, and the rear panel was held in place by a couple lengths of 1/2-inch box section, bent to follow the door and rear quarter-panel lines of a stock roadster pickup (thanks to Don Lindfors for allowing me to measure one in his shop!). It occurred to Editor Fortier and myself at a recent editorial meeting (yeah, we do actually get in the office and do serious magazine-type work, occasionally!) that this series of tech articles has no continuously running name, so, given that I’m English and back in the day race cars similar to this would have been referred to as “specials” over the pond, I’m gonna give it the working title of “The Notso Special”. I can’t take credit for the pun though—I borrowed the name from a car built by a member of the UK’s Low Flyers back in the late ’80s, though I suspect it had been used before that! Up to this point in the build, it’s been easier to get things done without the body panels being in the way, especially since, with a rollcage to contend with, access to the interior would be limited. However, I’d reached a point where in order to progress, I’d have to assemble the body. Yep, the pickup cab didn’t come assembled, but it’s not exactly the hardest of puzzles to solve, especially once the cowl is in place and square on the chassis. Of course, I’d already done this. Now, if you’ve been following the build, or indeed, my other projects, you’ll know I like to make things difficult for myself, so once the body was assembled, I cut the rear of it into pieces. The reason for this was to move the seats back into the pickup bed. I’ve built a Model A roadster in the past, and know I don’t fit in one, and wanted to be as low and as comfortable as possible in this car, with plenty of legroom. This means, although I fully intend to drive the car on the street, it won’t be legal for the SCTA Street Roadster Class with the modified body. With that being the case, I figured I may as well take advantage of the aerodynamic aids offered by competing in Modified Roadster, especially given my choice of engine! As I’ve said before, you’ve got to build the car to fit the rule book. It’s a long way to Bonneville just to be turned away on a technicality! Right, let’s get on with assembling the body from Nostalgia Speed & Cycle, shall we?  [2] Nostalgia Speed & Cycle...  [2] Nostalgia Speed & Cycle supplied all the panels, including door hinges, so the first job was to hang the doors. Armed with numerous measurements taken from a stock body, I then welded more 1/4-inch steel to the framerails and bolted the rear quarters in place in the same manner as the cowl sides. Model As are more forgiving than most cars, as the doors overlap the adjacent panels, meaning gaps aren’t so critical!  [3] It pays to have plenty...  [3] It pays to have plenty of clamps at a time like this! The cowl top and header were clamped in position next.  [4] See what I mean about...  [4] See what I mean about clamps? I like to clamp everything before bolting or welding anything, as the panels can be moved if necessary up to this point.  [5] Though the cowl top and...  [5] Though the cowl top and side panels could simply be bolted together, I reused the stock clamps from my spare original cowl, as they locate the panels as near to the outer skin as possible.  [6] With the cab assembled,...  [6] With the cab assembled, I tack-welded the doors to the quarters, and welded a length of 1/2-inch box section across the top of the B-posts to keep everything square before moving onto the pickup bed. An original, found at a swap meet, it’s allegedly from an R&C feature car from the late ’50s, but had seen better days. After bracing it, I removed the front panel, …  [7] … trimmed the sides for...  [7] … trimmed the sides for rearend and crossmember clearance, and mocked it in place. I then marked the rear of the cab for cutting. (Note the use of masking tape for this.)  [8] With the center of the...  [8] With the center of the cab rear panel removed, I was able to mock the seats in place, not only to determine a comfortable driving position, but also to check for driveshaft clearance in the center and rollcage tubing clearance on each side.  [9] The seats are aluminum...  [9] The seats are aluminum Kirkey items, sourced from Speedway Motors, and are supplied with cutouts for race harnesses. Just like having plenty of clamps, various lengths and sizes of wood are invaluable at the mock-up stage! Note the bracing in the body, yet still allowing access to try the seat for fit.  [10] Once the seating position...  [10] Once the seating position was determined, the rear panel could be mocked in its new position. This ended up being 9 inches farther back than stock. I now braced the body diagonally, as I no longer needed to get into the car.  [11] With the length of the...  [11] With the length of the cab now known, I could fabricate the shoulder bar of the cage structure. This would run parallel with the top of the body panels. I made a template from more 1/2-inch steel box.  [12] The bend halfway along...  [12] The bend halfway along the door corresponds to where the steering wheel is on the other side of the car, offering as much clearance between the tubing and wheel as possible.  [13] I removed the rear panel...  [13] I removed the rear panel and substituted it with a temporary structure to which the shoulder bar could be clamped, then removed the template and bent the tubing to match. Once again, Circle City Hot Rods allowed me to use their bender.  [14] With the tubing bent...  [14] With the tubing bent to shape, I didn’t want to mess up the notching and render it scrap, so I made this template with which to determine the angle at which the notches had to be cut. Halfway between the left and right marks is where the notch would be vertical, meaning once the tubing was in the notcher, I simply had to rotate it until the left or right marks were at the top to attain the angle needed, depending on which side I was notching.  [15] Tacked into place, and...  [15] Tacked into place, and supported on a length of 1-inch box on each side until I install the vertical tubes, I could remove the supporting structure and body braces once I’d tack-welded the body sides to the shoulder bar.  [16] Visible to the right...  [16] Visible to the right of this picture are the temporary seat mounts, as I had to bolt the seat in placed in order to fabricate a Funny Car–style rollcage template, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The vertical plate with three holes mounts the front of the pickup bed, using the stock mounting bracket holes in the lower bed sides.  [17] I used the sheetmetal...  [17] I used the sheetmetal brake at CCHR to bend the edges of these panels, which at 9 inches wide will form the extensions for the cab sides. A somewhat cruder method was used to form the steps required at the bottom of each panel, necessary to clear the curve of the pickup bed sides. The notch visible on the upper panel is to clear the shoulder bar.  [18] Here are the almost-finished...  [18] Here are the almost-finished panels with a return edge at the bottom. You can see here how the panel has to come in to clear the bed sides, which cannot be altered whichever SCTA class the car will run in. If the bed sides were trimmed any farther than this, the modifications would be visible from the outside.  [19] This shot gives a better...  [19] This shot gives a better idea of the final result, with the cab rear panel clamped in place. Note also, the diagonal tubing has been tacked in, as I’d made the cage pattern by now.  [20]  [21] A holesaw was used to...  [21] A holesaw was used to make access in the lower side panels, in order to reach the bed mounting bolts. The horizontal section of floor to the left is actually part of the cab rear panel, and will be removed.  [22] I’ll re-install the bed...  [22] I’ll re-install the bed front panel here, 9 inches aft of the original.  [23] Here’s a clearer view...  [23] Here’s a clearer view of the shoulder bar and body corner interference problem …  [24] … and here’s my solution,...  [24] … and here’s my solution, though I have yet to finish the top section. So far I haven’t submitted this for SCTA approval. If it passes, I’ll weld it in place; if not, I’ll make it removable. Obviously I have to add more tubing between the seat and the corner of the body lower down, otherwise this section of body would be inside the rollcage structure.  [25] Here’s what the cab corner...  [25] Here’s what the cab corner looks like from inside the car.  [26] Once I’d fabricated forward...  [26] Once I’d fabricated forward mounts for the upper suspension links, I could start fabricating the rear cab floor and transmission tunnel.  [27] The finished section...  [27] The finished section of floor, and the rear panel in place for almost the final time.  [28] With the sheetmetal taken...  [28] With the sheetmetal taken care of, I can now concentrate on finishing the rollcage structure, and installing the fuel cell, battery, and bed floor.
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