Details, Details.

For instance, where was the spare wheel going to go? I decided on the driver’s side because the exhaust was going to run down the passenger side. It needed a bit of thought and as there isn’t a great deal of room in the cockpit, whatever I cam up with had to be simple and tidy.

The first thing was to make sure the bulkhead wasn’t going to move so these are the lower brackets. Then I made the top forward bracket in one piece to make sure the loads carried through and down the mounting tube.

Finally, the tube for the mounting of the hub was positioned.

And the lot tacked in situ. The hub was pinned to the cross tube so I could remove it to do the skinning (thinking ahead!)

I continued to wire up the instruments.

More anon.

Start at the Bottom..

…..and work upwards. The floor is 12mm ply. The cheek on the driver’s side was later removed and a blister put on the side to accommodate the accelerator. The cheek made the body too complicated – it would have worked in aluminium but not wood.

The main bulkheads are attached…

… and the shape begins to emerge.

The cockpit side rails are added. This is where I went completely wrong and had to do some major surgery a bit later on. Basically, I got the cockpit side height wrong.

Then, to brighten things up a bit, I did the aluminium for the dashboard. The engine turning was done by sacrificing an old pillar drill and sticking some Scotchbright on a flat tool. A pegged board kept the swirls in line. Do a rectangular panel and cut the shape out afterwards – an easy trick to miss if you’re over enthusiastic (how do I know this?) The sacrificial pillar drill also came in handy for scarfing the body panels but more of that later.

A steering wheel is also handy… The metal was laser cut; plywood applied to both sides of the rim and shaped with a spoke shave. Added later was the binding. It took 17 metres of cod line – more than I thought it would.

At this point some of the impossible-to-get-at-later stuff has to be done. This is the accelerator pedal bracket and lever.

And this is the steering column into which I introduced a universal joint from a Suzuki jeep to get the right angle on the wheel.

The panel electrics are also worth doing whilst you don’t have to lie upside down in the cockpit and have pairs of pliers and screwdrivers falling into your face.

Stringers are positioned and the bulkheads notched.

The fuel tank is positioned before the stringers are finalised….

….like so.

Then the body came off the jig and was wheeled out for a photograph.

It was at this point I realised where I’d gone wrong.

Aaaargh! It looks awful. Quick, wheel it back into the workshop and cover it in cardboard…

…. to get the lines right.

Then get the plywood on…

… so it looks as though it was always meant to be.

That’s the first one done, just the other side to do:

It’s a good game played slowly.

Getting Ahead…

… with the chassis involved a lot of cleaning and blasting.

But it was worth it when the shiny painted parts came back for assembly.

And slowly it all comes together.

Bit by bit.

Hubs and brakes.

Front axle.

And wheels.

So it can stand on its own four feet.

It’s looking good and time to start the woodwork.

In The Beginning….

… there was a 1938 Austin Ruby in the back of Counsel’s garage. It had been there for 25 or more years.

There was only one thing for it…..build the model

and get the spanners out.

It was a bit rusty,

there was a quantity of gloop resembling molasses in the diff..

but the chassis was fundamentally complete.

The internals were pretty good having been dry-stored..

..and being a late Ruby, cast iron drums and Girling brakes all round.

With everything dismantled, it was time for the blasting and painting.