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Phase 7 -- Fabricating the Wheel Tubs I want to make my own because I plan on using all red aluminum for the interior. If you buy a prefab set they will be plain aluminum and will only be .032 thick and I prefer to make them out of .040. I cut two pieces of material 8 ft long and 24 inches wide and bend a ¾ inch lip on one edge. This will be the top of the tub and allow me to make the tubs 40 inches in diameter and 23 inches wide. I cut another piece of material 24 inches by 40 inches and this will be the side of the tub. I use a pencil and 20 inch long string and draw a half a circle on this piece but leave the last 4 inches on each side straight. This will allow enough material to fill the dropped area of the frame when I install them.
I lay out and
drill 1/8 holes in this part so I can attach it to the edge of
the long part. I measure and mark the middle of the long sheet on
the bent edge and then use a tool called a pipe crimper, which is
for crimping the end of furnace pipe, to crimp the ¾ edge
starting at the middle of the material. As I crimp the edge it
will shrink and the sheet will begin to develop a radius to it. I
have used snips and cut this edge every inch and hand formed this
radius but it’s not as nice. I do this all the way around
the edge until I get to about a foot from the end of the sheet. I
find the middle of the side piece and match it to the middle of
the long sheet and drill a 1/8 hole through this part using the
side plate as a templet. I use a Cleco clip and attach the two
parts with it. A Cleco is a tool that lets you attach two pieces
of material through a 1/8 or 3/16 hole and is easily removable.
They are fantastic for doing sheet metal work or installing body
panels. If you can’t use clecos you can rivet instead. You
can bead roll the parts if you want to and remove the protective
coating before you rivet them which makes this easier. I keep
fitting the parts and fasten them as I go around the edge until I
have a tub. I use cardboard and make a cardboard tub from it. I
cut and fit the cardboard tub so it fits the body contour
properly then transfer this to the real tub and cut it. Use some
sense and think this out and it’s really pretty simple. Now
we have tubs. Main Page-The Plan Phase 2 -- Getting it Straight |
