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 Post subject: Side panels
PostPosted: December 26, 2019, 2:43 pm 
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Joined: September 8, 2015, 1:32 pm
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Location: Atlanta Georgia
Question on how people do the side panels. I'll try to explain it best I can. For the front side panels i see alot of people bending them at the diagonal brace so the they can rivet the bottom edge to the bottom frame rail. I believe in the book i have it has you put a larger bottom bend so the the whole side panel stay vertical and is matched up with the nose cone sides.

What is the pro cons of the two methods? Not sure I like having g it folded along the brace. I want me panel to remain straight the whole length.


Thanks in advance for any input.


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 Post subject: Re: Side panels
PostPosted: December 26, 2019, 3:35 pm 
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Cukali wrote:
Question on how people do the side panels.

Why, we do them very well, thank you!

Cukali wrote:
I want me panel to remain straight the whole length.

Well there you go, you answered the question you were asking. You are building your car, you are in control, you are the one that makes the decisions you want. :cheers: :cheers:

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 Post subject: Re: Side panels
PostPosted: December 26, 2019, 3:58 pm 
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Like Perry said, don't build with the diagonal out of plane with the upper and lower rails and there will be no need for a bend.

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 Post subject: Re: Side panels
PostPosted: December 26, 2019, 4:20 pm 
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IIRC, original Sevens had a radius on the leading edge that matched the nose and the radius diminished to zero at the intersection of the diagonal and the lower rail. At the nose, there was a flange bent at 90 deg to stiffen up shape. That original radius is what I tried to emulate. I never paneled between the control arm mounts. If I were to extrapolate the radius growth up to the nose, they would match. I never had the need to bend the flange. I simply riveted the bottom of the panel to the lower face of the lower frame tube. You can see how my panel is mostly flat on the vertical. In the 2nd photo, you can see in the exhaust cutout area how the panel is mostly flat on the vertical and the lower radius is starting to diverge from the lower frame rail.

I'm not sure how that the diagonal could be built "in plane" with the upper and lower rails without some sort of bend/crease.

As already said, it is your car. Build it the way you want. We don't built exact replicas. Well, most of us don't.
Attachment:
Driver's side.JPG
Attachment:
pass side.JPG


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 Post subject: Re: Side panels
PostPosted: December 26, 2019, 5:18 pm 
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Location: Atlanta Georgia
horchoha wrote:
Cukali wrote:
Well there you go, you answered the question you were asking. You are building your car, you are in control, you are the one that makes the decisions you want. :cheers: :cheers:


There was only one question in there and I didnt answer it.


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 Post subject: Re: Side panels
PostPosted: December 26, 2019, 5:24 pm 
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rx7locost wrote:
IIRC, original Sevens had a radius on the leading edge that matched the nose and the radius diminished to zero at the intersection of the diagonal and the lower rail. At the nose, there was a flange bent at 90 deg to stiffen up shape. That original radius is what I tried to emulate. I never paneled between the control arm mounts. If I were to extrapolate the radius growth up to the nose, they would match. I never had the need to bend the flange. I simply riveted the bottom of the panel to the lower face of the lower frame tube. You can see how my panel is mostly flat on the vertical. In the 2nd photo, you can see in the exhaust cutout area how the panel is mostly flat on the vertical and the lower radius is starting to diverge from the lower frame rail.

I'm not sure how that the diagonal could be built "in plane" with the upper and lower rails without some sort of bend/crease.

As already said, it is your car. Build it the way you want. We don't built exact replicas. Well, most of us don't.
Attachment:
Driver's side.JPG
Attachment:
pass side.JPG



Thanks for the sample photos. So I get what your saying about the radius would have to taper....not I'd like it sharp cornered like that and the taper would be more complex to get in there. I think all bring a small piece of back from the nose cone and go ahead and bend the side panel at the diagonal. I think I'll mock up several paper examples.

Your photo was exactly what I was looking for.

Could I bother you for a front view looking through the a arms?

Thanks.


Last edited by Cukali on December 26, 2019, 5:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Side panels
PostPosted: December 26, 2019, 5:29 pm 
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Miatav8,MstrASE,A&P,F wrote:
Like Perry said, don't build with the diagonal out of plane with the upper and lower rails and there will be no need for a bend.


Well I've learned there is a big difference with wanting something and actually having it look good or be doable.

There must be pros and cons between the two options. Was just trying to weigh them.


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 Post subject: Re: Side panels
PostPosted: December 26, 2019, 7:47 pm 
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The tapered radius wasn't as hard as you might think. I did it all by hand. Certainly not any more difficult than forming the hood where the curves have to match both the scuttle and the nose radii.

This is the best photo showing the curve thru the a-arms. I no longer have the car so I cannot take any better photos.


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 Post subject: Re: Side panels
PostPosted: December 26, 2019, 8:53 pm 
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I bent a piece of 3/4" x 1/8" flat bar to match the back of my nose cone, then welded it to the chassis just behind the a arm mounts. Then I attached my front panel to the upper frame tube and the vertical tube at the firewall. Last I formed it by hand so that I had an increasing radius from front to back of the panel the front of it got riveted to my flatbar support.
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 Post subject: Re: Side panels
PostPosted: December 27, 2019, 8:06 am 
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To get the engine bay side panel with a decreasing radius for the nose cone back to the fire wall that ends in a sharper small radii corner, I made a buck with gradual decreasing half circles. The same buck works for both LH and RH sides. I made my panel start at the nose cone, and made holes with sub-flanges for the control arms and steering. The trick when bending the sheet is to be able clamp the length of the sheet down to a table top or large board to give you some leverage before bending it over the buck. davew


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 Post subject: Re: Side panels
PostPosted: December 28, 2019, 5:54 am 
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Cukali wrote:
Miatav8,MstrASE,A&P,F wrote:
Like Perry said, don't build with the diagonal out of plane with the upper and lower rails and there will be no need for a bend.


Well I've learned there is a big difference with wanting something and actually having it look good or be doable.

There must be pros and cons between the two options. Was just trying to weigh them.


Of course. No problem. What I am saying is, the diagonal brace does not need to touch the installed skin, even though the lower rails taper more than the upper rails and there is some twist to the panel. You could build it where the rails don't taper at all and be able to rivet to the diagonal without bending, do what Chuck did above, or build it like Champion in "the book" with round tube for the diagonal to get it away from the skin. The book also has patterns for the side panels.

Due to the server fail and no back up, your pics were lost from your build. You can re-add them the same way you did originally. Hopefully that won't happen again for another 20 or so years. :cheers:

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Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12


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