Project WidowMaker - The Chevelle Build Thread

[ponjohn]

Aaaa-mazing!!

[GrnDragon]

You are doing some HIGH END body work there in your garage!!!
The gaps look great, and the best part is you are doing it all yourself.
My dad is the best body man I know, so he really crutches me getting better at body work (but he lives 700 miles away now so I guess it is time).

[seancarole]

Looks like you got down wanna due my 71 & 68 ??? Looking Good

[The WidowMaker]

thanks for the compliments guys!!!!

Look into Spectra Chrome (I think that's the name). I've heard it goes on over everything even bondo and looks great. The monster truck Grave Digger's body was done completely in it.

thanks for the tip. im still not sure what i want. the plan has always been for brushed bumpers. i have to see if thats possible with any of the chrome paint products. but, i still think the spray aluminum powder is going to be the easiest if i want brushed.

[The WidowMaker]

i finished up the center of the bumper today. a skim coat of filler when its painted or sprayed with aluminum and it will be good. i plan to work the corners when the grille is finished. i dont want to do those since i have a feeling ill move the bumper a little to fit the grille.

i also called up seat belts plus today and found that they switched suppliers from beams to seat belt solutions last year. a call to them and i found out that the webbing is made in the USA along with assembly and most parts. just little pieces in the retractor are made overseas. im going to finally finish my decision and get the belts this week.

[Motown 454]

That looks so different with that done. Very nice.

[The WidowMaker]

Thanks!

the grille material came in and i finished the front pieces for the bumper intakes. they started life as 2 1.5" 8lb chunks and ended at less than a lb. ive got ~10 hours into the 2 pieces. the next two should be easier since there arent as many angles. if the bumper was straight up and down on the front i could have saved half that time.

ill have some pictures up on monday. i also came up with a few new ideas for the grille that will make it easier but more time consuming to fab. i will hit the metal shop again on wednesday.

[sr73bu]

Outstanding work! All this detailed work is going to look amazing together as a final package...Keep it up!

-Sean

[craigs73]

Your doing a awesome job.…… I bet after cars all said and done no ones gonna believe you built this car in your garage!!!!

[The WidowMaker]

does anybody have any info on leds? my plan is to use 1" of the 3.5"s in the inserts for for amber led light strips that will function as my forward turn signals. ill then cover that with some sort of prismatic diffuser and then a clear plexiglass. this will all be behind the hexagon mesh. currently im looking at the smd5050's and will run 2 6" strips per light. this will get me 18 leds of ~6 lumens each for ~110 total (2000-2500 mcd 120* conversion). the best info i could find put the stock amber bulb or the white bulb through the amber lense at ~80 lumens. the mesh is only 70% open so it will kill some light. im trying to come up with the best design possible that will get me the most visible forward projection. ive also looked at the side projection strips that would either allow more leds, or possibly building in some sort of reflector behind the leds since they wont take up as much space.

also, any good sources? i found these and they have good reviews, just not really sure. http://www.ledlightsworld.com/smd-50...eds-p-135.html

[The WidowMaker]

i bought the leds last night. i ended up getting them from ledlightsworld.com. i looked into superbrightleds and found a bunch of people unhappy with the length of time they would last. no bad reviews on the other company. they should be here some time early next week.

i taped (literally) in the inserts this afternoon. i could have cut the hole around the existing one, but i wanted them centered in the bumper a little more. i will have to come back and fill in the top. i am also trying to decide how to mount them. the two choices are either a visible fastner from the front, or hide them all in the back. after that, the outside corners need to be rounded and i need to figure out what sort of profile i want on them.

i started on the second piece of the inserts today. i will cut them to size and get them mounted to the first piece on wednesday. i'll have to wait until i get the leds before i hog out the inside.

i also finalized my design for the grille. like anything and everything else, its way more complicated than i initially thought. if you view it from the side its actually tilted ~6.5* forward at the top. i knew this going in but the plan was to build it vertical since i thought the outsides were vertical. turns out the outsides are also tilted forward the same amount, so the grille is getting built with that angle in mind. it now means instead of setting up the mill vertical, i have to mill everything on an angle. i'll take a bunch of pics and let you all know how it goes.

here are some pics of the inserts. there is a little slop to get them straight. still not sure what i want to reference level off of. the bumper on the inside edge of the inserts is taller than 8" further out. this keeps screwing with my eyes and making me think theyre crooked.


you can see they arent perfectly flush and the top portion of the original hole needs to be filled. the bumper will need a little work until it is.

[dusterbd13]

id say go with what looks right to the eye for setting them up. if theyre level, but look crooked, theyre still crooked to the eye. get what i mean?

[devwil68]

its really coming along! looking great.

[The WidowMaker]

if theyre level, but look crooked, theyre still crooked to the eye. get what i mean?

completely. problem was my wife thought they were tipped one way and my eyes saw another. and i thought we'd finally agree on something.

[Nick.V70]

Man that bumper looks AWESOME Tim!!!

[The WidowMaker]

heres the first piece of the grille. now i just need to makes the sides and i can start assembly. i also wish i had a mill (or talent) that allowed me to make pieces that didnt need any cleanup. theres obviously very little slop in the mill, but very little is still too much.

[SShep71]

If you want less cleanup and a cleaner finish you should look into a larger face mill with replaceable inserts. Then turn the RPM's up a little remember (cutting speed x4 /diameter). Also check the index of the mill head, and ensure it is within .0005 of the opposite side. Just remember your not a CNC, manual machining always takes some polishing. A indexible insert with a larger cutting edge radius will produce a smoother finish.

[SShep71]

P.S. The majority of mills I have ever come across have "split nuts" that allow for tightening of the ways and drive/lead screws to take the "slop" out of the mill

[The WidowMaker]

If you want less cleanup and a cleaner finish you should look into a larger face mill with replaceable inserts. Then turn the RPM's up a little remember (cutting speed x4 /diameter). Also check the index of the mill head, and ensure it is within .0005 of the opposite side. Just remember your not a CNC, manual machining always takes some polishing. A indexible insert with a larger cutting edge radius will produce a smoother finish.

P.S. The majority of mills I have ever come across have "split nuts" that allow for tightening of the ways and drive/lead screws to take the "slop" out of the mill

thanks for the suggestions. im still learning so any and all tips really help. ive looked into the indexable insert cutters and im thinking about picking one up. unfortunately i cant turn the speed up any more. i need to do some calcs and find the actual speed now. ive been trying to use a 1" cutter to take advantage of a little more speed as well.

i do have the abilty to adjust the table, but they are worn where they were heavily used (1943 machine for hughes aircraft). if i tighten them up too much in the middle they are tight on the outside. my quill and knee are VERY good though, at least for my specs.

[SShep71]

If you can look into a 4" face mill. The diameter would bring your speed up a lot, and you can get a used one on ebay for a pretty reasonable price. Unfortunately thats the problem with any machinery, not just old stuff. The ways get worn in the typical spots. You should ask at one of the machine shops that rebuilds them. To have the ways scraped (ground) may only cost a few hundred bucks, but its cheaper than buying a different mill. Machinery isnt that hard to rebuild either. If you have any questions or need a few tips and cheats let me know. Im only down in San Diego so if you needed the help im only a short ride away. Plus I wanna see this car up close.