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The Roofus Special

150K views 425 replies 50 participants last post by  MARTINSR 
#1 ·
What is the best thing you can do with a rotted out 1954 four door Caddillac?

Build a boat tail speedster!!!

First you gotta cut the roof off!



Then cut the skin free. ....and slice that down the middle



Then cut apart some old porch posts to recycle the free 1x1 tubing. Bend that into a shape that follows the curve of the roof. What the heck bend it so it makes the shape of a 30's Indy car.



Prop up half a roof and see what it looks like. Looks like the ROOFus Special to me.

 
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#2 ·
I can see it. ....keep going.

Throw the first subrail away and make 2 that have smoother curves. Prop up both sides, plop a cushion wher the seat will be and make race car noises.



Study the shape and draw where the cut out needs to be.



Grow some balls and quarter the roof



Its starting to look like a race car now!

 
#3 ·
Go buy a cheap wrecked old jaguar and part it out. Take the engine, trans, radiator, driveshaft, rear axle, front spindles, knock-off wire wheels, steering parts, gauges, switches, and title.

Plop the major parts down and see how they are gonna work with the new racecar body.







 
#10 ·
69ChevelleAddict said:
Looks like a state job to me, one guy working and at least 2 sitting around ;)
I really admire those who can build cars from scratch, such imagination and creativity.
One day, when I have a proper shop setup I'm going to have to try to give you guys a run for your money!

I wish I had a shop too. I drive 4 hours every other weekend to play in my dad's shop.
 
#11 ·
I didn't get nearly as much done as I had hoped.

The plywood sheet worked OK for mock-up, but it wasn't working well enough to build a real car.

I have a work bench that is almost big enough to build on, but it is buried under 4 years of grinder dust and misc accumulations. Half a day was spent cleaning off the table.

Finally got the table cleared an my subrails on the table. Table is about two feet too short for the body to fit. No problem. I built an outrigger to support the point of the boat tail.

Time to start building body structure out of 1x1. Square tubing may be great for building boxes, but it sucks for the complex shapes in this car. Got one hoop done in the rear body and tried to make a hoop for the cowl. Succeded in making lots of scrap out of 1x1 . On to plan B.

Make the cowl from 16 gauge flat sheet. This was my first real project with the horrible freight shrinker/stretcher. I think it went well. I think it would have been easier if I made my angle 1x1 instead of 1.5x1.5 (oh well).

Here are the pics.







 
#12 ·
I forgot to mention why the rear hoop is so far back. .....I think I cut the door opening too far forward. :confused:

I will wait until I get a little farther along before I finish out the door opening and seat area.

As it is now, it is a tight fit when you imagine pedals and a steering wheel. The current hoop allows the seat to come back 6 inches.
 
#13 ·
Did some to the cowl. Dash is gonna be high (33" from floor in center). I should be able to get away with a 4 inch tall windshield.

or however tall these little things are. (I'll make something similar)



Dealing with dial-up at parent's house. Only three pics for now. Kinda hard to tell what is going on, but the body flares out at the dash. Dash is 49" at widest point. Firewall is 43" wide.





 
#20 ·
Has anybody here ever built a car from scratch with no real plans? ....given yourself true artistic liberty?

I have a "list" of ideas and a huge library of influences of what makes a cool vintage racer, but nothing is down on paper. I have also given myself permission to change it if it needs to be changed.


It went from this


to this in a matter of moments




I think it works.





Right now the rear suspension/frame layout is a blank canvas from the seats back.






The rear of the car will be built around the suspension.

I have thought about a triangulated 4 link with the bottom bars on the outside of the body (attaching at the node just ahead of the quarter panel skin). The uppers would be inside the body.

I have also considered hairpins attaching at the same general location.


What would you build if you were not constrained by a traditional frame/floor layout?
 
#25 ·
So, what are the opinions on building a car without a traditional style frame under it?

Too early in the build to pass judgement?

Is this thing just too far out there?

There will be lots more angles installed before the plating begins. Some of the plating will probably be bead rolled for even more strength (and style).

 
#26 ·
First Roofus Special is a great name, gives me a smile every-time I think about it.

Love the way you are just picking up stuff and seeing the way it will fit the project.

As to no frame well plenty of unbodied cars out here so I would think you can make it work just fine ....
 
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