Well, things are moving along in the planning stages and thanks to my friend Alan (CatsX11) I've now got all of the measurements I need...I think.... to transform the 427 shell into a 289. He's managed to scale everything up from photos that I sent him & has given me all of the dimensions that I was unsure of...... Thanks again Alan
It's just soooo much harder trying to research all of this from photos instead of having an actual car to walk around & study/measure. I know that I'm making things harder for myself by buying a 427 shell, but I really do enjoy a challenge & having something that makes me think about how to solve problems, I must be mad
Now I've got the measurements, I've made a start start making the lower "letterbox" grille apperture for the front valance, well I was, except I've now had to stop to do "household" stuff grr!!. Because this shell is going to be the buck for the aluminium body, I don't really need to make this piece or fit it to the car, as it'll be made in ali when the shell is being made. I just thought I'd make a quick one from a bit of old steel, just so that I can see what it's going to look like & see if there are any aesthetic problems, before it's made in aluminium. you'll notice that I've added a piece of round bar to the bottom edge to help it hold its curvature.
This is how it looks at the moment & I'll post up the photos of how I did this shortly.
[IMG]
[/IMG]
[IMG]
[/IMG]
Going from Alans measurements, my 427 shell is just under 2" (in old money) wider per side across the rear arches than the 289 shell of 39PH and the tail lights are a similar distance too wide. I now need to plan the best places to cut this so that I end up with a minimal amount of repair work to do, without losing the shape. Planning ,planning, planning, measure, measure cut once.
cheers..Nige