Building on Lotus 7 principles

[Iain Hall]

Just sort of recovered from the weekend away going to the Nambour Swap where I managed to pick up a couple of very useful things for the teardrop. Most notable being a nice two burner + grill stove which will be perfect for the job. I also can thank both of my brothers for the lovely stainless steel counter top I now have in place. Firstly My brother Peter gave it to my brother Dave who then was easily convinced that my need was greater than his own so He passed it onto me No I had to take about 50mm of the back and 12mm off one side and a couple of notches off the back corners so that it would fit But it just looks fantastic. On top of that My other brother Robbyn came through with a great old ex army "cooler" originally used in field Kitchens to store hot or cold food It Has a dent on the back of the lid and really scrappy Army green paint but it should look really smart once the old Army Green paint has been stripped off and the alloy body polished up a bit

[Vedette]

Your build is wonderful!
But, I am very partial to Teardrops not made of plywood or foam.....and I Love Morris 8 wheels.
So where are you? Not on the North American Continent
Thanks so much for sharing this build with us, and keep up the GREAT work!
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[frosty]

Looking good!. You have got the 'shape' looking as it should.

Haven't built mine yet .... just at the very beginning of lots of reading and planning, so will watch with interest. :-)

cheers

[KCStudly]

I was curious about location, too, so I looked up the mentioned swap meet. He's located near Brisbane, Australia.

[Iain Hall]

Vedette

Your build is wonderful!

I'm pretty pleased with how its turning out too!

But, I am very partial to Teardrops not made of plywood or foam.....and I Love Morris 8 wheels.

I'm with you on the love of using non traditional build styles, I have a Morris 8 that I I have a Morris minor engine in Its a LOOOOOOOOOng way from being finished but the vague plan is to be able to tow the tear with on occasion... that said I've loved reading your own build thread of your utterly unique creation

So where are you? Not on the North American Continent

Right I'm just north of Brisbane Australia on a hill over looking Morten bay in a place called "Ocean View"

Thanks so much for sharing this build with us, and keep up the GREAT work!

Thanks very much for the encouragement!
frosty

Looking good!. You have got the 'shape' looking as it should.

I agonized about getting the shape and stance right because I really wanted to get the right sort of style thing happening more than anything so in the end I went to the the original 1947 Mechanix article and took the best aspects of that design and added it to what I subsequently decided could be done with the curves I can roll with my machine and still fit with using 8x 4 sheets of ply for cladding

Haven't built mine yet .... just at the very beginning of lots of reading and planning, so will watch with interest. :-)

You are quite close to me geographically so feel free to PM me and we can chat on the phone if you want to talk about building YOU own tear If you want to have a custom chassis welded up for yours or even have me make a space frame like mine I am open to that and my fees would be quite reasonable...

Now for a couple more pictures showing today's progress because I have the beginnings of a hatch frame!!!!!



C

[KCStudly]

It's looking good and appears as though you are still managing to keep the weight down, despite building with steel. Good work.

[Iain Hall]

KCStudly

The biggest weight saving comes from not having a heavy perimeter frame or doubling up on structure to support the floor that seems to be the general practice in Tear construction. That said though my Galley bench has knocked back some of my weight savings off! its a bit heavier than I would have liked but I just love how it looks! I am also won over by the use of duragal steel because it won't have to be painted which will save me a great deal of time and ensure that when I glue lining and skins on with sikaflex I won't be relying the paint coating for adhesion. frankly I am really looking forward to the next phase of lining and fitting out just for a change of pace if nothing else

[noseoil]

Ian, beautiful job on the build. Have fun with the walls, looks like a bit of trimming & marking are coming soon. Are you planning on some insulation between the frame & skins?

[Iain Hall]

Ian, beautiful job on the build. Have fun with the walls, looks like a bit of trimming & marking are coming soon. Are you planning on some insulation between the frame & skins?

Yeah I'm planning on using polystyrene as insulation in the walls and ceiling I am collecting broccoli boxes at present because their walls are the right thickness and they each yield about a square meter of usable insulation per box and they are free from my fruit shop.

For the lining I will be using thin ply that I will mark out by holding it up to the out side of the frames and marking it out with a pencil and then cutting it out with a jig saw My brother Robbyn is going to help with that because he is the router man and he tells me he can do a final trim with it while I keep thinking that spinning router bit will not like meeting steel frame even with a bearing guide!

Any how I spent yesterday making two more Chassis because My brother Pete wants one and so does his mate Don and today I expect to have two New friends friends for my Tear that will be built at the same time, These ones will be single door jobs the same shape as mine but running a commercial axle and 14inch wheels rather than my vintage Morris wheels.


Chassis 003

Chassis 002

almost enough curves to make two sets of profiles

This tear drop building thing is infectious!

[Iain Hall]

yesterday My brother peter and I manged to make the foundations for two more Teardrops

[Iain Hall]

More progress on two tears being made for my brother and his mate


yes its starting to look like they are -Breeding!

The one for may brother is actually about 100mm longer than mine

[frosty]

Thanks for the kind offer Iain ~ appreciated.
I am located near Woombye / Nambour.
On your homemade roller ~ can you explain how that works please :-)

cheers

[Iain Hall]

The principle of the roller is quite simple really there are two fixed points with bearings that allow the tube to roll between them and there is a third roller in the middle that can be screwed down and this roller is turned with the central wheel because of the pressure of the central roller as you turn the wheel the tube moves and each pass puts a curve into the tube. You keep rolling the tube back and forth until it has your desired curve.


I'm at Ocean View just north of Dayboro BTW

[Iain Hall]

Is this a milestone?
Anyway I now have my hatch on its own struts

Image Description
By putting my top mount below the frame it creates an over center action that makes the struts try to close the hatch rather than lift it which is the ideal situation

[Iain Hall]

My guards were starting to rust so when I had to remove them I cleaned them up with a flap wheel and used a tiny bit of bog on the join then I undercoated them

The wheels that I currently have on the trailer have 50 year old tyres on them so I have restored another pair from my collection and painted them Green I have some NOS motorcycle tires that will be fitted next week

To work out my window placement I have used cable ties to suspend the bicycle rims I will split to make the dress rims for the windows