Work is progressing on the Silva Maco

6-24 progress with bumper in place

EXCELLENT!!!

6-24 progress with bumper in place

Looking good Tim, keep up the good work.

6-24 progress with bumper in place

Lookin' great !!!!!!!!!!!

6-24 progress with bumper in place

Thanks you guys... I really appreciate the encouragement. Today I did some fine-tuning in the lower valence/headlamp bezel areas (almost completely done there) and made the turn around the corner to the front lower fender areas. I still have to permanently affix the actual headlamp buckets (part to which the actual headlamp bolts) to the car via glass (they have been temped in with a bracket thusfar), do that final blending, and then measure the wheel openings for symmetry and fine tune if needed... then, it's ready for the gel coat... really getting close now. I think it will be into gel coat within three weeks.

~Tim

6-27-2009 Front end virtually complete (less grille)

I hope you all like the look of this as much as I do... Ok, for all practical purposes, the nose is finished. I still have to fabricate a grille, and weld mounting studs onto the back of the bumper, as well as finish the backside of the headlamp bezels (for a fully built-in look with the nose tilted open), but the overall work and shaping is done.

I've installed the headlamps and trim rings to give you an idea of the overall look. I love it. I will be sending it off for a media blast and gel coat in the next week or two. The bumper still requires some fill-in welding, then polish and plate, but is "in shape" and temporarily mounted onto the nose.

Enjoy!

~Tim

6-27-2009 Front end virtually complete (less grille

Big improvement over what you started with. Great job.

6-27-2009 Front end virtually complete (less grille

Ya know................... this will make some great "before and after" pix !!! Keep the updates coming ! Rick

6-27-2009 Front end virtually complete (less grille

Looks like they belong there. /:\

6-27-2009 Front end virtually complete (less grille

Hi- And you were going to keep the fugly lites! This looks like the sketch on the cover of the silva catalog if Im not mistaken, a red car.
Im wondering about the inside lites, should they be lower? Im looking at a picture, and straight on. In real lufe it could be different esp from a standing position.
What I dont understand is how you used one bumper? Do you know about how much you had to add?

Looking good, thats for sure.
Skip

6-27-2009 Front end virtually complete (less grille

Hi- And you were going to keep the fugly lites! This looks like the sketch on the cover of the silva catalog if Im not mistaken, a red car.
Im wondering about the inside lites, should they be lower? Im looking at a picture, and straight on. In real lufe it could be different esp from a standing position.
What I dont understand is how you used one bumper? Do you know about how much you had to add?

Looking good, thats for sure.
Skip

Thank you, Skip.

The lights are right down on the lower valence, so they can't physically go any lower in the opening. A bit of the lamp will be obscured by the bumper, but not nearly as much as it seems to be in the photo perspectives... maybe 12-15% or so of the top edge of the bulb. They should provide plenty of light, but from what I hear there not legal down that low anyhow, so it's somewhat of a moot point.

With regards to the bumper, I cut a "V"-shaped piece out of the apex to allow the bumper to close and follow the angle of the nose. After tack-welding that into position, I cut a series of small "V"-shaped pieces from the area located at the edge turns, and opened the bumper up so the ends would wrap around the car. I had to remove maybe 3/16" of material from the backside of those ends so they'd get around the car. Once they fit, I welded in some filler metal to restore the surface and contour of the bumper. Also, I cut all the factory mounting brackets and hardware out of it before I began, as well as removing the entire lower "tab" extensions found on the underside of the bumper. It is purely cosmetic, and will mount on the nose fiberglass via threaded studs, so I wanted to lighten it as much as possible to prevent fiberglass cracking in that area.

While I've always intended to do a Silva-styled polished aluminum slat grille, I'm playing with some different options... one would be enlongating the grille to fill the entire opening, placing the headlamps behind the grille. Another is making an "air box" to fit the center nose opening, with a mesh grille at the back... kind of GT40-ish, Jaguar-ish, Cobra-ish. I'd probably anodize it black in that event. The entire lower valence area including the headlamp bezels will be painted body color, so it will have a fantastic built-in look... I think it would really further the "road racer" look, if I were to lower the stance of the car, etc. Not sure... I think I'll mock both up out of poster board and just see what moves me the most.

~Tim

6-27-2009 Front end virtually complete (less grille

Hi-=Gee, I wonder if Silva only used one bumper on my car? Im going to have to look on the back next time its off. One idea, if it appeals to you is to use plexiglas slats in clear or smoke over the lites as an extension of the grille bars. A few customs in the 50s did this. Well, they also used kitchen cabinet pulls and made grilles from them, but im not suggesting hat one!
The low lites are not legal in my state, and we have annual inspection. But after 50 thousand miles on the road with this, I never thought there was any issue with seeing. But then, when I was 18 I drove a car home with a bad alternator without lites and got a nice sized ticket. Didnt help that it was new yeARS EVE. So, apparently, I dont need lights anyway.
Skip

7-29-2009 Progress; nose looking good!

Well, my 90-day timeline became a thing of the past, lol! Hey, a guy's got to stay optimistic, right?

I've been working on the nose since the last update... thought it was all but finished, but I spent three weeks with it flipped upside-down, reinforcing, smoothing 'glass, finishing out the headlamp buckets and details under-hood.

Flipped her back right-side up Monday, and did most of the little finishing touches to verify symmetry from one side to another, front to back, etc. When it seemed about right, we sprayed it in primer/sealer just to get a good idea of the nose as a whole... in my opinion, it looks fantastic.

I've also mocked-up a grill out of plywood to see how it might look... not sold on it yet. I may extend the ribs full-length, but have them only a inch or so deep over the headlamps... I don't want to lose the headlamp detail buried behind a grill, but I'm not sure I like the little grill. I'm going to mock-up an "intake box" for the opening, that would have a surround, and a mesh-type grill at the rear of the surround. I'm almost thinking this will look best, although it's certainly the least traditional.

I look forward to your feedback!

~Tim

7-29-09 progress

Mocked-up grill installed... not feelig really good about this as-is, but here's a Silva-style grill that I'm "living with" for a few days to see if it grows on me.

7-29-09 progress

I like the grill. Might look better when the headlamp surounds are painted the same color. Continuing the grill slats across (but not over) the headlights might be cool too.

7-29-09 progress

I spent all day today making templates for a full grill; Silva-style but full-width. I made the grill slats narrower (at the back; the leading edges are all the same) over the headlamps for function. It really looks good, but I can't see my headlamps at all now... I literally spent months getting those headlamps just the way I wanted them, and if I go this direction with the grill they'll be hidden. Looks awesome, though.

I think I'll make a mock-up of my "airbox"/rear grill idea and try that before committing.

The grill in the previous image is probably not going to make the cut.... the full grill looks way, way better. In my opinion. that is.

7-29-09 progress

I was thinking that since you were pretty good at glass work to make slats around the lights and paint the whole thing black. Having the slats flip up '68 RS Camaro style would be cool too (but a bunch of work).

Grill and headlamps

The headlamp buckets will get painted with the body, for sure. Depending upon what I end up doing with a grill, it may be brushed aluminum, black anodized aluminum, or polished aluminum. I'm pretty certain I'm going to paint the car black, so all options are still open.

Yes, I thought about roll-up headlamp doors, too. Not sure if I have enough room for them, but either way I've pretty much crossed that option off my list.

I'm thinking more and more about filling in the recess in the grill area; it works just fine but if I do a slat grill, it makes the grill look just a little too tall. If I do the "airbox" grill it will work just fine as-is... decisions, decisions...

Looks alot better than this though, doesn't it!

Lower valence

I bit the bullet and began filling in the recess in the lower valence today... I have decided that regardless of which direction I go with a grill, having a uniform, rolled lip along the leading edge of the lower front valence is going to serve me better.

I should update again Monday or Tuesday.

Update 8-4-09

Slot in lower valence roughed in:

Update 8-4-09

Full-width grill mock-up out of plywood... looks awesome in the opening. I need to add one more full-length slat at the bottom instead of the mini that used to fit in the slot. Not sure if you'll be able to really get the gist of it, but it's tapered in front like the Silva, full depth in the middle so it goes back past the headlamp bezels, and the ribs across the headlamps are only about an inch or so deep: