(ON THE BENCH) Trones Sunoco #39 1962 season

[Bob P.]

This is going to be a replica of the Trones Sunoco #39 driven by the late Bobby Hersh. This car raced in central, Pa.
During 1962 and the following years the cars were getting smaller, lighter and faster. The safety features were not keeping up with the size and speed improvements. This car had no X bracing in the roll cage, no headrest and was very light for the time. Headrests were  made mandatory in 1964.

The car was brand new at the end of 1962 and painted and ready for the 1963 season.

First race for the new car end of 1962
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This is the car later in the 1963 season.
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I'm using a Don Edmunds kit with a lot of modifications for this build.
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The body panels are made using .5MM aluminum flashing.
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Bob

[Tom Birky]

Great start Bob, love watching your progress. How do you hold the flashing together? (Glue). I can't identify the engine, although it looks like 2 upper radiator hoses?

Tom

[Bob P.]

Tom,

I use super glue on the flashing. It holds very well. I glue the seams first, then put a heavy layer of glue on the inside of the seams and hit it with some baking soda, it sets immediately. The flashing is a little harder to shape than plastic, but I like the rigidity.

The engine is a fuel injected 327 Chevy.

Bob

[pdaly28]

fun build to watch!love both the frame and body work

[Gary Davis]

This is looking good Bob. Looking forward to the next update.

[Greg Birky]

Very nice so far!!!  I love watching your builds come together and they're always beautiful!!!  I look forward to the next installment!!!😎👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🤗🏁

[BobD]

A lot of detail in the works here....looks like a winner!

[sentsat71]

Great start on this one.....
1

[Bob P.]

I finished the front shock mounts, radiator support, Nerf bars and a little engine work. Scratch built magneto.

We discussed plastic coated wire on the forum a while back. I used plastic coated wire on this build for the roll cage, rear frame section, shock mounts, radiator support and Nerf bars.


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Bob

[sentsat71]

Coming along very nicely!!

[pdaly28]

looking sweet!love the frame and body work!

[Bob P.]

Thanks everyone for all the nice comments on this build. I think you all know I love replica's.
I will have another update sometime soon.

Bob

[Gary Davis]

Man Bob...your fab work is just a huge pleasure to look at. I'm with you on doing replica builds as I really like doing them also. Question...what do you use to cut the coated wire with? Your joints on the roll cage look great.

[Bob P.]

Gary, to answer your questions.

I use a small pair of diagonal cutting pliers to cut the wire to length, leaving it slightly long. Then I touch the ends of the wire on a small belt sander I purchased from Harbor freight. After I glue the cage wire connecting the front and rear roll cage, I apply a layer of CA glue around the seam and let it dry. It looks almost like a weld.

The next time I take pictures of the progress on the build, I will include a picture of the cutting pliers and the small sander.

Bob

[Gary Davis]

Thanks for the info Bob. I do pretty close to the same thing but...I use a hardwire cutter that I bought from Micro Mark. It works good but some times it's a little bulky to use. Specially when cutting very small pieces(2-3mm) for pinning. The CA thing is exactly the same technique I use at the joints. Great minds think alike...right?? Yours came out so clean that I thought that you might've figured out how to cope ( fish mouth) the bar ends and then glued them. That wire in there is pretty darn hard...so I think it's piano wire wrapped in PVC plastic.