Velocars and other interesting vehicles.

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moto-klasika

Member
Jan 12, 2013
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Bern (more) and Belgrade (less)
When i click on it it just comes back to this post?..........Curt
Hello Curt,
If you thought on my text-doc as attachement, I will post here entire text:
--------------------- -----------------------
"Oh No not another flippin' soapbox by Peter Vivian
http://superiorsoapbox.co.uk
Telephone: 01202 723854
Email: [email protected]
Address: 31b Guest Avenue, Branksome, Poole BH12 1JA


A couple of months ago I applied to enter the Red Bull Soapbox Derby at Alexandra Palace and as I sold the Model 'T' at Bonhams last September and the prototype of the '32 sedan is looking a little 'careworn' I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to design and build a new one. Eventually I decided on a Indianapolis single seat racer from the mid thirties, a bit 'Milleresque'. Construction technique follows the previous models. Plans will be available when I get round to it.

All of the solid timber is Sapele and is obtained from recycled patio door cills from a local window company all for £10. Softwood could be used instead stained or painted. The floor is 18mm ply, the chassis rails are 4 inch by 3 inch and taper in 2 planes. The bend in the chassis rail was achieved by 'pie cutting' a wedge and adding a reinforcement piece glued and screwed behind the rail (see photo).

The radiator surround is made up of several blocks glued together and carved to shape, it is squarer than the '32 grille and is therefore a bit easier to carve, much of the shaping can be done with a saw. The side panels are Mahogany veneered MDF, bending them to form the lower part of the boat tail stressed them to the limit, plywood would have been easier. Flexi ply would have been easier still. Normally I would make the bonnet halves from flexi ply and then veneer them but this time I found some 1.5 mm ply that I thought would do the job but I wasn't happy with the end result so I ended up veneering them anyway. The windscreen is Ash mitred, screwed and glued with an off cut of Perspex rebated and silicone in place. Wheels are 20 inch, 40 spoke BMX with 14mm axles. I made the exhaust from a garden parasol pole, I drilled a hole about an inch deep at the end to make it appear hollow, which has made a few people wonder what it's made from. The support for the BMX caliper brakes is a 1inch square box section steel which passes through square holes in the chassis rails. If you have a morticer (like me) remember to make the holes in the chassis rails before you make the chassis (I didn't). I had the seat back professionally upholstered as it is now impossible to by ready pleated vinyl in this country anymore.

Rick mentioned that the steering is the hardest part and he's right but after 5 different designs I think I may have stumbled on the best method. The main part as you can see from the latest photo is and old fashioned hand drill bought on eBay for around a fiver I think the photo is self explanatory but will add another couple of photos of the steering arm end.

The front axle was bent out of 19mm mild steel round bar at a local metal fabricator, all pivots and steering links are rod end bearings bought on eBay.

I will add more photos as I progress with the build...."

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Ciao,
Zoran

 

moto-klasika

Member
Jan 12, 2013
584
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This is much like what I plan to build but with 3 wheels and smaller fenders.
Steve.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...9297803502_5985039115669452431_n-jpg.2778249/
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Hello Steve,
Boat-type bodies are the most wonderful designs, no mater if on cycle-car, sporting automobiles, or high-class luxury models! Maybe, some aluminium in airplane style are also good, but... However, not for me: I do not have enough of precision, patience and commitment for such work!

Of course, you should need smaller fenders - with those, your car should fly, not because of speed, but of sudden head-wind!
Ciao, Zoran
 

plycar

Member
Aug 11, 2014
60
6
6
Thuringia, Germany
A million pages earlier in this thread, IWW posted a link to a scanned book about self building of velocars and cyclecars.
I was so impressed by this piece of literature, that I bought an original one.
The online scans weren't that good, some figures in the technical drawings are barely or not readable.
A friend made better scans from the book in higher resolution and I uploaded the whole bunch of 100GB today.
Here it is:
https://plus.google.com/photos/1111...84048215809?banner=pwa&authkey=CJrnqYnm6bD_MQ

Kai

PS: If someone wants a PDF, please let me know. (Not sure, where I can upload a PDF)
 
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moto-klasika

Member
Jan 12, 2013
584
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Hello Kai,
And thank you on wonderful Christmass or New Year present!

This time pages are quite clear when we use Zoom... Only, pages couldn't be saved in that format but just in small - again not so clear. I maneged to save them in some compromise: using function of DIASHOW. Not so clear as big pages, but still readable...

Are you sure that you have 100 GB of scaned book in total - maybe 100 MB?

PDF documants could be attached here but only smaller variants, up to 78 KB...

Anyway, we could watch pages on-line, just have to memorise web-address.

A lot of inspirtion in that old book!

Ciao,


Zoran
 

plycar

Member
Aug 11, 2014
60
6
6
Thuringia, Germany
Yes, it is 100MB.
Sorry, my mistake.

I haven't still tried to save the online pics.
If they just can be saved in smaller size,then that's not what I wanted.
I needed 2 hours to upload all 80 pages, just to provide a proper resolution and now the pages can't be saved this big.

Any hints of another platform, where pics can be properly uploaded and saved from???

Cheers, Kai
 

plycar

Member
Aug 11, 2014
60
6
6
Thuringia, Germany
Ludwig:

Yes of course, I can create separate chapters.
Think it's useful for a better overview.
Or do you want just a particular chapter?

Cheers, Kai
 
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Ludwig II

Well-Known Member
Jul 17, 2012
5,071
783
113
UK
I'm not involved in making a velocar, but it just seems logical to break them up if the whole file is too big to transmit.
 

moto-klasika

Member
Jan 12, 2013
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Kai and other interested in scanned book!
I just found the way to download big-size pictures to my computer: from platform where Kai posted them:

1. above any photo that could be "zoomed", there is a field [ Mehr ] ...
2. click on it ...
3. there will appear sub-field [ Foto ferunterladen ]
4. click on it and picture will be downloaded to your computer, in my case at folder [ Dowlnoads ] ...

Picture is quite big and clear! It is saved as JPEG image in size of around 900 KB - of course, process is page-by-page! So, it could be modified with our notes, or we could cut some sketches and keep just them...

Ciao,
Zoran
 

Ludwig II

Well-Known Member
Jul 17, 2012
5,071
783
113
UK
With jpeg, if you use a picture manager and reduce the size by only a few per cent, it significantly reduces the amount of memory needed. No, I don't know why.
 

plycar

Member
Aug 11, 2014
60
6
6
Thuringia, Germany
My simple theory about memory needed for pictures:
Downscaling the picture to 50% means 50% height and width.
0.5 height times 0.5 width = 0.25 area = 25% memory.

In case of the uploaded pictures, I downscaled them all to 25% of the former size. That means 0.25 times 0,25 = 0,0625 = 6,25% memory.

I dont want to make the pics smaller, otherwise I end up with the same bad quality as the previous scans, uploaded by others.

Your idea of dividing the book into its chapters is IMHO the best solution.

Until it's done, I hope you can deal with the slightly loss of quality of the saved pics.

Cheers, Kai
 

Ludwig II

Well-Known Member
Jul 17, 2012
5,071
783
113
UK
This explains why taking a picture down 10% reduces the memory needed. Thank you, now I know why.
 

moto-klasika

Member
Jan 12, 2013
584
18
18
Bern (more) and Belgrade (less)
My simple theory about memory needed for pictures:
Downscaling the picture to 50% means 50% height and width.
0.5 height times 0.5 width = 0.25 area = 25% memory.

In case of the uploaded pictures, I downscaled them all to 25% of the former size. That means 0.25 times 0,25 = 0,0625 = 6,25% memory.

I dont want to make the pics smaller, otherwise I end up with the same bad quality as the previous scans, uploaded by others.

Your idea of dividing the book into its chapters is IMHO the best solution.

Until it's done, I hope you can deal with the slightly loss of quality of the saved pics.

Cheers, Kai
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Hello Kai,
If we are talking about downloading pictures, page-by-page - I do not see any problem? As I wrote above, I managed to saved a few of them by simple process and kept it in original size, maybe just a little smaller. I suppose that most of them are around 1 MB of size or just a little more? Maximum for JPEG is just 517,5 KB and for JPG is a lot more - 1,91 MB, with 5 attachments per message!

If we are taking about PDF of 100 MB, meaning entire book as one document - then there is not any chance to send to anybody, except on DVD... Then, separating book at a few parts could be useful, but not possible here in this forum - maximum is just 78,1 KB, with 5 attachments per message!

Therefore, there is not any practical chance to send anything here at forum, for all of us. We have to dawnload page-by-page of scanned book. As Kai kindly offer to us:


"Here it is:
https://plus.google.com/photos/11119...CJrnqYnm6bD_MQ
Kai"

Ciao, Zoran
 

moto-klasika

Member
Jan 12, 2013
584
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TEST: I tried to attach one page, of 916 KB in JPEG format, but got such response:

"The Dimension limits for this filetype are 2200 x 1500. We were unable to resize your file so you will need to do so manually and upload it again. Your file is currently 1352 x 1773. "

Resised page shouldn't be so readable, I am afraid?
...
But, I tried again, resizing picture to 60 % of original size and got 463 KB - and managed to attach it! A lot of patience and a lot of time should be needed for entire book!
Zoran

 

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moto-klasika

Member
Jan 12, 2013
584
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Bern (more) and Belgrade (less)
For Annie, but other could enjoy, too...
A few photos of "Zeppelin-type" micro-car named Kaiser Stromlinien Wagen from 1935... Maybe body is covered in metalized fabric?
Ciao,
Zoran
P.S.: My old dilemma - is aerodynamic shell important for low powered (pedals and small engine/motor) vehicle, with cruising speeds around 20 MPH ~ 32 km/hour?
 

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