Author Topic: Ford "Tauruck".  (Read 91378 times)

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Offline tauruck

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Ford "Tauruck".
« on: November 28, 2012, 12:56:00 PM »
 I'm building a vehicle for LSR here in South Africa. It's called Tauruck because I modelled the nose on a Winston Cup Taurus (back in 02) and the rear is all truck. It started life as a 1974 Ford Ranchero which is better known as an XB Ute in Australia. It gathered dust for nigh on ten years and I resurrected the project in April this year. I originally typed a looong intro but I tried to post two pics that exceeded the 500kb limit and after some stupid moves I lost everything. I'm poked so enjoy the pics of the plug pre molding.

Offline Freud

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Re: Ford "Tauruck".
« Reply #1 on: November 28, 2012, 03:57:25 PM »
 I couldn't do much more with it.
Since '63

Offline tauruck

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Re: Ford "Tauruck".
« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2012, 03:49:53 PM »
I changed the front end some. I only have one mold left to do but hopefully I'll get it done this weekend.

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Ford "Tauruck".
« Reply #3 on: November 29, 2012, 08:55:13 PM »
Tile roof.  Stucco siding and burglar bars.  Double car garage with hot rod in the driveway.  Looks like almost anywhere in California.  A palm tree is the only thing missing.  The truck looks good. 

Offline grumm441

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Re: Ford "Tauruck".
« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2012, 06:34:40 AM »
nice one, although it doesn't look much lika an XB anymore
G
Chief Motorcycle Steward Dry Lakes Racers Australia Inc
Spirit of Sunshine Bellytank Lakester
https://www.dlra.org.au/rulebook.htm

Offline tauruck

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Re: Ford "Tauruck".
« Reply #5 on: December 01, 2012, 08:32:24 AM »
Thanks guys. I met a guy over here from Ventura who settled in South Africa. He said the difference was we drove on the wrong side of the road. We were at the ocean on the east coast at the time. It was an XB before I got into it with the grinder. I've posted a pic of the hood in the mould before I laid up the outer Carbon layers and then what it looked like after vacuum.  The parts are coming out of the moulds now and the hood needs no finishing other than a wash to get the release off. I know people are going to say lots about the weight being too light but this is what I do and I can't help myself.

Offline tauruck

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Re: Ford "Tauruck".
« Reply #6 on: December 01, 2012, 08:33:47 AM »
This is the  3lb result.

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Ford "Tauruck".
« Reply #7 on: December 01, 2012, 10:49:01 PM »
You can always add weight later and put it exactly where you want it to go.

Offline tauruck

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Re: Ford "Tauruck".
« Reply #8 on: December 02, 2012, 09:23:08 PM »
I agree Bo. All this is new to me and it's going to be a steep learning curve but I'm having a great time on this build. My chassis is in three pieces at present. I've got the roll cage section inside the plug, the front and rear clips on the workshop floor and a million pieces all over the place. I'm hoping to get the molds for the front section of the body done this week. Hrer's the right side front suspension mocked up.

Offline tauruck

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Re: Ford "Tauruck".
« Reply #9 on: December 08, 2012, 01:58:01 AM »
Tailgate rear bumper mold done and trimmed.

Offline tauruck

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Re: Ford "Tauruck".
« Reply #10 on: December 08, 2012, 02:00:29 AM »
Left rear quarter mold done and trimmed.

Offline tauruck

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Re: Ford "Tauruck".
« Reply #11 on: December 08, 2012, 02:02:19 AM »
Left door area mold done.

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Ford "Tauruck".
« Reply #12 on: December 08, 2012, 10:59:01 PM »
Do you have a monster size oven or vacuum former?

Offline tauruck

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Re: Ford "Tauruck".
« Reply #13 on: December 09, 2012, 01:58:05 AM »
I do the vacuum process with a vacuum bag to debulk and then we load the mold on the transport and race along the freeway at the dead of night to get to the autoclave which is about 15 miles away. It's a huge unit that's normally used for curing retread tires for big earthmoving equipment but does the job. It helps that I use the slowest hardener for the epoxy I use. 90 minute pot life. It's all cloak and dagger LSR stuff. :-D
Here's the custom seat sans the headrest. It wasn't an easy fabrication because I work alone. I used the old method of pouring 2 part PU foam into garbage bags. I built a former/box from chipboard and jumped in while the mix was rising. I don't have pics of the process because I did the mold years ago. This seat is a special. It's  15mm Aluminum honeycomb sheet with 4 layers of Carbon on each side. I'll get to the head protector part when I fit the seat and have the Hans device. I'll post pics of the finished seat when it's trimmed and had a coat of clear.

Offline tauruck

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Re: Ford "Tauruck".
« Reply #14 on: December 09, 2012, 01:59:45 AM »
More pics.