Fabricate transmission tunnel

[R.D.F.]

I'm starting to work on a Revell 41 Willys street rod. I cut the console out and am hitting a roadblock as to fabricate the tunnel. 

Sorry don't know how to resize the picture

 

 

Here is a picture of what I'm looking to build. 

 

 

 

Edited January 7, 2019 by R.D.F.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Real tunnels like this are usually built in 3 sections.

Styrene tube works great for the area over the driveshaft in the rear. Styrene sheet in .010"-.020" works well for the rest (and the driveshaft area too...tape it around an aluminum X-Acto handle and dip in boiling water. It will then hold the shape).

Get your driveshaft area done, and mock up the other two sections, one at a time, with card stock (file cards, manila envelope material, etc.).

Make your mockups fit dead on. Transfer the shapes to your plastic sheet, cut them out carefully, glue together.

Kinda like this, though I cheated a little because it gets covered with a console.

OR...you can often find the perfect tunnel area in an old blobular chassis plate, or some other leftover or gluebomb model. Just trim to fit.  

Edited January 7, 2019 by Ace-Garageguy

[R.D.F.]

I had tried .040" styrene heated and bent around an X-Acto handle but that didn't work out. Tried rolling card stock and that found its way into the dumpster also.  I found some thin .025 plastic. Going to use the hot water idea to make the driveshaft area, or attempt it.  If that fails I do have a kit to chop out the tunnel section. Really want to fabricate it if I can.

 

Edited January 7, 2019 by R.D.F.

[Codi]

Richie, may I suggest forming the tunnel in pieces as Bill stated but try them in alum. (flashing material would work too) or brass if you're going to paint it anyways.   It will hold the shape you come up with.  Lots of info on the forum on how to form the panels should help you if you decide to give it a try.  cheers, tim

[R.D.F.]

Tim if I can find thin material I would like to try it. I would guess .010" ?

[SfanGoch]

.016" aluminum sheet is perfect. I use it to form door skins, hoods landing gear doors, fuselage sections, among other things. Don't know where on Lawnguylant you're at; but, check for a Blick Art Materials  store near you. They carry a full line of K&S metal sheets, forms and other good-to-have stuff. The .016" aluminum sheet (6x9") costs about six clams.

[Dave G.]

Aluminum soda can material, just don't cut yourself getting it apart.

On another note, I used to drag race and have seen my share of race cars with aluminum interiors and the tunnel configured square or rectangular if you will. Course I haven't been to the race track in 30 years lol ! But last I knew circle track cars were done that way too. I'd do it square if I was doing this personally but only because I've seen it in real.

[R.D.F.]

Joe the Ace hardware store by me has K&S brass in .016". By the way I know you come from a different country and L.I. is pronounced "Long guy land" 

Dave that's a good idea also.

My question is: When you use styrene how would you form a funnel shape so you can make the forward parts of the tunnel area ?  Would you hold it in hot water, take it out, try to roll it and keep doing that till you have made the shape ?

[SfanGoch]

I dunno, Richie. Mike "The Sports Pope" Francesa is from The Island and he sounds like he's from another planet: Daw (door), Jagwah, arear (area), Ronkonkamar.

[R.D.F.]

I know what that's from, he first lived in Nassau. That's a different accent than from Suffolk.

On a side note. Who or how can I get the notification thing at the top of the page to work ? I use to see that I had them but it has gone south. Under settings it shows I should be getting them.

Thanks

[Intmd8r]

I used a plastic pen for a shallow drive shaft tunnel on my channeled '29 Ford.  Perhaps an old marker or something similar would help?

No doubt, the suggestion of styrene sheet is the best solution, depending on your comfort and skill level.

[R.D.F.]

I fooling around with that now. Drive shaft tunnel is easy, it's the two parts that would make up the bell area in front of it that's holding me back. Took the cone off a plastic funnel but shaped it wrong.  I will try it again.

[John Pol]

can also use scupting putty to make your tunnel all you have is do is put the motor in the chassis with interior put some wax paper on the trans so the scupting putty won`t stick to it once the scuptying putty is hard remove your motor and now you have a tunnel

[robdebie]

I recently made some vacformed gearbox tunnel parts, using our club-owned vacform machine. That worked pretty well. It's quite a bit of work to make the master though.

Rob

[Foxer]

I had to fabricate a tunnel for a Triumph TR4A resin kit and used another  TR3 kit to shape the tapering tunnel. I used Silicone molding rubber to mold it, rather than destroying a kit. Just mix the two parts and push over the tunnel. Then I slit the rubber At the open ends and inserted thin plastic to close it off. The tunnel was plastered with Bondic heat curing plastic on the inside to make the tunnel. The ends were made from plastic tubes and all  glued, filled and sanded.

Hope all these pics I took along the way help. Bondic is a miracle product for all these small casting jobs. This is a thread I started with all the uses I've found. Just put in a mold and shine blue light on it for 4 seconds and it's cured. Done.

 

Edited January 9, 2019 by Foxer