92 Galmer Valvoline Unser winner

[senn65]

I hope I haven't bit off more than I can chew. I'm using a 93 Lola SW donor. The Galmer is so much different than the Lola. The front suspension "A" arm is way forward on the nose & actually "flipped" over in it's position. I taped the original on top to show the difference. I couldn't use the Minichamps "A" arm so I made one. Everything seems to line up well so I'll make the right side. I took 3 prototypes to get the proper "V" shape & position the end directly over top of the hub pin. I made the nose more pointed & lowered the nose which had a more downward slope. I then sanded it flat on the bottom to match the rest of the chassis. I ground off the humps on top of the side pods & have much putty & styrene work to do. I also cut the openings for the radiator outlets. More WIP pics to come.

[senn65]

The steering rod is on the back side on the Galmer whereas the Lola is on the front.

[chromehorn08]

This is gonna be fun to watch!

[senn65]

I removed the complete top & humps on side pods.



Drilled out the openings for the radiator.






I made a hacksaw cut right under the front of the cockpit & bent the nose down. Also raised the position of the front wing.



Ground off the sides of the nose to make more pointed. Also located spot for pop off valve & drilled for new fuel buckeye.

[senn65]

Here is the hopeful ending.

[senn65]

Have both sides done now. The left wishbone will line up when everything is glued up. I think I have every tool I have cluttering my bench lol.

[Calvin]

Wow this is one heck of a project.......to say the least.
Lots of work!
I'm glad you have lots of energy today - I'm already wore out looking at this thread!

[gavkiwi]

holy schnikes Ralph, if anyone can pull this off, its gonna be you. You remind me of a 'mad scientist', but in a good way

[2lapsdown]

Ralph, I admire your courage and ability to see a car and visualize what can be done to transform it into a completely different car. And of course your craftsmanship is admired by all of us. Thanks for sharing all your abilities with us.

John

[senn65]

Well thank you all. I don't know if I can visualize these or just nuts to try it. Someone did one, very nice too. Don't know what scale or what material but I'm using his pic for reference plus 8 more a friend of mine took when it was displayed behind the Pagota at Indy. The engine cover will be lots of putty to get the angle & side slope correct. This one won't be done in a week.

[gavkiwi]

Ralph, I have some pix of the '92 Galmer, from the 10th anniversary of the closest finish at Indy

I have about 10 or so in total. Let me know if you'd like em






from various angles, even looking down on them from the starters flag position it looks like.







And this one shows off the curvature of the nose nicely

[senn65]

These are nice, especially top views. Yes I'd like them, thanks. I really need a pic of the rear area with the tranny. Photogs rarely shoot this area.

[senn65]

I added the little cross bars on the wishbones.Worked on the cockpit & seat. Almost ready to start all the putty work.

[INDY22IAM]

The front nose on the Galmer car reminds me of the out of commissioned Concord nose. Very nice work so far Ralph. I will enjoy seeing this one come together.

[harveythedog2]

This one is on my to do list and one day Ralph and I were talking about it thru email. Ralph asked me if I minded if he gave it a go first and I said no problem. (Like he needed my approval anyway! LOL) Still that was very nice him.
Looking great Ralph and I love how you are not cutting any corners. It's gonna be great!

Stu

[senn65]

Sept 7, 2013 17:15:44 GMT -5 gavkiwi said:

holy schnikes Ralph, if anyone can pull this off, its gonna be you. You remind me of a 'mad scientist', but in a good way

Gav thanks for the photos, they're all hi res so I can zoom in on certain areas. VERY helpful.

[indy]

This is the car that won the day I went from a casual racing fan to an addict, so I really like this project.

I remember going back to watch this race in the late 90's and was really shocked at how low to the ground the sidepods were back in '92 versus the car of those days. By the late 90's sidepod heights had been raised a few times for driver safety.

My wife and I pretty much have the radio call at the end of the race by heart. I bought a desktop thing that was an 8x10 in a stone base with a small audio player in the back of the base. Press the button on the player and hear the radio call from the last quarter lap of the race.

Jordan

[Calvin]

I like Galmer - it was an interesting design.

But for the 1992 500 The best part of that race IMO is the last 20 laps or so.....I cant stand the first 180 laps.

1992 is one of the few races that actually annoy me and believe it or not 1980 kinda does too! The cars were too slow in 1980 and too many yellows.

[senn65]

I got the cooling exhaust outlets boxed in, a job I was dreading.

[INDY22IAM]

I wonder if the Galmer chasis for aerodynamic reasons was a little better designed for a cold day than the Lolas. I know you had to have lady luck on your side that day but there are a lot of little things on the Galmer that I think could have made it stick to the ground a little better that cold day. It was like a late November day weather wise. We did not come prepared at all. Thank goodness there were some blankets in the back of the trunk or we would have froze to death.
Great progress Ralph looking really good. That day was part of Indy history and that's what I loved about it I could say I was there that day.

[harveythedog2]

I was there that day to Brian. We arrived Saturday and were siting in our lawn chairs in shorts with no shirt and sweating and drinking a beer. A short time later we had jeans and a shirt on and not drinking anything cold. Shortly after that and I mean maybe an hour, we were scrambling to find a sweatshirt or coat and some hot chocolate!
Never have I seen the weather turn from hot to cold so fast!

[senn65]

Sept 10, 2013 6:17:06 GMT -5 harveythedog2 said:

I was there that day to Brian. We arrived Saturday and were siting in our lawn chairs in shorts with no shirt and sweating and drinking a beer. A short time later we had jeans and a shirt on and not drinking anything cold. Shortly after that and I mean maybe an hour, we were scrambling to find a sweatshirt or coat and some hot chocolate!
Never have I seen the weather turn from hot to cold so fast!

Interesting, I've seen weather change like that working outdoors all my working life.

[senn65]

Starting to apply styrene & putty. Molded the windshield in with putty, not quite right yet but this was the first coat & forming the area behind the seat. Also made a roll hoop from brass. I will thicken it later. I just wanted to get this unusual shape of the Galmer hoop. No other chassis had a roll hoop like this one, it's tall & a shape of it's own.

[gavkiwi]

looking good Ralph, I think you nailed that roll hoop, you're right, no other car ever had a roll hoop like the Galmer!

[SteveK51]

Here's a nice profile shot of the car, if a little low res:



This photo stream has some nice detail shots as well:

www.flickr.com/photos/26464111@N03/with/2481231053/

[senn65]

Sept 11, 2013 13:26:28 GMT -5 SteveK51 said:

Here's a nice profile shot of the car, if a little low res:



This photo stream has some nice detail shots as well:

www.flickr.com/photos/26464111@N03/with/2481231053/

Thanks for the link. I grabbed a couple I didn't have.

[senn65]

After many hours of shaping & sanding I got the body shape roughed in pretty well.




After MANY more hours of putty & sanding, putty & sanding I was getting slowly there.As you can see I puttyied in the windshield & took off the top to get the profile of the cockpit sides & filled all the original Lola body lines. Also cut in all the openings on the engine cover. Made the right side head restraint & formed the inside of the cockpit. After I find all the flaws which primer does very well I will give it a final sanding, coat of primer. Next is the sides of the car including the wheel flips. I won't attach & form the roll bar until last as not to break it off handling while working. I'm not real happy with the tail but I think it will pass.




Here are a few of my sanding & shaping tools.

[chromehorn08]

You and Stu a freakin machines! Its looking great!

[indy]

Great work Ralph. What's the mini belt-sander looking thing?

Jordan

[senn65]

Sept 16, 2013 7:15:02 GMT -5 indy said:

Great work Ralph. What's the mini belt-sander looking thing?

Jordan

A mini belt sander about 4" long. Makes quick work of roughing out the putty but you must be conservative when using.