Quick now, if you want to see if your ideas might really work in a speedster body on a chassis in hand – what would you do?  It occurred to me that I might be able to rough out the main lines of the body design in real space, using PVC piping, which is rigid, but flexible enough to take on some of the curves we need.  I had some around and bought some fittings (tees, elbows, 45s, and corner 3-ways) and I had a couple of free-ish hours today, with all hatches battened down for the coming storm (hurricane Irene due in tonight) and I was doing helper duty to son Ethan’s master mechanic (he had to do a ball-joint change on his daily driver – which required a 2nd body in the shop and occasional 3rd & 4th hands).  So I took my most recent sketches and started to build a ‘wire frame’ of the proposed body on the 32 chassis , using 1/2 inch pipe.  Alas, the stock on hand ran a bit short, so I short-tailed it and that part turned out very wimpy; but otherwise, as the attached overlays show – it looks like the sketches are valid (that is , the proposed body will fit over hard points, including my skull).  Note that temporary seat is about 2 inches higher on frame than intended final; steering column is not rotated down yet, and rear springs are unloaded (frame rear is way high, compared to sketches).  Still, looking good!

Overlay with Driver:Close, but No Cigar

And here’s how it compares to the rendering:

Compare: Chassis Pipe Dream & Rendered Concept

In the rendering comparison above, the perspective angles don;t quite match, so I matched radiator planes and the top of the frame rails at the front axle.  The match at the cowl is a good sign.  That wimpy butt is painfully obvious here, though!  Maybe after the hurricane passes, I’ll buy a few more bits of PVC and clean this up!