SPACELINER CONVERTIBLE (A Non-Invasive Sex Reassignment)

[The Renaissance Man]

Got started on the headlights.
I glued a couple of scraps together with Gorilla Glue and cut out the basic shapes on the band saw. A friend of mine has a small hobby lathe that I'm going to use to turn them down in the next day or two (after the snow melts and I can get out again).

Took this picture out in the back yard with the snow!

...And we did get some snow riding in!

 

[Carbon]

Thats gonna look awesome, nice work.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

The snow is gone and it's up to 56F today, so I set up the mini lathe outside to turn the torpedo lights. To get them both as close to the same profile as possible, I cut a pattern out of poster board to check them with. So far so good.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Great action shot!

Luke.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Yea, most of the time no one else is around, but my daughter took this one. It shows how small that little lathe is too!

After that picture I took them back to the band saw and cut most of the back sides away to start fitting them.
The next order of business will be to make a jig for drilling holes to line each side up equally and level.

 

[pick]

Sweet! This is gonna be cool! Tank looks awesome!

 

[GuitarlCarl]

Mad skills bro, what other kinds of things do you work on besides bikes?

Carl.

 

[sean1960]

Very nice. Can't wait to see the final product.

 

[IronDio]

I haven't been on the site as frequently as of late, but when I see one of your build threads, I know it is going to be great...this is no exception! You are an amazing builder and a true artist!

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[SCHWINNRAY69]

This is very impressive! You sir, are a genious!

 

[IronDio]

I saw this and had to share.

 

[todhunter]

Ha! I fall into about the 3rd category beard-wise, but my bike knowledge is slim!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Thanks everyone, this has been a fun project so far and I'm glad that some of you are interested in it too!

GuitarlCarl, I have many interests (including vintage drum kits btw) that I like to tinker with. That's how I chose the 'renaissance' name even though by my own admission, I'm no where near mastering any of them.

IronDeo, that picture cracked me up!

 

[kingfish254]

Nice work! Gotta throw some legs on that chicken!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

 

[The Renaissance Man]

In order to insure that the torpedos lined up correctly and equally from side to side, I needed to drill holes exactly in line with the center line of the lights and then insert dowel pins for alignment. I failed to plan for this in the beginning when it would have been simple. Instead, by waiting until after there where no flat edges to measure from, I had to create a jig to locate the alignment holes, then drill through the plywood fixture from the backside of each half. The fixtures will also be used later for creating the fiberglass molds.

After spending far more time than it could have taken in the beginning, I'm now at the point of fitting the lights to the tank.
I've cut the majority of the material away already and can now gradually carve away the rest to get them fitting properly.

 

[kingfish254]

It's RRB creativity like this that keeps the rest of our minds working. I love it. Watching builds like this blows away any notion of "it can't be done" and pushes all of us to prove what can be done. Spaceliners had some of the wildest tanks out there as far as stylized shapes go. Your tank pays homage to those, but at the same time is completely original. When you're done, you could make more of these from the molds and breathe life into all those lady-liners out there and turn them into Lady Chablis Liners (midnight in the garden of good and evil).
SO FREAKING COOL!!!

 

[NicksGarage]

Your next project should be spacelander conversion.

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[LukeTheJoker]

Very cool TRM! Looking awesome!

Luke.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

When you're done, you could make more of these from the molds and breathe life into all those lady-liners out there and turn them into Lady Chablis Liners (midnight in the garden of good and evil).
SO FREAKING COOL!!!

Kfish, I will definitely make them available for anyone who is interested.

There are so many creative builders here, that I would love to see what someone else would take and do with it!