And now for something completely different.

[DickB]

Golf carts are a popular neighborhood vehicle here in Florida, even though strictly speaking they are not street legal. I picked up this project cart for a song.

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The "bones" of this 30+ year old cart - motor, differential, aluminum frame - are in good shape, but the rest not so much. I stripped the hideous homemade "body" from it, cleaned up and repainted the brake and accelerator pedals and linkages and electrical parts, replaced many rusted fasteners with stainless steel, installed new brake shoes and brake cables, new shocks, new batteries, new solenoid, new microswitches, and all new wiring.

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I added a temporary seat base and floorboard to test the rolling chassis, which is working well.

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I replaced the temporary floorboard with a new one.

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Also added an under seat panel and shift knob. The black thing is a charging jack.

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More to come, as this is a longer-term project.

[fwharris]

Get that baby all tricked out! Looking forward to seeing your process!

[DickB]

I want this cart to be unique.

There are a few companies making fiberglass golf cart bodies of classic cars - '57 Chevys, Jeeps, Ford Broncos. I thought about getting one, but they are a bit pricey. I decided to make my own, out of wood of course. It will not be painted but will be a true "woody". I was looking for a body that would be recognizable and also have some interesting detail. I decided to go with the early Ford Bronco for the fender and grill details. Something like this.

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In addition to Bronco photos, I got a plastic model kit of an early Ford Bronco to study. I tried scanning the hood, but the results were disappointing. The scan yielded a very irregular surface that the de-noise and smoothing filters of Pattern Editor could not overcome. I would need to build my own models. I don't have 3D modeling software per se, and no skills with such tools, but I do have some Designer add-ons.

I don't have the 2D Designer add-on, but did something similar, tracing a nice side photo of a Bronco with a paint program to get the shapes of a front fender. The resulting line drawing that I made was imported as a pattern, and I traced that with the line drawing tools in Designer. I used a 1/2 size scale in Designer to make the fender model - about 11" tall and 19" wide, to fit a virtual single board, to scale up to twice that when carved. I used 3D tools to build up the fender shapes, staring with the Sweep- Rounded tool on the fender flare.

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To taper the ends of the flare, I "bent" the flare around a rectangular carve region shaped with the Extrude tool using Merge Additive.

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I made this into a pattern and loaded it into Pattern Editor. By lowering the pattern, I eliminated the rectangular carve region, leaving a taper in the lower part of the fender flare.

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The process was repeated on the front of the flare with a different swept carve region. The top of the fender was built up separately. The whole fender with flare was also bent with an underlying swept carve region to produce the end result pattern. Pattern Sculptor was also used to smooth out and further blend the fender flare into the fender.

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The final pattern was scaled up to size and placed on two 12" wide boards, ready for machining as soon as I get some lumber. To keep machine time down, I plan to run this carving with the 3/16" ballnose bit in Draft mode. Any vertical lines can quite readily be sanded out, as the fender is quite smooth.

Looking forward to designing the grill.

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[dbemus]

Awesome Project! I am looking forward to following this thread as the process continues! Thanks for the detailed updates!

[DickB]

Left fender. Glued up from 4 pieces.

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[Sliverfoot]

Very cool! Looking forward to your progress.

[dbemus]

Looking good!!

[oscarl48]

Wow! That is going to be the best looking golf cart in Florida.

They are very popular here in Texas as well to get around the neighborhood. :)

[want2b]

Amazing what you are able to build with the carver, love it
Rick H

[DickB]

Inner fenders and crossmember. I knew that the steering column would exit above the to-be-built dashboard, but it was going to be too high, I needed to lower the steering column a bit, so I made this angled plate from HDPE to attach the steering box at a slightly increased angle.

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[oscarl48]

Still heading to be the coolest golf cart in Florida. :)

[want2b]

Sometimes the "engineering" is the most fun part of a project. Thanks for the update. Looking good.
Rick H

[DickB]

I spent quite a bit of design time on the hood. The contour of the hood had to match the contour that I carved into the inner fender section. Because of the compound curves on the hood, which are quite subtle and hard to see, this was not a straightforward task. I made several test cuts of portions of the hood edge, matched up to the inner fender, to get it right. I made this first of 4 sections yesterday. The right side is finishing up now; should get the center sections done yet today.

BTW the software was way off in predicting the carve time - 4:47 predicted, 2:02 actual.

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[oscarl48]

Did I say super cool? Yup, super cool.

Always a pleasant surprise when the carving takes less than expected.

[dbemus]

Enjoying the updates! Fantastic!!!

[want2b]

Getting better and better. Hard to wrap my head around all the details you have to look at to make all the parts blend in.
Rick H

[shortround72]

Great work!

So impressed with your attention to detail. Great job using the tools you have on hand. Can’t wait to see the final product!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DickB]

Fitting the hood. Stop pedals.

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[want2b]

Looks better all the time. Know it's still a ways off but am curious whether your are going to stain it, paint it or maybe use aniline dyes for the finish.
Rick H

[DickB]

Thanks. Thinking natural finish. Will probably apply epoxy/ fiberglass cloth like a cedar strip canoe, with soar urethane for uv protection.

[want2b]

We're waiting

[DickB]

We're waitingPatience! This is not a weekend project. About 22 hours carve time so far.

[want2b]

Understand, just throwing the "are we there yet" type of impatience out there. With all you have to figure out and then accomplish I'm glad you take the time to document and share.
Thanks, Rick H

[DickB]

Working on the nose pieces yesterday and today. Much of the pieces can be designed using the 3D tools, but the compound curves top and bottom are a design challenge. I decided to shape these portions by hand using Styrofoam and a sanding block. The patterns were coated with epoxy, rough sanded, filled with Glazing and Spot Putty, sanded, and scanned with the scanning probe. Cleaned up with pattern Editor. The resulting patterns are highlighted in the screen shot. Carving now.

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[DickB]

Nice fit.

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[want2b]

Awesome job, really tight fit

[DickB]

A preview of the grill, fresh out of the Carvewright. I will be fitting this tomorrow.

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Been making some sawdust on this project. This is the second bag so far; doesn't include what's coming off the Carvewright!

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[DickB]

Front clip is nearly done. I need to sand the grill and add some under-hood framework. And apply finish of course. I have started on the rear panel design. Parts are fitting together nicely.

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[want2b]

Looks great, a best buddy had an early bronco that we lived in so it really hits home here.
Thx, Rick H

[oscarl48]

Very nice. Best looking cart in Florida!

[DickB]

Working on the headlights today.

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[oscarl48]

Really sharp looking lights. This is becoming a labor of love I think. :)

[DickB]

Rear panels machined. Bought the wheel; made the center cap.

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[oscarl48]

You are going to be the envy of...everyone!

[want2b]

really starting to be able to imagine the finished product. can't wait to see it. also can't imagine what you'll feel after creating it.
Rick H

[DickB]

I was working on a few other small projects for a while, but back to the golf cart project again. Completed the end cap for the right rear fender. Actually, it looks to be a bit wider than the original, so I will probably trim it a bit. Will be carving the left one today.

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[oscarl48]

One step closer to completion. Looking good!

[dbemus]

Awesome! Thanks for the updates!

[DickB]

Thanks! Left end cap and rear bumper today. I'm sure I will be driving this around soon, well before completely done. At least before rainy season! Not sure if I mentioned, thinking epoxy/fiberglass cloth with spar polyurethane finish, like cedar strip canoes. (The fiberglass all but disappears.) A number of parts have only been fastened with a few wood screws for now, so that I can disassemble to more easily apply finish. I built a rowing shell finished with epoxy and some fiberglass cloth - there's a lot of sanding. Easier if partially disassembled. Many of these parts will then be glued.

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[fwharris]

It should not be to long before you are out cruising the neighborhood. Getting any requests yet?

[want2b]

Really looking good. Ideas o the finish sounds good. The fiberglass will provide a lot of strength for the day to day flexing.
Thx for sharing, Rick H

[DickB]

Tailgate is coming together.

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[dbemus]

Delighted with every photo you post!!!

[want2b]

The more I see the more I'm fascinated. Awesome.
Rick H

[oscarl48]

Tailgate is looking really good. Keep the pics coming! :)

[spalted]

LOL..... What a project!

How many hours of carve time are you up to so far?
Oh wait, never mind that, how many hours of design time are you up to so far?

Just fan freakin'tastic, it makes me smile!

[DickB]

Thanks. I haven't kept accurate track of time. The front fenders weer done in 4 pieces, about 3 hours for three and an hour for one. Similar for the rear. Hood in 4 sections, 2-3 hours each. Rear tailight sections about 2 hours. I've been using mostly the 3/16" carving bit in draft mode - it leaves lines, but because the sections are relatively smooth and not fine detail these cane readily be sanded out. Usually projected and actual carve times have been similar for me over the years, but 3/16" in draft mode has been almost half the projected time, which is nice. The grille was the longest time at about 4-1/2 hours. Many, many hours in design, using mostly the 3D tools. Probably 30 hours or more. The front and rear fenders were designed in 1/2 scale, then enlarged and sectioned off to make the pieces, about 12" wide.

[spalted]

Thanks. I haven't kept accurate track of time. The front fenders weer done in 4 pieces, about 3 hours for three and an hour for one. Similar for the rear. Hood in 4 sections, 2-3 hours each. Rear tailight sections about 2 hours. I've been using mostly the 3/16" carving bit in draft mode - it leaves lines, but because the sections are relatively smooth and not fine detail these cane readily be sanded out. Usually projected and actual carve times have been similar for me over the years, but 3/16" in draft mode has been almost half the projected time, which is nice. The grille was the longest time at about 4-1/2 hours. Many, many hours in design, using mostly the 3D tools. Probably 30 hours or more. The front and rear fenders were designed in 1/2 scale, then enlarged and sectioned off to make the pieces, about 12" wide.

Well it looks like a fun project, that's for sure!

[DickB]

Kinda quiet around here. I guess I am partly to blame, as I haven't posted updates on this project for a while. The body is basically finished. The last items that I finished were the rocker panels and under seat side panels with the Bronco emblem. The emblem was made by scanning an original metal one.

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Taillight lenses fabricated with LED lighting behind them.

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Working on the windshield now.

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[dbemus]

Totally Awesome!!!

[Dale]

That is amazing!

[oscarl48]

Dick, that looked like so much fun to make. Definitely a project of love. I can't imagine how much work that took. Bravo!

[want2b]

Just keeps getting better and better. Guess you've started a trend, hearing something about Ford bringing back the body style.
Rick H