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Okay, chopped the trunk on my 57 BelAir, now i need to know how to hinge the trunk!

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  • Member since
    November 2005
Okay, chopped the trunk on my 57 BelAir, now i need to know how to hinge the trunk!
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, February 12, 2004 6:45 AM
Okay, I know I've been posting alot on my BelAir, but it's becoming a fairly cool project. So, last time I was readying myself to light my model when I chooped the trunk open to give me a location to mount the batteries. So, I'm cleaning up the cut lines now, But I still need help with a few things. 1:Hinging the trunk. I can only use limited supplies and must scratchbuild, PE is out of the ?!
2:Mounting ideas, the lights run off of watch batteries, and I'm planning to put in a few of the holders off of toy police cars, any other ideas??? 3: contact points for wiring, any ideas on how to join the wiring that will be attached to 2 different body sections, I'm thinking paper clips and lots of foil!!!!
Help please, any ideas are good ones!!! Thanks for keeping me overflowing with ideas!!!BYE!
  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: Reno, Nevada, USA
Posted by Silverback on Thursday, February 12, 2004 4:48 PM
OK - Hinges 101
You might want to go look at some 1:1 scale trunk hinges. You will see a pair of curved arms attached to the lid and rotating in pivots attached to the coachwork.
Bend a piece of 1mm wire (hey! a paperclip might just be the right size!)into a rectangle. Make one side somewhat shorter than the width of the trunk opening. Bend the two arms at right angles, measure about 1/4" or 6mm and bend them inward again.
Bend the two short sides into matching curves. Bend the loose ends so that they fit the contour of the inside of the lid with the wire arcs pointing down. Seen from the side, the CENTER of the arcs should be at the very front edge of the lid.
Now, tape the lid in place. CA glue the wire to the inside of the lid. The very front portion of the wire should now be resting on the coachwork just in front of the trunk opening. Slice a section of 1mm I.D. plastic tubing in half lengthwise, then cut it to fit just between the arcs of the wire. CAREFULLY CA glue the tube the coachwork.
When the glue is set, you should be able to lift the lid which will glide upward in a graceful arc.
You may need to play with the curve of the arcs so that they don't intrude too far into the cavity and impinge on your electrics. Also, a plasticard lip on the inside will prevent the lid from falling through. A bit of steel CA glued along the far inner lip of the lid, and a sliver of refrigerator magnet CA glued to the coachwork will act as a latch.

Good luck, and POST SOME PICS!

Phil
  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Mesa AZ.
Posted by orvallin on Thursday, February 12, 2004 9:14 PM
Answer to your electrical connection between two body sections: forget the paper clips and foil; instead connect one body section's wiring to a short section of 1/32 brass tubing, and the other body's wiring to a piece of tubing that will slide inside of the 1/32 tubing (1/16th should work). then just connect the two body panels together by plugging the smaller part into the larger one when assembling the vehicle. If you need further help; e-mail me and I will send diagram.

Orval Lindsey(Mesa Modeler)

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, February 14, 2004 1:59 PM
Thanks for the tips, I'll try them out and let you know how they work!!!
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