Gilmer midget

[bobjeffreson]

I've eventually located a GMP Offy motor and geez aren't they a thing to track down. I finally found a "dirty Offy", not the one I was after, in Melbourne Australia of all places.
I decided today was the day to start the rebuild of my Gilmer to something resembling the unit that Jan Gilmer produces. I can only do this project through photos with parts I make or get made. Wrote Mr Gilmer a letter in March seeking any assistance and as yet have not received a reply.
Here are some photos from the 1st day..
Car before dismantling......


Body off showing the electric internals, including 4 wheel steering....remember this car was put together by a 14 year old friend of mine, David Bacon, 20 years ago...


Checking on the placement of the Offy...


Offy looks terrific in the car..it will be a tight fit!


While thinking and taking measurements, I took some Bi Carb Soda and gave the wheels a soft polish. Some tyre black and they now look pretty good...

[chiefj48]

sweet....keep us posted!!!!

[Mike Casey]

you have a great start there. The pieces are coming together...

[bobjeffreson]

Is that a running engine?
I wish FuNkY....Nah...Just your standard GMP static model " hurtin' after a Hundred" Offy.
I'd still prefer the clean version if anyone has any clues. I only bought this one as it seemed to be the last GMP Offy available on the planet! Maybe Mr Gilmer bought all the stock

[bobjeffreson]

The Midget came with no original internals, so I have to do what I can for those parts. It's a bit slow a work at present so today pulled out some brass and aluminum and decided to have a go at a steering box, from some photos on this Forum.
Car came with an original steering wheel, which I will use anyway, however I built another style just for fun. Here is the end result.
Primer is drying at present and tomorrow it will be sprayed grey to resemble the original box




Here's the photo of the original........

[Mike Casey]

bob, that looks fantastic. What did you use to shape the steering wheel?

[bobjeffreson]

Funky,
Yes I made what you see there. Sorry I had not meant to imply it was functional in any way, just the overall shape. As is the original setup. There will be a rod inside the ally section that will attach to to an arm and drag link running to the front wheels, to simulate a working box as in this pic.



Mike.
The steering wheel you see above is made from brass tube, turned into a circle, with the ally centre section cut out by hand, press fitted in and some 2 part epoxy glue for extra strength. Wheel was then taped up by hand. The OD is approx 3 1/2 inches.
I actually copied the Gilmer steering wheel also, which is overall a much easier process, however I couldn't access any black rubber hosing that is the correct size and mine looked a bit "fat". I'll take a pic anyway and let you see my prototype. If I can find the right size rubber hose, I'd be able to make a very convincing wheel, a la Mr Gilmer's.
Is there a market out there for these wheels, I wonder?
Here's another wheel, although the centre section is also brass and it's soldered into the outer section. It's beside my 1st set of imitation headers that I knocked up for a member of this Forum, who lives in Florida, that was inquiring on their avaliablity.

[Mike Casey]

thanks for the details bob. it looks really good. You could try fuel line from your hobby store or from a lawnmower shop and slice it down the middle.

[bobjeffreson]

"You could try fuel line from your hobby store or from a lawnmower shop and slice it down the middle."

That is what I did Mike, however the nearest motorcycle shop to me in Sydney didn't have any hosing around the 8mm mark.Their smallest was approx 11mm, so I used that just for a trial. It worked well ...now I just have to access the correct size!

[bobjeffreson]

Here is my steering wheel beside the Gilmer on the left....



Finished the seat off today. It had been hacked up to get the electric running gear under it. As it will never be an original Gilmer I took some licence in the rebuild. After the refitting of missing sections, I added some piping and also some silver press studs, as the cars of the day had.....



The finished " mock up" steering box....focus is not good....

[big maestro]

I would have never guessed there was a clodbuster monster truck running gear in that car when you first see it. Your 14 yearold friend was very talented.

[bobjeffreson]

Sourced the correct size rubber hosing over the weekend. Here's the result....my 3 wheels with the Gilmer on the top right.........mine are slightly larger as I will use them in 1/4 scale sprintcars.

[bobjeffreson]

Funky,
HaHa...you wouldn't believe it!!! After going on the net and searching, I found the rubber hosing not 4 minutes from my home at an Australian Company called Clark Rubber. Hosing is cut to length, glued, then split. Tried splitting it before I glued it together....didn't work as well. Aluminum centres are "machined" by hand with my jeweller's sawframe!

[bobjeffreson]

Here's the latest...
Seat in situ and an aluminum dash fitted....where do I get some gauges like these...

I've started to make some as I can only source gauges for aircraft. Also what is the best way to achieve the knurling on the dash? I tried all sorts of processes and just cannot get it right. At present I've just left it crossed brushed.
This weekend I'll play around with the chassis plate and see what I can produce. Been cosmetic so far..... now the interesting stuff begins.

[Mike Casey]

i believe that look on the dash is achieved by using vinyl. The gauges are aircraft i believe... BUT if you go to this site http://www.autometer.com/cat_gaugedetai ... 2699&sid=9 there are a lot of straight on shots of all their gauges. You can print them out and make your own bezels.