Herman K

Should I get some tire chains?

NoVector

+1 Yesterday, my wife asked what I wanted for Christmas. I said, "There's this guy named Jerry..." BTW Jerry, I picked up the tire cover from my parents while I was I was in the states last week. Fits like a glove and built to last--excellent work! / Bruce

Schocki

Jerry, you are the man!!!

Bruce
How do you get these liners shipped to the Vaterland ?
My GTS is in desperate need for some new liners in the near future too

NoVector

Schocki - It will be to an Armed Forces PO box at at Ramstein. (I hope) If they're as tuff as his tire cover, even the US Postal Service couldn't break them! Maybe Jerry can dove-tail them together and get two sets in a box(?)

Schocki

Sounds like a plan
I know about the PO box deal on US Forces bases. I used to work as a T-38 flight instructor (I'm GAF) at Sheppard AFB TX, yeehaaww.
Good times! Enjoyed them a lot especially the Dallas 928 group around Roger and the tech sessions at the Tyson Ranch

We keep in contact and I would be more than glad to come by and pick them up. It's time to let my 928 of the leash anyhow in the near future on the Autobahn.

Schocki

Sounds like a plan
I know about the PO box deal on US Forces bases. I used to work as a T-38 flight instructor (I'm GAF) at Sheppard AFB TX, yeehaaww.
Good times! Enjoyed them a lot especially the Dallas 928 group around Roger and the tech sessions at the Tyson Ranch

We keep in contact and I would be more than glad to come by and pick them up. It's time to let my 928 of the leash anyhow in the near future on the Autobahn.

Jerry Feather

I am hoping to find or have special made a box of extra tough cardboard that is about 32 by 24 by 10 inches. I think I can put a couple of sets in one that size and then put another smaller box inside that I will glue in to hold the extra pieces and instructions. I found one close to that on line, but I think I will check a local outfit to see if they have just the ones I need, or can special order them.

I don't know about sending a box that size in the mail. Every time I take one of my spare tire covers for International shipping they are carefully measuring it. I guess I will just have to ask. Otherwise I will be sending them everywhere by FedEx.

My APO story is a lot better that yours, I'll bet. It has to do with mailing motorcycles back to the US from Japan.

Jerry Feather

Hilton

Good info there. Shipping a box that size weighing 30lbs to Australia (finger in the air guess for a couple of sets) is only $160.

Jerry Feather

I hadn't really anticipated it but the most complicated part of the forms that I am developing for these liners is the part of the form for the outer halves that describes the wheel arch or opening. As you know by now the shape of the openings is different between the GTS cars and all the others. What that means is that I need two pair of wheel arch forms, one for the GTS and one pair for all the others.

The other thing about these parts of the forms is that they are the most complex and have the most variables in terms of curves and angles and placement of anything in this development. What that means is that when Herman and I discovered that the first set of GTS wheel opening arch forms was too far back, it meant that I had to basically make all four of them over.

What I didn't realize too much is that that kind of setback really put me off in terms of making some progress, both in fact and mentally. Nevertheless, I have just now completed what I think will be the final version of the S4 and earlier forms and have the GTS also completed except for any final adjustments that I find after I have the S4 outer halves on target.

When I have the S4 outer halves right I think I can work with the information that Herman and I developed and make the GTS outer halves off of those because I pretty well know the differences. I now have the forms almost complete and have just to develop some tooling for some initial try at production.

I will have this weekend and then a long weekend over thanksgiving to work on these and hope to get the tooling developed in that time period.

Right now the main thing that I am troubling over is the need for a fairly accurate alignment of three of the four mounting holes in the GTS inner half of these liners. I plan to utilize three of the four original mounting holes and will simply provide a plug for the fourth one, the one that is most foreward. The other three are in a good position to be utilized with my liners, but only if I can get the holes to match.

That is really the only thing that might still have me call upon Herman and Barbara for other visit up here. I just hope they don't have to buy the tire chains he asked about. Actually they are such great people that I could be accused of just making up an excuse for them to come stay with us for a few days.

Thanks for the interest and feedback on this project. Now that I am sort of back on track I am really encouraged to continue making some positive progress. As we used to say in the Air Force, "progress is movement in any direction!" I hope mine to be in the positive direction from this point, but, I think I now understand how progress can be made in the negative direction, because I think that is just what I have just gone through.

Jerry Feather

nc_growler

Glad to hear you're re-energized about this project... If you have a good weekend, we could all be looking at some early stocking stuffers (well, ok... They would probably take up most of the space under my tree!)...

Really encouraging to hear you closing in on the final product...

wds928

Jerry, everytime I login to this 928 Forum, I check to see you progress. I eagerly await their completion. Sounds like an awesome project.

Speedtoys

Awesome Jerry, cant wait to buy a set!

Jerry Feather

Hi Bill, and Speed. I appreciate your attention to this project. I apologize for the apperant lack of progress reports, but I find that even though I am making significant progress on this project, I am reluctant to post much about it because I tend to think I am not making enough progress or at least not as much as I hoped to make at a given time or as much as I said/thought I would.

What I have been doing lately is trying to develop some/all of the mounting brackets that will be needed to mount these new liners in the cars. The GTS cars and the Gt cars both need a pair of unique upper mounting brackets that will have two places to mount to the car and two to the liners. I am right now working on developing those.

When Herman was here with his GTS we did a couple of mockups of those brackets and now I am using them to develop the method to replicate them in heavy sheet aluminum. I find that it is one thing to make a part that will work, but then another to make a bunch more that are just the same. That takes a lot of tooling for the repeatability aspect of each of these. That is what I am working on right now.

There will be several different mounting brackets needed for this project. For the GT and GTS cars there will be a front left, front right, top left, top right and possibly rear left major brackets, plus a couple of smaller brackets for the left and right rear, and a small bracket for the right front.

For the S4 cars there will be a front left (same as the GT/GTS), and left rear (Same at the GT/GTS), A right front and right rear, both yet to be designed, plus the smaller three brackets.

I think I have the forms for the inner halves and the outer halves for all of the cars pretty well zeroed in. When I get some of the mounting brackets developed I'll be able to make any final refinements of the liner forms.

Thanks for staying tuned.

Jerry Feather

Podguy

Jerry,

Here are a couple of choices for boxes that are pretty close.

http://www.uline.com/Product/AdvSear...sionalSearch=Y

I have used ULINE before and had very good luck with them.

andy-gts

It was great to put a name with a face, Jerry. It was fun hearing about your pilot\plane experiences also.

I also cannot wait for the liners. they are top notch just like the cover I purchased from you for over the spare...

great job

andy