BASIC METALWORKING TIPS, TOOLS & SCHOOL ‘ET ROD P l F NEW ROD PARTS ua U Ta DTT edaGo to School and eu CUR Ca Be CCl ue AND HERE'S THE MAN HIMSELF, MASTER METALMAN LAZZE JANSSON IN HIS CALIFORNIA SHOP. HE'S SURROUNDED BY PROJECTS HIS STUDENTS HAVE BUILT. Larze Metal Dreams « Dept St, 160 Wtf Unc, Oakdale, (95361 209/247-1218‘When most street rodders look back con their life with cars, they can remember a certain pivotal moment ‘when cars became indelibly etched into thelr life. For this writer, It was a clear autumn day when a chopped and channeled Deuce three-window stopped at the light on Main Street and Landing Avenue. ttwas para mount to divine intervention, and instantly it became clear that this 12- year-old would someday build a hot rod coupe. Some 10 years later, when my own first hot rod rolled out of the garage, twas with a sense of wonder that the job had been completed. New skills, very basic tools and some welding classes at the community college had ‘made it all possible—that and some friends who did. have skills had yert® master. That was 1969, andone hot rod Model A coupe was finally on the road. The rebirth of street Fodding was Just beginning at that point, and within the small and tight-knit hot rod com- ‘munity, a certain degree of knowl ‘edge, skills and labor techniques was shared in an effort to help fellow street rodders get their projects com- pleted. It seemed as if every time a rod magazine wat delivered to my door. | learned some new facts, and more of the detalls and skills This learning process never stops, and every car you workion teaches you lesson and provides a place to hone your existing skills and develop new ones. Shortcuts, better methods, ‘an abundance of tools andimproved use ofrmiaterials make our streetrads (Better every year. It also bings more:41) STUDENTS LEARN TO age aac er en Siva ase) Curae 2) STARTING WITH A Cee Se aera aera) eae) eres aaa) SON RTS crt) ROL UL Senay Cea tre Coed Creasy Cm a ered RRC ey aCe ey UO yy Cay Autry CeNO, THIS SOME CHE! SN'T ERRY VINTAGE HOT ROD FOUND IN A BARN; ND-FORMED STEE! and more things within range of the ‘well-equipped home shop or small rod shop. So, street rodding is basically one huge continuing-education process for ‘most street rodders, and the more you know, the more fun itis to build a ‘car at home, As a matter of fact, today there are ample places to learn skills, both basic and advanced. Your local community college is the perfect place to learn welding skills and some basic ‘metal fabrication, and there are now a number of very good metalworking. schools that will take you from basic metal forming to skills as advanced as forming an entire body. The schools, are brief and intense, so you learn a lot in a short time, and if you choose your class wisely, you'll find very small classes with lots of hands-on time and an instructor close at hand, ‘Yes, as our demands for more involved projects and higher-quality cars continue to increase, we all find LITSA E ROADSTER. more knowledge and skill took us to a rmetalfabricating class run by Lazze Jansson at his school, Lazze Metal Dreams, in Oakdale, California (wvrw.lazze.us, 209/847-1218). It-seems that the passion for hot rrods and metal forming came to Lazze ‘much as it came to most of you read- Ing this magazine. At the age of 8, Lazze went to a hot rod show and knew immediately that he would one day build a hot rod roadster. What he couldn’t know at that time was that he would become a master metal fabrica- tor in the process. Itall began for Lazze in 1967, when he attended his first hot rod show in Ludvika, Sweden, At the age of 16, he enrolled in the ASEA three-year school of manufac ‘uring, which proved to be valuable training. Skills were learned on the lathe and miling machine, and he learned about sheetmetal work and. welding. School led to a job as a line worker at ASEA, and then in machine repairmen and fabricators anywhere, While his work may have been in fabrication and repair, since the age of 12, his leisure time has been con- sumed modifying everything from mopeds and motorbikes to cars. ‘When he finally got a driver’s license, he bought a ’56 Fairlane Victoria and set about building his first car. The car was rusty (some things are the same no matter where in the world you build a hot rod), so a big part of the building process was forming new pan- ls to repair the rust. It quickly became apparent to the young Lazze ‘that when It came time to shape metal In two directions, things became con- siderably more difficult. Compound ‘curves were formed, and with time and practice, he became more profi cient at shaping complex panels, but all the while he was sure there must be a better method. Time kept rolling on, and after 16 years of employment at ASEA, Lazze became restless—it was time to start a company of his own. And with the help and urging of several friends and‘The economy in Sweden was poor at the time, but a suitable workshop was rented, and Lazze began doing restoration of vintage cars, sports cars and some hot rod work, — Everything from a'59 Ford Sunliner toa Mercedes 190SL and a "55. VW Cabriolet rolled through the door that year, and in spite of the poor econo- my, the fledgling business did well But there was stil an itch to build that early hot t rod ay When a’34 © Ford Fordor sedan body was located, Lazze pur- chased the car and brought it back to his shop, but a Fordor was the last thing on his mind—he wanted a roadster. He real lzed that to convert a sedan into a roadster, he would have to completely form the rear half of the body. ‘Over the years, one problem had remained a constant: com- pound curves were always required, and building o IT TAKES — \ TOOLS ery | his new tool, along weekend, and a few Cees Ly Ce eo Peer eat ed eet ee Cory eo oes eee) oT ooo whee! is hey to making Ce Cee mea Ces ceed them was terribly time consum> Ing. But he had heard about a tool called an English wheel, and working from photos in arod magazine, he set W about building his own wheel. A box-tubing frame was built, and he made his own flat roller and convex roller on his lathe. ‘Armed with sheets of flat steel, and now a cut-up °34 Fordor, Lazze began testing his new machine. Sure enough, compound curves flowed out of the English wihecl. He was mesmerized by the process, so much so that 11 hours later he had formed a quar- ter panel and a deckld, but : he had forgotten to stop and eat. The steel road- ster body changed everything for his business. Both customers and friends ‘were amazed at the metalwork, and when they asked Lazze how he he was ata loss to explain the process; it “Just happened.” was his response. With nothing more than a vision of. how the panel should be shaped, he rolled the metal back and forth until the shape had been achieved. The pan- els were smooth and compound:ery oes Ai) ee Te) Cee Peony oe ee Ce ee and work fom there ee ed peer Sed ee end Ce TOL ee eS SUBSCRIB FOR CHEVY LOVERS UT ies se ORDER TOLL FREE Pe ee eee ee= IT TAKES TOOLS Cee ee ae Sey Cec rd corre See oe ee ae | a: a AC cd / ial evry pal on Desert inaes nie Sac Seer) eed b vp R i Cu Mi eee a) ee ec a : eu a ax | Co eee Sere nin ane Tn Ee ee ed Py Pees eee re a eetcurved, and it was only later that he learned that most metalworkers rough-shaped the metal with mallets and shot bags and then wheeled the panel to make it smooth. Lazze simply wheeled the shape from the very beginning. This led to the design of Lazze's Wheel and several other spe- cial metalworking tools that lend themselves to the unique metalwork: Ing technique Jansson has developed, and now teaches. ‘Thanks to the combination of years of tran 1 his own unique- style English wheel and other metal= fabricating tools, it became apparent that many people would enjoy learning these skills. After a year of planning, the first training session was held in 1994, The class consisted mainly of friends, and Sture Torngren was among that first group. Torngren is the editor of Wheels Magazine in ‘Sweden, and when a piece came out about the metalworking classes, inter ested rodders called to enroll Now, some nine years later, more than 1,000 people have taken the classes in Europe, and the demand for the school continues to grow. Of course, while going to Sweden for a ‘metalworking class is more than a litle tempting, you might find enrolling in cone of the classes in Oakdale, California, a bit more affordable. The compl three distinct sessions, beginning with class is broken down into One class, Step One: This is a three-day class that deals with the basics of sheetmet al fabrication. You'll learn how to use the Lazze’s Wheel, Lazze’s Bead Roller and the Lazze’s Pro Shrinker/Stretcher. Since each class Is limited to five students, you'll each hhave your own wheel, ensuring you're getting maximum time actually shaping metal. Because the three Lazze- designed machines work in concert with each other, students are amazed Wire it in one weekend. No cursing. No kidding. NK Custom tailored to your car and shipped in 24 hours. SELECT-A-CIRCUIT™ _ piug the fuse into the “hot” side or the “ignition” side. * You decide what's always hot...and what's not. + Easy to switch back and forth! 5 3 a 3 < S ms! a a SEI Cr Me RORY 01, RON FRANCIS WIRING As good as it gets. Call us for your EREE 2006 Automotive Wiring Catalog and Encyclopedia...68 BIG color pages of products PLUS Ron's 20. in een a ee ee) Rae ae ane ce a to it again and again. And best of all, it’s totall Com RORY ee Call toll free NOW! 1-800-292-1940 Penne Ree ate et ay 9 Peete ee en Ce TMC UO Ke a a adinaaiouaala \ ere ay Peace | Peden ees ead Cee aoa Pac peat co THE CARESTO V-8 SPEEDSTER A Six-Pack of Hand-B Leif Tufvesson Is a graduate of the Lazze program, and while he brought a wealth of experience and talent to the school, he left with even more, Asa matter of fact, he went on to build some very cuttingedge Cars In his shop. Starting with ttle more than an artist's rendering and a brand-new Volo $80, Tufvesson bult the Caresto V-8 Speedster you see here, ‘56 Novernber 2006. STREET ROD BUILDER Aluminum and Carbon-Fiber Roadsters Scheduled to be completed bythe end of summer 2006-about now-a total of sx of these cars wil be bul and wil incorpo- rate many cutingedge buldng techniques from carbon fer to miled aluminum. T nat 2,646 Ibs, witha 31Shp Volvo \+8 suppiying a pleasing power-toweight rio. Inboard:mounted coliover shocks and stainless tee! control cars will we ‘A moder roaster boy, formed from and eatbon fiber and cling on big all makes for quite a modem streot rd s ‘witha hint of smoothed tation. Volvo; virally everything ese is hand arms mounted to hand-fabricated make up the suspension on this mi roadster. Rolling stock comes int of alloy wheels that measure 20x8+ Step Two: This class is a five-day class, and you must have completed the Lazze Step One course prior to enrolling inthis class. In this class, you will actually be participating in forming panels on a project vehicle, not just shaping random pieces of metal. Working with both steel and alu- minum sheet, you will learn how to “read” the metal and develop a true feel for the machines. Basic practice in TIG welding is included in this course, and measuring and forming mirror. Image pieces is dealt with, too. This Is an exciting course because you are actually working on a car body, form- Ing both external and structural pan- els. You'll ind yourself working on such challenging projects as forming a complete aluminum Cobra body, or building a "22 Ford roadster from scratch. This is the real deal, and once again, because of limited class sizes, you get plenty of hands-on time and lots of one-on-one instruction, ‘Step Three: This isthe final class, and you'll spend three days honing the skills you learned, bringing them to a higher level. More complicated fabrica- tion is addressed, as well as more advanced training on “reading” the metal and getting a feel for how the metal is flowing. This will complete the 11-day course, and assuming you have a reasonable amount of ability and desire, you should walk away amazed at the things you can form from sheet- metal. And the good part of the entire program is that Lazze insists that learning and working with metal be fun, and judging by the smiling faces of his students, he does a great job edu- cating folks in an informal and fun Of course, not all of us can take the time or spend the money to go to California for a week to attend metal forming school. 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Meighan Blvd ere anes8 SPEEDSTER CONTINUED... upfront and 22x10 inches inthe rear. “The body Is hand-formed aluminum, and while the look s inspired by vintage hot rods, the shape is pure contemporary roadster, Such technical wonders as antilock brakes anda sb speed Geartronic trans willenhance the driving expertence. While this might not be a Deuce roadster in the traction sense, tis a roadster to reckon with, and to that end theres plenty to lean simply by viewing this ar. tay aso provide us 2 glimpse of what we might expect inthe future for such ind vidualzed builder effors 1 drawing shows the Volvo-nspied engrorate For more information on the sh pack of roadsters being The color cone the look of more typical Volvos iiara mers sinyemeataieeaemnnercr. grille that eehoes peieieugie nae tmade ofthe carbo any ofthe work on th Body This stout ature was constructed to facitate the "Complex paras tare Inilding of these specially constructed control arms a ‘This handabricated upright will connect the two. rear control arms and mount each ofthe two out: shafts, of the aluminum body is taking shope with luninum lower panels and carbon fiber upper panel hardly what you'd find ina home garage, but it facilitates spaceframe construetion and ensures that each frame is ident- cal to the next. \ a ee ‘The actual tub is fabricated from a mixture of steel The control arms are wrapped in formed sheetmotal, fais iat tan eactk We ob eare coatieas ou thn tollinstruct you on the use of all the tools used in the shop. Of course, you don’t {get to walk over to the great-looking “41 Willys coupe and make a fender panel, but you do learn the process, and at $29.95 per class (downloaded cline), you just can't go wrong. The final part of Lazze Metal Dreams consists of manufacturing and selling the very tools you worked with In school. t's one thing to know how it's another to find the tools to perform that work. With his to form metal years of experience, Lazze’s machines have evolved into unique machines that perform like no others. As a mat- ter of fact, Lazze feels so strongly about his machines that he will not sel a machine to anyone who has not taken his classes in person or online He is certain that the only way to {guarantee a happy customer is to pro- vide both the tools and the knowledge of how to properly use the equipment. IFyou have the working knowledge, you'll be in a much better position to decide if you want the machine, and then if you do purchase a machine, you'll know exactly what to expect from the equipment. There's a certain logic to it all ‘And there you have it, a great school that teaches the lost art of metal forming and provides state-of- the-art equipment for your shop. It parallels what most street rodders have been doing all their life: continu- Ing education and adding to the ever- growing number of tools for that ever expanding shop. For more information Con enrolling online or in person, just give Lazze a call or visit his website, You'll be a wiser man for the experi lence, and who knows? Maybe one day you'll be sitting behind the wheel of a steekbodied street rod that was fabri- cated in your own shop, or at least behind a custom-formed dashboard! INJECTION Get the performance your street rod deserves. Convert your rod to a high performing EFI system. 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