Tim shaw and the team at Car SOS came to Winward Engineering in need of an obsolete headlight assembly for a 1930s Ford Model A.
Car SOS’s Tim Shaw and the team came to Winward Engineering for an obsolete headlamp assembly on a 1930s Ford Model A. With no drawings and only a worn original to reference, we reverse-engineered the assembly, produced new spinning tooling, and spun three parts in-house: the main dome, a backplate, and a bezel to tie it all together.
Working to the programme’s tight filming schedule, we prototyped and produced a matching pair of replica headlights, completing our small part in the wider restoration.
WHY METAL SPINNING?
The parts are circular and rotationally symmetrical, and the requirement was a low-batch - making metal spinning a perfect fit for this project. Compared with casting or stamping, metal spinning uses simple, low-cost tooling, keeping the programme’s tight filming schedule realistic for Winward Engineering.
WHY WINWARD ENGINEERING?
We reproduced the headlamp assembly entirely in-house (flat-bed cutting, toolmaking, hand metal spinning and finishing) meaning we could move fast and stay aligned with the programme’s filming schedule. Having one team own the whole job kept feedback loops short and the quality consistent. By the end, Tim Shaw and the Car SOS team were asking, in so many words, why they hadn’t used Winward earlier.
WORKSHOP UNCUT | CAR S.O.S
IT'S LIKE POTTERY...
Similar to metal spinning, potters manipulate the material and thickness to achieve the desired shape.
Similar to pottery, metal spinners shape material into form using rotating machinery.
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