Thread: 41 Willys Gasser project

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Well today started off good as i got the tubes i had been waiting for to fit my new front tyres, I'm using Protrac 560 x 15's, I did try firestone 560 x 15's but for some strange reason the Protracs are 1" taller ???



I set off to the tyre fitters all excited, they took special care of the rims in fitting the tyres but on the second rim when they inflated the tyre a large piece of the bead just pinged off



Now i knew one wheel had been repaired but evidently not yery well !!!

I found someone nearby that is experienced in welding Magnesium so hopefully tomorrow it will all be repaired, The guy took one look and said someone had repaired it with ally TIG rod and it had cold cracked. He offered me some magnesium rods to do it myself but i declined as having never welded magnesium i thought practising on my wheels wasn't a great idea !!!











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Anyway here are the pics, I really like the tall look.

It's a good thing it failed now rather than when you are making a pass. Yikes!!

For sure Lynn !!!

Originally Posted by rumrumm

It's a good thing it failed now rather than when you are making a pass. Yikes!!

Wow never seen that happen before. Like Lynn said better now, then while moving at high speeds! Project is coming together nicely!

Scary stuff,steve..Nice looking wheels,too..Hope it repairs ok..

Here's one of the wheels fitted, ignore the fact i put the springs back on the wrong way round , the pins are off set and i didnt notice till it was back on the ground.

Fitting the spindle mounts did exactly what i wanted by moving the wheel inboard a few inches, the old wheels were pushed out by the adaptor in the disc kit and the answer would of been to narrow the axle slightly.

Today i took the wheel to an expert, he was a really nice bloke and even let me have a go on a scrap magnesium rim, Its very much like welding ally, except the gas mix is 50/50 argon/helium and the rod is obviously different, we used a az101 filler rod. The arc is also much shorter than aluminium and everything has to be very very clean. Also he preheated it.
I learn't a lot of this old guy today and now would'nt hesitate to have a go myself.
Unfortunately he didn't finis the job as he ran out of rods








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Well not much progress to speak of but today i'm a very happy chappy, Got a call from the wheel repairer to say my Spindle mount mag welding was done, They did an absolutely outstanding job and you would think it had never been damaged !!! They also sent it for crack testing and gave me a certificate to prove its ok.

They couldn't remachine it as their lathe was down but luckily i knew someone that had a big faceplate on a lathe, 24 hrs later it was done (thanks Brian)



Before













After

That wheel looks amazing. I guess I shouldn't expect anything less with your stuff.

Originally Posted by Rickomatic

That wheel looks amazing. I guess I shouldn't expect anything less with your stuff.

Thanks, I'm pretty pleased with it myself !!!


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did they weld up the entire area then cut it back???I wouldn't think they'd weld the part back in???

No charlie they built it all up with magnesium rod, the broken part was aluminium, that was the original problem.

Originally Posted by cffisher

did they weld up the entire area then cut it back???I wouldn't think they'd weld the part back in???

Very nice,Steve..Nice repair..The guy knows his stuff..Willys lookin kool with them on..
Nice to see you again..Havent seen you for a while..Have a good day,,its 10.15pm,Friday..hittin the scratcher....

Cheers Robin, i still look each day but must admit i'm loosing interest in this site i'm afraid, Since Don went it seems quite dull.

Originally Posted by lamin8r

Very nice,Steve..Nice repair..The guy knows his stuff..Willys lookin kool with them on..
Nice to see you again..Havent seen you for a while..Have a good day,,its 10.15pm,Friday..hittin the scratcher....

Originally Posted by roadster32

Cheers Robin, i still look each day but must admit i'm loosing interest in this site i'm afraid, Since Don went it seems quite dull.

Thanks for posting the wheel repair, Steve. It looks better than new with the face freshly turned. I really enjoy your posts showing fabrication, and I envy your skills and abilities.

I miss seeing Don's posts, too, but I also miss the input of Ken Thurm, BrianUpNow from Canada (yellow A PU who is a fantastic machinist), Don Dalton (who only posts occasionally now), Don Shillady (think that name's spelled right), and those are just a few that I remember being very active posters in the not too distant past. Some others post in bursts, sharing something on their build, then going dormant for a while before hitting CHR with another blast of posts. The fact is people come and go, and occasionally someone jumps back in after being gone for months or years. I hope that you continue to share your talents with us, and that we get some other builds going to keep things more interesting for everyone.

Cheers Roger, I too miss all those peoples posts. Its a shame.

Originally Posted by rspears

Thanks for posting the wheel repair, Steve. It looks better than new with the face freshly turned. I really enjoy your posts showing fabrication, and I envy your skills and abilities.

I miss seeing Don's posts, too, but I also miss the input of Ken Thurm, BrianUpNow from Canada (yellow A PU who is a fantastic machinist), Don Dalton (who only posts occasionally now), Don Shillady (think that name's spelled right), and those are just a few that I remember being very active posters in the not too distant past. Some others post in bursts, sharing something on their build, then going dormant for a while before hitting CHR with another blast of posts. The fact is people come and go, and occasionally someone jumps back in after being gone for months or years. I hope that you continue to share your talents with us, and that we get some other builds going to keep things more interesting for everyone.