Thread: 55 Wagon Progress

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Mike did some component assembly today so we could make sure things fit before powder coating brackets. Good thing we did..








The AC condenser bracket came with the Vintage Air setup, and we bought the alternator bracket to match... I'm not really keen on the mix of vintage air cleaner and AC condenser in front of it, but I think the owner would frown on the lack of cold air exiting from the dash..


While Mike was working on those issues, I added some color to our paint sprayout sample.. It's too cloudy out today but we're hoping for sunlight tomorrow to better show what this will look like. Until then, Milwaukee Sun...








Video version:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhfk84YrQtY



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Do you have room to to raise the air cleaner up some to help get the air cleaner above the compressor? That spray out panel looks very nice!

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Trying to hide the FI as much as we can...


Here's a sneak peek at our speaker trim rings just back from DGM Chrome in Philly. Looks like we'll get a couple set up with the stainless mesh so we can show them off at this weekend's car show in Leonardtown..


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OOk...ature=youtu.be



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Since we got our freshly chromed speaker trim rings back from DGM Chrome in Philly, it only stands to reason that we need to put another sample together for the car show in Leonardtown on Sunday. So today I stopped by Norris Upholstery and picked up a scrap to cover one of the kick panels to make it more presentable. Fake upholstery, if you will..





We planned on adding a plateau to the stainless speaker mesh rather than flat, so some pressing fixtures had been cut out on a water jet for us..

















Comparing the flat to the plateau....








installed...











https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrOES4xQv2A



This might even work....

Very pretty.

So cool!!!!

Thanks for the comments fellas! On these grills, to clarify, the smaller (tweeters) use a smaller opening pattern (more holes per inch) than the midrange speaker next to them, so they would appear the same proportionally. McMaster Carr sells a sample kit of the mesh to help in picking out the size, p/n is 9231T11. For the sub we used 5 x 5 mesh (5 openings per inch) p/n 85385T31. For the midrange, 8 x 8 mesh, p/n 85385T42. For the tweeters, 10 x 10 mesh, p/n 85385T48. The grill for the sub will have multiple pressings, one to include a recessed crest emblem. That one will be the test..

WoW! that's gonna be one of the sweetest rides I've ever seen when done. You guys are over the top on the details and quality of metal work/restoration. Anybody would be lucky to own one of your projects!

Originally Posted by stovens

WoW! that's gonna be one of the sweetest rides I've ever seen when done. You guys are over the top on the details and quality of metal work/restoration. Anybody would be lucky to own one of your projects!

What he said.
I totally agree.

Man that turned out really nice! I need to get a mill and lathe so I can pop out various odd little dies and tools like that. For now I have a friend that will do what ever for $40/hr. It beats what other machine shops are charging.

Absolutely stunning work!
Rich

Thanks for all the comments guys! Ryan, you can never go wrong with the machines to do it yourself.



Had a busy weekend but didn't get anything done.

Saturday I went to the 15th annual Jalopyrama, this year it was held at the Talbot County Community Center in Easton, MD. I didn't get many pictures this year as there are far too many people taking pictures with much better cameras than I had (iPhone). This year's theme was a focus on vintage race cars, and the indoor arena was filled with dragsters, gassers, etc, as well as some of the nicest hot rods to be found on the East Coast. I did get a shot of my buddy Dirty Dave's gasser, which is basically his daily driver. Odd to see it indoors as much as he drives the wheels off it! haha..





Next to it was the "Hamb Special", a vintage pickup classed race truck built for Bonneville, making it's debut on the salt last year. Owned by John Mullen of Lanexa VA, built by John and many of the members of the VA Hamb. My buddy Dave Russell gets the piloting duties on the salt, and we caught up at the show and talked shop.





It has a 262 Ford 6 cylinder, but caught the attention of many of the racer's inside the building when it was being brought in. That idle didn't sound much like any 6 cylinder I've heard:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ot0UTIhtv4


….and I did get a picture for Joe Unger. This truck would look awesome in front of his Sinclair station in Perry..





Sunday was another car show, this one a bit more local for me, put on in downtown Leonardtown by the St. Mary's Rod and Classic Car Club to benefit Hospice and many other charitable organizations.


We set up in front of John's shop, along with his Biederman truck, and a couple tables of our fabrications. Got a bit too much Sun, but really enjoyed getting out and talking to everyone about their projects.






Last night was repair time for a dirt car. We had a severe fold/wrinkle to remove to get ready for next weekend, and with little in the means to "pull", we resorted to some MacGyver action on some Vise Grips...





















That should hold it for this weekend.

wow! Much better. I would of had to buy or have fabricated a new panel!

Holy wow! That is the most wicked 6 cylinder I've heard. It sounds really similar to a V8 at idle until they give it some rpm. Your friend's gasser is pretty sweet too! Great panel stretching too.

Quote, "Ryan, you can never go wrong with the machines to do it yourself. "

SO true! But it is a very slippery slope! There will be more and more tooling needed / wanted and most of the tooling will cost you more than what you paid for the machine to start with. Ask me how I know..

Robert, as always - awesome work.