Thread: Machining hotrod parts---

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I hang out a lot over on the HAMB (have to get my daily dose of abuse and vilification). A fellow named Paul from Vegas had put up a post, mentioning that he had put new underpadding and carpet in his '51 Studebaker, and now his floor mounted starter switch was too short. He was wondering if you could buy an extension anywhere. Since its still colder than a witches tit here in Ontario, and because I am suffering from terminal boredom this weekend, I volunteered to make an extension for it. I had a peice of 15/16" cold rollel steel laying in my scrap bin, so I chucked it up in my lathe, put in a 7/8" counterbore, and in no time had a nice little extension peice made for him. I think that this is actually the first peice of hot rod related machining I have done since buying my lathe and mill last year. On Monday I will go see the post office Natzis and find out the cheapest way to send it down to him.

You got a lot of talent Brian. I read the same post over there. I had a similar problem with my head light switch in both of my cars. I found a unit similar to the one you made from Billet Specilaties (no, it's not a bling piece). It had a set screw to adjust for height and tightness and extended my switch about 1 1/4 inches so I could more easily reach it. Haven't seen them recently, don't know if they still make them or not.

You should make another one and but it on ebay to see if there is a market for such a piece.

mopar34--Yah, but then it would be work!!!

Brian I bought a lathe and a mill when I build my 38 chevy back in 89 with machine shop cost out of sight those two items are very helpful. Good work or should I say FUN

Brian wrote:

mopar34--Yah, but then it would be work!!!

Yeah, I know, work is a bitch. But then work can have it's rewards, like $$money$$. And money buys parts for our other favorite toys.

mopar 34---No, seriously, you couldn't sell these things for enough money to pay for the time it takes to build them on a manual lathe. If you were set up with a CNC lathe, or maybe a screw machine, and made them it lot runs of 50 or 100, then just maybe you would hit a "break even" point. However, it takes the best part of an hour to make one, it requires a $1500 minimum lathe and tooling, plus the cost of raw material. If you sold them for enough money to pay for the aformentioned overhead, plus the electricity, plus the costs involved with keeping a warm dry environment for the lathe, then you would have to charge $50 for a part that is really not worth more than $5 and that there is only very, very occasional demand for.

I've had similar requests on camaro boards for the set of billet aluminum door hinges I built for the "Z". The design time alone made them impractical.

Drop it in a padded envelope, and 5-day it. Should get there under $3.

Brian, I am sure that what you said is very true about the time and cost to make the extensions, especially in low quantities. However, if someone on ebay can sell a cornflake that looks like the state of Illinois for $1500, then I'm sure your little part might bring a reasonable reward.

Just call it an exclusive piece, a one of a kind, and start the bidding at a ridiculous amount, like maybe $300 and see where it goes. Might help if you could see the likeness of a well known landmark or a Holy Diety in the inside boring.
Oh, and it may go faster if you offer free shipping. Everybody loves a shipping bargain.

Keep in mind that it's just as easy to make 10-20 parts as it is one.

Set up, do step 1 on all of em.

Change setup, do step 2.

Keep going until you're done.

Made 20 brake line two bolt frame mounts for my 32 and only used 9.

The other 11 - or fewer - go on my 31 roadster.

One of the biggest concerns today is product liability.
In these litigious days some people will sue you over anything. I made a set of jigs years ago to make tubular A-arms. I could make a proifit, and there is a decent demand for them but the first person that hits a curb and bends one or God forbid get hurt in the process, will try to make me liable and there goes not only my profit but everything else I hold dear. Oh, by the way have you priced product insurance lately? A $1 million umbrella is minimum and cost way more than is affordable just to make a few parts.
John

Originally Posted by brianrupnow

I hang out a lot over on the HAMB (have to get my daily dose of abuse and vilification).

C'mon now Brian, the HAMBrs like you.

Seen nothing but good comments about your contributions.

Stop in again when you can....

Originally Posted by 41willys

One of the biggest concerns today is product liability.
In these litigious days some people will sue you over anything. I made a set of jigs years ago to make tubular A-arms. I could make a proifit, and there is a decent demand for them but the first person that hits a curb and bends one or God forbid get hurt in the process, will try to make me liable and there goes not only my profit but everything else I hold dear. Oh, by the way have you priced product insurance lately? A $1 million umbrella is minimum and cost way more than is affordable just to make a few parts.
John

ain't that the dang truth!!!!!!! and on the rare occurances I forget to hit the mute button during commercials on the boob tube, I notice there's a bunch of these dang ambulance chasers (aka lawyers) advertising to encourage viewers to sue their past employers or associates for most anything under the sun!!!!!! Maybe our legal system could stand a bit of restructurring????????

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Maybe our legal system could stand a bit of restructurring????????

Never happen as long as we keep electing lawyers to positions of power.