Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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those are some sweet seats, got her looking good.

What's your next step on the car IToldyouso?

What's your next step on the car IToldyouso?


I've put off fiberglassing the floor and wood framework into the car as long as I can, so I guess it is time to start that. I HATE fiberglass work and the mess and itching that goes with it, so I have been finding excuses to not do it. Guess I'll go out and get one of those hooded paper suits and try to keep as much of it from getting on me as I can, and go at it.

Probably tonight I am going to go to Home Depot and pick up the plywood.

Don

I know what you mean, I am on my third attempt at a console. I have found that the matted cloth is alot cleaner and alot less itchy than the fiber matts are. I am like you, I completely suit up for that stuff.

When I was building my '27 I came home one day, got down to shorts only, and started grinding away at the fiberglass on the body. It was 90 degrees, and the dust stuck to the sweat, so even after taking a shower it was itch time. That night I had to sleep with my arms straight out and no sheet or blanket over me. That's why I don't like to do it anymore, and do everything possible to keep it from happening.

I had an old time shrimper, who did fiberglass work all the time, tell me the secret was to get into the hottest shower you could and use a scrub brush in one direction only to sweep away the fibers out of your pores. I have also heard putting baby oil on and showering works, and I think I have had the best luck with that.

Don

I Remember as a kid mom did some fiberglass drapes in the washer. Needless to say you wanted to run around naked for awhile (LOL).

According to the union safety meetings I attended about fiberglass, they all said Baking Soda baths, opens the pours and all the glass showers right off. It works very well I will admit, soak for about 1/2 an hour in a box of baking soda in a tub of water and then shower off.

Never heard that remedy, but you can bet I buy some baking soda next time I am at the store.

Thanks for the tip.

Don

Cover your exposed skin in gold bond or baby powder, before doing the work, it keeps the fibers out some, all us sheetrock guys do that before we hang a product called densglass, its drywall covered in fiberglass instead of paper

Huh. Sounds reasonable. All this fiberglass talk has me sitting here itching, just thinking about it.


Don

I know what you mean, i hate the stuff, in any form, when i worked at lurhs/mainship thats all you could smell around the factory, and i was in the t-top shop across the property, i always felt bad for the poor glass guys

Well, I have decided to postpone my fiberglass adventure until this weekend, when i can take the body outside for some grinding so I don't screw up the shop too bad. But today I made a little score at work.

The marina next door to ours sold, and they are going to level it next week to put up storage racks, so they told us to come over and take anything we wanted. Being the scrounger I am, I got a nice steel stool to put at our welding table, but I also picked up a rolling steel cart that they used to move heavy stuff around. It measures 2 x 3 feet, and has 4 heavy caster wheels under it, and probably will hold a thousand pounds.

I have decided to make an engine test stand out of it so that we can test run any engine we build before we slide it into the actual car. It will be a lot easier to fix problems or leaks before it is sitting in a nicely painted frame, and I can have an engine all tuned and ready to run when it goes in.

I am going to make it so that I can bolt in Chevy, Ford, or other make engines with just a crossmember change, and will probably build a rear engine plate with various holes to match up with any bell housing pattern. I have some old gauges (tach, oil pressure, water temp) and will probably use a 3 gallon marine tank and a battery too. Not sure if I will put a radiator on it, or just plumb in a garden hose type arrangement. If I do the radiator, I will probably mount a box fan in front of it to keep the engine cool while breaking them in.

If any of you have done one of these, and have any suggestions, I would love to hear from you. A friend of mine built one out of 2 x 6 lumber one time, and it looked and worked great.

Here are some pix of the cart I picked up.


Don

Don---Put a radiator on it. You can't get a new engine hot enough to "run it in" with the old garden hose trick. I built a beautifull engine test stand when I built my 27 T roadster about 10 years ago---only problem was it took up so darn much room after I had the roadster finished that I cut it up and re-used it for other things, just to give me room in the garage.

Yeah, I am wondering about the space thing too. I think I am going to make everything bolt on so that it will breakdown to no bigger than the rack itself. The last one I was building was so big I could have driven it around. I scrapped it when we moved to this shop because it took up so much room.

Good point about the temperature thing, Brian. It will also be a good way to check for leaks because the coolant will be under radiator cap pressure. Smart thinking, thanks.

Don

Here's a commercial engine stand you might get some ideas from

http://www.mightymount.com/

Lots of ideas on that one. Thanks.


Don