What if we really did throw a party, would anybody come?
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What if we really did throw a party, would anybody come?
Oh no you don't, this has to be home grown stuff :LOL: :LOL:Quote:
Originally Posted by Itoldyouso
How about Mo-Kan? It's not far from Joplin, Mo. and right on the Mo/Kansas border. :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by J. Robinson
Yeah, Ken and I can go on PINKS! He already has the trailer to tow mine home with.:LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:
Don
But if you win, you get a trailer with mine :LOL: :CRY: :CRY:
Hey Ken, tonight I showed Dan the '32 you are building. He was blown away, especially by the front suspension, but by the entire car too. He said when you see a car of this caliber it really puts into perspective how talented some people are.........I had to agree. Your builds are the kind we all look at in magazines and drool. :) :)
Don
Don,
Any recent progress on this project? I know you've been working on Dan's RPU, but just curious...:confused: :3dSMILE:
Yeah Jim, actually a little bit. When Dan is doing something he doesn't need an extra pair of hands for, I slip over and am getting little things done. For example, I have finished up the framework for the bed, and I built a support to hold my gas tank.
The reason I am not posting much on it is because I am doing this one sort of on the rat rod side, and am not particularly proud of the workmanship. I am trying to use stuff I have squirreled away, and scrap pieces of steel. From the onset this car was going to be a little rude and crude, and that is the way it is coming out too. :o I think I am going to shoot red on the body first, then flattened black, and sand through places to "distress" the body and age it a little.
I'm not saying it will be built unsafe or shoddy, just that I am not going nuts grinding welds and brackets like I might normally do. I wanted this build to be a break from having to sweat every little part being perfect. I am also doing most of my own welding, and it is far from the welds Dan might turn out for me. He keeps offering to do them for me, but I can do the non structural stuff and I'll use him for the important welds.
When I get a little further along I'll take some pictures.............from 50 feet away. :LOL: :LOL:
Don
Glad Jim asked about that Don! I've been wondering too. As far as kind ratty, who cares? If that is what you want, go for it. And we all know you aren't cutting corners on important things. Must be HOT down your way now. Man, up here it is bad enough. Up in the high eighties lotsa days, which makes our greenhouse/garage about 90 to 100. UGH. I go out in the morning for a bit, then sometimes later on in the day, after the sun has set. Still no power to run our 220 welder and compressor yet, but we have done a little toward it. Someday soon, I hope. That will speed things up a lot for us. Regards to you all at the 3D garage, also regards to you Jim, hope your project is coming along well. Perley
Yep Perley, it is August in Florida, that's for sure!! :eek: Most days when we get to the shop it's 94 inside and even at 3 am it is still 84 or so. The humidity is the worst though.
We actually went to Harbor Freight and bought two hammocks that we put in the office. When we get too hot and tired in the shop a 15 minute nap in the air conditioned office brings us back to life. Even at that, we still pray for rain every day because a good soaking drops the temperature quite a bit.
Hope you get your 220 hooked up pretty soon. :)
Don
Today I actually got some stuff done on the Dodge. Dan was too tired after work to go work on his, so I had the evening to fool around with mine.
I mentioned that I inherited Dan's old bed and framework that supports it, plus the louvered tonneau cover. We had shortened and narrowed it to fit my Dodge, and today I cleaned all the surface rust that had accumulated on the framework, and got it painted. I used satin black, the same as I am going to use on the frame. It doesn't show once the bed sides are screwed to it, but it didn't come out too bad for a quickie job.
I also started building the floor shifter assembly. I had no choice but to build one because Lokar and Gennie don't make one for the Olds 4 speed hydro I am using. I made it as simple as possible, and still have to make a rod to go to the transmission arm, and also a detent plate. I also have to incorporate a neutral safety switch. I used an old Model A chromed shift lever, and an old knob I have been squirreling away for the past 30 years or so. I knew it would come in handy some day!! :D
I also cut a steel plate to go over the old Dodge instrument panel, and cut 3 holes for oil pressure, water temp, and volt meter. I am going to mount an old Dixco tach I have on top of the dash. That will be my speedometer.
Here are a couple of pictures of some of the stuff I got done today.
Don
Nice work as alway's, I really like how you "boxed" in the bell housing.:D
Ron
I think you're going to need bigger washers to hold that floor down. I'm guessing that it might get a bit soggy in the rain too.
no really, nice work - as always.
Whoa...............that shift knob is a '60s flash back...........haven't seen one of those in a few.......
So you don't think a little paint on the cardboard floor will waterproof it? After all, this IS a rat rod.:LOL: :LOL:
Yeah Bob, I bought that knob sometime in the '70's with a bunch of stuff from a speed shop that was going out of business. At the time it just came with some other stuff, but I thought it was kind of funky. Finally have a use for it. :) With the red wheels and engine it should tie in ok. I'd like to find a red metalflake steering wheel, but those things have gotten very expensive.
Don
Wow! The last time I saw one of those shift knobs it was on an old Kraco flat stick shifter in the late '60's. That is the ultimate of a cool vintage piece!:cool:
Don, here's a couple of pics of the shifter in my coupe. The bracketry is similar, showing again that great minds think alike... Anyway, I thought you might like to see this; in order to keep the thing in the gear that I want, I needed some sort of "gate". I put a second pivot point at the bottom of the lever so it can move sideways. I welded a tab to the side of the lever and it falls into the slots on the gate. The gate is made from 1/8 x 1 1/4 flat stock. I tacked it on, marked the gear locations with a Sharpie, broke it off, ground the notches where they needed to be, and welded it back on. A headlight retainer spring holds the lever to the right against the gate. Notice that Park and Drive are the deepest notches. When I am ready to roll, I pull the lever slightly to the left, then back into gear, and let it fall in the appropriate notch. The spring keeps it there. All this is hidden under the boot. I don't know if any of this is useful to you, but thought I'd throw it out there...:3dSMILE:
If you come across a neutral start switch that is workable on our applications, let me know. I've not had one on the last three cars I built. I don't consider it a problem unless I let someone else drive the car. In fact it's kind of handy to be able to fire it in gear sometimes, but if I could find a workable piece I may add it.:rolleyes:
I remember your shifter you built, very straightforward and it looks like it works well. Actually, I probably won't install a neutral switch either, I was just trying to be politically correct in saying that. :p I can't get the ones that are installed on my Lokar or Don's Lokar to work all the time anyway. I moved his T out of the shop one day and the darned thing fired up in reverse. Put a scared look on my face that day for sure. :eek:
This Olds tranny is weird, it is a '59 or '60 cast iron 4 speed Hydromatic, the last of the 4 speeds before GM went to the aluminum Slim Jim. I forget the gear pattern, but it is reversed, I think. Something like L, S, D, N, R........no Park, I don't think. I scrapped the steering column years ago, so I don't have the shift indicator to tell me. If anyone knows what the pattern is, and if there is a Park position please let me know.
Eventually I am going to replace the transmission with a turbo 350 using a Bendtsens adapter kit, but it and the transmission will cost at least $ 2,000, which I don't have right now to spend. For now this one should be ok, I hope.
Don
Does that engine have a different bell housing bolt pattern than later Olds engines?:confused:
When you're ready, check with Johnny Winters (JW Transmissions in Cocoa,FL). They make Turbo 350's that fit everything. They do it by machining off the stock bell housing and using a new one that bolts on with the front pump assembly. They even have one that fits early Hemi's!:HMMM:
Those old 4-speed Hydros were WICKED when they worked right. There is almost nothing that will out-launch them.:D
No, it has a totally different bellhousing pattern. Bendtsens sells this one:
The second one is for a stick setup behind the Olds. Pretty cool, but the automatic one is $ 1000 and the stick is $1600. Then you have to add transmission, shifter, etc.
I think I'll wait!!
Don
Lookin good Don! Nice to have the bed,and frame fresh and ready to go. I like the satin black finish as well. When I bought my last pint of Por 15 they only had gloss black. It just didn't look right on the old truck frame, so I went back and bought a quart of satin(semi gloss) black, and will eventually recoat it before I put the bed back on.
I like the home made shift mechanism. J.R.'s looks very solid. The red shift knob is a nice touch, and will give your truck a one of a kind interior! I'll keep my eye out for a red metal flake steering wheel at the local swap meets!
How's Dan's RPU coming along. Do you guys think you'll have it ready in time for Daytona? I hate the time crunch thing, but it is always a great motivator to get things done!
Don -
The shift pattern for my Hydramatic in my 57 Olds, is P N D S L R. Made the mistake one time of pulling it down too far and catching the R when actually going forward.:eek: Eye popping surprise, didn't take long to realize the mistake.:LOL: :LOL: According to my Olds manuals, the S actually stands for Super, not Second. Works like a manual kick down.
Steve, he is coming along pretty well. Sure are trying for Daytona. I told him if I have to tie a rope around his axle and tow him with my T it is going. :D :D It's the weekend, and usually he and I go on Friday night and stay until 5 or 6 AM, and then do the same thing Saturday night and almost as long on Sunday, so we should get a whole lot done this weekend. He mentioned he would like to start shortening his frame this weekend, so maybe next week I can take it to have it sandblasted. I think I better take a nap because it is going to be a long night. :)
Bob, thanks for that info. My shift arm only clicks into 5 detents, and yours shows 6. Do you think they changed it in 59-60? I put in in all 5 positions and none of them lock it up like a normal park position would. I could still spin the driveshaft in every one of them.
If it doesn't have park I will have to install an emergency brake I guess. I was trying to avoid that.
Don
Don I was online looking for the street rodder article on Ken, when I stumbled across this http://www.streetrodderweb.com/tech/...ina/index.html
I think you mentioned doing something similar. Looks cool.
Yep Steve, that's it. Dan just told me the other night he saved an article in some magazine on how to do that process, so that might be what he has. I'm going to have a sign shop do some door art, maybe "Don's Speed Shop....est 1945" on it, and then sand some of it away to age it too.
Kinda dumb, I know, and some people won't get it, but I have one shiny car, so this will be my beater. :D :D
Well, time to head for the shop to get some actual work done on it and Dans car............later. :D :D
Don
That would be very cool. There is a member on here with an old chevy truck that is beige with an old sign on the door. Very clever with the est 1945!:D
I figure it would be the truth too Steve, I was "established" in 1945.:LOL:
This is going to be a short update. It's 6:30 AM and I just got in from pulling an all nighter, and I am toast right now. Mc Donald's breakfast burrito tastes like the best meal I've ever had.:)
I got tired of you guys beating up on me for my cardboard interior :LOL: , so I started replacing it with tin tonight. The hardest part to form is probably going to be the square box over the bellhousing, so that is what I worked on tonight. I took the cardboard one and used it as a template, transferring the shape to some 22 gauge sheet metal. I would have used 18 gauge, but I didn't want to cut up the piece in the shop because Dan will be using that for his floor. The 22 gauge is ok, and easier to cut anyway.
Once I had the shape transferred I cut it out with nibblers and air shears, then rolled a couple of beads in it for strength more than detail, but for doing it all by myself it came out pretty well, I think. I've never used our bead roller by myself, but Dan was too tired after work tonight to go to the shop, so I had to give it a try. Not that hard to do really, I was surprised.
Then I bent up the tin into a box shape, and used cleco fasteners to hold it temporarily in place. Dan will want to weld it up for me, but I want to use pop rivets instead. I had aluminum interiors in two of my drag cars, and the interior was done with pop rivets, and I always liked that look........sort of drag-racey. I probably am going to use spatter finish on the entire interior of the cab, once all the flooring is in.
Here are some pictures of how it all went tonight,
Don
And here is how it ended up. All of those clecos are holding two pieces of strap steel I put behind the box to keep it's shape and give it some strength. Pop rivets will replace them as soon as I do a little more grinding, etc.
I slid it into place, and it fits pretty well for the first try. The rest of the tin work should go pretty easy now. Wait till Dan sees it tomorrow........he thinks he is the tin-master!! :LOL: :LOL:
Don
Nice collection of vise grips you have there. I now have vise grip envy.:LOL:
Nice metal work, do you have a pan brake? Is your bead roller still a crank? Mine is the HF one beefed up and I intend to put a steering wheel on it.
you must have been tired Don if a mcdonalds breakfast burrito taste that good. :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: excellent looking tin work there.
Don-That looks great to me! I think the pop rivets will Carry the theme of your truck nicely ! McDonald's breakfast burrito???
Ken
An Egg McMuffin I might be able to handle, but a breakfast burrito:eek: BTW Don, the big swap meet at the fairgrounds here in Springfield is coming up shortly and I'll keep my eyes peeled for a red metalflake steering wheel. Any particular size?
I like the box look with rivets. Hey what's wrong with McDonalds?:eek: At 1 a.m. coming home from work, nothing beats a Happy Meal!:3dSMILE:
Thanks everybody. I feel like I was out drinking all night.:p
Willowbilly, It's funny how many tools you drag out to do a simple job. I had vice grips holding vice grips. :3dSMILE: Yep, we have a brake that really makes it nice to do this stuff. Luckily, I had used it a few times to help Dan bend up stuff for his car, so I kinda knew what to do. No, we bought the motorized bead roller. The vendor in his video suggested that the motor makes it so much easier, especially for one person, and he was right. I was able to put those in last night with very little effort. But for as much as you really use one of these things a manual model is fine.
Jyardgirl, I hadn't eaten since about 3 the previous afternoon, so I would have been happy eating the box from a happy meal! :)
Ken, I think so on the rivets too. If I were talented I would do what Bill (Gastrick) did with his '32........he used real rivets and bucked each one in place. He must have put 1,000 rivets inside it, and people are in awe at car shows at how great it looks. But I'm going to take the easy route here and pop them in place.
NTFDay, a 14 inch would be good. I was watching one on Ebay, but it has gone to $65 already with time to go and lots of people watching it. I have a nice black wheel that I might use, but if you see one cheap grab it and let me know. Thanks.
Well, Dan's up and it's time to do it all over again!!!!!! WHEEEEEEEEEE!! :eek: :LOL:
Don
Hey Don just saw on ebay, not sure if this is what your looking for, but the price is right! Red flake steering wheel. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...ayphotohosting
That's the one I was watching, but I bet it tops $ 100, and is less than perfect, according to the ad. It's nice, but there are other places I need to put the money right now. As I mentioned, I have a couple of other wheels that I could use for now, just to get it on the road, and then switch out sometime later on.
Thanks for checking that one out Steve.
Don
No problem, and I hear you about the money thing. Same here!:D
Ain't that the truth! How come there's always too much month left over at the end of money? :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by stovens
johnboy