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Re: I could not sit idle, have a new project Cool piece! Didn't think of it until after I just saw that, but I have a couple of those aftermarket Model-A leakless water pumps that I could have donated. Just machine the impellers off the back of the shaft and it would have been era-perfect. Make a plate with slotted holes and the two lower holes countersunk where you could use a couple of 2-tooth steering box eccentrics at the bottom of the backside to tension the belt, and the two bolts at the top to lock it down, ...and you would have been set.
On second thought, what you have done looks awesome!! |
Re: I could not sit idle, have a new project I gave that a try, Brent, but alignment of the upper and lower pulleys did not work out for me, and by not securing the bottom of the slotted plate, belt tension was difficult to hold.
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Re: I could not sit idle, have a new project 7 Attachment(s)
As always too many projects, too little time. Retirement is not all that it's cracked up to be. I have picked and filed the nose, finished the floor pan, installed the throttle linkage and modified the starter to use a starter solenoid form an old Ford 8N tractor, because the foot operated starter rod was interfering with the chains used to offset the steering shaft/column.
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One more small step on the project. I got a set of friction shocks mounted in the vein of a 'racing/sporty' approach to this car. The bolt hole was correct but the arms were the same length, making arm 'modifications' necessary to account for the different arm lengths needed. I cut the shock mounts from some rear end housings and milled out the end of the arms to make the 'corrections'. A spacer was required at the rear to account for the lack of shock arm offset. Shock links to be installed shortly.
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Re: I could not sit idle, have a new project 6 Attachment(s)
Just another small step. Finally got the seats back from the upholstery shop. The color is not exactly what I wanted, but it was free, some left over material, and it greatly reduced the costs. It is my intention to make the speedster look like a moderately skilled individual built this car in about 1932, and am trying to avoid any visual appearance of anything that looks like 'current'. The seat mounts are already in the car, and they have both been 'pre-fit'.
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Re: I could not sit idle, have a new project The little steps add up...much faster than no steps.:) Thanks for posting the pics.
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Re: I could not sit idle, have a new project You did not sit idle, you made 65 posts on this thread! Wayne
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Re: I could not sit idle, have a new project I may be the dumb one on the block, but what are the coils of copper tubing all about and why are there copper lines going into the intake manifold from a "T" in the copper? Jack
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Re: I could not sit idle, have a new project I started this project as a means to work on aluminum 'stuff' as my previous job/hobbies were centered around all steel projects, so some of the mechanical 'stuff' gets relegated to the back burner. Bob Kolenda, a fellow member of the Allmetalshaping website offered to lend a hand and came down from Michigan for a week to give me a hand. Bob does maintenance and restoration work for the guy who's an owner of the Miami Heat basketball team and the Detroit Redwings hockey farm team. As such he works on some high-end cars and approaches his work in a more upscale manner than I am used to from working on Model A's. LOL! He did most all of the dash work and wiring and I just gave him free range on how he wanted to do it, and that is why some of the things on the speedster are a little 'different'.
The tubing at the intake runners is going to be used to monitor vacuum, for use in adjusting the dual carbs, I just haven't acquired a second vacuum gauge yet, The lower tubing is for monitoring the oil pressure. |
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Another small step. The Bugatti project and 'farm' issues keep me very busy. I finished the offset steering setup. There are two separate chains offset some degree that makes the links not in the same position as they round the sprockets to minimize slack in the setup. The sprockets are fastened to the shafts by drilling and tapping the shafts in line with the set screws so that the longer set screws go thru both the sprocket and thru the shafts. There are eight total. The chains are kept parallel and in line by using a 'plastic' piece that was cut on a water jet to maintain the center distance between the shafts, both in tension and in compression. Bushings at the top and bottom of the steering shaft provide a smooth feel when turning and minimize any side load to the top of the shaft that extends upward from the steering box.
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Re: I could not sit idle, have a new project Nice work,
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Re: I could not sit idle, have a new project 7 Attachment(s)
Bob Kolenda made another trip down to try and get me over the hump and get this project completed. Among many others, he has been MOST instrumental in keeping me motivated, providing encouragement and taught me many things that I would not have learned if not for his help and guidance. He is extremely talented and is very patient, detail oriented and a very good welder as well. He has been so quiet at the Redneck Roundup and at Dan's meets that you would never know the extent of his talents. Pull him aside sometimes and get him to tell you about his involvement with the Aston Martin factory in England and the Aston Martin DB5 that is being restored.
We finalized a few motor details, hooking up some dual linkages for the dual carbs, using some parts that Bob made and cadmium plated for me. I cleaned up a few out of alignment character lines, and Bob detailed the gas tank, coated the interior and modified the mechanical fuel sending unit and began the wiring. We got the metal pieces that had been previously had wire beading done and trimmed them to width. I had made a second set of the 'step-cut' water jet panels to simulate the top body contour so that I could pre-stretch them to match the contour on the body panel. Bob welded the segments together and they were then formed to the top body panels and holes drilled for the rivet's. 5/8" tape was installed at the edge of the compartment openings to set the wired strips back enough to allow for the aluminum to be 'rolled' over them to complete the safety edge around the perimeter of the driver and passenger openings. They were match welded, detailed and ground, and we took them to the powder coater this afternoon and will be able to pick them out tomorrow mid day.They will be powder coated semi gloss black and installed with aluminum rivets, prior to the overlapping process, giving an edge appeal to these openings. The surrounds were stretched to fit the gauges using Carl Adam's 'Shrink Positive' machine that I have modified to be a dedicated linear stretch station. Over stretching was corrected using the later built of my shrinking machine as it is docile and predictable. The plan is to anneal the aluminum, install the powder coated surrounds with rivets, then cut out the interior sections prior to the secondary wire edging process. We determined the surface condition of the aluminum body. I will DA up to 220, block up to 400, then dial it back a little with green scotch bright. Tests today make me decide that was the finish I want prior to polishing the stripes down the side and across the top. I am wanting to look like a period race car, not a high end restoration. We got the grill surround metal finished and match drilled the holes and look forward to starting some riveting in the morning. I have made a small temporary cowl mounted gas tank to test run the motor before plumbing the gas tank at the rear, using a shut off valve in the line near the driver. The windshield and the steering wheel work is completed and ready to install. Attachment 331047 Attachment 331048 Attachment 331049 Attachment 331050 Attachment 331051 Attachment 331052 Attachment 331053 |
Re: I could not sit idle, have a new project 7 Attachment(s)
More pics of the speedster project with Bob Kolenda. We were fortunate to get overnight processing of the two surround fabrications for the mere cost of four assorted fresh made donuts. We decided to make a test panel/process out of an earlier panel that I had labeled a 'learning' project. It wasn't finished as nicely as the powder coated pieces, but served the purpose of evaluating fit of the surround to the panel cutout and the remaining tab that is to be turned over the previous wire edged 'strip'. We annealed the panel, trimmed the excess interior portion away and began turning the remaining aluminum portion over the black surround test piece.
Before hammering over the aluminum, Bob measured the existing (slightly) variable extension, so that we can more accurately trim the aluminum prior to the forming. The area at the curves is not the same as at the straight section and we are trying to account for that. So far, we have been able to keep the aluminum tight against the surround piece. We used a contoured wooden mallet backed up by a piece of scrap white oak setting against the top of the rivet heads. Once we got half way around it was very strong on it's own. We began to metal finish the 4 main side panels and plan to be ready to rivet them on some time tomorrow. Bob did a lot of detail work at the ends of the character line and we finally decided on a process that gave the difference of reflectivity that am looking for. Bob did a nice job of working that all out. It was very similar to the advice given me by Jim Hery, and I could not be happier with what we have come up with. The surround pieces were sheered here in the shop and we used the P7 and the 'P' die set to form them in four foot sections. They were trimmed again with the Beverly shear to a constant width after inserting a #9 wire and setting them with tool that I made for the P5. I think that they turned out quite nice, straight and uniform in width. Thanks for all your help. Attachment 331193 Attachment 331194 Attachment 331195 Attachment 331196 Attachment 331197 Attachment 331198 Attachment 331199 |
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More progress, this time on the side body panels. We are finally installing some rivets! Bob did a large amount of work detailing the panels and them metal finishing them to the vision that I described to him, and it turned out to be a GREAT job. He is shown using a home made hammer that was made for me by Mike Yurko a few years back. In one of the pictures, I am using a tool to de-burr rivet holes that was made for me by Billy Jack in Minnesota at one of Dan Pate's meet. Bob crawled around and under the car with the backing buck and I rolled back and forth with the rivet gun and it got to be smooth process after a while. Learning a lot about riveting.
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A few more things completed today. We got the foot kick board installed at the pedals, fastened in the last of the four side panels, ran the fuel line and the wires for the sending unit, installed the fuel shut off valve, finished some interior rework, inserted the grill in the front nose inset, and finished installing the rear tail vent covers and started to metal finish the upper panels in preparation for the installation of the surrounds in the morning.
My wife can be great help and has been involved and supportive of all my projects. Attachment 331477 Attachment 331478 Attachment 331479 Attachment 331480 Attachment 331481 Attachment 331482 Attachment 331483 Attachment 331484 Attachment 331485 Attachment 331486 |
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Saturday was Bob's last day here in Rock Hill. What a talent. Don't let his quiet demeanor fool you. He is one smart and talented guy. It's clear where Mallory gets her 'smarts' He did all the metal finishing and it stepped up the appearance of the speedster as a result. Things that I would have said were good enough, he took the extra time to complete in a more professional manner, much in the manner of Jim Hery, Kent White, Per and Peter Tommasini. These guys have taught me more about metal shaping with their attitude than with their displays of accomplishments.
We got the surrounds in place and the edging done on the front one. I bought more than 900 rivets since I started with the floor pans and only have a few left. My wife Peggy held the bucking bar on most of them. She has been a great helper throughout this project as well as the Model A restorations, and I am hopeful that she will remain supportive and helpful for the upcoming Humvee project. Note the cute little 'spring retainer' that Bob made after I asked if we could make the gas gage wire be taunt where it runs along the fuel line protective sleeve. Where the removable panels fit the body I joggled the edges of the adjacent panel and installed them with countersunk rivets. Towards the end of the day, we installed a temporary gas tank, rolled that rascal to the rear of the shop and opened the back door and lit the fuse. Bob brought a multiple carburetor adjusting tool to help tune the multiple carbs, and with the long tail pipe on it, there was a deep, mellow rumble that is rather distinctive. Note the dry floor after 20 minutes of rubbing and 20 minutes of cooling off. The sound is not like any of my other Model A's. Man, I LOVE that 'shee...t', The sound, the smell and the minute floor vibration winds me up. I'm gonna be hard to handle for a few days, LOL! THANKS BOB KOLENDA!!!!!!!! Attachment 331671 Attachment 331672 Attachment 331673 Attachment 331674 Attachment 331675 Attachment 331676 Attachment 331677 Attachment 331678 Attachment 331679 Attachment 331680 Attachment 331681 Attachment 331682 Attachment 331683 |
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Another small step. I finished the tail section, mounted the seats, installed the steering wheel and prepped the logos for riveting. They are a different size than the body rivets and am awaiting their arrival. I used marine glue to add six pads around the perimeter of the wooden buck and used wood screws to attach the panel to so I could mount it to a post dollie stand. I used some Model A floorboard washers to adapt the larger recess for the dzus fasteners to the wood screws. Worked great. Will be heading to Jims and then to Oblong in a few minutes. There will be one of Peter's wheeling machines available for demonstration and testing.
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Re: I could not sit idle, have a new project I'm very impressed by your workmanship. Congratulations.
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Re: I could not sit idle, have a new project I think you'd have a lot of fun taking the speedster down to Mason's in November. You and Cotton could set up together.
Nice work:) |
Re: I could not sit idle, have a new project Out standing work.
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