Bill: Your talent never ceases to amaze me. That is really looking good. I hope you used your 20% off coupon at HF! Try to stay warm. After snow, freezing rain, then plain rain overnight, we had a real mess here. I had to shovel the driveway in two steps. Then temp rose to 45, and I got out the hose to wash off the old car and my truck, then hooked up the oscillating sprinkler to do an undercarriage wash. Not two minutes after I started the washing them, it started pouring rain, so I got soaked. Sometimes I wonder why I do it - weather report says we're looking at 3-6 inches of snow tomorrow and severe cold by Wed night. UticaGeoff
"Ah.... Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen..." Elvis 1973 Thanks Geoff! I could never get it done if I weren't retired. Its a good thing to be able to come and go as you please aint it??? That brake listed for $99 and was on sale for $59, PLUS they honored the 20% off. Even if its a POS and works once, Im golden! http://www.harborfreight.com/30-inch-bending-brake-67240.html Ive been pounding sheetmetal over 2x4s for years with less than stellar results, so I treated myself to something that will work (I hope!) and I can also put it away when done and not monopolize needed floor space. When I was still working at the generating station, we had a well stocked (as in the guy that ran it was an old car guy!!!) training department and I had unlimited access to use all the stuff there. The director ordered all kinds of cool stuff like a 3000 lb English wheel, and the vendor even sent a guy out to demo the unit. ALL the stuff was Industrial duty too, not HF stuff; but I listened anyway LOL... Bill in TR
Thanks Mark... Ill take that as a "Wish me luck"... I figure a few practice bends and itll come right back to me. Ya gotta admit, HF has some real junk, but for some one off stuff, it beats "investing" in something that's really just gonna sit and use air. This unit is the 30" job, and I was figgerin' to maybe take a plate, bolt the brake onto that and then make some brackets to clamp it onto my lathe bed (9 x 36" south bend). The tailstock comes off real easy. I read all the pros and cons on it and I think itll do just fine by me. If I need anything bigger, my next door neighbor runs the fab shop at Manitowoc Crane Co. If yer a rigger, you may find this interesting...A really good friend is an Iron Worker Local 1 Chicago, and is one of the ants scurrying around on the ground at the Whiting Ind. refinery job... Bill in TR http://www.manitowoccranes.com/en/cranes/manitowoc/crawler-cranes/lattice-boom-crawlers/31000
Mine is in storage now but I will try and find pics of the mods I did to it. I made clamps for the top plate to eliminate the need for 3 hands:beer
That was one of the major gripes... several good HD C clamps to hold the bar, then learn to compensate for the material thickness and the radius etc. and some dog legs for tabs etc... I don't plan on building a rocket unless its launched at above the 38th parallel. Ya never know, might head for Detroilet by mistake LOL... ws
Oh Man... heres THAT guy again... Today started out as a nice balmy MINUS NINE F at 0800hrs so I went out and fired up the atom smasher and came back in for an hour while she came on line. The gas ceiling hung Modine style job is 65K BTUs and a box fan across the shop helps move air. Dang feeteses got cold tho... LOL. The better part of today was the cursory clean up shop day, then a phase of "gutsiness" crossed my path. Ive been tired of looking at the rotten core support, and now the new brake is bolted to the bench, I marked the old stuff with a ruler and a silver pencil and took the cut off wheel to it. Now I am committed, or at least should be hahaha. Tomorrow is a chore day, so Wednesday Ill probably get to cleaning and painting the frame front, then start on the iron work. Gotta mull over the strategy for a few days, ya know??? Bill in TR
"Dey gonna be no rope-a-dope with the Thrilla from Manila..." I went 15 rounds with rusty bolts today and finally won by a decision... dang judges! Pulled off the front bumper brackets for a good clean up on the core support and frame rails prior to painting and found a mix-match of fine and course thread bolts that took a 1/2" breaker bar to budge, and then an impact to finish up with all that crap blowing in my face the whole time. Same went for the two core support mounts. I had them pretty well cleaned up but wanted to go that extra 20% and found out that the pads that the rubber bushings sat on are rotted out but can be repaired. Got everything cleaned up and had the CS up on a pair of 2x4s, all primed etc, when I lifted the drivers side by the mount and the bushing wasn't even close to lining up. Hmmm. A little more wiggling and the mount came off in my hand. Hmmm x2... Seems all the spot welds were gonners with one 1/8" weld left holding the mount on the core support side. I guess the whole front end was gonna be suffering from a case of SAG-OSIS if I hit a good bump. Better to find it now than later eh? The mounts will get a piece of 1/8" plate underneath them to re-enforce them, with some spot welding with the MIG after the CS is back down and fairly well lined up. Air is tuff to measure off of, but worser things have been accomplished with good results. Tomorrow is another day (Brrr!!) Its supposed to be about -40F with the wind... whens summer happening?? Missed it this year! Tomorrow is gonna be more cleaning and priming (I use the good heavy brush on stuff that dont show), wire wheeling bolts etc etc... Bill in TR
Still plugging along over here... Made some repairs to core support base mounts with 1/8 stainless. Looks like I am gonna re-use the old mounts. Bumper mounts are cleaned/painted and mounted approximately, as is everything else. Enough to start hanging fenders and inners and be able to adjust before final tightening. Also pulled the frozen headlight bucket adjusters apart. Cleaned them on the wheel, ran a die nut over the 1/4-24 screws and nutted the backside. The lites were way outa focus and should be a breeze to work with now. On my way to harbor fright for some hog ring pliers... upholstery job is coming up pretty soon... Bill in TR
Ho-hummmm... Got the core support almost finished today including 2 new high beams and re-hung the wiring harness. Futzed around with the CS pad mounts; they turned out pretty good. Tomorrow is probably gonna entail rebuilding the door hinges so I can hang the doors, to hang the fenders to get everything lined up so I can start on the repair panels on the core support and get some tightening done. Still on hold for that passenger side repair patch for the inner fender (!) and when that shows up we'll tackle that side. Warmed up yesterday to a balmy 23F and today eeked out a 19; soon to drop again then some snow, so I walk alone through the valley of the shadow of the Buicks; I fear no evil for I am the meanest son of a gun in the shop.... Bill in TR
Looking good Bill. Inner fender patch will be on its way. Good luck with everything. I will check back in to see your progress.
Most excellent Matt! Ill be back in a bit.... its garbage night and Pats coming home Thursday from san Antoine.... ws
Spent the better part of today on door hinges... The ones (white) on the car were pretty loose; as someone here pointed out, the detent roller was worn pretty well. So I pulled the hinges off the door, and of course the one bolt closest to the floor snaps off. Thems are grade 8 bolts and are tuff to drill. No room to get at inside with vise grips and cant pull the backing plate without taking the door skin off. Aint gonna happen so a drillin' we shall go! I keep finding crappy work that the PO did... as in blasting the doors inside and out and leaving all the residue inside (!) and left them hinges on with a pad of rust underneath. Same goes for the weatherstripping around the door. Hmmm... Got the rust pretty well cleaned up and covered with zinc primer 2X. The detent shaft was worn out so I grabbed a spare that's like new. The detent wheel is hardened with a hard bushing in it too. The white one was worn into the shaft... New pin kit to the rescue with new oilite bushings and some more zinc primer. Spring compressor tool came in real handy too! The door bottom isn't too awful; just a few pin holes that need cleaning and repairing. The skin crimp is a little punky, but I think its still manageable. The outside of the corner has a few 1/8" blisters. All 4 corners are the same... Looks like a paint job NEXT year... Bill in TR
Bit the bullet today and decided to hack up some sheet metal with the cut off grinder... a few million measurements and tracing, and this is how it turned out. The new brake works like a champ. Couldn't form the trailing edge of the plate, so thatll get some 1/8 X 1/2" flat stock welded to it to simulate an edge. So this is the battery side... anyone care to venture a guess how much air gap is between the battery tray/support plate to the fender? Don't wanna have a rub! Still need to cut out for the core support bushing ad a little finesse fitting, but I think it looks good. Did some more cleaning on the drivers door too... I think Ill cut the crap out and weld in new steel. It looks pretty straight forward; just cant get at it from the inside and any filler stuff will only rust again. Gotta half dozen coats of rustoleum on the hinges too. Sure wish this job would progress a little faster; seems like everytime I turn around theres something else that needs attention. Bill in TR
Thanks Man!! I feel like Michelangelo carving his "David"...Tomorrow the wife gets back from Texass so its gonna be a wash... to be continued Friday probably... Bill in TR
Nice work Bill. Don't worry about things going slow - you're doing it right and you won't need to do it again. Tell Pat I'm thinking about her. UticaGeoff
Thanks Geoff... just got off the blower with her, shes leaving Spring Branch (?)Tx and doing a 6 hour drive alone to Dallass for an 0630 flite to MNPLS. Then on to Green Bay. Should be here about 1430 tomorrow. The first hour or so is down a 2 lane black top to San Marcos loaded with deer and wildlife. Then on to the expressway to ASSton, Tx. She managed a nap so that's good. We floated a car loan last week for Robin, when they were still in Springfield,Mo. and she managed to make it to Tulsa when she got rear ended and spun around; got all 4 sides totaled and now the Hitter is saying he got rear ended first which caused him to hit her. Plausible deniability. That was a 2004 (?) Lumina, really nice, and now we floated another 3K for a beater Toyota. Shes living about 40 miles from san Antoine and really needs a car for work. Glad we could help, but whens it gonna end??? Im sleeping on the couch tonite if the phone rings. Being retired is more work than a real job LOL... Bill in TR https://www.google.com/maps/search/Spring+branch,,+Texas+78247/@29.8856266,-98.4208238,12z Robins' easy to love and I really wish her success getting her **** together!!
Bill - I don't know what to say. At least she wasn't hurt. I wish I knew when it was going to end for you. At least you can forget about that "stuff" when you are working in your shop. Have a good night. I', here if you need me. UticaGeoff
Having never met you in person, I still consider you a true friend, and I thank you for that! Now climb in the old fart sack and love yer old lady while the lovin's good! ws
