Hot Rods The Belly Button Bucket Build Thread

I've had those days. It's something I tend to beat myself up for, until I remember the day when everything I did do needs to be removed/replaced/repaired and didn't learn anything from it, and I wish I'd just walked in the park instead.

 

Sabbatical, Day seven.

Today is gonna be a short update as my girlfriend will be in town for the weekend in about 10 mins- leaving me enough time to make a quick update and take a shower.

After getting the door handle installed and watch it function, I saw a need to add some sort of return spring and return stop, to return and keep the handle in the neutral position. This should serve as a return spring for the whole system, hopefully anyway. So, I set about re-working the square shaft lever arm, incorporating a stop and return spring provision. If you squint, you can see what I’m going for. As an aside, today my brackets end up looking like dinosaurs instead of pee pees- not sure if that’s good or bad. Just an observation.

 

Great stuff, Tim!

 

Sabbatical, Day eight.

Zero T progress today. The gf and I went to a local show 2 miles down the hill, put on by the Slo Poks. Saw a couple people I knew, including @Bandit Billy - nice to see you again! Pickup looked sharp!

I’ve been trying to get a pulse on what the gf likes - we made some progress today and had a blast. After we got home, I mowed the lawn and worked on the daily. Spent 4hrs fussing with the power steering pulley install…. Tried two different pulleys I had, both were not having it. Ended up basically destroying my cheap tool trying. Had the gf run me to O’Reilly’s (for the second time today), and rented one of their tools. Went on like butter with their tool…. Go figure. Anyway, if all goes well, I’ll be able to finish up the daily tomorrow, then back on the bucket hopefully tomorrow evening.

 

Sabbatical, Day nine.

Got the daily back together, but boy was that a fight. Took a break this afternoon and got back on the T this evening. I was able to incorporate the return spring and return stop on the passenger door handle, and it works GREAT using the exterior handle- interior handle it’s a bit of a fight overcoming the spring. I’m gonna try a couple things tomorrow, but for now, pictures.

 

Sabbatical, Day ten.

Today I focused on getting the driver side door caught up to the passenger side. I also managed to tweak a softer return spring so the handle returns to its stop when either inside or outside opening is used. I’m getting close to being able to move past the doors, which is a good feeling lol.

 

Keep pluggin' away...
Lots of great Ideas for the rest of us to steal!
Been a Fun to Watch Build!

 

Good stuff

 

Sabbatical, Day eleven.

I finished the door linkage for both doors, incorporating a second return spring to keep the interior door pull linkage in its neutral position as well. I believe I can move on from the doors for now, although I will have some work ahead of me figuring out door gaps while also adding a layer of fiberglass to the jambs and to the doors as well, to seal in the wood and add strength. First though, I will be working on sealing up the floor, as that finished surface will be the mounting surface for the steel structure I have in mind. That’s what I’m planning on getting into tomorrow.


Here’s a short video of the door linkage in action, and a couple pictures of the return springs and stop.

 

I hesitate even mentioning more work, but can just see you doing some engraving on the visible areas once you've finalized the parts.
www.cgtrader.com/3d-model-collections/frank-lloyd-wright-wall-tiles
I hope you are happy with the progress, it's amazing. A big part of a break is to recharge your mental batteries.

 

It does feel good to get some of these projects knocked out. Yesterday’s motivation was pretty low, and I’m learning that about 11:30p is my cutoff time in the garage, if I need to be switched on the following day. Staying out there later doesn’t translate into productivity the next day. Also, light, frequent meals and plenty of fluids. Skip the fluids or eat a feast and there goes the productivity as well. So I’m finding a groove I guess.

As for finished surface details, I have an idea of what I want in my mind, but I’m not there yet in the fine details. I’ll need to experiment with some products and colors to fine tune the brain concept. I want simple, low maintenance, and a blend of elegance and utilitarian elements.

Gonna eat some breakfast and get out there for the day. Hopefully the playlist hits hard today!

 

Rattle can paint! Simple, inexpensive, find it in any hardware store and no worries parking in a crowded parking lot...

 

The guy designs, builds and refines a pull inner, twist outer door latch system times 2 (mirrored) and you expect an aerosol overhaul?
C'mon Dave, you know Tim better than that! The guy built a jeweled dash and console. He made cowl wipers work!
If he used spray paint, I'd imagine him doing something like this
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNBEL9JGclQ

 

Yeah, I know... had to try tho! Gotta bring 'em down to my level somehow

 

Good thread you’ve got there.

 

Sabbatical, Day twelve.

Today I started prepping for sealing up the wood with fiberglass.

The first thing I had to do was to carefully cut out the steel straps I was using as giant washers holding the body to the frame. I’m planning to add them back in after the fiberglass is done, with a few modifications.

The second thing I did was to measure, drill, and install threaded inserts to hold the transmission tunnel to the floor.

The last thing I did was push the car out in the driveway and begin to sand all the wooden surfaces in prep for fiberglass. I ran out of daylight and still have some more to go, but so far so good.

I took an afternoon break that ended up being a short nap- didn’t want to be up till 3am so I walked down to my favorite spot on the Columbia (favorite because of convenience mostly). On the walk down, I get to pass by the Washington school for the blind, a beautiful brick building with art deco masonry details above the windows and door frames. After that, it’s down Officer’s row, a historic street of homes from the mid 1800s. Further down, a cut through Fort Vancouver, an old trading post from the early settlers. After that, a sketchy walk through a tunnel under some railroad tracks and boom- you’re at the shore of the Columbia, with Portland, Oregon across the bridge. I enjoy doing this walk at night because of the creatures that come out- both human and animal. I’ve seen raccoons, possums, owls, bats, and a regular otter sighting. During the day, I’ve seen bald eagles, fish jumping, snakes, and a beehive in the trunk of a rotting tree.

Tonight I saw the beehive- they were all grouped together keeping warm. I saw the bats skimming the water and flying erratically through the sky in the moonlight, and I saw the otter! The otter is the perfect way to close out the night. He/she likes to hug the shore on the Washington side, somewhere around 10-11p heading east, and 2-3a heading back west. At least from what I’ve observed.

Now the sketchy 3 mile walk back through the tunnel, past the fort, over to Pearson field, an active airstrip dating back to 1905, and historic use during WW1 and WW2, through the old cemetery, and back home. Back at it again tomorrow!

 

That is looking so good!

 

Beautiful job on the bracing.
Marcus...

 

Sabbatical, Day thirteen.

I spent the day sanding, mostly. My lower back is on fire, so that ate into the productivity a little bit. After dinner, I came back out and put the front suspension back together. At some point when I’m more motivated, I need to touch up the polishing on the hardware. I hate polishing nuts and bolts, but the difference is noticeable enough to be worth it. Tomorrow I hope to get into some fiberglassing, although I’m still working out the order of operations in my head.

 

Do not believe you need to cover all the wood in fiberglass. You already have it supporting the body. Doubt will sit out in rain. I vote for wood sealer paint & be done. Next interior

 

I would use Waterlox to seal all of the wood, they do have a marine sealer that would definitely protect it! I don't have any connection with Waterlox other than I used it on our butcher block countertops and it works better than I expected.

 

I hear what you guys are saying, but for example- when I bonded the floor to the body, that was the first thing that gave the body any resemblance of structure. When my dad and I tabbed the floor in, massive improvement in stiffness. So I intend to tab in the structural members and glass in the floor, for both strength and durability. Remember- I live in the PNW where it rains alllllllll the time. I’m planning on seeing some drizzly days and don’t want to be coming back later to cut out rotten wood. I have no doubt that a wood sealant product would prevent that, but so will the fiberglass, with an added benefit of additional strength. Heading out shortly to get started.

 

A lot of racing/cruising sailboats were built with fiberglass hulls and then wooden bulkheads held in place with fiberglass tabs and fillets made from epoxy with micro balloon’s and/or chopped glass fiber to the consistency of peanut butter and shaped with wooden tongue depressors. It added a tremendous amount of strength and also resistance from twist and water resistance into the bulkheads. Important to squeegee out resin for max strength and minimize weight gain. Following this thread I’m sure it will be done right as well as look good.

 

Sabbatical, Day fourteen.

Not much to report as I’m up in Olympia for the weekend visiting my girlfriend. I wanted to get to fiberglassing today before I left, but to piggyback on what @pirate is saying above, I felt my fiberglass filler where I’ve bonded the wood to the body (and seat riser to floor) could use better, more consistent fillets. I was thinking about how I could accomplish this last night, and when I came out to the garage this morning, the light was shining just right on an area of the seat riser where I got a good amount of filler applied, and sanded off using this cheap Harbor Freight belt sander, which itself gave a nice fillet using the sander. So…. I made a template of the sander tip, then transferred it to aluminum and made a little fillet tool. I then proceeded to annihilate my back for the remainder of the time spreading filler. It’s slow going, but working well. I probably got about 1/3 done today. I’ll pick back up when I get back home.

 

I can't believe I am just now stumbling on this build, killer!

 

Sabbatical, Day fifteen.

I brought some homework with me up to Olympia. At one time, I started scheming out the wiring diagram for this car, and after the first pass, decided I needed a way to simplify controls. I ended up stumbling across a Leash Electronics wiring board, which should make things a lot more compact and a lot simpler. Today I just started to wrap my head around the various electrical loads and comparing my old notes/drawings to the Leash paperwork. So far, I like what I see! When I feel more confident about what I’m planning to do, I’ll post in more detail.

 

Ron Francis has great wiring packages. Not necessarily cheap but very high quantity. For your roadster you probably need less circuits then your probably planning. They also offer a printed catalog which is a rarity these days. The catalog in addition to the products they sell has a lot of good information about do’s and don’t and answers a lot of questions and is worth reading. They can be reached and request catalog at: https://www.ronfrancis.com/ I used one of there packages. Very easy to install with a lot of wire, proper gauge, each wire has ID and good instructions as well as techs to answer questions. I’m rather electrically challenged so it was a wise choice for me. Your mileage may vary depending on electrical knowledge.

 

https://delcity.net/

 

Sabbatical, Day sixteen. No progress today- spent 4hrs in traffic doing a (normally) 90 minute trip - stared at the wall after I got home. I’ll have some progress to report tomorrow, though.

 

Call it a meditation day. You put your mind in super creative mode. Tomorrow will be a fantastic day, where the ideas flow like great small batch brew on tap. And the parts will practically bolt themselves on to the car...