Hot Rods The (mis) Adventures of a Compulsive Tinkerer

While lying in bed last night I had an idea that I might try.
Sharpen the end of a piece of thin wall 3/4” round tubing, chuck it in my drill press. Take the rubber bushing and sleeve and put two hose clamps around the sleeve and align it under the tube in the drill vise and secure the vice to the table. Heat the tube with my Oxy-acetylene torch and with the drill press spinning on the lowest speed push it through the bushing. Kind of a circular hot knife.
I haven’t been able to hold the bushing securely in previous attempts, even taking the smallest bites, it’ll grab and yank the rubber bushing out of the chuck. I’m thinking that my split sleeve might provide more surface friction while the hose clamps squeeze the full cir***ference and provide an obstacle to prevent the sleeve from spinning in the vice. I might have to glue the sleeve to the bushing.
I might try it cold with WD-40 first, like Algoma56 suggested. Depends on how good of an edge I can get on the 3/4” tube.
I won’t get to try it until later, we have appointments today and I need to drop off some connecting rods at the machine shop while we’re out and about.

 

I kinda tried that. But the rubber just seems to move out of the way and when you increase the cut and finally get a bite, it pulls the bushing out of position in the chuck. I guess the cutter needs to be like a thin blade but a blade is hard to control. Or the bushing needs to be held more securely.
I tried a reamer but it doesn’t bite the rubber either, the rubber just kinda moved out of the way. I haven’t tried that with the urethane bushings. I think I’ll take them to the machine shop today and see if Willy has any suggestions. Maybe he’ll do it, he loves a challenge…..

 

Dry ice, liquid nitrogen or just tossing rubber parts in the freezer will harden the rubber to some extent, enabling the material to harden enough for more effective machining. The colder the better. I have seen some dramatic results from the extreeme cold provided by Mother Nature as well, such as the rubber soles on boots simply cracking in half, unable to bend, or breaking a cast iron stove into a fragmented pile with a few blows from a ball pein hammer.
Works wonders the other way too by warming rubber to make it more flexible, such as installing rubber gaskets for auto gl***. Just a matter of using temperature to our advantage.

 

That's what I was thinking - some 4x4 and off roader aftermarket suspension suppliers

 

That’s where I found the urethane bushings - off road supplier. I looked at Fleet Pride and they do indeed have a ton of stuff but their website didn’t seem to offer any dimensional information and quite a few have no picture.
I dropped off the urethane bushings and some dimensions to my friend and he’s going modify them for me. I will try to modify the rubber ones myself, if it works, new ones are available if I need them.

 

Would a holesaw work on your rubber bushing?

I’ve bored urethane bushing and changed the OD in my small late. I don’t recall issues doing it.

 

It’s been quite a while since I tried boring the rubber bushings. No doubt I could have modified the urethane bushings but I have since disconnected my big ol’ lathe and used the power circuit for my mini-splits. My intention was to rearrange my shop and move my lathe over to where my mill used to be, but that’s a helluva lot to ask of one old man. Hard to believe that I moved it out of my SoCal shop, onto a flatbed trailer, schlepped it 400 miles north, unloaded it from the trailer and positioned it in my new shop - all my myself! But that’s was 15 years ago when I was a strapping young 60 year old, lol.
I had to run some parts up to Baechler Machine anyway so I took them along. He said no problem, I’ll get them back next year….. In the meantime, I’ll set up my drill press and maybe try a hole saw on the rubber ones. Again, the hard part is holding the bushing from turning without deforming it too much.

 

I’ve a goofy idea on holding the bushings, but not sure if it would/could affect the integrity of the rubber.
Take a sleeve that will slide over the OD and fit snuggly

drill a series of hole in the sleeve.
Wel a few tabs on the bottom of the sleeve.
Put the bushing in the sleeve.
Use some short wood screws through the holes that are in the sleeve.
Clamp the tabs down to the drill press table.
Just thought over morning coffee.

 

Hey, BcB;
You & a couple other guys figured it out. The sharpened tube will work(& is actually available/reco'd for cutting conveyor belting holes), as should a new(read:sharp!) hi-quality holesaw, when the rubber is frozen(freezers are good for somewhere south of 0* to maybe -20*, or just outside in MN...). Just gotta be kinda quick. The CO2 idea is pretty good to keep the chill going. You can turn up the holesaw speed abit if it's really frozen hard. Take light plunge cuts to disperse the rubber "shreds". I don't remember iffen the saw will give real smooth cut-edges like a sharpened tube, but iirc, it's not bad, as long as it's not rammed thru. The sharpened-edge tube probably doesn't need the rubber frozen super hard, I did it at Minnesota summer-temps. Thin oils like WD40, Kroil, etc will work - sorta, but they're *really* messy. I found water to work well to lubricate the blade-edge. Was mostly hand-knife cutting, but did some holesaw & other blades(circle saw & drillbits - they **** large) also. Water is also abit messy, not as bad as oils because it evaporates, eventually. Seems to keep the rubber-dust & itty-bitty "balls" from getting too bad. Be careful around electrickery, though...
FWIW.
Marcus...

 

Well, there's always a rat-tail file and the tedious hand work that eventually gets the job done.

 

To hold the bushing, you might try boring a hole in a s**** of 2x4, then cut the 2x4 in half vertically through the hole. With the material lost to cutting it in half and a couple of drywall screws (or bolts) it should hold the bushing with pretty even pressure all around. You may want to pre drill for the screws or bolts to maintain alignment.
For a cutter you could grind the teeth off of a hole saw and sharpen the resulting edge to the outside like a one sided knife blade. The hole saw should hold an edge better than tubing.

 

X-cpe, the 2x4 trick was on my list of things to try. The rough wood surface seems like the perfect “bite” and the pinch provided by a sawblade width seems equally perfect. But….
We have a winner!! Budget36 had the idea that saved the day. Hole saw!

 

I got out my 3/4” hole saw and found a 1/2” OD X 1/4”ID x 2”L spacer that I could use for a pilot. I used the sleeve and two hose clamps to hold it and clamped that goofy mess in my drill press vise. I was surprised how nicely it cut. Following the 1/2”D pilot, it went straight through without a hint of slipping or grabbing. The 5/8” ID bushings pushed right in like they were made for them.

Problem solved!! Thanks guys!

 

I moved on to the rear suspension layout, what fits where, how much room, new rear crossmember, spring options. With the springs as far apart as the frame allows they’ll be about 35-36” apart, not bad. If I make a new rear crossmember the coils will fit behind the rear axle where I really want them and it looks like the Corvair springs will be the right length. I checked and Clark’s Corvairs has three different spring rates for the ‘65-‘69 rear so I’m sure to find something that works. I’ll start with what I have.
I would really like adjustable upper spring buckets but I didn’t see them in the Speedway catalog. I suppose I can make my own….

 

I’ve no doubt you can make what you want/need.
You’re like the guy who can build a vehicle around a radiator cap.

 

Did you look for weight jackers? (stock car stuff)

 

You might be right, I forget that Speedway is divided into Race, Street and Hot Rod. I normally just shop their Street Rod/HotRod stuff.

Edit; I looked through the Speedway Race catalog but I didn’t see anything that I would use in my application. I also searched through other suppliers. I think I’ll make my own if I decide to go adjustable.
Turns out I usually look at the Street Rod part of Speedway cause that’s where my bookmark takes me. I miss the old paper catalogs.

 

I ordered steering parts so I can get the steering column and stuff worked out while the Buick is in place. It’s the tighter of the two engines with regards to the steering shaft with the starter being on the driver’s side.

I also ordered some materials to make my own adjustable coil spring pockets.
So once again, waiting on parts. Maybe I’ll start welding up holes…..

 

I pulled out the steering column, I decided to shorten it. By taking 2 5/8” out of it the u-joint will be above the starter/solenoid and (I hope) the shaft will p*** by with room to spare.
Easy to cut the mast and the shaft, not as easy to make a spacer for the lower bushing without a lathe. But with a piece of 1/2” aluminum plate, a hole saw and a belt sander I finally arrived at one. I had a bronze bushing, I made the aluminum spacer a press fit in the mast.


I kinda like this old Ford column, the guy sold me four for $20 (various versions) as he was packing up his swap meet space. One I traded for a clean, low mileage 110hp Corvair motor. This one I think he said was from a ‘41 pickup. IDK, don’t care really. I kinda got ahead of myself making a column drop. It all seems to fit ok, I won’t know for sure until I get some kind of seats in there. I have the column shift stuff too, I’m hoping to maybe make it work with the TH400.
Sorry, ****py picture….

 

I put the steering column back in and it’s close but it should be ok. I still have a few tricks left if it proves to be a problem once the new u-joint and shaft arrive.
Now it’s on to some hole filling….

 

This thread is about compulsive tinkering after all….
I got my other Hemi heads back from the machine shop the other day, race ready. The block is also finished now but balancing the rotating ***embly came to a screeching halt. Willy and I unwrapped the crankshaft and started to inspect it. Something was terribly wrong. It’s beautiful, polished, knife-edged, nitrided and the rod journals are hard chromed. I figured it had been given the full blown alcohol treatment at Velasco’s as I had requested. BUT, the rod journals are SBC size, the mains are 1/4” too small, and the snout looked kinda small. Huh? We contacted our local crankshaft guru and read him the forging number. “That’s a Studebaker crank you’ve got there guys.” Holy ****…..
Months ago I retrieved this engine from my friend’s garage where he had kindly offered to store it when the machine shop I was using in LA abruptly shut down. Thankfully, he was good friends with the owner and lived nearby. He gathered up all of my Hemi stuff and took it to his place. He also ported the heads and got the guides installed. A few years later I was settled in my new digs in NorCal and went to pick up my Hemi parts.
Now, it made sense, my buddy is a big Studebaker guy. I guess he dragged out the wrong crankshaft when I came to pick it all up! I’m hoping that mine is still in his shop. I need to go down to LA and swap em. In the meantime I’m prepping the block and heads for storage with good old Gibbs, some heavy duty plastic bags and some desiccant. Where I’m gonna put ‘em, I have no idea….

 

Crankshaft for the wrong engine, this is a first, right?!

 

Yeah that was quite a surprise and a bit of a disappointment. Here’s this beautifully done crank but it’s not mine! I really hope that when I do get down to LA and get mine: #1, I hope it’s there! And #2, I hope it’s finished like this one.
This 392 was supposed to go into the ‘41 Willy’s pickup that I built in the 90s to go nostalgia racing. It was going to be a solid old style blown alcohol motor. But, that didn’t happen mostly due to work commitments and the work load at my own shop and I eventually sold the Willys pu as a roller when I got my Austin. While I had pretty much everything to build it, the machine work wasn’t complete. The only thing left is the rocker arm ***emblies. And maybe a crank? Hope not….

 

On the road today.
I responded to an ad on Marketplace for a pair of new fibergl*** ‘33-‘34 pickup fenders. Only an hour and a half away…
Well, they are new, from PolyForm but I don’t think they are ‘33-‘34, maybe later? Anyway, they will work for me.

Anyone recognize this decorative reveal? My ‘33 fenders look more squared off, like a Model A fender.

Ekimneirbo mentioned rotating the fender forward to get the effect of a “bobbed” fender. These should do nicely.

Anyway, glad to have them.

 

While I was out, the carrier pidgeons delivered these hunks of metal I ordered to make adjustable spring sockets. They are a little heavy but that’s the only size I could get with the right ID. Nothing available locally. I just need some 1” all-thread and some nuts.

I had some 1/4”x 5 3/8” diameter discs that I made for something at one time, they’ll work perfectly.

 

I forgot to mention that a couple weeks back I was looking for a 3rd member for the new 9” rear end but holy moly those things are expensive now days! So I looked around and found a set of brand new in the box Richmond Gear 3.50:1 gears for $75, an hour away. Just what I was looking for. When I got home, I poured a cup of coffee, sat down and found a brand new set of Motion 4.30s for $100 just a couple miles away. Went and got them too. So now I have 3.50s, 3.70s and 4.30s. I cleaned, inspected, oiled and repackaged everything till I need them.

Both sets had been sitting on a shelf in a garage and they just wanted to get rid of them.
I looked around my shop and dug up a 31 spline carrier that I didn’t remember having. I spread everything out and it all looks great so all I need now is bearing and seal kit. I have several cases. So for a couple hundred bucks I’ll have my 3.50s and I’ll watch for a deal on a posi for the 4.30s.

 

Re:The rear fenders. 35-7 don’t have that little design on the rear of them. I could be a manufacturer “design” or maybe not for Fords? I can get a pic of the backs of my ‘36 fenders on Sunday or Monday for you to see what I mean.
Of course I may have memory loss as well

 

Extra points for the ABB CD at the top of the pile!

 

Yeah, one of my all time favorite bands. A go-to when I’m working in the shop. Reminds me of working on my HDs late at night in the good old days.