So...if you purchase someone else's project, and, in picking up the reins, realize that had they actually seen it through, to say, a driving state, at least....they would have positively, barring some sort of divine intervention, killed themselves, or others, due to unspeakable workmanship , do they now owe you their life?... I really...REALLY saved this car, and its P.O. from the very real likelyhood of dismemberment and or death... to think...I gave him $$$, he pulled the pin, and then I left with the GRENADE! at least its quick, and safe now...safe-ish, anyway...
Well... Rod ends mounted btwn. two ears, on each side of the frame rails...no misalignment bushings, no room for movement at all, AND sideways, laying flat, so that when suspension travel occurs...SNAP! VERY atrocious welds...porous, ground down paper thin... the FRONT cross member: welded, poorly, ground...filled with bondo, to make pretty...painted. check underneath...NOTHING. no tacks. no stitches. just nothing...and it was beyond being mocked up, because the top was ground and painted... I recently decided to investigate the top chop, as well... mucho re-welding there, too...it probably would have flew off, at speed for long enough... I wonder if it was just supposed to be "lawn art"? I wonder how many disasters are averted, simply because something gets given up on and sold?
That is scary stuff. Reminds me of an A my son and I saw a while back at a show and shine. The guy driving it said he built it, should have kept his mouth shut. One look at the steering set up and you have to ask yourself how he kept it between the ditches. A friend of his came up to me and said that the car was very dangerous and that you couldn't drive it over 45 mph because it would shake so bad. I should have taken pics so you guys could pick it apart. I'm no Jimmy Shine but, I know what's what from being around this stuff for the last 40 years or so. I think a little common sense would go a long way but stupidity and presumption won't make it across the street! Yeah Dirty you saved his life, or at least someone's for sure. Good rescue!
TONS of disasters. In the late 80s I had a gasser fetish, and they were cheap. Musta looked at a dozen straight axle cars, not a one had been completed, and not a one had a roadworthy installation of the frame clip. Ended up without a gasser cause at that time lacked the skills to re-clip one properly. Turns out the builders did too! Makes me wonder about all the barn-find gassers of late....... It's like a circular syndrome. They get 3/4 of the way around the circle, but in the final turn they can finally see the starting point again, and they see it with the benefit of 3/4 turn experience. Project over.
While kidding a friend about his welding on a old, unfinished project I had bought from him, he replied, "but I learned to weld on that car". I replied, "no you didn't".
You know, I dont think Ive ever heard my work described so kindly.......... Ahhh Im just fookin' witchoo!! I cant weld THAT good!
I'm rebuilding a truck right know that has had so many sketchy things done to it. It looked allright when I got it, had some obvious suspension problems that I planned on fixing, but the deeper I get the scarrier it looks. terrible welding, that I can pull apart by hand, no suspension travel, no lower steering column mount, rotten plywood floor on a barely tacked together subframe. two 70 year old rusted bolts holding the cab to the frame.Gate latches for door latches, that would pop open when you hit a bump. My truck was a "driver" when I got it, I have seen it around at shows and on the street. I am amazed that the builder never killed himself or someone else.
The Jalopy Journal
