Hi Robert, is this hand planished or pneumatic assist, and it looks like you did not grind before planish, but stopped planishing before over streathing, correct?
That was hand planishing.. More progress on the wagon, we had ordered some 3/8 Stainless fuel line, which comes in a coil... so we needed to be able to straighten it out as I can see me "unbending" and getting it right.. So I placed an order with McMaster Carr for some pulleys designed for 3/8 rope and using 3/8 bolt hole in the bearing. Part number 59475K51. A drive mechanism was made using 3/8-16 stainless all-thread, and the slider was cut and re-welded to better fit the 1" square tubing. A better view all around of the design, we used three pulleys so this could also serve as a bender as well as straightener.. Then Mike and I did a test run using copper tubing... Now onto the stainless.... At this point we measured and cut the 20' piece in two so it would be more more manageable. Straightened.... Now we used the adjustable spline to get the curve of the frame for the proper bend on the stainless... A strip of tape applied helps to lock the shape from moving, and the tubing is marked for the radius distance.. The tube is placed back in the new machine to add the radius to match our profile... Adding some of the needed bends... For some of the interior details, we took delivery of the speaker trim rings from my cousin JB, he did a nice job cutting these out for us... They still need holes drilled, stainless mesh cut to fit, and polishing... ....and our Mopar door clips we were going to use for the rear arm rests turned out to be a bit brittle, most snapped off rather than pull back through the hole. So we ordered the similar GM version, keeping our fingers crossed... Alas, in my typical Murphy strikes again mode, these were slightly smaller and/or the holes already located in the kick panels were slightly gaping.. We searched the entire shop for a MacGyver solution and found that a 3/8-16 hex nut did a good job of "capturing" the clip, but without the "not letting go" part that a hole in sheet metal provides if the clip rotates slightly while in the hole. So some 3/8 stainless nuts were machined so that they could be welded into the kick panel and yet have the thread grip flush at the surface.
Hate to mention it but that seat seems pretty high to me if thats the final height. Im sure being the perfectionist you seem to be, you will eventually address it, if it is, but thought I might offer my humble .02 from my view now, versus later.
The car is three feet off the ground, sure it’s high! Seroiusly though, Not sure where the height adjustment was when we put that in to mock up the seat belts, but the mounts are as low as they can go without cutting the floor. This is what the owner decided on, you know how that goes. Thanks for the comments guys!
Robert great work as usual. Great find on the new torch . You gotta put in the time on AO welding just like tig and everything else . Tried to AO some 032 Al. A while back using flux and my special glasses . I really need to practice . Keep up the great work . Blue
Thanks Blue! Really enjoy seeing your bead roller work.. Saturday we got the tank installed so we could get a good reading on where it locates in relation to the body mounts in front of the axle. We also pulled a pattern from the body mount so we could bend the lines around it accurately. Highly technical drawing showing our tank location... Tank located per our drawing in relation to body mount.. The more I look at this, the less I wanted to use the braided lines between the hard line and the tank. I'm just not comfortable with another fitting in the vicinity of the tail pipes. So back up and punt, looks like we're getting new tubing and bending again. The last lines weren't long enough to make it back to the tank, so we'll chalk them up as practice pieces, learning curve, if you will... Here the Body mount pattern is bolted up, the lines will make a bend behind this body mount, travel across to the middle, and then toward the back where it will attach directly to the tank. The lines will come close to the passenger tail pipe, so we'll add a heat shield. I visited a local motorcycle shop and picked up a donor... trimmed to fit... That should do. Next, we need to finish the kick panels for upholstery, which means mounting the speakers. The trim rings from cousin JB will need holes drilled to match the speakers. We have some button head allen screws we plan on using, but didn't really care for the surface mounted look... This would look so much better with the details of counterbored holes. Alas, the pitfalls of working on Saturdays without a local source. What's a person to do but make their own. The extended die grinder almost fits the Aloris tool holder too well, like it was made to be. A 120 grit roloc sanding disc does well to backface the cutting edge and we are in business.. Much better, all in the details.. ….and adding the tweeters to the kick panel...
Thanks! Took delivery yesterday of the 304 Stainless mesh for the speaker grills. Just like we used different widths on the trim rings so they would be proportional to the diameter, with the mesh we used three different sizes as well.. For the bass speaker grill we are also adding a BelAir emblem. The mesh will be recessed for that so the emblem is flush, then the remaining mesh will be pressed outward so it is flush with the surface of the trim ring. (or so) Now for the unofficial poll, would you orient the mesh straight across/up and down, or at a 45 degree rotation?
45 degree is my vote, Robert do I smell final paint in the near future? Looks like your busy finishing up all the detail work. Thanks for letting us tag along!
Exactly, trying to get all the stuff done that will generate metal dust in the shop before we get too deep in that paint stage....
Thanks to all for their input on the speaker grilles, the owner has decided on the 45* rotation. Our other choice to ponder was whether to use chrome, polished, or brushed finish. We clamped some of the rings in the lathe and gave it a brushed finish, others were polished so we can compare.. Here it was decided to go with the polished over brushed, and for ease of maintenance, we opted for chrome plating. So all the holes were drilled, counterbored, and transferred to their respective mounting location. The tweeter trim rings will be held in place with 6-32 hardware, the mids use 8-32, and the sub uses 10-32. Rivet nuts were installed where needed.. With the trim rings ready to send for plating, we turned our attention to the fuel lines, where we wanted a direct run all the way to the tank. Our bending efforts found Mike in a bit of a stretch.. The fuel line passes behind the body mount, we have a heat deflector in place where it passes over the tail pipe, and then it will connect directly to the tank. They will be secured with adel clamps fastened to the floor braces from underneath. Return line in place, supply line to go: .
More progress on the fuel lines, with both lines now routed, we opted for glue lined heat shrink as an abrasion resistant covering where it passes closely to the body, and regular heat shrink to keep the two together. Mike installs an anchor point for adel clamps in the shock crossmember Test bends at the fuel pump.. Next to add some AN fittings..
Our vent/check valve for the fuel tank will get mounted up behind the driver's tail light by the filler neck. We bent up a piece of stainless tubing last night for the vent line. The glue-lined heat shrink works well to provide a cushion/vibration dampener up against the tank.. For our stainless bends, we had also bought a roll of copper tubing to use for test bends. Inch increments were marked, bends made, and then these marked "starting points" could be transferred to the stainless for more accurate bends.....and less of a scrap pile. Video version.. .
Precision!!![emoji108] thanks for sharing man! [emoji108] Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Finished up the fuel lines at the tank, bending and flaring.. test fit to the pump..... Helpful hint of the day, copper line works well for trial runs... Side stepped the area above the third member with the fuel line in case of extreme movement... the Adel clamps floating there will attach to the underside of the floor brace.
Once again, all fantastic ideas and workmanship [emoji41][emoji106][emoji471] Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
We need to do another spray out test panel, so we can nail down the top color to accent the green. These car bodies just aren't big enough to do a two tone...…….. ….so we fabricated a fake quarter panel using the Tommasini wheeling machine, and sprayed it with some epoxy primer. We'll get it blocked on Saturday and spray the bottom using Organic Green Kandy Basecoat, and spray the top with Galaxy gray, to see how well those two go together...
Now for some color to our paint sprayout sample.. It's too cloudy out today but we're hoping for sunlight tomorrow to better show what this will look like. Until then, Milwaukee Sun... Video version: .
The Jalopy Journal
