So today I go down to my friendly neighborhood metal store over lunch and ask the guy at the counter if they can cut me 3 6 inch circles of sheet metal, he tells me no they only have sheers and bandsaws nothing to cut a circle, but then asks what I'm doing. I show him the 6 inch air filter I'm planning on useing on my new 3X2 Carb setup for my truck and tell him I have a base but need a piece of metal that size to use for a top. So he points out to me the biggest rod of metal I've ever seen a 6 inch diameter piece of Al and tells me he could slice me off 3 3/8 pieces of it. So I tell him sure and they go back to cut it on the Band saw. about 20 minutes later the guy brings my 3 slices (Like Salomi) out I pay and leave. So now I'm sitting at work thinking about it and it just occured to me: <font color="red">Am I putting Billet on my truck (GASP!!!!)?</font> So what I need from you guys is a definition of Billet? I'm planning on finding the center of them, drilling a hole and chucking them up in the old drillpress and trying to get that Kick *** Spun look. Also this is just a temp setup till I can find 3 original old truck aircleaner tops to put on. Thoughts? Suggestions? Pychotic Rants? Please save me before I BILLET!! ****O
The lameness of billet on 80's street rods doesnt come from the material itself. It comes from the lameness of car builders with no sense of style plastering it all over a vehicle just because it is billet. Also lame because it is gennerally very bulky in appearance and just doesnt flow nicely with older cars. I personally think it looks good on some newer car when used tastefully. The key is tastefully. There was a good article on this in the last issue of Old Skool Rodz. IMO, it would be no different if they had been cut from steel. A cool, home made custom part is just that, whether it is made from a solid chunk of aluminum or not. Just dont cut any door handles out of it and you'll be ok!
you are making a one of a kind custom fabricated piece, not a m*** produced in china cnc machined part, i think its cool your making it your self reddog redrum chop shop
"Billet Aluminum" or "Billet" for short,got a bad rap because street rod parts manufacturers were carving out bulky,soulless,unimaginitive,cookie cutter parts from solid Aluminum,p***ing them off as "Custom". Gold Chainers stood in line to buy the latest from ShineyStuff.com, just because it was Shiney and Expensive. Clean lines,nice proportions,and good design,were not a consideration. Soon every Genius with a Gold Card has bulky,unimaginitive,**** bolted everywhere. Unfortunately,you can not explain bad taste to someone who has it. ---------------------------------- Maybe one of your freinds has a lathe,and can endface your discs for you.
LOL, Actually this is another subject that is based on whats hot and whats not. Years ago when the first rod rolled out with "Billet" everyone thought cool, awesome! But today stuff like that is m***ed produced so its not cool anymore................BUT the same people saying billet ****s are going out and buying jap **** repops of old stuff. Damn I don't know which is worse? I say build it with what ever you can, if its made of aluminum then so be it, who cares. Anyway as far as the locals in my area it seems like the ***** about anything made of aluminum, but I also notice these guys can afford to buy the stuff so they act like its not cool. But if they could afford it they would be building there own Billet Rod! LOL. Satin
[ QUOTE ] Unfortunately,you can not explain bad taste to someone who has it. Too true! Maybe one of your freinds has a lathe,and can endface your discs for you. [/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] Am I putting Billet on my truck (GASP!!!!)? [/ QUOTE ] Let's shoot 'im. No, let's hang 'im. Yeah, THEN we'll shoot 'im!
Thanks guys so am I getting it right when I say any kind of big chuck of solid AL is billet? If you make a part outta it? [ QUOTE ] Maybe one of your freinds has a lathe,and can endface your discs for you. [/ QUOTE ] I was kinda planning on trying that with the drillpress and some sandpaper, maybe a bad idea, I'll let you guys know if I'm typing with one hand tommorow. Shoot me, Hang me, that's ok just don't be rustling my women and ****** my cattle.. ****o
Buick is right on, it's a 'style' more than anything else... You COULD build a furnace and cast a few finned covers, though?
Hey, ****o, how about metal turning the tops in a circular pattern? Kinda like the guage panels from Hanelines, but done in concentric circles instead of straight line rows. Might even reduce that "billet" stigma, somewhat.
Flat Black "paint," red wheels with WWWs and 10" channeled half rusted away Model A bodies are the "NEW BILLET". When you can (and people do) buy m***-produced-in-China chrome skull gearshift knobs in bubble packs displayed right next to the bubble packed Billet ****, what else can you call them?
I think, like a few others said, billet is more about the style (or lack there of) and not the true definition of the process or the unformed part. Rodders have carved aluminum go-fast pieces since the 30's. These guys were experimenting and taking chances. Now that's cool. I think that's the part of hotrodding that attracts most of us. While the whole "Billet" era may have actually served to revive the hobby after the seventies tried to kill it with ugliness, the "unique" bolt on "cool" was and remains very soul-less. The "You can be unique just like everyone else" mentality is a big turn-off for us retro-rodders. To me the bottom line is.....if you are making it yourself, it's cool. The less you buy, the more unique it will be. therefor the cooler it will be. But then again being cool is gay.
I was recently on a V-drive boat website asking for a place to get a couple parts for my boat at decent prices and mentioned I didn't NEED billet. One reply suggested my wife had made me say that! Man!, I wanted a bearing cap and a in-out box shift handle for crying-out-loud! Why do I care if it was carved out of a chunk of aluminum instead of being cast like the original Casale parts? If a part works and costs less I love it. I got the "cheap" cast parts today and the bearing cap has STYLE with the raised cast-in reinforcement ribs just smoothed and polished a little! Form-Function
round over the edge of the top andgive it that spun look. can be done in a drill press with care. if it's homemade, it ain't billet! jerry
2 suggestions to make kool parts from what you have. 1. Use the aluminum to make a hammerform, and make new tops from steel. Drill holes in the center of 2 of the pieces, cut out a piece of sheet metal slightly bigger than the outside dia. of the circle. Clamp the sheet between the 2 pieces of alum., drill the center, and put a nut and bolt in to secure the center. Hammer the edges over the end of one of the circles, trim to even the edges, and you've got a new air filter lid...make as many as you like! 2. More complicated, but more detail. Get a lathe, and cut a tapered valley in one of the pieces, in the center, about halfway in. Cut a matching 'peak' in the other one. Sandwich sheet metal in between the 2, and use a hydraulic press to squash together. The form the edge, like in idea #1, and you've got a contoured filter lid.
i believe they've nailed it rite on the head...as long as you use this "billet" to make something tasteful and custom,it's not billet persey...billet nowadays is a slang term for **** that was just stuck in a car and makes it look either cookie cutter or stupid.there is no reason to turn away from making your own part out of aluminum just cuz you think it'll make you a sell out you're still machining it and turning it into something.spun pieces look bad ***ed and making stuff yourself is ALWAYS a good option.just dont cut out a piece of the stuff and stick some overpriced digital gauges in there and you're good. Creepy
When people talk about 'jap ****' they're really misinformed. Truth is old Japanese made accessories were of very high quality. I have a pair of chrome slots on my '34 that were made in Japan, The quality of construction and the chrome plating is very good. What we have today should really be called 'Taiwanese or Chinese ****.' It's true that Japanese cars did have a level of cheapness in the '70s, but they were hardly ****. If they were truly **** then what were Pintos by comparison? If Kirk's suggestion that billet revived hot rodding in the '80s is true, then it could be said that rat rods have done the same for the turn of this century. I was never into 'billet' and now I'm getting sick of rat rods too.
[ QUOTE ] Billet" everyone thought cool, awesome! But today stuff like that is m***ed produced so its not cool anymore................BUT the same people saying billet ****s are going out and buying jap **** repops of old stuff. Damn I don't know which is worse? [/ QUOTE ] Amen to that..... Its all a matter of taste regardless of the type of material and the means to produce it. Billet was so reproductive that it just follows the same sea of chevy powered street rods. Copy cat wannabees with money to follow whatever they want.
I don't have anything against aluminum, but it's kinda like the word 'democrat' it's one of those words that can be used as a happy word, or an insult, depending on what circle of people you're hanging with. The reason I dislike billet anything is as follows: -It always looks unfinished.. like they cut it on the C&C and that was it.. no polishing or rounding anything. -Most people never paint over it. People show off raw aluminum like it's some sort of status symbol.. Paint over the ugly stuff. -Most people that would have a lot of this on their car aren't of the same mentality as me. I like to do things as time and money permit. The personality I ***ociate with billet items are the buy everything at once, and pay someone else to put it on type.. I'm more the "I found this piece of junk in the garage, and think I can fabricate it into ____. I know some old men who paid 25,000 bucks for 1930's Fords on ebay. They parade around in them like they are hot ****, but really, ANY person with 25,000 dollars of expendible cash can do the same. Then they have the nerve to enter (and win) car shows with these beautiful cars that they have never done anything to themselves... It's the type of mentality I grew up with where "the richest kid always wins".. Maybe I'm just whiny, since was never the richest kid But billet to me is more than just an eyesore, it speaks to me silently about the vehicle owner and their personality.. Probably a broad, somewhat inaccurate stereotype, but I've never been accused of having a really open mind
"The key is tastefully. There was a good article on this in the last issue of Old Skool Rodz." theres an oxy*****
[ QUOTE ] If Kirk's suggestion that billet revived hot rodding in the '80s is true, then it could be said that rat rods have done the same for the turn of this century. I was never into 'billet' and now I'm getting sick of rat rods too. [/ QUOTE ] Good point and good point.
Ok guys Thanks for all the good answers to this question that perplexed me, ****o know's he like's cheese, meat and beer but billet's kinda a fancy word for me I kinda liked it cause I can't spell Alluminum but AL works good too. For the most part as far as my truck goes I know there's stuff that other people wouldn't have done, and I've had people come up and tell me that at cruises and stuff to them I say go build your own truck! But I've grown to like the HAMB enough that the opion of some of you pinheads kinda matters to me a little. Enough of that! I like the idea of making a hammerform, or pieces to press out the tops I want eventually but these tops were about getting something on there quick and dirty, so my engines insides don't get dirty quick. Granted I've run smallblocks with no aircleaner or just without filters for lot's of miles but this is my Inline man, I gotta baby her so she's good to me come drag time. I had planned on just getting round 6" pieces of metal to stick on there without any other work originally. Turns out I've located 2 of the one's I wanted in the first place now I just have to talk said owners outta them. They look like this so if anyone is too offened by the AL then help me find what I really want. Ok so now on to what I got and did, this could be considered tech if it wasn't so lame and simple. Here you see the 3 3/8 slices of my Al balony. Mark the center and drill a hole.. Put a bolt through it and chuck it up in the old drillpress. I started with the drillpress in the lowest speed about 200 RPM and ended up bumping it up to 600 or so. I fired up the drillpress and started on the edge then work around the corner and accross the top to the center with about 80 grit sandpaper, rougher would have gone quicker but 80's what I had. I worked with it for about 30 minutes till all the cut lines were gone. They were pretty deep. Then I switched to some 120 grit for about 10 minutes. Here's the before and after. And finally on Carb #1 on the truck, I'm thinking I'm gonna shorten the hold down bolt and switch to an acorn nut but that's it. So there it is some will like it some won't but I'm happy it's quick and cheap. Total not including the sandpaper and other stuff I already had $28.50 for 3. Thanks again for everyone's opinion on this. ****O
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