Projects KIWI 1939 COUPE DU JOUR - Runnin from Johnny Law!

A TARDIS bookshelf... sounds interesting. You could build it in front of a door to another room so you go through the TARDIS to the library room. Back in the '80s, I thought it would be cool to build a "TARDIS T". Basically a T bucket with a TARDIS body. It's probably been done somewhere in the world by now. The plan started as a standard red phone box on a T bucket chassis, but then I thought the TARDIS would be better. Never did it... never will. You just reminded me of it.

So anyway, congratulations on the carb score... nice

Glen.

 

Look what the courier left at Mums for me today!

It's like Christmas for a hot rodder......without all the socks and underpants.
I ordered these last week from Performance Parts Ltd in Auckland. They are Chinese made heads (aren't they all made there anyway now!) and they look pretty dam good to me.

All unwrapped and laid out for you all to ogle at. A Weiand intake, heads, Crane bumpstick, valves, springs, retainers, screw in studs,, timing chain etc.

And look at that.....they all fit! I have a set of early Corvette rocker covers, with the offset holes and no breathers. I will add some blanks to the heads and drill for both styles.
I have also bolted on the brand new water pump I found at the swap meet last weekend.

Isn't that a lovely looking combo? Gotta love it!

I am planning to get into the header fabrication soon........that may be a little longer than first planned though......I picked up the trans for the roadster today, all better from the doctor. So a bit of work to do there first.

 

Looks damn fine JW

 

I spotted a couple of front seats from donor unknown on FB this afternoon. Met up with the guy this evening and now have them in the work shop! Leather and fabric seats from a coupe of some sort, with slide and pivot to enable entry/exit from the rear of the car. The pair....for an Earnest Rutherford! not a bad deal I thought. they are in pretty good condition and will do for an initial run in period any way.
This is the picture he posted on FB.

 

Good score and they look comfy. JW

 

Can I ask.... what hell is an Earnest Rutherford ?? Cool seat though and will you run with the head rests ?

 

$100 note Marc . JW

 

Not one of these!

 

Oh hell, I've been a poor beneficiary for so long I haven't had the pleasure of seeing let alone handling one of those notes and to be totally honest, can't tell you who is on any of our notes. Now how sad is that...

 

I did like them because they look good with or without the head rests. They look like Recaro type seats without the rests.

 

I'm pretty certain those seats are from a Honda Prelude, late 80's most likely.

 

Thanks Daddio. That's what I was thinking too.

 

This is the `stack of bits for an upcoming job............any guesses?

 

Mmmmm.....Donuts.......

 

The double plated flanges to let me use large primaries on the headers. I have machined out the single hole plates to let the tube fit in snugley with a step at the inside face to melt away when welding.
A workmate machined the double hole ones yesterday for me on his 4 axis CNC mill, rather than me doing it in the 4 jaw chuck in the lathe and shaking things up too much. He made a great job of them and moved the hole centers out slightly so the tubes don't have an interference fit with each other.
I plan on port matching the heads to the plates a little later in the job too. The square shape holes were cut slightly larger than the head openings, but the diagonal measurement matches that of the round hole, so there shouldn't be too many humps and bumps on the flow.

The very observant reader/viewers will notice that the early Vette covers fastening holes don't line up, that will also be remedied at a later date, with a little machining and welding wizardry!

 

The doughnuts look like you have been doing a little metal spinning - any pics of the process?

 

These are available from most exhaust shops. They are pressed in two halves then welded on the outer radius and cleaned up. The inner radius is left un welded ready to be done when the donut is cut to size.

 

Sounds like a high performance extraction system JW

 

I know, I know! he's at it again with the damn plywood!
I cut a bunch of bits the right size to replicate the tube and bends I am using. It is a lot easier to cut, dowel and glue these together to determine lengths and angles for bends. Now I can simply pre-cut the tubes and bends to known dimensions before tacking them all together with the welder. Who can afford to chop up those donuts and get it wrong?

 

That Wade is an absolutely brilliant idea to use the plywood like that. I may steal that idea from you if I go ahead and change the exhaust system on my T Roadster.

 

It is a damn sight cheaper than ruining donuts at $45 each! I redesigned and built the whole thing in an evening due to clearance issues, and haven't even sparked up a welder yet! Just a bit of PVA glue and some 5 mm dowels in the centre of each join. The dowels allow you to rotate the pieces as you could rotate the tube when you get to that stage. Now I can simply measure lengths and pre-cut the tubes and bends to suit. I will also be getting cunning with the aluminium coated tube......but I am saving this tip for an up coming episode......so stay tuned!

 

Out with the marking blue and a hack saw, to make some dust. I drew things out full size using the measurements from the wooden template. carefully marked the donuts and started cutting.
4 x 90 degree bends and 2 x 60 degree bends. Tomorrow I will cut the sections of pipe needed.

 

Cool idea!! I used white cardboard and traced the bend on it then cut them to fit then transfer to the pipe. JW

 

I went into town and used a cut off saw at my mates shop this morning. It is one of those slow cutters with the HSS steel wheels that cut pretty square. I then went to Dads and faced them all off to the exact lengths required. Anal I know, but I can, so I do!
I still need to remove the aluminium from the tubes at the weld points and also need to get a bottle of argon, so there won't be any more progress until Thursday probably. I had better get back to the daughters bookshelf for the day today!

 

No Wade, not anal at all as one only needs to look at your workmanship and the results you accomplish to realise what an excellent bit of time can do. What sort of tool does your Dad have for facing them and when is it moving out to your workshop ?

 

Lathe......after the wake.

 

Looking VERY cool and I must ask, how many 300mm/12'' rules do you own? JW

 

I lose count.....but how many is too many? They are always handy as a 1 mm spacer/shim! I have a 600mm and 1m/36inch one as well. A bad tradesman blames his tools........more tools = more excuses available!

 

When I was a sales rep. you would be surprised at how many stainless steel rules I sold and most often repeat sales due to somebody chopping a few mm's of the length.

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the exhaust tube I am using is Aluminium coated. I did not want to simply grind the area clean, as this would not remove all traces of aluminium from the weld area. I was scratching my head for a bit.......'What would remove aluminium? Hmmm.........Ahaa! Caustic eats aluminium! The bonus of using caustic (Naoh/ Sodium Hydroxide) is that it will remove the aluminium to a molecular level in the treated area, which means a much cleaner weld!

I need to mention at this point this
Sodium hydroxide is highly soluble in water and easily reacts with air. Hence it should be stored in a safe place and in an air tight container. It is highly exothermic, which means that it emits a lot of heat upon reacting with water or even other chemicals like sulphur. It can cause severe burns and it can ignite inflammables. Exposure to sodium hydroxide, whether it might be a solid or a liquid, may cause severe burns on your skin, damage to your eyes and any ingestion whatsoever may be fatal. It is extremely important to take proper safety precautions when working with this dangerous chemical.

As we know that sodium hydroxide is often used as a cleaning agent, the residue of the chemical in ovens, sinks or other areas may cause skin irritation or skin burns. Workers using sodium hydroxide risk facial irritation, nasal irriation, throat irritation, respiratory problems and other problems. It can also cause inflammation of the lungs and accumulation of fluid in the lungs if one is constantly exposed to the vapors, dust or mist. Proper precautions must be taken in order to prevent problems and serious injury. Employees working in such industries can wear gloves, masks and suitable dress in order to prevent harmful contact with the chemical.

Children are most susceptible to ill effects of sodium hydroxide. If around children, one must avoid using it or at least keep it in such a place which is not reachable to children. Do not store sodium hydroxide in containers that might attract children. Never touch your face or any part of the skin while using sodium hydroxide.

It is advisable to not use sodium hydroxide without first familiarizing yourself with the possible problems and precautions that must be taken to use it safely.

Nuf said!
Be bloody careful with this shit!
These chemicals are available at most pool care places. Caustic is used to Ph balance the water levels.

Aluminium oxide dissolves in sodium hydroxide solution because it is amphiprotic ( some use amphoteric). This means it can act as a base or an acid. In this case it is acting as an acid and forms sodium aluminate (and releases explosive levels of Hydrogen gas). Soduim hydroxide does not act on the steel under the aluminium oxide layer, but it does go black. I washed the sodium hydroxide residue from the parts with a carbonic acid solution to neutralize and protect the steel from oxidization which starts immediately the parts dry out.

I put about 1/4" of caustic solution (50% strength) in the bottom of a plastic container. Into this I placed the parts to be treated standing on their ends. It only takes a couple of hours to take care of business and then I swapped the parts to the other ends. as you can see in the pictures all traces of the aluminium coating are gone from the treated areas.
Maybe tomorrow I will spark up the welder and start gluing some bit together. I grabbed a bottle of argon today........so no more excuses!