Projects The bucket of ugly! A de-uglifying thread...

ROFL!

 

I certainly relate to that comment as down here where I live I can drive west for 1/2 hour and be on the west coast and one hour the other way to be on the coast of the Firth of Thames which basically means everything not coated will have surface rust within the day. The alloy inlet manifold etc., dress up gear on the Bucket engine will need to be polished up again as it has really deteriorated. Any new steel stored in the worshop will have surface rust within a week. Just the joys of living on an Island surrounded by salt water within a hours drive.

 

Back to subject.....is the "bucket of ugly" orange yet?

 

Nope, not orange yet. Lots of little things worked out though. Stuff that was driving me nuts is now no longer making me crazy. The blast of hot air that was coming out from beneath the trans tunnel is no longer trying to plasma cut my right foot off, and after much screwing around a I have found the correct step up springs for this carb's needs. The body is on straight now, and all of the mounting holes have been properly located and tapped. I'm down to this as my ONLY transpo right now, so paint might take a bit...

 

Your getting close to that cool shiny paint job,it dose take longer then we wish for at times. It took me my spair time for the last 7 years to get too the point of this photo, helped my buddy Rosh build the red 23T,then my son just had to have a 23T also n built the blue one with him {fun},worked making Mark's red 32 run n ride right and fineily finished up my restore on my old high school hotrod black 28A-Thunderbird 57 V8 292 in it. All to gether this passed 4th of July Indapendents Day

 

Hey gang, I talk quite a bit about speed holes and lightening holes and such. They were part and parcel of hot rodding and drag racing in the late fifties and early sixties - hence they showed up on street cars too. As far as I'm concerned, drilling a bunch of neatly spaced holes into damn near anything is about the easiest way to make racy or sexy, for basically nothing but your time. I get asked quite a bit how I make these happen, and many think that you must have a mill and rotary table to do this sort of thing. So, with that in mind, in the next couple of posts I'm going to experiment a bit with writing a quick tech piece on this deal, and also get a handle on posting these large pictures in a mannerly fashion.... Sound okay?

 

So most of you have seen this at this point. I'm kinda surprised nobody has asked me why I haven't shown the other one. Truth is, I have little tiny breaks in time between customer stuff to do my own stuff, and I'm pretty close to being completely ADD... Not quite turning off light three time before leaving, but if I get an idea in my brain it sticks and I take my few minutes and run with it. I figured out this pattern about a month ago and sat out in the shop one day and knocked it out. No time to do the other until today, so here we go - This is how you do a geometric drill pattern with out a mill and rotary table.

First, you will need a few basic tools. A compass with a silver fad pencil, a pair of dividers, and a combination square and sharp Sharpie marker will save the day. A couple of these steps are almost impossible to film and do at the same time, so imagination might need to come into play here. The very first thing to do is to take your combination square and figure out the depth of the area you want to scribe, then reduce it by half. In this case, the outer lip of the backing plate was about 1", so I set the depth of the square at a little shy of 1/2" to compensate for the thickness of the marker. Holding the backing plate between my belly and the bench, and making sure to keep the square "square" to the backing plate, I run around the outer edge with my sharpie leaving the thick black line. since that is a bit "course" for layout, I go back over it with the silver pencil and compass for a bit finer line. It all ends up looking like what you see here.

This is another of those "imagination" type shots, 'cause I'm way to uncoordinated to do this and film at the same time. Once you have your line struck, figure out what spacing would be best for your finished appearance. In this case I decided that about 1" would look good. I set my dividers for that size, I pick a starting point, and a I make a twirly trip around the line I struck, not yet marking my hole locations. Like the picture shows, put the tip of the divider on the line, rest the other tip on the line, twirl, repeat. do this until you get all the way around to your starting point. I should have said it before, but I do mark my starting point always. Now, having just done your first round, there is a very strong possibility that you didn't make it all the way back to your starting mark, or you over shot it by a bit. Adjust your calipers a tiny bit in or out, and do it again. Came up short this time, right? Adjust again and do another run. Aint this fun? Got this time though, right?! Good, take a punch and hammer and make you center punches. Do them nice and deep.

By the time all is said and done, this is what you have. I like perfect, but you will see that some of mine are not exactly perfect. If they are close, let it be. I slight imperfection in doing something like this gives a kinda "charm" to the piece - sorta what Falcon George and I were talking about the other night. If it's a mile out, now is the time to fix it!

 

So, now's the time for drillin'! Now years ago, a mentor of mine that was a kick-ass welder and fabricator taught me to drill holes in steps. When doing stuff like this where the hole IS the reason for what I am doing, I make double sure to take that to heart. I'm Sure Lee Lebhart is up there smiling down thinkin' "taught that stubborn, stupid kid somethin'"! Thank you sir! Now, I always start with a small but chunky drill, and that is a 3/16". I find that an 1/8" is just too prone to breaking on material like this, and, the size sets us up for the secret weapon in this deal... go around and take your time, use plenty of lube/coolant, and I set my drill press at about 600RPM for this part. As a quick side note, if you frequent actual machinist tool shops, you'll find neat little gizzie called a "centerdrill". It has a shank that fits your machine that is probably about 3/8 or so, then necks down to a very short, stumpy, say 1/8" or 3/16" drill tip. These are bitchin', and what I would normally use, but in a fit of lazy the other day I wiped the last tip off my last one and hadn't time to go get a replacement.... Nice sharp 3/16" it is!

Officially the dumbest "secret weapon" ever! Even better when you consider that mine are from Harbor Freight! I had a couple of very nice unibit brand bits until a while ago when I tried to teach my 13 year old nephew how to drill stuff.... Bad deal! So, I happened to be in Harbor Freight, and these were on sale, and I thought, "hell if they last a week they are worth the seven dollars they want for both... That was two years ago! I like to slow these down a bit and use a lot of coolant.

Now, here is why these are the "secret weapon" of choice! You get to do two (count 'em two!) operations at once with the Unibits! See, a big secret of doing this stuff is to go back over and counter sink just slightly every hole you have done. With the Unibit, if you are very carefull when drilling, the next step of the bit will handle the countersink for you! Just mark what step you wish to drill to and put a very tiny bit of pressure beyond that and the magic happens, as thusly. Got it? Cool, now do it 40 more times or so...

 

It's a damn sight easier to find 150 places to lose a pound than it is to find one place to lose 150 lbs.
And most guys that don't have a machining background always use WAY too much tool speed when drilling. Makes for sloppy holes and dull drills, which makes even sloppier holes and duller/broken drills.

 

I'll get on more of this in the morning.

 

To eliminate the 'fiddlin' on laying out your holes, calculate the circumference of your circle by using 2 x Pi x radius = circumference. Divide your 'desired' spacing into this number for the number of holes needed. You'll likely get a fractional number, so if you use this number minus the fraction and divide that into the circumference, that will give you the actual spacing needed to have even spacing.

Example: 12" diameter circle, so the radius is 1/2 the diameter, so 6" x 2 x 3.142 = 37.707". Divide this by 1 for a 1" spacing, and you get 37.707 holes. Drop the fraction, divide 37 into 37.707 and you get 1.019" between holes. Set your compass with a caliper to this and it's done in one shot....

 

Good advice, but I can tell you from experience that it doesn't ALWAYS get ya there. The adjustment on my dividers is very fine, and on the last path 'round it's often a 1/3 of a turn or so that gets you to perfect. The formula you posted does help to get you close though. Your still going to take a couple trips around.

 

If you start at one point and go around, yeah, the 'tolerance stack' can get you unless your measurements are really precise. Another way to reduce this is if you have a divisible number of holes, you can break the circle into 'pie slices' (90 degree marks usually, but you could do 60, etc) and the 'stack' between the slices will be much less. In the above example, if you go to 36 holes, you can accurately mark the holes at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock, increase the spacing to 1.047" and have much less 'stack' in the holes between. Get one 'slice' right, the rest will be easy. The only trick is getting the exact center of the circle so your marks are exactly 90 degrees apart, pretty easy to find with a compass and ruler.

Math can be fun.... LOL

 

That backing plate looks perfect.....not over done, just perfect.....saved pic for future reference.

 

Thank you sir!

 

So, yesterday morning morphed into this morning, and now into this afternoon! The magic of both the Fed-Ex and U.P.S. dropping customer projects off at the same time was realized!

When I last left off, I had just finished drilling and countersinking all the outer holes around the out side edges. I still felt these needed some more when I did the first one, so onward to the inner sections I went. Be VERY careful of TOO MUCH! Too much is too much, where just the right amount is just right. I don't have pictures to show, but sometimes I'll cut small "holes" out of card board and "paint" them black with a sharpie to have a visual to determine amount and spacing. that is how I figured this pattern out. Find your center line, make a hand full of holes and tape them on the centerline and adjust until they are right. That also gives you the center mark made by your compass as a handy place to center punch each hole, too.

Basically, I forgot to shoot a picture of finding the holes centerlines before I layed them out and center punched and double checked with a quick divider scribe. What you see here is an actual reenactment. I set my small combo square at 2 1/4", grabbed my sharpest Sharpie and let the inner holes be seen!

Just dramatizing the dividers and hole check kinda thing! Simply the easiest way with bigger holes to see what's what. If things don't look right now, they are only going to look less "righter" when the holes are actually there, so now is the time to commit to your pattern.

So again, a kind of awkward photo, do to the lack of hands found on my arms. Unibits have several sizes on one bit as you well know. The tough part is finding which size you want to stop at, and actually stopping at that size repeatedly. For these holes I chose a 1" diameter, and used my calipers to figure out which was which. Not shown again, and since I can't remember anything for more than 3o seconds at a time, I take a second or two most times to run a ring of Sharpie all the way around the step I want to stop on.

The problem is, the Sharpie ink doesn't stay put when stuff is working! So my solution is above... Blue tape to the rescue! Now, again, I skipped a step that bears repeating. Just like when we did the outer rows, I still like to start my holes with a fairly fine drill to keep on center. Since this area is flat and fairly square, I start in this case with my sharp 3/16" drill I spoke of earlier. Then let loose with the Unibit, and make sure to stop when the tape touches the metal! USE LOTS OF COOLANT/LUBE!

 

Nice way to add lighting holes! Thanks for sharing with words and photo's. Now out to the garage I go. Have a couple of Buick backing plates to look at and ___.

Earl

 

great minds think alike, thats exactly like i did mine

roadster 034 (Small) by k1w1rodder posted Jun 5, 2011 at 5:15 PM

 

Okay, I'm showing this for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted you to see the finished lower inner pattern. Second, take note at how wet the backing plate is with coolant/lube. The Unibits need to turn slow and be kept damp, especially the cheapies or they dies very quickly. I also wanted to talk a bit about a step I didn't film again, which is finishing these up from the backside. See the big lower steps down in the holes? That's like a "flash" that gets pushed through. The cure is to pull your brake shoes, flip the whole deal over and use the Unibits one more pass to deburr stuff. After that, there will be a clean, round hole to behold. I also usually do this operation if I can with the brake shoes on the backing plate I'm working with if possible. Backing plates are usually not even close to flat, and the shoes will help the whole mess sit flat and square on your drill press's table.

I didn't bore you guys with the details of adding the upper inner rows. It's all the same, except that they are 3/4", 7/8", and 1". Same stuff applies and they were laid out the same way with paper "holes" to judge size. I tossed it in the blast cabinet, and even though you though we were done, we are ready for the next step! Grab your die grinder, a couple of flap wheels, a couple of sanding wheels, and find some 3M coating removal discs and surface prep discs.... We're going to have us a good time!!!

After a general going over with a 100 grit disc, I go back over the holes with a 100 grit flap wheel and just sort of blend them in. It smooth's stuff out and makes it look like you meant to put that hole there.

Then a good going over with a 3M coating removal disc will get the last of anything the blaster missed or wouldn't touch. This is the best tool on the planet for stripping stuff. I use it absolutely exclusively for stripping hoods in the louver shop these days in it's original 5" size, then when they wear down, cut them to 2" for the die grinder. if you need the number, ask and I'll post.

 

Couple last things and we are done!

While you have these things apart, take a bit of time and check these pads on the backside of your backing plates. This is where your drums ride before expanding to do the braking thing, and in most cases they get small grooves worn in them that prevent smooth braking. I quickly welded and ground this one back out before the first trip through the sand blaster.

Down to the short strokes here! This is a 3M ultra fine surface conditioning disc. Go over everything with this, and if you are having this whole mess chromed, your chrome guy will kiss you on the lips and give you a huge discount and possibly a hug. With all the work in these so far, it was highly tempting TOO have these chromed, as it wouldn't have cost too much more with all of the prep work done. These are just a bit rough though, as you can see the spot were the stamping die must have been repaired at some point and left a giant "scratch" across the plate. For me, primer it a couple of times, sand, paint and go to town!

And, there it is! The second coat of primer dries in the 110 degree sun. Nature's best convection oven... Tomorrow it will get wet sanded with a block, and it's coats of white will get shot straight out of the can of appliance epoxy, and all will be right with the world.

Just for the record, here is the outer wraps for this whole deal! Took the time to do the sandblast and deburr deal as well, 'cause I have always wanted something that had white bearing retainers and matched everything else... Dumb. The drums will get a coat of Duplicolor ceramic high heat clear to keep them clean and happy lookin'.

 

Oh, something else to show you guys....

Ya, courtesy of H.A.M.B.er GasserSteve.... On extended "loan" for now, with the idea that I find another to replace it in exchange...

 

Steve's dreamy!


jerry

 

In a Lurch sort of way!

 

DUDE!!

 

Ahh...... stepping into the "zone".

 

Carbs look sweet Chip

 

Thanks again John, very much!

 

Got a cool little surprise a few minutes ago... If you are on Face Book, jump over and look Hemmings Motor News' blog page for today! That's my old Maverick that was sold to fund the purchase of the 'Bucket of Ugly! I miss that silly damned thing. It was too clean and original (23,000 original when I bought it) for me to do what I wanted to it, and it was too new to be "anything", but I loved every square inch of the thing...

 

Going back to the tri-carbs, it seems that, other than a blower, no single engine mod carries so much freakin' coolness. A multi-carb engine is the automotive equivalent of, dare I mention him, Steve McQueen. Just plain cool.

No matter how much, or little, horse power the vehicle has, a multi-carb engine can tell any lie it wants to and everyone will believe it. They HAVE to believe it. 2, 3, 4, 6.....8. It just gets cooler. When my bud was building my latest engine, I studied ALL the info and pics I could. Not only for power gains, but to see if it was a streetable exercise in gasoline drinking excess. I was seconds from hitting the "PAY NOW" button on an Edelbrock setup and I bailed. It's haunted me for months.

So, I'll be watching not only your installation, but your road test data. All the while, padding my hot rod nest egg. Carry on smartly.

 

Chip, put your sharpie on the ridge above your desired hole size, That tape gets gunky fast.

Dave