Hot Rods Top Banana Style Slingshot Dragster- Marty Strode-Chris Kopp.

I am in awe

 

Just 2 be clear Marty,
Chris is Gas (Oxy-Fuel) welding these Aluminum panels ???

NaCifan.

 

WOW!!!!

 

same ? from me...o/a?-beauty!

 

Unreal. Very jealous of the talent displayed in this thread from both of you.

 

Oxy- Nitrogen to be exact.

 

Tim, my part was easy, Chris is doing the heavy lifting !

 

thanks--nitrogen yet another thing i didn't know about!--does he still tack and then 'infill' the welding or just go..?

 

Hey Marty/Chris,
Oxygen-Nitrogen ?? Please teach us all here on the hamb ... My understanding is Nitrogen is "neither flammable nor explosive". In fact I have 2 Nitrogen charged fire extinguishers in my little shop.
Are you sure it's not Oxygen-Hydrogen ??

 

I probably shouldn’t have answered that. You are no doubt correct, with Hydrogen.

 

thanks--i was baffled!

 

Hey, I was half right, they both end in gen.

 

Marty/Chris, No worries.
By the way I was taught to Gas Weld Aluminum with Oxygen and Acetylene, 1st by GM in the 80's when the smaller GM A Bodies (Monte Carlo/Regal/Cutlass) came with Aluminum Deck lids. Then a second class by the late great Kent White. In both cases we used "Dodileum" Blue tinted Goggles to see what going on.
Please keep up these great posts !!!
p.s. how 'bout posting your camper-tow rig build on the "off-topic" forum here on da hamb ??

 

now i'm going to have to buy those glasses!

 

Hey Marty, how are things going? Staying busy?

 

Tim, Just trying to mop up some jobs I had promised. Getting ready to repair the the chassis on a Gran Prix racer from '46. Chris has been off the Banana for a while, but is now resuming work. Are you going to Albany on Sat ? We will be just inside the main entrance , on the right as always. See you there !

 

I'm gonna be getting caught up on stuff around the house this weekend, sorry I'll miss the swap meet! Have fun!

 

Just as a sidebar to a great thread: if you are curious about torch welding thin alum, it gets shiny, starts to wrinkle and then falls on the floor which means the wrinkle was too hot.

 

Thanks, I will warn Chris about that. He seems to get along pretty well.

 

He “seams” to get along with it as well.

 

I had mentioned earlier about the 1946 Gran Prix chassis that needs tube replacement. This car was driven by Zora Arkus Duntov in 1948.

 

That too.

 

That’s an impressive car to work on Marty, and with Duntov history too!
Will you be duplicating the welds when you do the repair?
Don’t over restore it

 

I am going to gas weld it .

 

Marty, I'm sure that Chris knows all of the pit falls of torch welding. When I started building dragsters, people were still torch welding seats. The weld is soft and easier to work with hammer and dolly. I have never used oxy and hydrogen. Is the temp of the flame different than o&a? What is to be gained????

 

Is that a gas fusion weld, it looks like "steel braze" which was a high temp bronze that we used through the late 50's through to ally monocoque construction. I still do a number of repairs each year on mainly English space frame chassis' that are mostly "steel braze". To me it's pretty cool working on this old stuff that all has history. I have repaired a pre war Alfa chassis the was some sort of steel braze, but lower heat than what I have. I purchased my rods in the mid 1970's and use a Eutectic flux powder that I mix with water to make a paste. I have hopefully enough left to see me out. I purchased the rods from the manufacturer and had to buy in bulk.

 

The only brazing that I can see, is on the repairs.

 

Some Top Banana progress, Chris is closing in on the tail section, and the rest will be far easier by comparison.

 

Wow!