Thread: 55 Wagon Progress

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Mighty brave, welding an 8-32 nut.

I'd have opted to weld in a piece of rod, then drilled and tapped.

Then, I tend to have a heavy hand when applying the heat.

.040 tungsten, rare earth purple band. I also put a very small amount of anti-seize on the screw threads to keep it from galling and locking onto the nut.

More very nice work! Those speaker mounts would have been 3 pieces and 3 times as long as yours. Haha

That Biederman is looking awesome!.

.

Passenger door modifications, inner structure added...





…..speaker mounting ring welded in place and brush painted using SPI epoxy primer..





In our attempt to finalize all the needed fabrications before getting deep into paint mode, we had some clearance issues to deal with on the Vintage Air bracket for the AC compressor. The initial mockup showed that the upper mounting tab was too close to the tall valve covers we have on the 383 stroker. A half inch spacer under the intake mounting tab gives us about 1/4" clearance, and shows how much we need to modify the water pump mounting tab.














I didn't have much in the selection of 1/4" flat stock, so the shoulder of a 5/16 bolt was used, first the root pass and then a filler pass.























Another part checked off the list....

Time to play catch-up, had a short hiatus in Upstate NY on the St Lawrence river.

Daytime and sunset:








I picked up some louver dies that are set up for the press brake but should be the start of a louver press eventually... got both 2" and 3" dies.

















I also have a couple good friends that understand my tool addiction that both sent me a link to an ad for body tools, especially for the Vise Grips. Here's what I picked up from a retired bodyman, now to keep these quality tools going. VG collection is now over 130.. never enough.





...and with the engine brackets back from powder coating, and our new 45* water neck arrived, we were able to get the belts and upper hose all mocked up. The hose we used was a Dayco 72384, made as a lower hose for a V6 Ford Explorer, but it fits this application like a glove...











Video version:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TvMKp_9VH4

Spent some time organizing, needed some racks for all the Lennox dies..
























One set down, two more to go....

Very nice.

Organizing is a good thing then you can find them when needed

Geeze! Your tool holders are nicer than most for sure. I thought you were building some steps for a semi for a minute there.

So while I'm blocking primer (think I shoulda swapped jobs with her) E worked on the next two tooling racks. Here using the Diacro press brake to add some dimples....











Note here she is also skilled in applying the electric tape bandage....









….for some reason I don't think three sets is gonna be enough....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u832gcW_lbM

Crikey!
You must have a die for every conceivable need.
I've never before seen a collection of that variety and scope.
Amazing.

Electric tape is easier to remove than duct tape Trust me I know.

Originally Posted by MP&C

Note here she is also skilled in applying the electric tape bandage....

E is quite a young lady! None of that girly, "Oh darn, I scuffed my nail polish!" More like, "OK, that hurt! Where's the tape so I don't get blood on everything!" Gotta love it!

I hope when this project is done you turn it
into book form. The complete guide to metal
finishing . With all the great information, tips,
links to videos, problem solving, etc. I would
have paid dearly for it when I first started metal
work. I still learn from your posts.
Great story telling Robert!
Rich

How do I double - like this? (The book idea)

You've got pictures. You've got dialogue.

It would be a minimal effort to add missing details, it might fetch a pretty penny.