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Belt line repair, a means to an end.

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Dodge Brother, May 9, 2013.

  1. Dodge Brother
    Joined: Apr 12, 2009
    Posts: 130

    Dodge Brother
    Member

    Tech Week
    Well this is my first tech thread, hope some of you get something from it that works for your build.

    I am building a 41 Chevy truck. And one of the areas that needed attention was the cab belt line. The belt line was some what akin to Swiss Cheese, well not really but bad enough that I did not want to weld up all of the pin holes. So it was decided that a new one piece belt line patch would need to be made to fix the original over lapping body line.

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    Now for the means to an end part. I had been looking at building a power hammer/ reciprocating machine for a little while, as buying even a smaller one is out of my budget. I was toying with welded frame machines when this punch press came up for sale on CL. Looking much different of coarse

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    It had been sitting in a field with a bunch of other equipment but it was not seized and the price was right, $150.
    I took it apart disposed of the air actuated dog and associated gear that would allow the flywheel to rotate but only engage the punch when desired. I then took the eccentric shaft down to my local machine shop and had them change(weld up and re-turn) the stroke from 4" to 1/4"

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    I then machined an aluminum shear pin on my small Craftsmen bench top lathe to replace the the original dog and allow the upper die holder to run up and down continuous.

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    I then began work on the lower tool holder as the upper is designed for 1 1/8" round stock I machine and welded the lower holder to match in size.I welded this to the adjustable plate that held the original punch die. I then drilled and tapped the table to mount the lower die height adjustment bolt. To hold the sheet in alignment as it is being fed a fence was made out of 1" angle and round stock.

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    I then made a card board and subsequent sheet metal pattern of the belt line shape and transferred it to some 1/2"x1" bar stock, cutting it to rough shape in a vertical bandsaw and then lots of filing, filing, and more filing, making sure to sneak up on the shape and make a near perfect fit with the opposing die( one male and one female) this was then welded to the round stock with re-enforcing pieces added. The dies should be heat treated but i have not got there yet.

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    Finally to the part that started all of this, I start with 20 ga. sheet. Lube it up with a mix of trans fluid and acetone, this seems to help with being able to get a smooth feed of the sheet metal. It takes about three passes, each one with the dies progressively closer, with the last pass about 1/16" clearance between the dies. All and all it was worth all of the effort and now I just need to get on making some other dies to expand on the capabilities of the machine but for the mean time its back to work on the 41. Thanks, Trevor

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    Last edited: May 9, 2013
  2. Model A Mark
    Joined: Apr 30, 2008
    Posts: 1,301

    Model A Mark
    Member
    from dallas
    1. Holley 94 Group

  3. fleet-master
    Joined: Sep 29, 2010
    Posts: 1,780

    fleet-master
    Member

    as Ian Drury sang "there ain't half been some clever bastards.." !! Not that your a bastard Dodge Brother but...DANG !! you sure is clever!!
     

  4. I bet you could easily sell those, nice work.
     
  5. You made that look easy.....although I'm sure it wasn't. Great job!
     
  6. Great bit of work - Ruler...

    rg
     
  7. Right on, impressive work.
     
  8. rustednutz
    Joined: Nov 20, 2010
    Posts: 1,580

    rustednutz
    Member
    from tulsa, ok

    Great thread. For the curved corner piece, do you roll that first before you stamp it or after?
     
  9. Dodge Brother
    Joined: Apr 12, 2009
    Posts: 130

    Dodge Brother
    Member

    Glad your liking it! As for the corners, they were pre-rolled before I put them through the machine. I have started but not finished another set of dies with a convex/concave shape to try and reduce the marking on the corners.
     

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