I attended a local Metal Meet hosted by Dan Pate (route56wingnut on here). I only made it one day, but it was a lot of fun and I learned things. The first class of the day was Metal shaping 101/102. It was put on by Kerry Pinkerton. He is also the fella that owns Imperial Wheeling Machines. These two fellas were making a roof top for a '33 or '34 Ford (I can't remember). I had never heard of Cass until the metal meet. But I quickly realized how important he was when I continually heard from the other shapers about how excited they were that he was there. He put on the second class explaining some things that were beyond me. But a lot of what he said made a lot of things 'click'. The group on Saturday- I nabbed these photos from allmetal shaping site. I'm real excited for the Fall Meet now.
It was good to see you there at the meet Beau. I was the one in your way holding the end of your side panel when you punched the louvers. cool build!!! Jeff
Hi Beau, here are your photos: You can't link from the AllMetalShaping site. You need to upload them as attachments here.
I fixed the photos. Thanks again Kerry for making the trip up. Your class was great! "It flows to the path of least resistance".
that looks like a lot of fun and knowledge build up. I'd love to meet Cass Nawrocki he is one of the greatest metalshapers. Mario
It's been a while. The HAMB seems strange still. I now have one week left at my current job. No plan ahead, other than create things out of metal. We'll see where it goes. Some say congrats, some say I'm crazy. We'll see. At the last swap I picked up a set of Pet and Jake's plain shorty front shocks for the car. I also stumbled upon a set of 1928 Graham lever shocks. They are in pretty good shape and were made by Delco. I have tracked down rebuild info and it looks like bicycle or motorcycle fork oil can be used to tune the shocks using different weight of oil.
Best of luck to ya! I'm considering some lever shocks in my build. I picked up some houdaille brackets for my banjo rear just in case. If I do use them, I'll probably try to interpret the bootlegger style and use "aircraft" shocks alongside them.
Really digging this car. I like your take on the frame sweep, ill be starting mine soon. THanks for the time dedicated to keeping the build going on here.
Whew. It's been a while. I successfully quit my job and entered the world of "starving artists". I have been doing side work to learn more skills and did some work with a mason for a bit. My side hobby of buying and selling old shit at swaps and sales has been working out OK and I have been working for the blacksmith when work comes around. The sad part is, my poor car has just sat. Each day I work on artwork right next to it. My break from building will soon be over. I just needed some time to get settled in to this self employment thing. Here are some photos of a few of the lamps I made and sold.
Good for you! I took the leap 16 years ago, best thing I ever did, no regrets. Lamps look really good.
Ya know, I was just thinking this morning, "Wonder what happened to Beau?" good to hear your chasing dreams and entering the realm of the semi-employed artisans! It's tough and not always consistent, but damned rewarding!
Any updates. Your car has me motivated to do a possible modified build. Started mocking up the rear panels last night. "Insert Epic Quote Here"
I have been in the shop a lot, but only managed to squeak in a few little things on the engine to get it close to running. I have made a bunch of lamps, and have a HUGE order of trophies to make for the MN High School Cycling. I like where you're going and wish I could have found a rear panel like that when I stated! One of my newest lamps-
Hello H.A.M.B. It has been a while. I quick my job, spent the Summer doing all sorts of new things and learning as many new skills as I could. I put some time in at a Cafe inside a bicycle shop learning some fancy coffee crap and making food for weird people who seem like they don't like good food (vegans, hipsters and gluten free folk). This Thanksgiving, I received a call from Dan Pate (route56wingnut) asking if I'd be interested in helping him out at his shop and learning some new skills dong metal shaping and metal work. I put my two weeks in the next morning. Stay tuned!
Finally (it's been way to long) had some time to reorganize my shop and move some crap. Time to rebuild the trans, resurface the flywheel and get the engine fired. I also used Chassis Saver to seal up interior parts of the car. It's like POR 15. I have been making 10 custom Amphicar trunk lids at my new job. A press brake, Pullmax, flanger, english wheel, welder, shrinker, stretcher, and many hours went into these. And a Nomad that's been built by my Boss. He started with a cowl!
Welcome back. Yeah, it's nice to open a box and fit a new part, but you learn more working with something that needs work
Wow! What a fantastic build thread. Thank you for sharing your story and hard work. The years you and your girl get to enjoy it will make it all worth while. Good luck in the new career.
I have been slowly plucking away at the little finish things and getting the chassis bolted together (hopefully for the last time). I have been working my way front to back. This part of the build does not excite me as much as the prior parts, but I need to get this damn thing on the road.
Did you ever find time to measure you mill width over the widest part of the headers? And where did you get the headers? Damn fine intake! What was the old intake? Can't remember
I totally forgot to measure that. I'm sorry, that was a long time ago. The headers came with a Buick 215 I bought for parts. The flanges were flame cut so I'm thinking the were home built. An engine builder friend told me to bin them because they are too close to the block and won't flow well. I'll run them for a bit and have him help me make some new ones. The widest part of the whole thing is gonna be the alternator or generator. Getting one of the two to fit with a full hood is gonna be tough. Now that I have the 2-2 intake, I might not run a hood. But we'll see. I have a stock 4 barrel intake on it now with a 500cfm Carter carb. I also have an Offy 4 barrel intake manifold that I was going to run (along with Offy valve covers). I found this rare Edelbrock 2-2 intake on CL. I still can't believe I found one and hour and a half from home. I guess I'll update my work status as well. I'm helping out at a resto/custom shop called The Work in MN under the guidance of Bob Fullmer (Owner/Operator). His attention to detail and quality is amazing. I have been learning some new things about fit and finish work and using skills I learned on my own or that were taught by others. This was the project I started last week. New rockers inner and outer and quarter patches. Along with a bunch of other metal work to get everyhting to attach back to stock looking. Fitting skirts provided a whole new challenge. There was about a five gallon bucket of spray foam, rubberiszed and rusty metal that used to be the old rockers. Last Spring when I quit working in the bike industry, I never would have imagined I would be working in metal shops or resto shops. Without a great network of friends and this hot rod project, none of it would be possible. My project and photos provided me with a job!
Don't worry about it. But I would still like to get the measurements. I'm collecting parts for a volvo V8 project I'm restoring. It a survivor, that's barely survived. Are you headers center dumb/ram horn style? If they come in excess and consider selling them, please PM me. I got that Volvo in my Avatar, running Rover V8 in a tight space, and to be leagal, I have to stay under 200hp. But a 4 barrel intake would look a lot better then 2 SU Variable Venturi carbs. It was what it ran back in the day. I still like you build and where you are going. I go and check if intake and headers match between Rover 3500 and Buick 215. Just to make sure.
I have one of the Rover intakes, too. I though they were kind of cool. The headers are center dump. I don't think they would clear stock engine mounts. They came off an engine that was in an MG that had the mounts extended forward a bit. I also have a set of Land Rover stock cast headers, and they are also center dump, but they don't hug the block quite as much. I will get measures and pictures for ya.
The Jalopy Journal
