Wow Tuck, just went through a few hours of completing this thread - NOW I understand why you've been away from the Star Destroyer! You're building skills are exceptional, even more inspirational that I did not know you had a shop fire... Still finding the time and determination to finish your roadster with the real time to raise two beautiful young daughters with your wife! Absolutely crazy about this roadster build!!! Subscribed!!!
Aw man, thanks Mike! Seriously cool of you to say- the struggle is real!!! (-; it's almost Christmas break hoping to get some time in the shop so I can update this post-!! I got the parts I needed for the mill- it just needs to be wired. I cleaned up all the handles and bolted em on- replaced some of the broken ones... the x axis bushing had slipped out- fixed that- x,y and z are working... My father in law hooked me up with a five gallon pale of tooling, hold down blocks, v blocks, step blocks and a bunch of other goodies- Still missing some small stuff the the x-axis power feed- the electric motor is missing the housing and there is the linkage that goes to the lever. Hoping I can track those parts down. This thing is so cool!!! Can't wait to use it this weekend!
Tuck, I must ask......are you so disciplined that you use that time clock Just stoked for you and all your new machines man! Christmas break=fun in the shop!
Ha-Thanks man-!! I do use one, but not for my jobs. I have a car I'm working on for someone else that I log hours on but it would be cool to collect data on how many hours I actually log working on the roadster... because you tend to inflate or deflate the actual time in your head. It might help me be more productive?!?
I didn't take many pics but here's what I got done. I milled 1/4" pockets on the back side of my bone mounts so I could get cotter pins in the nuts. Nothing fancy but sure is rad having a mill in the shop wish I had this years ago. I milled drilled and tapped a piece that a 40 ford z-bar ball mount bolts too so my clutch linkage is almost done. I finished the rear drum clearances to the drums on the Lathe. When things bolted up they didn't mount flush on the back- it required 1/4" spacers to clear the hub center. I cut more out of the outside ring to clear the backing plates. I also ordered a set of lugs that might be just fine- I'm on the hunt for mag shank acorns with a .68 dia shank like pictured on the mag- I got 9 of them from Sam-I-am. I bought some NOS super ET center caps. I did a bunch of welding on the rear bones and some on the chassis. Passenger side front bone in finished grinding the welded seam on the bottom. My goal is to get most of the chassis/suspension stuff finish welded so I can put it back together again and finalize the placement of the trans mount... as I ended up having to remove the clamps that held it in place. I wanted the wheels and brakes sorted.
You can get long shanks from the lug nut king but they don't make acorns like the old style acorns anymore... I have enough for two wheels but I'll collect a full set later and then re-chrome them. These mags were originally setup for 7/16" studs but I had to step the holes up using a couple reams so .68 dia mag shank lugs would work with the 1/2" studs. I needed a .55 long shank with a .675/.68 dia and they look like this. Not excited about them but they'll hold the wheels on until I find old ones. I got long shank originals with the right dia and cut them down to .55 on the lathe and those are in the pic above. I'll find some I'm sure via friends and swap meets. I feel like LONG SHANKS is a good pirate name. Short Shanks mmmm... not so much. haha-
“Rrrrrrrrrrrr, Captain Long Shanks, me fear the bloody nuts be buried at the bottom of Davey Jone’s locker” Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
MUCH SHANKS @cactus1 on that pic a few posts above I posted pics of my firestone slick/mag with them on it... they have a round end and look like a real acorn from a tree. They still make acorns just not for the old mags... especially hard to find in 7/16" threads- 1/2 20 are much easier to find.
Looks like you needed the spacers to allow the finned drums to stick out more from the slicks. This is exactly what I will be dealing with on mine, running the finned drums on all four corners as well. These hot rod wheels have specific back spacing that sometimes will not have the "right look" when combined with the finned drums. At times, the back spacing is not equal on front and rear wheels as I've learned on some wheel choices that I'd like to run. Those slicks are "KILLER" - never knew Firestone made whitewall piecrust ones!
Thanks Man!!! Wasn’t fin interference- the hole in the mag wouldn’t fit over the axle center- and the drum weights would touch
Thanks man! I get it all cleaned up like tonight and it seems so surreal- so Lucky to have this space and all my tools back- I only wish I had more time.
I feel the same way Tuck - you're chassis is shaping up to be one of the BEST I've ever seen, more so that it's completely home built! The only other chassis that comes to mind in my opinion is the Wade Model A coupe built by Brian Bass! Have you or will you consider laying on some candy or metal flake paint on this chassis to compliment all the chrome plating you plan to do on this roadster? I'm asking because I'm planning to have this done on mine. I remember you saying that you wish other hot rodders would build more cars like the one's you are building - I'm one of them too Tuck!!