I forgot to say thanks!! And blackjack, those backing plates really look different with the holes. These are the simple things I would never think of.
You are doing good, keep up on the school. The truck can wait, but putting priority on school is what is needed for now. Once out of school you will have more time and (hopefully) a good job with a lot more money!
Thanks guys. Things are going ok and I have been boxing sections of the frame and the endless cut, grind, weld. I don't have much to show as far as pictures, but progress is being made!
You know those posts folks make where they confess they are embarrassed to say they have missed seeing a particular thread? Well this is mine. You certainly deserve an award for hard work, ingenuity and perseverance! Nice job. Press on regardless! Gary
Thanks a lot guys, here is some small buts of evidence that I have been working! Panhard bar mount wasn't long enough because I decided not to go-so-low with my truck. I ended up only needing an inch but these scraps were perfect. Here is the frame, although it isn't fully welded it is getting real close. I shake really bad so I had to use something to steady the torch on for cutting this long line. Cutting off the pieces was ok without a cheater. There is 13 pieces total and most of them are in the pot of molasses!! Thanks to HAMBers for turning me on to the stinky solution! Picked up this post vice a while back. I'm getting ready to set it upright and beat it with a hammer.
Austin, have you discovered the power of a plasma cutter yet? I have a Hobart about the size of a brief case, runs on 110 and will cut 1/4 real clean. I allow for the diameter of the cutting head and make patterns from 1/4 masonite. It makes life easy for about $600-$700.
You know, I have heard of this plasma cutter black magic, but I don't have the money for one yet. The torch is really enjoyable and it warms the garage nicely! It will just have to do for now. I'm almost done with the frame, just finishing up welds on the under side and many mounting tabs.
I have a hypertherm powermax 1000 and wow it cuts 1" thick hardened steel like butter. The nice thing is you can cut free form, you can make any shape you want. Sent from my Verizon 4G LTE smartphone
Maybe one day I will graduate to a plasma. Well I didn't get the frame done before thanksgiving, but its close. I'm about to flip it over and have a rolling chassis! The only thing holding me back is the radiator shell mounts.
Austin, this is starting to come together nicely. Nice work on the frame. Stand back take a look and feel really proud of where your at. Keep it up
Hey fryguy, thanks for all the help! And for the advise. It doesn't seem like much when I look at it, but I have learned a lot and become a more humble person. I have a lot more patience too...
Sorry about the lack of updates guys. I will start posting again next week. We had some family troubles and my finals.
Ok. Here we are. Mom broke her ankle haulin' ass on her snowmachine (snowmobile to you), my fiancee left me, and dad got back surgery. Now I can start posting about my little hotrod. I have been working but I don't have much for pictures because all I have been doing is burning wire wheels and supporting the welding wire industry. But yesterday I started paint! I chose rustoleum hammertone black--which is actually dark grey. It works great, dries fast in the cold, and went on well with a brush. I'm settled on dark blue for the cab and black fenders. The body will most likely be done in Nason Fulthane over nason epoxy primer. Pics to come although my dimly lit garage won't show the color all that well.
Damn, sorry to hear about all that bad news. Hope your Mom and Dad heal up well and fast. Sounds like some HotRod therapy is in order! Glad to see this thread back up
I'm having trouble loading pics guys, I'm gonna try some new tactics with photobucket to make things work with my slow internet. Thanks flow... Therapy is definitely in order but its life and its not that bad. Hell maybe better now than later.
Yea better a sad breakup now than an expensive divorce later. Hope your family heals quick. And good luck to you turning your frustrations into motorvation for building hotrods. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
So... It was warm out the other day and I decided to drag the frame out and sand away the years of rust and gooey paint. The oil based stuff on there smeared more than it sanded which is why I took it outside. I hoped the cold would harden it up a little. I'm not sure what to think of the frame color because I expected black... the last picture shows how far from black it really is, and also some runs I made! Rats! The hammertone paint is pretty cool, but I would say I don't have the patience for using a brush. I will certainly spray the rest of the paint on the truck, and no more cheap non-catalyzed stuff either. Its a lot more frustrating and time consuming than it's worth trying to save 30 dollars on paint. I'll jut drink less beer and eat more ramen. So that's what I have been up to lately. The sanding just doesn't deserve pictures because it's about my least favorite thing to do.
Nice to see you back at it. Sorry to hear about all the troubles, but in the long run you probably dodged a bullet with the fiance. I'm pretty sure my ol' lady won't leave me.....if she did she'd have to take half of my stuff.....LOL Bobby
Thanks for the kind words everyone. I do appreciate it. Forgot about my e-brake handle pivot along with some saggy paint. For anyone wanting to use rustoleum hammertone and a brush, make sure its above 70 degrees or so and only thin with xylol.
You are doing a great job on the truck. Frame colour looks fine from here. I am not familiar with rustoleum but I had read that you cant top coat rustoleum with other paints. You may want to verify that. .
Haha how far is "from here?". I think it looks ok, just not what I expected. So I have continued working even though the paint isn't drying very well in my garage. I started by making cups for the flathead motor mount pucks from speedway. They sorta pooch out when you put an engine on them and I did not like that. So I took a strip of 1/8" and hammered it to fit the radius of the washers that come with the pucks-- then ground, painted, and installed them. I used a stainless round bar cut out of a modern mcphearson strut-shock like in all the little jap cars to get the enclosed portion. The other 'hammer' was made from a 302 piston pin and an old hatchet handle for later use pounding the body lines in later. The I also covered the frame with some tarps and put a small space heater under to help cure the paint some before the cab is set aloft. The cups hide pretty well sitting on the engine cradle. I also discovered that the bench vise is no longer connected to the wall so I had to add some dead weight to bend a piece of 1/4" for my post vise.
Finally! An engine that is mated properly to a frame (for a while I hope). While pulling the old valve covers I decided to go ahead and add the third spring to my valve train and put in poly locks for better adjustability. The valve covers are cal-custom, don't know if the number is anything special so just in case I posted a picture.... someone here knows about them. I don't know why but I really like the phenolic carb spacer.
Not much to show visually, but I got a few little things done that needed attention. First was a belt tensioner and miscellaneous lock washers on the engine. Adjusted my clutch fork pivot ball. Mated up the trans and installed my clutch linkage. Next came the drive shaft and correct yoke for my 1310 u joints. And finally some nice stainless bolts with the letters sanded off to hold my valve covers down.
The center channel was bent on a chinese 4 ft brake. I started all the flanges using only a pair of channel locks, but a piece of bar stock with a slit cut in it would work just as well. And the rest was done with a hammer and dolly. Just some streatching for the curved portion done by working "on dolly."
Here it is almost done. I need to shrink on the flanges a little to make the whole panel sit flat again.
Well, I just found this thread and have to say I am completely floored by your talent and quality of construction. There is one thing I was hoping you would do that has not been done. Please fish-plate the joints on the frame 'Z'. Those lateral welds are going to be under a lot of stress, plus it would give you another opportunity to add some pizzazz to the profile of your frame.
The Jalopy Journal
