Technical Small part fabrication - part II

Having just posted on a thread about A/C, it prompted me to think about a little part I made this week to facilitate an A/C install in my '60 Studebaker Lark.

The Stude had a period underdash 'box' that was well past functional and the original heater core was leaking and bypassed. The Stude heater unit is in the right fender well and hot air is piped from it through the firewall. You will see from the photos that follow that the firewall had several holes that were not needed. I cut out a section and made a cover plate.

But the firewall contour in that area angles rearward in the horizontal plane and is not quite perpendicular in the vertical plane either. That meant the bulkhead fittings/hoses would come through the firewall at an unsatisfactory angle. So, I decided to make a mount for the bulkhead fitting that corrected that problem. It was made from 19ga AKDQ steel and hammer formed over a buck made from a piece of plywood I had in the shop.

When the firewall plate is installed permanently, the sheet metal screws will be replaced by small carriage head bolts that look like rivets. On a total build I would weld in the plate, but for this job that would be beyond necessary.

I intended to have the photos after the text.....but it loaded this way. I don't know how to fix that without starting over.

Ray

 

Nice workmanship. Looks like it came that way from the factory.

 

Also made a cover plate for the cavity where the heater core had been located. It is a fresh air plenum fed from an inlet next to the headlight. Later, I think I will rework this area into a low buck "ram air" supply to the Stude....may not help much, but can't hurt either.



The original heater mount was bulky and intrusive so I first removed the lumps, then made a simple cover. The rear portion does have a different radius on the bend and a slight compound curve.

Ray

 

Nice work. Small things like that make a difference.

 

Nice work, looks much better than the factory stuff.

 

Very nice work . Clean and smooth .

 

Great work and it came out absolutely fantastic!

I love seeing these small parts fab projects, attention to detail can make even a simple part look amazing

 

Cool - at least, will be

 

Thank you for the kind words. I agree it is the small details that can make a difference. And the satisfaction that comes with making a part that 'works' is a nice bonus.

Again, I appreciate the positive comments.

Ray

 

Ray, I'm liking your work. You're probably like me though, "I try to do nice work, but just don't do enough of it".

 

Nice work , those are the time eaters , but only you know that they exist.

 

Very nice!

 

Next up.......installing the A/C unit in the dash was a tight fit and the best location for the center outlet was the radio mount area. The existing radio faceplate wasn't useful as is, but I wanted to maintain an appearance closer to original than just a smooth faceplate. Studebaker in this era, like AMC, used inexpensive aluminum stampings for trim bits.

Being a pack rat, I remembered having saved some aluminum cabinet pieces from an obsolete piece of shop equipment. Those panels have a stamped/embossed surface very similar to the original Studie part. Also, I had squirreled away some aluminum edging strips. Combining the two materials is producing a 'sort of' original appearance face plate.

As you will see in the photos, I made a 16ga steel pattern around which to form the the perimeter from the edging strips. It required removing much of flange in the area of the tight radius ends, but no matter, as the remaining slot will contain the faceplate nicely.

The new faceplate will contain the A/C outlet and be flanked by the mode and blower switches, mimicking the original radio layout. Temp controls will be located elsewhere in easy reach.

I soon will post pics of the center plate cut from the aluminum panels and with the vent and switches installed.

Ray

 

Good Job! Turned out fantastic, very innovating.

 

Worked on the faceplate for the center A/C vent some more today. Ended up remaking the insert as I discovered a measurement error in the vent cutout location.

Made the new insert and attached the surround permanently with some small aircraft aluminum rivets. The holes are drilled for the switches, but they are not installed yet because the insert plate is grooved and the 'function' decals will not lay nicely on that surface. So, I am going to find or make a couple of thin "washer" like discs to be held on by the switch retaining nut onto which the decals can be applied.

I hope that posting this thread will serve to illustrate that making parts at home isn't all that difficult if you have some common tools and the desire to make the parts. Lots of folks do this sort of thing....you can too! And don't be afraid that you will 'mess up'. The fact is, many of the parts I make are often made twice or three times before I have the final product. That is usually due to one, or a combination of, errors that make starting over necessary.

Ray

 

Nice job.

 

That's what scrap buckets are for... mine's seldom empty... LOL. Great job by the way, I love this sort of tech...

 

I used the right size fender washer for my 54 Chevy's dash, and had them engraved with the correct names of the switch. Easy to find a local engraver.

 

Nice, I get stupidly obsessive about this sort of thing sometimes but don't always have the tools, materials or expertise to do what I want.

Just finished my third or was it fourth version of a freaking exhaust hanger/bracket thing so can really appreciate where you're coming from.