Thanks man,- its a 50 short shaft olds, Its actually one that went though my fire. I had two of them prior to the shop fire... I was able to salvage them both (blew them apart and saved all the parts)... I turned that "lip" off the back on the lathe because I made a sleeve that fit over it for a shifter bracket that moved the shifter inward and back a bit. I was going to tig the bracket on. As is though, it looks cleaner and should look great when I chrome it... hopefully I didn't weaken it too much. I chucked up the main "short" shaft from that trans up on my lathe and the it seems to be perfectly straight so I'm going to try and use the parts from the inside of that transmission to do the conversion for this one. Its one that was laying on the floor in the corner of the shop during the fire, I don't think it really got hit by any major heat- was full of oil too. That way I don't have to rob parts off the one in the pic and can salvage one more thing from that fire which would rule! I had a lot of money in those two short shafts- I remember there was some talk about a 58 era 2 speed power glide yolk fitting these splines on a short shaft? I can't remember was that true? I was thinking about taking the rear shaft from a long tail and having it cut down and resplined for a ford yolk that would be more common because I'm short yolks... I only have two... but I haven't really looked at that too close could be problems with that speedometer gear.
I have a batch of chrome to pick up... and no time to get to it during working hours UGH! I'll have to have one of my buddies (big worm) run up for me. I can't wait to see the carb bases.
Man this is gonna look neat! My list of to-do's is a mile long but I got in about 6 hours of welding over the weekend- Worked on the frame- boxing plates burned in and worked on finishing the front cross member and frame details. Axle bearings are getting pressed on today- I'm climbing a mountain.
Not really a roadster update although I have been working on the rear bone setup. Got a couple lathes thanks to my Father-in-law. - a 14 1/2" and a 16" with tons of extras. There are a bunch of parts that I've made with my little Smithy Granite but these things are literally next level. There are taper jigs, collet chuck with collets, extra chucks and mounting plates. All the stuff... I think anyone who is obsessed with hot rods naturally climbs this ladder. Hopefully I can make use of these when I get into the body by making some kustom bead roller dies, maybe some dimple dies? Hammer forms? I've used the smithy to make parts of linkage, concentric rings for adapting drums and backing plates, threaded home made hairpins, steering hoop, ladder bars, you name it. I have a Bridgeport I got almost 4 years ago- its been buried in my friends shed... were dislodging it and bringing it up to the shop in the next two weeks to get that wired in too. My Father in law got me an x-y table for it that would work with a rotary table. One of the first projects I plan on doing is making a pilot bush for the roadster... and then I'll use it to make the rear plate and throttle shaft / bushings for the 6x2 linkage. My mind started spinning thinking about all the cool extras you could do.. like custom plugs for things getting blocked off on the engine etc. I got a couple books and plan on learning more as the projects get more complex.
I like your fork lift manager! Good looking lathes (edited for not studying photo well..!!) Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Tuck, what year is the lathe? Had one last year that we sold for a grand. It was circa 1950. If I remember it was a three phase motor, is yours? That little girl will be asking for the keys to the hot rod sooner than you think................they grow up so fast!
Scooooorrrreeee!!!!! And I can tell you from experience, enjoy the hell out of your lil forklift operator coming to the shop.
Thanks guys! Maple actually asks to go to the shop lately! Moon is only 11 months but she too doesn't mind being there- she just tries to eat everything- :-(*) Those are 50 era for sure- I need to look at the serial number on the ways and see for sure. They were in the same place since 1967 before I got them and the guy that used to run the gray on used to take care of it like a classic car my father said. The smaller one was used more and better maintained he thought. They've both had new belts etc... and I'm gonna go though and clean/oil with way oil etc. This is what I did on the bones- I Z'd the gusset- this 1/2" thick plate ties up the top and the bottom bracket. I sliced them into the bone and welded it. I have a better pic but its on my phone. I also cleaned up the oil pan, valve covers and other engine pieces. I have the frame back on the frame table- doing a bunch of finish welding- boxing plates, front cross-member etc.
You can get the lathe info from grizzly industrial that ownes south bend now. I have almost same lathe. My lathe was ordered in 1939 by Wyoming Highway department.
There is so much you can do with a good lathe and a Bridgeport mill. Time practice and a brain will allow you to make parts people would swear need to come from a cnc. As a 22 year journeyman machinist who has been " off the tools" for a year I am in need of a lathe. It is driving me a little crazy
Project is looking real good, like the front shock mounts. Intake manifolds look nice too, what brand are they? Bob
Thanks Bob, That intake is a Weiand Drag Star. The Drag Star letters on the side were polished off long before I had it. Time to buy a lathe~! When I was younger I had a step dad of sorts that was a shop/ag teacher- He used the schools shop for everything... but then he retired and didn't have access to the school shop anymore. Seems like a bad time in your life to start buying tools... I'm with the theory that you buy as you go though life and then when you're at the age of retirement you're set! Besides if we decide to home school our girls will have the shop/art subjects covered! The other thing is... when you're looking for tools and buying them your friends tend to lend a hand in the hunt... and you score deals-! Just like building a hot rod over a long period of time.
Can't agree more! My kids are just getting to the age now where they could use power tools correctly and not hurt themselves. I wanna have all my toys lined up by the time I retire, I got twenty years or so
Got some time in the shop on Saturday- finished the front cross member, finish welded the motor mounts- if you look at the mounts and notice a flat boxed off side- that will actually get bolted to a cross member that goes under the oil pan "snug" it'll bolt on-, finished welding the boxing plates- just a lot of welding everywhere. Working my way from the front back. Did some work around the pedals, Kinda stuck in the middle right now finishing up the linkage, then on to the trans mount- Its starting to set in that I'm getting close on this thing. Its gonna be weird when I get to the point where the frame is "done"---
Just wanted to share- Thanks to my father-in-law I picked up this Deckle 3D copy mill, the variable speed Bridgeport I got a few years back but its been buried in the corner of my buddy's shop. We dug it out and got it by the big door, going to haul it home this Saturday! It needs a few odds and ends, they took the power feed xyz and computer off of it so I just need to replace those pieces and some handles. Parts for these are cheap! I have a brand new XY table that I'm going to bolt down to the bed of this one to get it up and running right away. There are some parts I want to make! The copy mill came with all the tooling. I want to try and print a finned cover plate for the bell housing that'll match the finned valley pan and then mill it out of steel using the 3D print as a pattern. Would be cool to use to make hammer forms and stamping dies. I want to make a dimple die to dimple nice round dimples in a stock hemi valve cover. Man there is all kinds of stuff I want to make
The Jalopy Journal
