Projects Shade tree Model A speedster kind of thing

fantastic

 

Awesome!

 

I can’t open the video. Any suggestions?


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Oh my, I'm hooked on this as bad as i'm hooked on the Seagrave build in Brazil.
I'm sorry, but there really is such a thing as TOOOOO MUCH fun.

 

I'm glad the carbs worked out for you! It's great when it's a win-win.....you got something you wanted and it worked out OK, and I got rid of something I realized I'd probably never use. What's not to like about that?

BTW....you have that speedster cooking along at full boil in the video! Cool!

Lynn

 

Try searching "Shade Tree Speedster Drive" on YouTube. Should work? I'm obviously not a tech person, though. Haha

 

RW this is what you might want to try to remove the Dome Helmet Blister...I suspect your Hood is very Thin Material so a method called Dimpling would be required to use Countersunk Rivets which would give a Flush repair...If Appearance is not an issue you could use Protruding head as you did with the Helmet and Dimpling would not be required...

The Repair would require an Outer fitted patch with the Lower Edge Lip added and a Doubler Patch for the back made from similar material all clamped and additional holes Laid out and added similar to what I have depicted...

1/8" Rivets are more than adequate strength wise but your Previous rivets I am not sure what hole size you used...

You with have to carefully drill the heads in the center with a Drill size just under the Nominal rivet hole size perhaps 1/8" drill for #30 and 5/32" for #20 try not to drill the original holes as the bigger they are the more difficulty in having a successful rivet install...

To dimple you require a Dimple Die Set...they are not to pricey and look at it this way...they will be usable for other projects...

The 'A' Type Rivets are easier to Buck as the material they are made of is softer than its Stronger Cousin 'AD'

The Dies and Rivets can be Bought at 'Aircraft Spruce'. I have no affiliation I just bought some Rivets for my Ole Hotrod and they sold in small quantities...they carry all kinds of cool stuff to boot...





This Chart below gives the Criteria for Dimple versus Countersink


https://www.kitplanes.com/best-practices-solid-rivets/




Below is one method of removal...You do not necessarily need to file or grind the rivet head before drilling the head you will however need a very sharp drill...dull drills can slide off and skate along surfaces damaging them...

Also when driving out the rivet after the head is gone you must back up the other side right beside the shop/upset rivet as you could damage and distort the thin material and DO use a straight pin punch Not a Tapered one...

#30 pin punch for 1/8" Rivets

5/32" pin punch for 5/32" Rivets



https://www.flight-mechanic.com/str...ank-rivets-removal-and-replacement-of-rivets/



You don't need the fancy Squeezer tools to rivet you can make a couple of pieces of round bar stock with 3/16" hole with a Chamfer added to clear the Radius on the Die and hand Dimple with a Hammer and Vise

You can even Hand Set the rivets with a Hammer and Flat Faced Steel Drift...

The Head (Outside Hood) Side of the rivet just needs to be flat against a Firm Solid Steel surface and then you hit the rivet shank sticking out down with hammer and drift...



or

Clinch Allowance (F) is Approx 1.5 X the Diameter of the Rivet or just slightly less any longer and the potential for dumping the rivet increases which is unacceptable...

RW I have an Aviation background so riveting has been a way of life for me so this above is basic riveting knowledge and would have been basically unchanged from past period practice...

Credit to Photographers, Artists, Owners
​

 

Stogy,
Thank you. What a fascinating post. I've done a lot of riveting on wooden boats, but it's a different process than what you describe. I'm worried that the air cleaners are going to end up just under the edge of the hood, and that they may collect drip water if the car sits in the rain, so I may have to go with an extended version of my little helmet, instead of a patch. Either way, your information will be helpful.

 

Not much progress today. The needle in the rear carb won't seal consistently. I took them both out, and they have noticeable rings worn into the ends, especially in the one that started leaking. I ordered a new set from Moss Motors, hopefully they will be here by next weekend. Took advantage of the opportunity to swap and re-align the float bowl tops so that I could run the fuel line farther from the exhaust and clear of the air cleaners.


I found that pair of Fram air cleaners really cheap on the Bay. They have a kind of brushed aluminum vibe I don't care for much, but you know I have a plan for that. Hahaha. Also took the little helmet piece off in prep for the Stogy patch.



Pretty uneventful morning, but satisfying.

 

Looks Great as usual !

 

Your welcome RJ......You might want to make a period inspired shroud that utilizes both air cleaner wingnuts studs to anchor leaving the air cleaners while providing ample access for air to flow into the filters...

 

We had a beautiful day yesterday, but of course I had to work. Cold rain all this morning, so I had to move the hot rod stuff inside (for the most part). Decided to fill the void where the helmet used to be on the hood. I sort of took Stogy's advice. I say "sort of", because I don't have any aircraft riveting tools, or the patience to order them. I do have little bronze nails we use for riveting wooden boats, and the roves (washers) that normally go on the back side, so, in keeping with the "use what you have" spirit of this whole thing, I made-do.

First, I made a cardboard pattern and used it to help me tin-snip out the patch:



Clamped it between two scrap wood bucks cut to match the curvature of the hood's bottom edge and folded the bottom lip over:





It's a little buckled on the folded part, but who the hell cares?

Next, I cut out the backing piece, drilled holes, and riveted those two together:









Like I said, I don't have the tools or special rivets to countersink the heads flush, so I just left them proud. I don't mind a visible repair, as long as it looks like it was done with care.

Took that assembly out to the car and transferred the holes in the hood to it, came back in and drilled them in the backing flange, then headed back out to rivet it all together. I had to use some of the copper roves under the rivet heads, because the holes in the hood were too big and I was afraid I would pull the heads through. This is not good riveting technique, the rivet shafts are supposed to be a tight fit in the drilled holes, but this is also not structural, so I think it will be fine. By the way, the roves normally go on the back side, under the part you peen over so that it won't just sink into the wood. Not necessary in metal, if you drilled the right sized hole.



I know some of you are going to fuss about me painting those shiny rivets, just like some people wanted me to finish the wood bright instead of painting it, but I'm not trying to polish a turd here. Shot it with some rattle can primer, I'll wait for better weather to brush the Rustoleum topcoat on.





So, that's that. A satisfying rainy morning. Sorry it's a little picture heavy, I got carried away.

 

Oh, yeah. I did find time yesterday late to install my new viton tipped needle valves from Moss Motors. No more leaking float bowls, which is why I was kind of put out with the rain today. Wanted to go for a test drive. The hood project was a consolation.

 

Lookin good. Like the new/old carbs, they look like they belong.

 

Lookin' good. like a repair that could easily have been made in the 1930s.

Mart.

 

Thank you both.

Pumpman,
I agree, and I really like that they are more "period correct" than the other one I had.

Mart,
I'm glad you think so. I have really tried to do this thing in the spirit of the Great Depression. With the exception of the epoxy glue, the fuel pressure gauge, and the little permanent magnet altenator, I don't think there's anything on the car that wasn't available back then, and I don't think I've used any tools or methods that weren't, either. I haven't been religious about it, mostly for budgetary reasons (the fuel pressure gauge, for example: I just can't find an affordable old one), but I have made a concentrated effort to keep to that idea as much as I could. Even the epoxy doesn't worry me that much. I could have used plain old yellow carpenters glue, or a urea-formaldehyde like Weldwood, it would have just taken longer. Plus, I had the epoxy already, and the altenator, and figuring out how to use what I already have kind of brings it all back into the Depression-era deal.

Ok, rant over. I have the day off, but its still raining here, so no new adventures to report.

 

...more awesomeness from @rwrj's vintage Shade Tree Garage...that looks great...

 

Love the copper nail rivets.. great job

 

Way to go Wess ! Still follow'n ....love the rivets too.
If that "thing" vannishes .....you'll find it in northern Ohio.
Love it! mike

 

I had the day off work yesterday and today (and tomorrow), but we had rain yesterday and a really heavy fog this morning, so I decided to work on my enrichment/choke linkage system while I waited for it to burn off. I've been piddling with it all morning. Took longer than I expected. Funny how that goes, isn't it?

Anyway, the little bronze levers hanging down from the bottoms of the carbs do two things as the choke cable is pulled. First, just a fast idle adjustment, which I can already do from the steering wheel, but this one is pre-set so it doesn't over-rev on startup, so I guess that's a good thing. Continue pulling, and the levers pull the jet housings down. Of course, since the needle is tapered, that lets more fuel in. Accomplishes the same thing as a choke, just does it by adding fuel instead of taking away air.

The only missing parts on these carburetors were some of the linkage doodads, which the seller was perfectly up front about, so I set-to to slap something together. I'm a little self-conscious about how long it took me to make this:



I just turned down a 1/4" bolt, drilled and tapped a hole longways, and drilled a hole sideways, but damn...

I also needed a connection between the two carburetors. The original was a rod with threaded ends and cute little threaded shackles, but I just ground the teeth off of an old hacksaw blade, measured carefully, shortened it, drilled a new hole, hit it with the rattle can red, then bent one of the arms just the least little bit because I didn't measure carefully enough. You can see from the smudges and parts with the paint wiped off that waiting for paint to dry is not one of my strengths. Oh well. Before you ask, each lever has it's own spring, so the connection only operates under tension, that skinny hacksaw blade doesn't have to push the forward lever closed.



Sorry that picture is so dark. I told you it was foggy. Here's a short video that shows it all better. I had to move my choke knob, because the cable was too short, but I like it over there (It was dead center in the dash). All my fuel stuff is together now, pump, reserve toggle, and choke. You can see that two-stage action I was talking about.

 

Spent the last few evenings reading through this adventure - add me to the list of inspired jalopy-ers! Now I'm off to look for a Model A frame....

 

Thank you. It's been fun. It's late here, after 11, but I'm just finishing up an experiment, so I might as well throw it up here, see what you all think.
The old wooden dash board (literally) has been getting a little weathered, so I thought why not skin it in some of the same surplus aluminum I made the wind deflector from? Just a matter of pulling everything out of the dash:



Then make a cardboard pattern, then a paper one that is even closer:



Transfer it to the aluminum and cut that out, then clamp it up and scribe the openings from the back:



Do a bunch of cutting and drilling and filing:



Now comes the experiment. "Wes," I say to myself, "why don't you gussy that thing up with some of those turned swirly things?" So I tried it out. Just a piece of 1/2" dowel rod in the drill press, and a makeshift fence the same radius as the top of the dash panel, some valve grinding compound, and a good bit of time. I just kept moving the fence everytime I finished a row, so they are all nice and parallel to the top of the dash. I just eyeballed spacing side to side, tried to move about one radius each time, but it's not very exact. You can see in the picture that I started at the top, then realized it would look upside down, so I restarted at the bottom. Oh well, if it was perfect, it just wouldn't fit in with the rest of the car, would it?



Anyway, this is what I ended up with, and now I think it's just too damn fancy, and I'm tempted to sand it all back down somehow. Plenty of thickness in the aluminum. I'm going to sleep on it, though, see what it looks like in the car, in the daylight tomorrow. Good night, all.



P.S.
I still haven't managed to ever in my life use a whole tube of valve grinding compound. I'll probably lose this one, or step on it, and it's still half full even after grinding the valves on the banger and my little v8 60, and doing this whole dash. Hahahaaa

 

Aluminum is a very Beautiful metal...that is awesome...

 

Put it on and run it. Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis had the whole cowl covered with engine turning, this is period correct.

 

I got up this morning and rubbed that dash down with some steel wool, kind of knocked the new off of it. I like it a little better now. The aluminum sheet was already a bit scratched up and chewed on before I started, so it fits in. Spent a couple of hours putting everything back together.



I turned this little grommet for the reserve handle to run in out of an old 45-70 shell casing. Before it was just running in the wood. Not ideal.



Also remembered that I had a set of letter punches, so I practiced on some scrap and labeled my ignition (just off, figured the rest was obvious) and my headlights. Despite the practicing, it's still a little crooked. Suits me fine, though.



I'll tell you what, I didn't think of how that metal dash would connect the two parts of my horn switch. Hooked the battery back up and the damn thing started blaring. Had to go back and insulate it from the aluminum. Some of you will undoubtedly notice the extra hole. Remember when I moved the choke? I didn't. Typical me. Hahaha. I'm thinking of making a map light and putting it there. One of those little tubular ones with the shroud so the light only goes down. I could have lied and said that's why I put the hole there, but...

Anyway, these pictures are in the direct sunlight, so this is as fancy as it will ever look. I think, as it ages in, it will be OK.

 

Looks great, just like it belongs.

 

Looks like this car has existed for decades but been well loved & cared for. Just perfect.

 

My poor old rodded out radiator has developed more and more leaks. I think all of the gunk I got out of it was all that was sealing it up, and as I run the car, it is softening up what's left and opening holes. I don't think I ruined it with the rodding out, because it has progressively gotten worse and worse, but I've been looking for an affordable new radiator for some time now. I was just about ready to bite the bullet and buy one of those cheap aluminum ones when I found a used one on Ebay for a real reasonable buy it now price. Nearly new, brass, just right. A kindred spirit in the Pacific Northwest was replacing his banger with a v8 and packaged it up real nice for me. It got here yesterday and I threw it on there after work. Took it for a spin this morning and, after it got done spewing the extra coolant all in my face (these things kind of set their own coolant level, you know? I might need to look into a new gasket for my cap.) it settled down and did the job. First time I've had care-free, reliable cooling in this thing. It's nice to not have that to worry about. I called myself taking a video, but the damn thing didn't work. Anyway, here's one picture just to prove it happened. You can see the plaid insert, too.

 

Reliable is always COOL!!!

 

Hahahaaaa. I see what you did there.