Hot Rods Playing with FIRE! I see the light! I see the LIGHT!

As long as there have been Hot Rods, there have been guys heating parts up and making new parts out of them!

Dropping steering arms, pitman arms, moving shifters...... even heating springs, and dropping axles...... It's all the same, heat it up and bend it. Its the most basic and primitive type of metal working and it is hundreds of years old!

I have been heating stuff up and bending it since I was a little kid.... probably the first time was helping my dad..... I would get to hold the torch while he did his work, or maybe it was straightening the forks on my minibike after a run in with a tree. I'm not even sure anymore, but playing with fire is always fun!

Lately I have been exposed to some real blacksmithing..... its really inspiring! The options of repurposing parts or even forging new ones are endless! All the amazing early Ford parts were forged...... the idea of making things in the same way is awesome! Think about it.

A few weeks ago I watched some guy on TV take the stock nub of a T5 shifter and reshape it and stretch it into a graceful, early feeling shifter..... Now, I have done similar things a lot of times, but I would normaly cut the nub off and weld an early shifter to it.
The end result is pleasing and works well, but the idea of using the metal that is allready there, heating and pounding it into a new shape is just plain cool. Plus its a million times stronger!

I had to make some headlight mounts for a Hot rod we are building.... I was using an early headight bar as a core, my plan was to cut it up and weld new brackets to the headlight cups, just as I have done before. But this time I decided to try to reshape the bar itself into the bracket I needed.

The end result is simple, strong, and graceful..... I have a lot to learn before I could even call this Blacksmithing, but I sure like playing with fire!

I started with an 5 dollar swap meet headlight bar..... it was super pitted and pretty much useless as it was! I gathered the torch, my favorite BFH, and a piece of railroad we had laying out behind the shop.



I cut off the end and started heating the end to that nice glowing red...








Then I beat on it until it was close to the shape I wanted..... It stretched out well and once it got to that sweet spot with the heat it pretty much did just what I wanted!

It was a challenge to get both sides the same, but It worked out pretty well....






After some trimming and sanding the look like they were made that way! It was a pretty fun little project.....

 

Very cool little project there, those look good. Heating stuff cherry red and bending it is fun, maybe some primal urge or something in us. I also watched JJ put that shifter in his kiln and bend it to shape, made me wish I had a kiln.

Don

 

The plan is to connect them with a nerf bar and put these headlights on them...

I'm pretty excited about them too..... I made some stone gaurds for them!



Its all going on this coupe....... Young Jeff "Potsie" has been busting his ass on this thing with my help..... Its going to be a neat little car!



Ill work on the nerf bar next week and add an update then, but for now I'm getting ready to do the insert on Billy's coupe.....

 

Nice job. So now let the " Did you metralerchical check it out, cool it in an asbestic jacket while keeping it cherry red not hot orange just like they did in the ole days bullshit begin", oops did I say that?

 

I followed your progress on Instagram as well. Very cool to watch.

Looks great too!

 

You sir are the Berries!

 

Coolie woolies. That 36 is the bees knees. Nicer then chicken on tuesdays.

 

Hey that's hot stuff!!

 

very cool

 

Cool beans Bob!

 

Neat!

 

Cool story!

 

Good stuff! I got to see that deuce when it was being taken down to bare metal. Its coming along really nasty!

 

What was old is now new and improved . Gotta like that hot poundie thingie ya done very nice!

 

Haven't got to finishing the nerf bar yet but I made the tail light guards today.....


Started with some alluminum rings.....



Machined a groove in the back for the mesh....



Reversed the trim ring on the 48 Chevy tail lights...... they will now mount from behind.

Then I shaped the new rings and cut out some mesh.....







Mounted them up and they are pretty neat...... simple and different.

 

Pretty cool Bob. Nice work.

 

Yea that looks pretty freakin' cool!!

 

Industrial Strength.

 

Those are neat.

 

Ok, I may be showing my ignorance here but I have to ask. What's up with the rear tires in the '32? Are they a type of cheater slick? At first I thought "man, are those tires worn" but then I noticed the what looks like tread depth holes on the slick half of the tires so, I assume they were made that way. Who makes/made these tires?

I have to say that the shielded lights look pretty cool.

Doc

 

can you show us how you made the stone gaurds for the head lights please?

 

I believe the tires are repops of the old Indy tires.
Just saw a set a few weeks ago on this Indy car being built locally.




Sent from my iPhone using TJJ app

 

Polish......

 

the mesh makes me think of the blues brothers playing at bobs country bunker. RAWHIDE!

 

"Chicken wire?".............................

Doc,

 

Love your fab style. Ideas to steal galore! Well done!

 

Or the "Mad Gardens", an old punk club / boxing arena here in Phoenix of some note! Chicken wire around the ring where the bands used to play... For damn good reason!


Those headlight stands are flat awsome! Been hating my '90s lookin' aftermarket stands on my roadster pickup for some time now.

 

Awesome Bob

 

Nice work on both items. Seeing pretty much step by step how you redid the tired headlight bar into a pair of nifty and original headlight brackets is pretty interesting.

I'm liking the headlight covers and taillight treatment too. A bit of road racing vibe there.

 

Thats awsome! Nice work.