Projects The bucket of ugly! A de-uglifying thread...

Well, veering farther off the beaten path for a minute or two, I thought I would share this with you guys. My Aunt and Uncle just rolled into town and stopped off at the house and brought me this... Me, in about '67 in front of one of our shop trucks from Racing Unlimited.

Ya know, if ya look into my eyes in this shot, you can actually see that I'm maybe not quite right...

 

MAYBE?????



jerry

 

A JD if ever there was one.

 

I have seen that look in your eyes before, it usually means it's time to change a diaper. ;-)

 

That too....

 

Are any of us that do this shit "quite right"?

 

That's a very good question. I doubt it. My girlfriend tells me every day I'm not.

Delivered by a blind carrier pigeon.

 

I've had other car guys tell me I'm not quite "right"...

 

Just so we can say we're still talking about cars I thought i'd just post this pic of the progress on my roadster's leather upholstery.

 

Finished upholstery, shiny paint, on a '36 or older roadster. That looks to me like it will be a "finished roadster" in June and gate 1 entrance material at LARS.

 

The Ranchero in the background is on jack stands with the wheels removed. This picture was taken right after Chip sold them so he could buy some Hot Wheels and an Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle. This might just be the best "Who, me?" pose ever.

 

I got a hunch he has a REALLY wet drive.

 

yeah, we are still waiting for the bridge to be build but us Kiwi's are learning to hold our breath for long extended times to hopefully make the trip easier.

 

Well gang, Got some stuff done today!

I started out making a battery box for "Endlessearth's" truck, and figured, "while I have the material and chop saw out, might as well do one for the 'Bucket too". See, I haven't copped to one thing on this - I have been driving this thing with the battery "free ranging" around the back of the bed for low these last two months. I am usually much smarter than that, but a situation yesterday alerted my stupidity genes to it's need. In other words, I hit a west McDowell road bump that was so epic it tried to eject the battery from the car! "Probably better do something about that...". Time is tight right now, so I will post a write up and pictures for the deal later tonight when I get back in. I guess truly "battery hold down and base box" might be the more accurate description, but for now, this is what I ended up with...

 

All I did today was help a friend on his garage. Afterwards, he showed me an issue of "Redel Rods" and after that, I was grateful for everything my parents taught me. I thought that fad was over.

 

Guess I don't know what "the land of the long white cloud" is. Wish you fuckers would just say where you live.

 

I recognized the accent.

 

Thanks for saying what I've been thinking.

 

Ewww...that hold down makes me a bit nervous!
I was only 10 years old when our VW camper lit the tar top battery on fire due to the hold down crossing out! Apparently a common thing with the early busses.
Dad managed to put it out with a rag by the side of the highway, but in the process ended up with major burns to his hand. I'll never forget what pain it was for him!!!

Be VERY sure that won't make contact!

 

I'd heard "the land of the long white cloud" in reference to New Zealand somewhere before, although I cant recall where. The one that I really get a kick out of is Pauls "Lahar Valley". You gotta be a norwester to get that one.

If you live in SW BC, saying you live in North Surrey is like saying you live in Compton. But really, its a lot better than its reputation.

I launched a battery into a fan once, that sure made a mess.

 

Lesson time for our northern friends, Aotearoa is the Maori Name which in english is, The Land of the Long White Cloud, or as the rest of the world knows us by New Zealand. We are also known as Kiwi's due to our native flightless bird the Kiwi. Lesson over now back to the program

 

Wouldn't saying "New Zealand" make it easier for folks?

 

hate to see you boys confused so I changed it for ya

 

If I'm unsure of something, I just google it.
Savers a lot of hassling posts on the net.

eg "the land of the long white cloud" Googled brings up New Zealand.

 

Okay, back to my battery situation! On the last page someone was concerned about my hold down. Not gonna be a problem! This type of box/ hold down is what I do in damn near any car I build. One of my pet peeves is aftermarket battery boxes that take up tons of acreage in a small car. No matter what you buy it's either an inch too long, or an inch too wide. Here is how I solve that...

The very first pictures are of the base I made from 1" angle iron. I didn't think at the time to photograph the complete cut and weld up, but you guys all do this stuff so you know what's involved.

The next photograph will be of the base bolted into the floor of the bed with two flat head counter sunk 1/4" 20 bolts with fender washers and nylock nuts holding stuff down on the under side. The battery is a snug fit into this so it positively can't move around or come out.

The next shot is of the 1/4" 6061 aluminum hold down bolts being threaded. I HATE all thread for this, and the aluminum has always proven itself more than strong enough yet easy to thread properly, plus it was left over stuff so it was basically free...

The next shot will be of the hold down rods installed for fitting. They thread into blind nuts on the underside of the floor, then are tightened securely from the top with a large washer, lock washer and 1/4" 20 nut to hold them in place and not loosen up.

Next, I measured and made the hold down out of 3/8"X1 1/2" aluminum stock. I trimmed up the edges to give a nice finish on each end on the belt sander, but these always look "billetty" if you leave them plain.... So, break out the dividers and Unibits!
Holes, ya, that's it!

The last is installed, and virtually bomb proof! Oh, stainless butterfly nuts look nice too! All of this came from either my scrap bin, IMS's remnant room, or the local ACE hardware. There is a grand total of about 5.00 in it all together. When the car comes apart for paint, I'll spend some quality time with the belt sander rounding the edges and polishing stuff so it looks a bit more "organic", but remember, in my write ups from many pages past, one of the things I really like about the early '60s cars WAS the use of aluminum on everything.

Ya, it'll get nicer cables and stuff sooner than later....

Also played with license plate mounting too. Not sure yet I'm really sold on where it sits right now, but I will move the tail lights to where the cross marks are if you blow the picture up a bit and I think that will help.

 

Thank you. Sorry for the X rated rant.

 

That little sintered bronze vent is available in a couple of different sizes from Jegs pretty cheaply, was going to suggest just such a vent, but you beat me to it.

 

Alum every were,well hell ya!,and brass,copper n stainless steel. Fact is I had very little $ for any chrome stuff in 50's n 60's,so if there was any way to build it out of something I could polish up shiny WOW,that was the trick,Go Daddy-O go!
Had a guy tell me last month I had too much bullit on my old rod?I hand made dam near every thing shiny,what hell is bullit anyway,do most guys even know,it's kind of a new trem to me.

 

Dana just hit the nail on the head! I do lots of stuff out of aluminum for the simple fact that it can easily be polished and made pretty for nothing but some time!

I also just realized after all that my pictures never posted. I'll go back and add them later today when I'm done working.

 

I powdercoat a lot of the aluminum bits I build as that removes the 'billet' stigma to a point, that and I hate keeping all that stuff polished....