Register now to get rid of these ads!

Projects Giant speedster project

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by yonahrr, Apr 25, 2010.

  1. Jerry its looking great! I cant wait to see the acid etch done. Im still trying to talk myself into buying a vinyl cutter so I can do more etching.
     
  2. hope you have allowed foot travel room in all this pretty stuff....
    ....those pedal slots seem to be blocking pedal travel?
    drive then decorate
    .oh maniacly obsessive dreamer....

    gogogogogo
     
  3. yonahrr
    Joined: Feb 27, 2010
    Posts: 1,348

    yonahrr
    Member

    You know human nature better than that. Once I drive it I'll never work on it again. :)

    Jerry
     
  4. yonahrr
    Joined: Feb 27, 2010
    Posts: 1,348

    yonahrr
    Member

    Mating old and new

    Get those dirty thoughts out of your mind. I bought that magneto switch part about 15 years ago at Hershey. I think I paid about $35. Imagine how much the thing would have been if it had been complete! I figured someday I'd attach it to a modern switch. That day was today. Can you say Rube Goldberg? Actually it was a masterpiece of mechanical engineering. Got the Toyota dump finished too. Good thing I didn't paint the Speedster. Okay, I used some industrial epoxy but still--the Toyota had the worst case of orange peel you've ever seen. In fact orange peel is putting it nicely. The paint looked more like bed liner. Look for it on ebay.

    Jerry
     

    Attached Files:

  5. yonahrr
    Joined: Feb 27, 2010
    Posts: 1,348

    yonahrr
    Member

    Dropping acid

    The time felt right to drop some acid. I was trying to recall some of those old names but all I came up with was Orange Sunshine. The stuff I used today was called Sunnyside! How can you beat that for a name!
    Even though I used to be a lab assistant I just poured some into a tub of water. Remember: "Do as you outa, add acid to watta" All chemists know that. (even illicit ones) I made up some test pieces because I didn't want to ruin my one and only original Tesla (not the band) data plate. And boy did I ruin them!
    The reaction seems to take a while to get going. Maybe the aluminum isn't clean enough, and it takes a while for the acid to get through the oxide. I diluted the mix and the next test piece came out right--about 2 hours. If you make the mix too strong the aluminum gets too hot and the vinyl letters come off.
    Next the Tesla (not the band) data plate went in. While it cooked, I worked on some corner pieces for the dash. I checked on the data plate every 15 minutes of so. After 2 hours I pulled it out and scrubbed it down with baking soda. ( Let me know if this is getting too long.)
    Now I have to find some suitable black paint for the plate. It has to be full of pigment but very thin--almost like ink. What to use? Any suggestions?

    Jerry
     

    Attached Files:

  6. budd
    Joined: Oct 31, 2006
    Posts: 3,478

    budd
    Member

    orange double barrel, purple microdot, every time i think about it i get a funny feeling in my throat, your speedster is looking great, hope i live to see it finished, i'm 52
     
  7. JIMSPSYCLESHOP
    Joined: Mar 26, 2012
    Posts: 56

    JIMSPSYCLESHOP
    Member

    You lads are forgetting the infamous BLACK OWSLEY The Rolls Royce of LSD in the 60's.

    REGARDING BLACK INK:
    I did a lot of copper plate engraving and etching print work in the past. I would think the standard black printers ink (etching ink) with a nice neoprene roller would work well provided what you want to ink is raised high enough. Dick Blick on line or any real art supply store will have the stuff. I assume you are going to clear coat the plate after you apply your black?
    Jimmy
     
  8. 64 DODGE 440
    Joined: Sep 2, 2006
    Posts: 4,421

    64 DODGE 440
    Member
    from so cal

    Hate to be sour grapes Jerry, but that plate should be brass. :p
     
  9. yonahrr
    Joined: Feb 27, 2010
    Posts: 1,348

    yonahrr
    Member

    I'm glad you brought that up. I gave the brass and aluminum question a lot of thought and could come up with no clear answer. Seems like in the early years all the plates were brass. By 1923 some plates were brass and some aluminum. I couldn't find and clear dividing line when they all kind of went to aluminum. So I just chose aluminum for the Tesla plate. The Seagrave ID plate, which I never got with the truck, will be brass. If the brass etching goes well I'm going to make sill plates in brass and some other stuff. So I guess my general rule will be if it's fancy make it out of brass, if it's utilitarian like a machine data plate, make it out of aluminum. I only remember one other plate on the Seagrave--the Delco distributor--and it's aluminum. Anyway, since the nitric acid has arrived, then next plate I make will be brass.

    Jerry
     
  10. 64 DODGE 440
    Joined: Sep 2, 2006
    Posts: 4,421

    64 DODGE 440
    Member
    from so cal

    Just make two "Tesla" plates, one aluminum and one brass and then decide. I was just thinking that the brass would look much better on the wood.
     
  11. yonahrr
    Joined: Feb 27, 2010
    Posts: 1,348

    yonahrr
    Member

    Actually I lied. When I went to the shop I discovered the distributor plate was BRASS! I could have sworn it was aluminum. When does dementia set in? Brass would look better on wood. Doubts. Doubts. How can I sleep tonight?

    Jerry
     
  12. yonahrr
    Joined: Feb 27, 2010
    Posts: 1,348

    yonahrr
    Member

    More brass

    I started making this piece while the Tesla plate was cooking. Today I finished it. Tkaes a lot of time to scribe and file and sand and fit and check and repeat ad infinitum. Then sand again, buff and polish, drill and mount, knowing you've got to take it off and on about five or six more times. Ah, but that's the fun! Can't make the other side until I mount the door. I got some little stuff done too. screw in the brake handle, some electrical connectors in the firewall, messing around with the deck planks, piping for the gas filler--things like that.

    Jerry
     

    Attached Files:

  13. 64 DODGE 440
    Joined: Sep 2, 2006
    Posts: 4,421

    64 DODGE 440
    Member
    from so cal

    The brass looks good with the wood and the red paint!
     
  14. yonahrr
    Joined: Feb 27, 2010
    Posts: 1,348

    yonahrr
    Member

    My propensity

    I gave in to my inclination and jumped to another part of the speedster--the deck. It's been tugging at me for some time. I think my subconscious needs time to work out problems with other parts of the vehicle so I begin a new section while this occurs. The deck is curved and I'm going to insert white wood (maple or something) battens between the cherry planks. To do this I reasoned the gap between the planks must be perfectly parallel. Of course, to accomplish this I need a jig--something to hold the router straight while it cuts the slot. I whipped up such a device this morning. Playing around with the planks made me realize the deck beams were not quite true. I'll take that up tomorrow. I also went to the store and bought some India ink for the Tesla plate. I gave it three coats. What I found out was that the acid left the aluminum quite rough. Paint might have covered the roughness but the ink, being thin, let it all show through. Still, I've had enough of Tesla and his plate so I'm chalking up any roughness to experience and patina. I doubt if anyone will scrutinize the plate too much. Tomorow I'll try and pull off the vinyl. Maybe I should give it a coat of shellac.

    Jerry
     

    Attached Files:

  15. Jack Innes
    Joined: Nov 26, 2010
    Posts: 178

    Jack Innes
    Member

    Jerry,

    Are you familiar with the deck joint treatment on Mahogany boats. The joints are opened up with a router just as you are doing (usually a V joint) but then they are filled with, originally white lead, but now with a Sikkens product made for the job. This gives those off-white to yellow stripes that look so good. The lead or Sikkens material starts out white & yellows once you apply the varnish. Functionally the stripes are an expansion joint so the wood can move as humidity changes. The modern product flexes much better that the lead. I used to have a stable of wooden boats & have been involved with this process more than once. The definition of a boat is very true; " Boat: noun, A hole in the water into which one throws money."

    Jack
     
  16. nexxussian
    Joined: Mar 14, 2007
    Posts: 3,240

    nexxussian
    Member


    See also:

    B.O.A.T., acronym, Break Out Another Thousand.


    Jerry, it looks great so far. :)
     
  17. yonahrr
    Joined: Feb 27, 2010
    Posts: 1,348

    yonahrr
    Member

    Tesla

    Interesting fact about Tesla. He lived in the New Yorker Hotel. Everyone knows that but you may not know that down in the fifth sub-basement (or somewhere) the hotel has a massive generator and during the Northeast Blackout of 1965 when NYC was as black as, well, night, the New Yorker Hotel was lit up like a beacon. Tesla was long dead but I bet his ghost was hanging around room 3327 smiling. I was itching to peel the vinyl off the Tesla plate. That was a mess. The vinyl was easy to peel but it left all kinds of residue. I couldn't use solvent because that would take off the ink. A pencil eraser solved the problem although the going was slow. It took about an hour. After that I stamped in a serial number then sprayed the plate with Bull-seye. Next I had to glue some spacers on to the deck beams so no deck work today. That led me to the rear of the speedster where I fitted the wood under the tail and trimmed it up with brass. I think it needs a brass luggage rack or something. Jack, I looked around the web and found some compound like you described. I think I used something like that over the caulking on my old sailboat. I've already plotted a course with the battens so I better not switch gears. How's that for mixed metaphors?

    Jerry
     

    Attached Files:

  18. I doubt he was smiling - more likely banging his head on the walls. The generator produced direct current..
     
  19. yonahrr
    Joined: Feb 27, 2010
    Posts: 1,348

    yonahrr
    Member

  20. That's not completely correct: Edison's generator produced direct current, Tesla's produced alternating current, which is why his system succeeded and Edison's (despite a vicious "marketing" campaign in which Edison actually electrocuted an elephant with AC) failed.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla
     
    Last edited: Sep 26, 2013
  21. yonahrr
    Joined: Feb 27, 2010
    Posts: 1,348

    yonahrr
    Member

    Daniel was talking specifically about the generator at the New Yorker Hotel where Telsa Lived in his later years.

    I screwed down the half the deck today but I left my camera at the shop. Dang! Looks really cool. Pictures tomorrow.

    Jerry
     
  22. tie down cleats .. hey its a race car ... luggage is for touristas
     
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2013
  23. yonahrr
    Joined: Feb 27, 2010
    Posts: 1,348

    yonahrr
    Member

    All hands on deck!

    I started screwing down the deck. The cherry I got from Don had a lot of flaws in it so I had to juggle it around. After I had it fastened in place I marked the perimeter then took it off and trimmed it up. Tomorrow it's back to Don's for some more wood. I also painted the muffler. I originally bought some fancy POR-15 Black Velvet header paint but I got to thinking that when it gets scuffed up I'll have to find some more fancy POR-15 Black Velvet header paint to match it. With that in mind I painted the muffler with easy to find cheap Rustoleum BBQ paint. Mistake? I also got a 4 fuse brass block from O-Reilly and installed that. And mounted the generator bracket. Lastly I installed my ebay brass ignition switch and weird choke pull then played around with some arty designs. The screws are getting in my way. Choice: Incorporate the screws in the design or work around them. That's it. Tomorrow morning Alex and I are off to the Flea market at the Atlanta Dragway hoping to find something really nifty.

    Jerry
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Sep 28, 2013
  24. oilslinger53
    Joined: Apr 17, 2007
    Posts: 2,500

    oilslinger53
    Member
    from covina CA

    ***YOU*** sir, are the type of builder I aspire to be... To take a few pieces of ancient fire truck and turn them into something as awesome as this is inspirational to folks like me who are just trying to get their old Chevy back on the road...

    Seeing things like this get me to kick my ass back into gear when I slow down. I can look at pictures of finished cars all day, and it kind of discourages me, but seeing step by step build threads like this make me realize that my build is easy-breezy.

    Keep up the good work, looking forward to the updates!

    Thanks for the thread!


    Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
     
  25. Arrgh! Sorry, Daniel! Amazing that the New Yorker kept that DC generator through to the late '60s before finally swapping it for the more efficient AC system.

    I like your BBQ paint, BTW...easier maintenance is always a good thing. Besides, you'll have enough to do taking care of all that wood and brass! :D
     
  26. gas pumper
    Joined: Aug 13, 2007
    Posts: 2,957

    gas pumper
    Member

    I've used the BBQ rustoleum. Good prep=good results.

    It will turn to charcoal gray and be mottled looking. Hotter areas get lighter color.

    I like it myself.

    Frank
     
  27. yonahrr
    Joined: Feb 27, 2010
    Posts: 1,348

    yonahrr
    Member

    Thanks for the kind words oilslinger--now get out the garage are start working on that hot rod! ;-)

    When over to Don's and bribed him with breakfast at Huddlehouse for some more cherry. Then we went looking for some wood for molding. Up on top of one of his pallet racks he had some 1/4 inch mahogany left over from when he made stripper canoes. It'll be perfect for the molding between deck and body. When I got back to the shop I cut Don's cherry into the side pieces. Hey, it's starting to look like something!

    Jerry
     

    Attached Files:

  28. JIMSPSYCLESHOP
    Joined: Mar 26, 2012
    Posts: 56

    JIMSPSYCLESHOP
    Member

    Jerry,
    My 2 cents usually gets (insert chirping crickets sound effect here) but I'll cast my line in here yet again. I'm so glad to hear you elected to use mahogany for the molding. I love the integration of 'nautical meets automotive' design you have developed during this build. The darker mahogany is the perfect mate for that lovely cherry! I think you will be, 'Hubert Humphrey- Pleased as Punch' when you see it done. What the Hell did he mean by that phrase anyway???
    Jimmy
     
  29. Wow, he's makin' canoes for those gals, too? Now that's what I call supporting local businesses! :D
     
  30. "stripper canoes".....that phrase really gets the old imagination going........
     

Share This Page

Register now to get rid of these ads!

Archive

Copyright © 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy.

Atomic Industry
Forum software by XenForo™ ©2010-2014 XenForo Ltd.