Technical ~~~ peaking & polishing a 32 axle ~~~

That looks like a Norton.

 

Amazing work!

 

What is that Chrysler tube axle going under? Bob

 

Yes, ceramic in the discs.

The axle is for a car with history that many here may know, the owner will share when the car is done.

Ok, back at it, the axle has had some mods in it's life, some welds/brackets were removed and some repair is needed. I welded up the areas that needed it, doing abit at a time to keep heat down then ground it down. You never get it all the first time, and some impurities didn't help. I used a carbide tip on the die grinder and dug out the bad spots, weld again and grind.

Pics in the next post.

 

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As I mentioned earlier, the axle has some heavy pitting, these pics clearly show how bad. Using the course flap wheel with heavy pressure to remove all the pitting takes some time, and elbow grease.. I change wheels to finer grit and less presure, this helps to smooth it out and remove any flat spots. It's starting look good, I will use two graduating grits of Scotch Brite pads for the final polishing.

On to the ends, I have a plan for these.

Pics in next post.

 

Harv, who dropped that '32 axle? that's a nice drop.

 

296V8 dropped the 32.

 

Thanks. I don't suppose you have his contact information, since he is banned from here? I need to get one of these dropped.

 

www.ansondroppedaxels.com/ 1-530-333-4043. Greg is a great guy to deal with & does good work. He has done two for me so far. Bill

 

Just wondering if this is the original axle out of the car it is going in or a replacement? How does it get attached to the spring or springs? Bob

 

Yes Bob, it's a replacement, this is the same year make axle that was under it. How the suspension attaches I don't know.

 

Ok, The reason I'm asking, if it will get Ford style spring pearches 1909-1948 you may want to drill the holes and weld in a tube so chrome and your work aren't damaged when the nut is cranked down. Bob

 

Thanks, akoutlaw.


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This is the kind of thread I like to see here on the HAMB. Nice work!

 

The tube is about 90% done, on to the ends. As you can see, the ends have a heavy texture as well, trying to polish around those rivets would be tough, even if I did, the rivets would be real small when done.

I mentioned that small pin (arrow) earlier in the thread, here is wht I think is going on. The ends are slid on to the tube, they are riveted with some kind of tool that fits inside to buck them. When they are set, a cap is pressed into the tube end, and is then pinned. I could find out for sure if I cut it open Also, as you can see in the pics there are 3 rivets on each side of each end. The pattern is different as well from side to side?

Here is what I decided to do, cut the rivets off, (cut off wheel got away from, me oops more repair) drill just deep enough to get to the tube, rosette weld and grind smooth. I have some rivets that I will drill a hole through, remove the shank, center them over each origonal rivet, plug weld and detail. Also I put a hose clamp around the tube next to the forging to prevent damage to the tube.

Pics in the next post.

 

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Here are a couple pics of one of the ends, when the whole axle gets the final polish I will weld the rivet heads on. There are some small cavities around the king pin bosses, it would be hard to weld them in and try and blend them as it is so tight, they will get filled with copper when it goes to the plater. Once the plater hits all the tight areas with the wheels and compound they will clean up nicely. The small bead/ring at the end of the tube came out great, it was a difficult area to detail.

The ends show some scratches as it is hard to polish them with all the different angles, the tube in comparison seemed much easier, but keeping out the flat spots that you get when polishing something round isn't easy either.

The next post will be the finished axle

 

Fantastic stuff Harv
Beautiful

 

Thanks for sharing this, very cool stuff

 

Harv, exceptional work as usual. Who is the Aussie HAMBer who is getting the 32 axle ??

 

The member I did the 32 axle for would like to remain in the shadows, he will share the car with us when it's finished...thanks guys.

 

OK, the last tech. post before the pics of the finished axle.

I took all the rivets to a local friend who works in a machine shop, he chucked them up and made a cut on the edge so they would have a nice shoulder. He drilled a hole in the center, and then used a parting tool to remove the stems. When I got them back to the shop, I held each one in a pair of plyers and used a small screw lock abrasive disc to remove the burr and give them a small cope to fit the axle ends. I marked where they would be with a small dot using a sharpie, I tiged a small dot or mound of weld if you will so tacking the heads would be easier. I set each head on and held it with an open end wrench in my left hand while I fused it with the welder. When each set of three were tacked I fully welded them. As you can see in the pics, I had to make a second pass the get the rivet to full height.

After all were welded, I cut down a 1 1/2 diameter disc so it was about the size of a quarter, this made it easier to detail the rivets without digging into the forgings. After the abrasive disk, I used two progressive grits of Scotch brite pads to polish them. I mentioned earlier in the thread that I would put four rivets on each side of each end instead of the factory three, since the rivets I used were bigger I decided to stay with three. Also I detailed all the rivets differently some are pointed, some rounded, some egg shaped to match the look of the origonals....pics in next post.

 

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I do all kinds of metal fab, 95% doesn't fit in here, when I get a chance to work on early stuff and help out another HAMBer, well it's a win win. I would like to add, I am not a professional polisher or chromer, this axle will need more work before being nickle plated, about 90% of the work is done though, which will make the chromers job that much easier. Anyway, here is the finished axle, well my part atleast, I hope it's all the customer expects, and that he will share the final product with us when the car is done...old parts rule!

 

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That Chrysler axle is good enough to put on a 1930's INDY car, I still wonder how the spring mounts will be attached. Bob

 

The last pic above shows how the rivets are different shape. Also, the pic showing the end cap, they are hard to see but there are two peen marks where the axle was held at the factory or they were done to keep the cap secure?, they are on each side. I left these marks as they would have been very hard to fill and detail, and the add some charactor.

Thanks 37kid, as far as the front susp. I think brackets clamp on but not sure.

 

Beautiful work Sir!