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

Thanks Rob! Glad to here your pleased with your hood sides.

Because you asked, I'll give the quickie on engine turning.

The very first step on this stuff is too polish what ever material your working with. Engine turning can be done on damn near any metal out there, but I find polished aluminum of a high number grade (this is a scrap of 7071 .050 stock) is easiest to manage. Besides, that's what I had. You will need a drill press, a Craytex stick (or of several other abrasive means), a piece of scrap wood to fasten your work piece too that is a bit larger than the piece itself with at least one square edge, a marker and a ruler.

You fasten your work down to the section of board stock so that you have a handle of sorts to work with. I used the long straight square edge of an old hammer form I used to build a belly pan for a customers '32 Ford truck for a bit a go, proving once again, I throw nothing away.

I have in years past simply free-handed my pattern as I worked, but with Judy doing some of this, and my eyesight slipping a bit, I decided a guide system of sorts was truly in order. I made this with two clamps and a chunk of 1"X 1 1/4" steel tubing.

Finding Craytex products these days can get a bit hard locally, but companies like McFadden - Dale Industrial Hardware, and McMaster - Carr always seem to have quite a selection in stock. It is an abrasive imbedded in a rubber stick, much like a course pencil eraser. I have also done this with a wooden dowel and valve grinding compound, a small Scotch Brite abrasive pad, and even a 6" D.A. pad with 180 sandpaper. This particular Craytex stick is 1/2", and since it's a bit flexible, I slid it into a stick of copper tubing I had around the shop the stiffen it up a bit.

The basic process is simple, the top row you start at the upper left corner, pull the handle and touch the spinning Craytex stick to your material. Holding the board against the guide tubing, move the whole thing over 1/4" so the next swirl overlaps the first by 50%. Repeat! Matter of fact, repeat lots! when you get to the next row, move your tubing guide up 1/4"(that's what the measuring stick and marker are for), and start anew. This time and every other swirl you make will be overlapped by the same 50%, but in moving the guide up only 1/4", you are also overlapping the bottom of the previous row by 50% too. The net effect looks less like scales on a fish where they are each a visable half circle, but more of a 1/4 circle each. This to my eye give more "faceting" for the lack of a better term, and a more "industrial" than "organic" look.

Very Important! Do not hold the Cratex stick o the material too long in any one place as it will heat the metal a bit and slightly burnish it. Some of Judy's first rows got a bit dark, and it freaked her out a little. It's also a very good idea to take a small chunk of say 180 grit sandpaper, and after each row is completed pull the handle down and clean and square the Cratex's tip before starting the next row. Our burnish spots will be where the gauges go, so I wasn't worried too much about it.

Just to give a quick idea of how long this takes, this is 18 1/2" inches by 5 1/2", and each row takes about 7 minutes to complete so that's what, 22 rows? 22X7 puts us at 154 minutes, so roughly 2 1/2 hours to do. The same sheet could have been bought from Speedway for about 65.00, but now ours has a story, and cost "0"...

Unfortunately, 'cause I was dragging her out into the shop at about 5AM (a truly strange, unfamiliar time frame for your average CHANNEL cosmetics rep!) and she wasn't made up yet, Judy refused to let me photograph her working on this project. I really think she might be evil, as even the photographs that I tried to sneak of her came up with no discernible image...

Click on the images and they will get huge!

 

What a great explanation.....
You make it look easy!

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Let Judy know we think she did one hell of a job on that project.

 

Will Do!

 

Do a search, there are several good turning threads.

 

Louvers, this is some of the best advice you can give the young ones!
Hardware can make or break a project, I've gotten to the point I hardly ever reuse hardware.
And I've gotten so that I don't even think of H/D or Lowe's anymore. I'll drive twice as far to the Ace across the lake from me to get my hardware.
They always have what I want, and the people there know which end of the bolt the wrench goes on.
And, BTW, spend the extra money for grade eight. In the scheme of things it's not that much more.

 

I was going to say something about hardware grading, but stopped because I almost always use strictly grade 8 fasteners in small cars like T-Buckets. The reason I stopped myself with that, is I honestly can't recite load ratings and such for all the different grades, and as I am not an engineer, I am not properly equipped to argue the point with someone who is. I use Grade eight in suspension stuff on T-buckets simply because its tensile strength vastly exceeds even the momentary shock loads the weight of a small vehicle like this can impart. Yes, at extreme loads a grade 8 fastener can become brittle and snap instead of bending, but at what point are you so far beyond what's survivable in a small car like this? I hate to think in terms of that being a possibility, so I prefer the thought ElPlolacko and I came up with about twenty years ago when we were learning this stuff... Build to exceed the need! Or too much is just enough!

 

On a side note Fasteners will sell you however many or few bolts and what not you want. Fastenal on the other hand (here locally anyhow) will only sell by the box quantity.

On Grade 8 bolts, Cat Equipment (bulldozer store) has a great selection of grade 8 bolts.

 

I totally agree! I hear people say stuff about Grade 8 hardware being brittle and I just roll my eyes. IF (and I emphasize IF) you can survive the crash that shears your Grade 8 hardware, than you are a lucky soul that should immediately go out and buy a Lottery ticket and dance in a lightning shower with a golf club.

I have worked in around aircraft for over 34 years (10yrs in the Air Force on fighters, and 24 years in the Aerospace industry), and every structural fastener we use greatly exceeds a Grade 8. We use lots of exotic fasteners made from Titanium, Cres, Inconel, and other materials. Think about this: Why would any manufacturer use a sub-standard fastener when you could run the risk of losing an airplane or worse yet, the loss of lives? If a lower grade fastener is softer and is less prone to breakage(!), then why don't we use Grade 3 bolts on all of the wing mounts, engine mounts, and flight controls? Because the first time the airplane hit turbulence, it would come apart. Although an automobile rarely sees the stresses that an aircraft undergoes, over the life of a vehicle, it starts to add up greatly.

I have been around a lot of crash recovery wreckage, and from time to time, you might see a bolt that sheared. You have to remember that the aircraft hit the ground at well over 350mph and then caught fire. If you can survive a crash like that, then you are a super-human.

I don't want to hijack your thread, but when I hear that bunk about not using "brittle" fasteners in a car, the hair stands up on my neck. Buy the best fasteners you can afford. Grade 5 at a minimum, and only then if you're in a pinch and can't find the size in a Grade 8 or higher.

 

double post..

 

I'm with you guys. That is why I use Allen head where I can. I think they are grade 12. Also if you sheer a grade 8 or 12 in an event you will have more to worry about than the bolt sheering.
PS
I rolled my roadster 32 years ago and did not sheer any grade 8 or 12 bolts!!! Broke the Axel though but the bolts were OK HAHAHA

 

Another thing ive found at the local ace is hvac plumbing fittings which just happen to be the right thread & pitch for 94s & 97s. Where most auto parts stores won't have the proper sizes

 

OOhh, that's good to know!
But I guess we should give louvers his thread back....who want's a beer?

 

No dude, I wrote what I did so that guys like you that KNOW their stuff can write what, well, guys like you that KNOW their stuff write! On my thread that's not hijacking, that's important information. my real aim with this thread is to show the guys out there that there IS an inexpensive way to get going with hot rodding, but as much as possible, the RIGHT way to get into hot rodding! And, things like this that are not commonly discussed these days are VERY important.

 

That's one hell of a stress test! Can we consider you the thread's crash test dummy at this point?

 

That's one hell of a stress test! Can we consider you the thread's crash test dummy at this point?

Well I was about 6 beers past Fucked up!!!!!

 

I'm a big fan of Allen heads too, but you have to be careful where you're using them. By design, the Allen head (especially the button head) has a limited strength between the area where the bottom of the keyed area is and where the bolt shank begins. For non-structural stuff like inner fenders and trim panels, I use them everywhere. For suspension stuff, no so much. The socket head Allens are much stronger than the buttons, but finding them in multiple lengths, diameters, and appropriate grades can be a challenge.

Also, I am from the school where if you use ONE Allen bolt, you're committed to using them everywhere because of the "look". Kind of like steel braided hose.....

 

Way ditto! Just ask ElPolacko... I'm the single reason that allens are all but verboten in his shop!

 

Another thing I learned is that most thiefs don't carry allen wrenches!!!!
Also I should point out that I only use Button head allens in dress up places such as valve covers Etc.

 

It's wildly O/T, but the Thiefs don't carry allen wrenches reminded me of something from my corporate days in the sewing machine biz... See, we had this problem with some machines disappearing in some of the JoAnn store throughout the country, and one of the other board member that thought himself "handy" came up with an idea that replaced one of the base bolts on the machine with a 3mm allen placed through a hole drilled in the counter top. The idea being, "that it takes this special, uncommon, hard to find wrench to remove that nobody would ever have". Little did this poor shmuck know that I carried four sizes of allen keys on my key chain because at the time, the Plymouth was about 90% allens of these four sizes. So he does this big presentation at one of the stores that those 13 of us that made up the board took over for the day, drilled the hole, secured the machine down, got others to try to pick it up, took his bows as the conquering hero. We moved along to other business and I sat in front of the secured machine. Thirty seconds later the C.E.O. asked me to pass the copies of the agenda that day that were on the demo table with the machine. I reached over one handed, picked up the "secured" machine, grabbed the agendas and handed them to the C.E.O.... Silence filled the room. So much for nobody carrying allen wrenches....

 

Chip

Been keeping up with your and a couple of other threads while I heal. Just got out into the garage for the first time in a couple of weeks and noticed I hadn't put away my assorted S.S. Trying to upgrade all the fasteners on my roadster to Stainless. Anyway I took a photo. See anything you need?

God I have too much time on my hands!

I have learned a few things from these threads.

Gary

 

Last few years before I retired from John Deere Parts in Dallas they put me in charge of all the scrap. Carried home some good stuff, but if anyone needs a five gallon bucket full of metric hardware, I've got it!

 

Allen head bolts are the cats ass! I started using them on my Plymouth with the intake, then on the valve covers with button heads, then the timing chain cover, then the fender inspection panels, then the gauge panel, then...well you get it! I can't help my self!

Oh and this is a cool thread I love the idea! This is what I want to do with either an old T or even an 80'sed out glass deuce! Love the budget approach! Theres a reason my car isn't done the way I want it yet...money. I love the sell and swap approach you're taking, thats how I do it all the way!

Subscribed!

 

That makes two '48 Plymouth held together with allen head hardware, n847! Been watching your posts too over the years, and really dug the radio idea you had back at the last tech week. Money is ALWAYS an issue for me. Even back in the days when I was making lots of it I always shopped around for the best deal possible, and the most creative use of what I had possible. It's even more important these days. But, this stuff is really affordable if you do it correctly.

 

More building!

 

Not much of an update today. I picked the Buick drums up from Roy's this afternoon while I dropped off the tires and wheels that came on the car, and knocked the hubs out of the drums. Cleaned them up a bit, too. The whole shootin' match is heading over to JOHN EVANS place this next week to get mated into one unit. He will no doubt tease me mercilessly as to why I don't have my lathe up and running yet, and why I'm not doing this my self, but it will give me a chance to photograph the steps necessary to make this deal work with the F-2 backing plates and F-1 hubs, something I haven't done yet. Then, I'll take you back out to the shop here at Hot Rod Central and give you new guys a basic tutorial on drilling patterned holes for, oh, say backing plates.

 

Less heat and customer stuff! We've been at 101-107 with about 90% percent humidity fro the last week. Customer stuff first always...

 

If you don't already know this Always Always use Anti seize on SS

 

I do know that but thanks for the reminder.

 

Back to the subject of channeled or not, On my Track T the body sets on top of the 1.5x3'' shopbuilt frame. I really liked the extra room this meathod gave me, but the look not so much. I was lucky enough to have an absolute junk body given to me so cut 3' of the bottom of it and grafted it to the bottom of the new body. Personal opinion I think the proportions are right on. Check out my album on this old build.