Projects Tired of Looking for wired stuff and parts or making your own.

such as :
P-clamps with a lager bolt hole.
Drilling them is a PITA

Wire Grommets for smaller holes (1/2") and heavier materials
Like 14 ga firewalls or 11 ga frames

A neutral safety switch with backup lights that's designed to work in an under a car environment.

An electric fan that's designed to mount cleanly on the inside of a shroud
or at least not 47 unsightly tabs hanging off of the perimeter.
Awe hell, just zip tie the fan to the radiator fins

Battery cables that have nice terminals a heavy second wire and heavy insulation.
Impossible to find.

A decent headlight switch, nice slide action, sturdy rod and a stable mount
At least one that looks like the pissy threads and cheesy nut can handle holding its own weight. Never mind they get pushed and pulled on daily

How about identical part #s on two very different looking parts
Not a big deal really just need 12 that match. Ordered 6 more hoping but nope.
So we custom machined 4 of the $4.00 long tube nuts to look the same as the other 8 already installed.

Leaky brake fittings. This was a long inverted flair to 3an M-M
They botched the IF end. This $5.00 part gets hrs of labor time to remove it, re machine it, re install it, then re bleed the system. I figure it's a $200 fitting now.


This is just the stuff fresh on my mind that I've dealt with from last week and this week.

do you have a gripe too?
Do you have a solution,
Post them up.

 

every repo model A part made........don't fit, wrong finish, wrong shape, bad casting, bad or no threads, metric sized bolt/nut head, fall apart, short out, weak springs, leak, etc..............cut, file, trim, bend, rethread, drill out, repaint, wrap in tape, replace hardware etc.......

 

Specs and ads for springs that do not state a spring rate! The loons pimp us about their 'Teflon' buttons between the leaves and how nice their chrome is; but not a word mentioned regarding the very important spring rate! We're expected to buy a Pig in a Poke....and we do! Reason all the sellers [Drake, Carpenter, Speedway, Mac's, ad nasium] don't feel it's necessary? Because few ever ask and demand the specs.

 

Gee, When I ask electrical and wiring questions 80% of the replies say it is "Fun" and "Easy", maybe those guys will post answers to your questions. Bob

 

We can only hope Bob

 

Pricey, but I have yet to find a Ron Francis part I wasn't happy with, including 1 O battery cables and headlight switches.

 

Man I feel you on shitty head light switches and it's going to melt your brain when I tell you the hands down nicest one I found was from speedway. Wasn't even the expensive one.

Very sturdy, no cardboard looking backing plate. Heck even the knob has real threads and a set screw

I'll find a part number tomorrow if I think about it but I recall there being two and I bought the cheap one. I was extremely surprised at how nice it was. I've got a drawer full of the crummy ones found every where

 

My avatar...I thought it was "fun and easy", but still very tedious on the wiring with a new chassis harness and an OT efi Modular motor/tranny harness. what made it fun and easy...Ron Francis again. difference is all their harnesses are made for YOUR vehicle, a serial number that is linked to you, and have great instructions. You won't find a universal Ron Francis kit sitting on a shelf in a speed shop. They might cost twice or more, but top quality, and I figure I'm paying all that extra for the instruction sheets that come with it. I never wired a car previously, but after running something like 90 wires from the engine to the computer patch panel, I had a smile on my face for two weeks when the engine fired the first time I turned the key. Also, the computer is factory programmed, no reflash required.
Some of my comments may be OT, but the point is when anything is made to be too universal, your more likely to have problems.

 

I recently turned the first few threads off of a dozen bolts that I knew it was going to be a bear getting the nuts started on. Made it easy, slip the nut onto the threadless shank and spin. Bolts should be made this way.

 

Here I thought it was only me. Lets see, last couple weeks a big name brand proportioning valve with the seats for the flairs about 1/8 to 1/4" deeper then the threads, makes it hard not to leak when the fitting bottoms the threads before the flair touches anything. Throw it away and spend another 80 bucks on a different name brand and hope it works after all the labor to swap it out. Then I have a high dollar set of swap headers made to fit the engine I was using in the chassis I have. Yep, fit just like they were suppose to provided you were not planning to run a starter! Seriously, there was no way a starter would go on with these headers, didn't know starters are optional, why does any company sell crap like this. Cut them up, Fabricate a couple tubes then send it out and have the ceramic coating replaced. These expensive headers just got a lot more pricy.
Check with me next week, I'm sure I'll have some new issues with some more new parts, getting to be way, way too common.

 

Ah yes, the joys of hand crafting Hot Rods. I think the general condition of most parts over all is why I'm so Negative most of the time. I wasn't like this back in the 60's and 70's.
The Wizzard

 

vic your neutral backup light /NSS switch is a reality , it's on the 1996 4l80E, just have to adapt it over with shiftworks adaptors ( which I am sure you can make once you see them )

 

No gripes for me, 2 solutions I have used personally.

Here is an answer to #3, I used it on my 442 that I added a Hurst dual gate shifter to. 68's don't have neutral safety or reverse switches on the column. Hurst dual gates don't have switches since they were designed for 69 and later cars. Installed the Lokar neutral safety switch, has back up lights as well and if you want to add indicator lights for what gear you are in, you can do that too. It has been on the Olds for years and trouble free. The sender (ribbed piece) hooks to the gear selector on the trans via the cable, the signal is sent to the module that you stash under a seat or in the glove box. It works and my Olds is a "hostile environment" to say the least.

The answer to #4 for me was a shroud that the fan mounts to, nothing touches the core of the radiator. Shroud hangs from the sides of the radiator. It is practically buried in there. I cant take credit for it, it is a brassworks product. Cool looking too, they are licensed to stamp that Ford logo in there. You can make it out of aluminum and paint it if you wish. Call Lee, he will hook you up.

Hope it helps.

 

Oh I forgot to mention was it Brock Yates the Motorcyclist magazine editor who congered up the meaning of "Universal" as being it doesn't fit anything in this universe ???

 

Weird.

 

McMaster-Carr has probably a hundred different grommets in different sizes/styles... You might have to buy 50 or 100 of 'em, but for $15 or less for most in quantity, not a bank-breaker... Search 'wire grommets'.

 

I have a pair of Mr Roadster 1932 Ford bumper bolts which do not correctly match the curvature of original 1932 bumpers. I thought that was pretty fucking lame.

My dad sent back THREE pair of tri-five Chevy repro exterior door handles before DanFuck Chevy parts finally found something that worked somewhat close. They weren't even close to the same curvature.

I'm generally an original parts only guy, but sometimes you gotta do whatcha gotta do. I just can't believe these assholes sell shit like that.

 

You might try Bert's in Denver, they cater to the restoration hobby with repro stuff, but they also have a LOT of original parts that they resell. Good Luck

 

Ignition switch with an automotive style key

 

Get it mixed up with your lawnmower key? I know right.

 

That too.

 

LOL about 10 years ago I told a friend of mine that my next car was going to be a bolt together. he laughed and told me that I couldn't build a bolt together car if I used all stock parts.

 

Drilling most P clamps is an exercise in how to turn them into a pretzel, right before the drill press sends it flying into the brand new paint job. (Same goes for small wire ring terminals)

 

original parts are the way to go if you can get them. i don't care who you buy the repro parts from they all seam to be made by the same crosseyed school kid in the same grass roofed factory over seas.
25+ years of dealing with restoring/repairing As......i have seen all the junk.
pop out that don't. cut outs that sometimes do, flip outs that fall off.......been there did that.
customer asks "why don't we just get a new one?" answer "costs too much to get it too fit/work/look good."

 

trick is to drill them through a house/cabinet door hinge. just clamp the hinge closed with the thin piece of metal centered in a hole.

 

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Universal-Headlight-Switch,2367.html

Can't find a recite but pretty sure this is the headlight switch I used

 

Don't drill 'em, punch 'em....
http://www.amazon.com/Capri-Tools-2...8-1-spons&keywords=metal+hole+punch+set&psc=1

 

Thanks, that was just ordered.
Hope it's not junk.

 

I've owned the HF version (which they discontinued for some reason) which I'm sure came out of the same Chinese factory for 2-3 years with no issues. They won't do thicker steel (above 16 gage), but thicker aluminum up to about a 1/16" is no problem. Very handy tool...