ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

[zmotorsports]

I always get jealous every time I see those welds.


Nice work

Thank you. I wish my TIG welds were more uniform and consistent but I guess they are ok considering I go weeks sometimes without welding.

Thanks for following along on my projects and commenting.

 

[MP&C]

Nicely done Mike!

 

[zmotorsports]

Nicely done Mike!

Thank you Robert. I appreciate you stopping by and checking on my projects.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Nice execution Mike. Glad to see it finished!

 

[Pressingonward]

Looking good!

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice execution Mike. Glad to see it finished!

Looking good!

Thank you. I don't think I'll get to work on it tonight as my wife and I have other plans but I think a couple more nights is all I need to machine the upper part of the clamps then this one can be crossed off of the white board.

 

[polexican23]

I wiped them down with wax & grease remover and painted them semi-gloss black.


Thanks for looking.

do you even bother priming these pieces before paint since they are 99.9% likely to get scratched up?

 

[zmotorsports]

do you even bother priming these pieces before paint since they are 99.9% likely to get scratched up?

No, parts or shop equipment like these I generally don't prime. I just bead blast and go right to paint. Like you say, they are going to get scratched up a lot. I debated on even painting them because I like the bare metal look so much as well but figured a little paint will help to ward off any flash rust although in our dry climate we don't get that very bad at all.

If it was something I used more frequently I probably may not have painted them at all.

 

[zmotorsports]

One step closer to completing my axle fixture.

I cut the 4” x 1” bar stock then cleaned up the ends in the mill before measuring the bolt centers and drilling the through holes.

Horizontal bandsaw does such a nice job of clean square cuts.






Ends cleaned up and milled to exact same as the bottom.


Mocked into position prior to drilling the holes.


Edges located and measurements plugged into the DRO for the through holes.


One down one to go.


The holes drilled and ready for the next step which will be cutting the V grooves in the upper halves.


Thanks for looking.

 

[JCQuick]

Mike you're work just leaves me in awe. really like your work and talent. Thank you for sharing

 

[zmotorsports]

I was able to complete my axle fixture tonight.

There are several ways I could have cut the V grooves in the upper halves. The easiest probably would have been to cut along the scribe lines with the vertical bandsaw and then touch up on the belt sander but I wanted to machine the grooves. Besides my mill was already a mess so I may as well add to the chips.

On the mill I could have clamped the plates at a 45-degree angle upright in the vise and cut the V from the end but I didn’t have an end mill long enough to reach the bottom of the V, plus there would have been some deflection in the end mill. I also could have clamped it to my rotary table and indicated in on either the X or Y axis, milled to the bottom then turned the table 90-degrees and milled to the other line. I opted to clamp it directly to the table atop my 1-2-3 blocks and indicate in on one axis and cut using the X and Y travel.

Measurements transferred to the plates. You can see my center punch marks. My plan was to drill a 3/8” hole and have that radius at the bottom of the groove. To accomplish that I offset the hole half of the 3/8” and center punched for drilling.


After snugging the clamps I used my combination square as the reference for indicating in on the X axis.


After using my wiggler to find the center punch I zeroed both X and Y on the DRO. I then moved off of the cut lines by .100” and made the rough cuts before switching over to a 4-flute end mill and snuck up on the measurements.


Final pass completed.


One down one to go.


Mocked up with a smaller diameter tube. This should be the closest the upper and lower clamps should come to one another and still has 3/8” clearance with plenty of surface area contact for secure clamping. This would be even smaller than a Dana 30 or 44 which I will more than likely be working with.


Mocked up with probably the largest tube diameter I will come across. This would be indicative of a Dana 70, 80 or even an AAM or GM 14-bolt axle.


Approximately where they will reside on my fabrication table when in use.


Thanks for looking.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Those turned out great Mike! I would love to add a mill to my toy box someday...I've got a few other wants before I get there, however, like a Huth/Ben Pearson Exhaust tubing bender.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike you're work just leaves me in awe. really like your work and talent. Thank you for sharing

Thanks JC. I appreciate that and thanks for continuing to follow along.

Those turned out great Mike! I would love to add a mill to my toy box someday...I've got a few other wants before I get there, however, like a Huth/Ben Pearson Exhaust tubing bender.

Thanks Marc. Yeah, a mill is a nice piece of equipment when the need arises. There are times when an exhaust tubing bender would be nice as well but my exhaust work is few and far between.

I enjoy learning machining and the various sequences through the process. Wish I had more time to play on my mill and lathe. When I use them it’s usually for a project rather than playing or experimenting.

Thanks for checking in on my projects.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Looks great as expected. Did you go full depth of cut with the end mill when cutting the "V's"? What were the spec's on the bit used for the through rod holes?

 

[zmotorsports]

Looks great as expected. Did you go full depth of cut with the end mill when cutting the "V's"? What were the spec's on the bit used for the through rod holes?

Thank you.

I used a 1/2" roughing end mill and advanced the table .100" at a time and plunged the end mill. Once the material was roughed out I switched over to a 4-flute 1/2" end mill and crept up on the final measurement where I took .015" on the final cut and bumped my speed up a bit for a nicer finish and climb milled. Once removed from the mill table I ran over the cut edges with a fine toothed flat file to knock the sharp corners down.

The through holes started with a center bit, then a 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" and finally a 17/32" before adding a slight chamfer at the opening of each side.

 

[bullnerd]

That's a cool trash can! lol!

 

[LXCam]

Another super slick ultra trick Mike tool. Nice job bud!

 

[zmotorsports]

That's a cool trash can! lol!

Thanks. I've had that 16-gallon drum turned into trash can for nearly 30 years now. I got it shortly after building my last shop as before that it was my dad's from his little workshop on the family farm.

When I was nearing completion on my new shop I bought a Valvoline and a Mobil 1 16-gallon oil drum and turned them in to garbage cans. I have my Valvoline one between my main toolbox and my bench with my vise and my Mobil 1 garbage can right next to the main entry door into the shop. I actually get more comments about my garbage cans than I ever thought I would.

Thanks for following along and picking up on the "little things".

 

[zmotorsports]

Another super slick ultra trick Mike tool. Nice job bud!

Thanks Cam, I appreciate that. No more chasing axles around the table for me.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike you're work just leaves me in awe. really like your work and talent. Thank you for sharing

Thank you JC, I'm flattered.

Stay tuned as I have video footage of the build and will be posting to my YouTube channel as soon as I have time to do the editing, hopefully this weekend.

 

[gearhead1960]

Thank you JC, I'm flattered.

Stay tuned as I have video footage of the build and will be posting to my YouTube channel as soon as I have time to do the editing, hopefully this weekend.

Mike, I wonder do you sleep at night with all this stuff you do? Burning the candle 24/7?

I salute you......

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, I wonder do you sleep at night with all this stuff you do? Burning the candle 24/7?

I salute you......

Thank you Mark.

I actually have a bit more "down" time these days compared to what I used to have when I was running my side business. I am able to get some quality time in my shop to not only maintain my assets but also to get some not so high of priority projects completed and most importantly, some quality time with my wife as well. In the warmer months I actually look forward to getting home and mowing my lawn and keeping the yard looking nice. I look forward to when I am able to spend more time or all day with my wife traveling and enjoying life after we retire.

I'm not gonna lie though, I kind of like the less frantic life my wife and I have now compared to the previous 25+ years of working full-time, running a side business and racing. I could easily get used to this slower lifestyle the older I get. I never thought I'd say that because I always felt like in order to get ahead I had to be going 90 MPH all the time.

Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for the opportunities that I have been blessed with to work and provide for my family but as I've gotten older I've discovered I can still get ahead while slowing down to smell the roses as well.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you like the content of my thread.

 

[jackson1701]

great stuff as always Mike, I have a few days off over the holidays and will be catching up on your latest shop videos with my son. Thanks for the great posts and inspiration with your builds! Steve

 

[zmotorsports]

great stuff as always Mike, I have a few days off over the holidays and will be catching up on your latest shop videos with my son. Thanks for the great posts and inspiration with your builds! Steve

Thank you Steve.

I hope you enjoy the last few videos and thanks for taking the time to watch as well as follow along.

 

[rattle_snake]

Nice work on the axle fixture.

But, what about a square tube 2.5T Rockwell? I could see you swapping in a set to run 54/19.5 Boggers on your jeep

 

[shortykorte]

Nice work on the axle fixture.

But, what about a square tube 2.5T Rockwell? I could see you swapping in a set to run 54/19.5 Boggers on your jeep

Great idea. Come on Mike we’ll be waiting.


Shorty Korte
Always remember quality in QST

Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice work on the axle fixture.

But, what about a square tube 2.5T Rockwell? I could see you swapping in a set to run 54/19.5 Boggers on your jeep

No Rockwell’s for me Justin. Waaaay overkill. [emoji1]. But I like where your heads at.

 

[zmotorsports]

Great idea. Come on Mike we’ll be waiting.


Shorty Korte
Always remember quality in QST

Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

You’ll have to keep on waiting Shorty.

 

[zmotorsports]

My son picked up a single stage Snapper snowblower exactly like the one we had years ago. He said it brought back some childhood memories when he saw it.

He has been refurbishing it in his own home garage. I told him he could bring it over to the shop that is heated to work on it but he said he wanted to work on it in his own garage and I completely understood.

He went through the carb, bought new flappers and some plastic bushings for it but one thing he couldn’t locate were the large wingnuts for the chute diffuser so I told him I’d make him a couple.

Started with 1” round stock.


I machined about a 12-degree taper to weld the 3/8” stock onto after drilling & tapping to 5/16”-18 thread.


Cutting four small lengths of 3/8” round stock. These linear style clamping pliers sure work great to keep round items from turning while cutting.


All of the components.


Wiped with acetone and ready to weld.


Welded.








Bead blasted and painted with some semi-gloss black.


I’ll have to have him take a picture or two once he installs them.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Nice job on those wing nuts!

 

[paranoid56]

do you have a part number for that clamp? i have that same issue and those would be amazing

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice job on those wing nuts!

Thank you and thanks for stopping by my projects thread.

 

[zmotorsports]

do you have a part number for that clamp? i have that same issue and those would be amazing

Part # is ZM12-2019.

Too bad they’re not available. [emoji12]

 

[Bob Heine]

Mike, I found the Grip-on version of that 7" Axial Grip L-Shaped Locking Pliers, part # GR91207 back in September when you first showed yours. I found it at Amazon but that particular model is getting hard to find.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SOU5V2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Bighead38]

Did you line up those wing nut arms any particular way or did you just eye them up and weld?

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, I found the Grip-on version of that 7" Axial Grip L-Shaped Locking Pliers, part # GR91207 back in September when you first showed yours. I found it at Amazon but that particular model is getting hard to find.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SOU5V2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Nice Bob. I hope you like them. I sure find mine handy.

 

[zmotorsports]

Did you line up those wing nut arms any particular way or did you just eye them up and weld?

Just eyeballed them. It wasn't super critical and I was in a hurry to get them knocked out so didn't have time to make a fixture to hold everything.

I cut the angle on the center piece so I could hold the 3/8" rods to each side and blast tack them on then go right to welding.

I'm sure they're off a few thou but to the eye you can't tell.

 

[shortykorte]

Shorty Korte
Always remember quality in QST

Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[zmotorsports]

Shorty Korte
Always remember quality in QST

Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

Thanks.

Merry Christmas to you as well Shorty.




Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[zmotorsports]

Here are a few pictures of the wing nuts installed on my son’s snowblower.


I think they turned out well and my son loves them.