ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

zmotorsports · Jun 29, 2019

This morning I finished up the cart for my Branick 7600 strut spring compressor.

Started by making a template for the wheel mounting tabs.

Then drilled the tabs.

I’m not sure if I’ve shown these before or not. Several years ago when I bought my new drill press I machined these pins that slide into the grooves of the table. One is merely to prevent the vise or work from spinning if the bit catches and the other mounts to the bottom of a vise grip style clamp. I built two of these for two separate clamps as they are much more convenient than the large wing nut that they came with for use on my last drill press. These merely slide into the groove and when clamped they offset and lock into the groove.

Wheel mounting tabs ground and ready to separate and deburr for welding.

Deciding on a location.

Base and vertical post joined.

Fabrication completed.

Wiped down with wax & grease remover and prepped for paint.

Painted and wheels installed.

Spring compressor bolted to cart.

All that is remaining is to pick up a pair of bicycle hand grips and glue them on.

Thanks for looking.

Nlped · Jun 29, 2019

That is VERY COOL!!!

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Bigblue&Goldie · Jun 29, 2019

I like how you wrapped the wheel mounting tabs over the top of the tube; I'm going to have to remember that. I also really like those pins you made for the drill press table. I'm always screwing around trying to clamp my vise, but this setup looks super convenient and quick.

Scuderia-F1 · Jun 30, 2019

That strut spring compressor turned out just as great as everything else you lay your hand on Mike! :bowdown:

Superbec · Jun 30, 2019

man.... that lawn makes me wanna be a better man

zmotorsports · Jun 30, 2019

Thanks for all of the comments guys.

BB&G, I try to wrap brackets like that when possible as I feel it adds some much needed surface area for welding, especially on something like that which will have some weight on it. Plus I think it looks cool. [emoji12]

As for my lawn, it has taken me a couple of years to get this yard looking as good as the one I sold and I’m still not 100% satisfied yet, but getting closer. I like keeping my yard/lawn nice snd neat. It was a PITA to put the yard in but maintaining it is pretty simple now.

Thanks again for the comments guys.

4 FN 27 · Jun 30, 2019

zmotorsports said:
This morning I finished up the cart for my Branick 7600 strut spring compressor.

Started by making a template for the wheel mounting tabs.

Then drilled the tabs.

I’m not sure if I’ve shown these before or not. Several years ago when I bought my new drill press I machined these pins that slide into the grooves of the table. One is merely to prevent the vise or work from spinning if the bit catches and the other mounts to the bottom of a vise grip style clamp. I built two of these for two separate clamps as they are much more convenient than the large wing nut that they came with for use on my last drill press. These merely slide into the groove and when clamped they offset and lock into the groove.

Wheel mounting tabs ground and ready to separate and deburr for welding.

Deciding on a location.

Base and vertical post joined.

Fabrication completed.

Wiped down with wax & grease remover and prepped for paint.

Painted and wheels installed.

Spring compressor bolted to cart.

All that is remaining is to pick up a pair of bicycle hand grips and glue them on.

Thanks for looking.

Nice work Mike. I love little projects like this!!!

zmotorsports · Jun 30, 2019

4 FN 27 said:
Nice work Mike. I love little projects like this!!!

Thanks Pat. Nothing too high tech that’s for sure but wanted something nice enough that it wasn’t just a temporary mounting.

zmotorsports · Jun 30, 2019

My son and daughter-in-law returned from their honeymoon on Friday and came by last night to grab his truck.

I went out to the shop this afternoon to measure something and it hit me just how much space I have in my shop. This is the first time in the two years that it has been built that it has been empty. My son’s vehicles and toolbox are at his place and it really opens the shop up.

gearhead1960 · Jun 30, 2019

zmotorsports said:
This is the first time in the two years that it has been built that it has been empty.

Sounds like time for a really gnarly project to **** up all your time waiting for the grandbabies..... :lol_hitti

LXCam · Jun 30, 2019

zmotorsports said:
I went out to the shop this afternoon to measure something and it hit me just how much space I have in my shop. ]

Sounds like it’s time for a finger brake to keep that super cool strut compressor company Mike. :thumbup:

zmotorsports · Jun 30, 2019

I’ve got plenty of other projects to keep me busy for a while. I still have some work to do on the boy’s WJ as well as some shop projects that I’ve been wanting to do.

As far as a finger brake Cam, really don’t have the need right now for one and don’t want to give up any floor space. That’s more of a want than a need at this time and I really just want to stash money away right now as it has been an expensive three years.

Shop projects and some traveling are in my near future rather than collecting more “stuff”.

Ohmthis · Jul 1, 2019

Mike, I like the cart and agree with the tabs for the wheels. It does look cool, and an extra little detail. May I ask how you cut them? I envision drilling the corner with a small drill and cutting with a band saw. Thanks for documenting these.

zmotorsports · Jul 1, 2019

Ohmthis said:
Mike, I like the cart and agree with the tabs for the wheels. It does look cool, and an extra little detail. May I ask how you cut them? I envision drilling the corner with a small drill and cutting with a band saw. Thanks for documenting these.

Thanks.

Yes, after transferring from cardboard to plate, I just cut the tabs with my vertical bandsaw and rounded corners, deburred on my disk/belt sander.

Nothing high techy techy, pretty low techy techy actually. :lol_hitti

Bigblue&Goldie · Jul 1, 2019

What kind of belt sander do you have? Pro's/con's?

zmotorsports · Jul 1, 2019

Bigblue&Goldie said:
What kind of belt sander do you have? Pro's/con's?

Mine is a Wilton combination 12" disc/6"x48" belt powered by a 1HP motor. Works great and I've had it a long time. Probably one of the most used tools in my shop as it seems there's always a corner that needs to knocked off or a burr to remove on a piece of steel.

If you look at the above post, the last picture, it is located just to the left of the 20" vertical bandsaw, right under my files that are hanging on the wall near the corner.

I had a Delta about 30 years ago that had a four legged stand and was powered by a .5HP motor that I picked up at a swap meet but it was geared more towards wood. I sold it and bought this Wilton about 15-18 years ago.

Ohmthis · Jul 1, 2019

zmotorsports said:
Thanks.

Yes, after transferring from cardboard to plate, I just cut the tabs with my vertical bandsaw and rounded corners, deburred on my disk/belt sander.

Nothing high techy techy, pretty low techy techy actually.

Tried and True! I saw your plates on the drill press and immediately thought of a lathe fishtail gauge I made years ago. Still wish I had it, stupid sticky fingers in machine tool class

zmotorsports · Jul 2, 2019

Ohmthis said:
Tried and True! I saw your plates on the drill press and immediately thought of a lathe fishtail gauge I made years ago. Still wish I had it, stupid sticky fingers in machine tool class

Yeah, I still have my drill bit sharpening guide that I made in Jr. High School that was cut out on the vertical bandsaw. Funny the things ya hold on to and remember.

I appreciate you taking the time to stop by and check out my projects.

zmotorsports · Jul 2, 2019

I erased another item off of my white board tonight.

The seat belt escutcheons on the pilot and Co-pilot seats in our coach are plastic and have been cracked for the past few years but due to higher priority projects, I wasn’t able to build new ones until now. Seeing as how my wife and I are about to start our traveling for the year and I don’t want it digging into my shoulder any longer.

I started with a piece of 14-gauge P&O scribed to cut.

Cut and ready to layout lines.

I opted to use my mill so I could duplicate the plates for holes using the DRO.

Used 5/8” Rotacut annular cutter to provide holes and made a smooth radius at the ends.

The mill vise work stop works great for duplicating and the ability to remove and reinstall into the vise in the exact same position.

I used a 1/2” roughing end mill and then shifted front to rear to create the 5/8” groove.

Next I opted to fabricate some inserts that would affix to the escutcheon and eliminate the ability to see the foam behind the leather, unlike the OEM ones that were pretty much just flat.

I used a piece of 5/8” 4130 tubing that I cut at about .700” long and split lengthwise to use in each slot.

Pieces ready to tack weld.

I used a piece of plate to hold the pieces together enough to tack.

Inserts welded and metal finished, ready to weld.

Sunken down from the face about .035” to create a soft edge.

Metal finished.

Test fit.

I cut a slit on each one to allow the seatbelt to fit through.

Bead blasted and painted trim black.

I’m pretty happy with how they turned out but they are no where near as nice as the ones Robert built (MP&C).

Thanks for looking.

mh70ss · Jul 2, 2019

Nice work Mike. Never have to do those again.

lilscorpion · Jul 2, 2019

Damn those are sweet!

LXCam · Jul 3, 2019

Great job on the escutcheons Mike.

Duker · Jul 3, 2019

I was waiting for.... “while I had the seat belts available I calibrated the applied torsional force of a sudden impact and adjusted the tension to match my wife and I for the energy exerted...”

Nice job! [emoji3]

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

zmotorsports · Jul 3, 2019

mh70ss said:
Nice work Mike. Never have to do those again.

lilscorpion said:
Damn those are sweet!

LXCam said:
Great job on the escutcheons Mike.

Thanks for the comments guys, I appreciate that. That was actually a fun little project and now I can enjoy our trips without that thing digging into my shoulder every time I shift in my seat. I can't believe I put up with it so long before addressing the issue but too many higher priority things on my mind lately.

zmotorsports · Jul 3, 2019

Duker said:
I was waiting for.... “while I had the seat belts available I calibrated the applied torsional force of a sudden impact and adjusted the tension to match my wife and I for the energy exerted...”

Nice job! [emoji3]

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Ya know Duke, I actually hadn't though of that. I may have to check into that. :lol_hitti

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my latest project and commenting.

zmotorsports · Jul 5, 2019

A coworker needed some springs swapped onto some new shocks for his RZR and I offered to help him out. I figured I’d try out my new spring compressor.

It works pretty slick.

I also opened up my package that arrived today. My Fireball block set. It is a very nicely done set with magnets on one side and laser etched size on the other.

Thanks for looking.

Mike.ASC · Jul 5, 2019

New tools are always a good thing. That looks like a nice set.

zmotorsports · Jul 6, 2019

Mike.ASC said:
New tools are always a good thing. That looks like a nice set.

Thanks.

Yes, they are a nice set. I was using my 1-2-3 blocks the other day and I thought if I only had another .500" in height. While searching I ran across these and thought they looked nice. I can confirm that they are well done.

zmotorsports · Jul 6, 2019

The wife and I were going to take off for a drive today but her plans changed so I figured I may as well do something productive. Another weekend working in the shop rather than out playing somewhere.

The cheap bicycle handgrips that I had ordered last week showed up yesterday so first item of the day was to install them on the cart for the spring compressor.

Next up was to do a little grill Maintenance (PM). I generally go through the grills about every other year but I’ve neglected them slightly over the past year or so. The small Weber grill is the one we carry in the coach and the larger Kenmore is our home grill. I’ve wanted a new Weber Genesis grill for the past several years and my wife even gave me the green light for Father’s Day but I told her I would get a new one when this one dies. Unfortunately I can’t seem to kill this one, it just keeps on going.

During the winter the igniter quite working and I was hoping that was the beginning of the end for it but while I had it apart for the cleaning today I was able to repair the igniter. Looks like it’ll be going for a while yet. In the 30 years we’ve been married this is only our second grill. We got a cheap/inexpensive one for our wedding which lasted about 8-10 years and then we bought this one from Sears and it’s still going 20+ years later.

Shop vac and pressure washer at the ready.

After vacuuming the debris out of both grills I pressure washed them including the grates and ceramic briquettes.

Amazing how a 20+ year old grill can clean up.

While everything was drying I found the issue with the igniter. It came apart from the small bracket due to the screw rusting.

Another rusted screw that’s wouldn’t come out.

Nothing a die grinder and small abrasive disk won’t take care of.

Igniter repaired and burner reinstalled.

Reassembled and ready to put back on the deck.

Next up was to reassemble the small grill and put back in the storage bay of the coach.

That’s about it for today. Our son and daughter-in-law are coming over for dinner tonight and I’ll test out the grill.

polexican23 · Jul 9, 2019

do you or have you sandblasted your weber plate? I have the larger version and it is left outside (undercover) but it still has some really bad build up that I cant seem to get clean.

macgyver · Jul 9, 2019

Funny BBQ story........so we inherited this big stainless awesome BBQ from my step dad. It doesn't cook, we can't keep it going for nothing. I know it was expensive when purchased, expensive! We tried the regulator, we cleaned and tried everything to get it to work right. So I put this thing into mothballs several years ago. We moved into our current house about 3 years ago and with the house came a free Kenmore BBQ. This is the greatest BBQ I have ever had! It works flawless and has never let us down and it cooks awesome, every time. And it sits on our deck when it snows with a cover, but still in the middle of winter, summer, it doesn't matter, it cooks awesome! I don't know if all Kenmore grills are this great but I am sold on it. I love it!

zmotorsports · Jul 9, 2019

polexican23 said:
do you or have you sandblasted your weber plate? I have the larger version and it is left outside (undercover) but it still has some really bad build up that I cant seem to get clean.

I didn’t sand blast it, I just used a wire brush to remove the BBQ remnants then pressure washed it. Mine had no rust as it is stored in the coach storage bay.

zmotorsports · Jul 9, 2019

macgyver said:
Funny BBQ story........so we inherited this big stainless awesome BBQ from my step dad. It doesn't cook, we can't keep it going for nothing. I know it was expensive when purchased, expensive! We tried the regulator, we cleaned and tried everything to get it to work right. So I put this thing into mothballs several years ago. We moved into our current house about 3 years ago and with the house came a free Kenmore BBQ. This is the greatest BBQ I have ever had! It works flawless and has never let us down and it cooks awesome, every time. And it sits on our deck when it snows with a cover, but still in the middle of winter, summer, it doesn't matter, it cooks awesome! I don't know if all Kenmore grills are this great but I am sold on it. I love it!

That’s awesome Quinn. I can’t seem to kill my Kenmore. I want a new stainless steel Genesis but can’t bring myself to buy one until mine is dead. Our Kenmore also sits on our deck year round although that’s only been the last 2-1/2 years in this place. Prior to that it was in our garage until I used it then brought back into the garage so I’m sure that played a role in its longevity.

Bigblue&Goldie · Jul 9, 2019

Looking at your Kenmore, it's similar to my ~15yo Weber in that the lower half appears to be cast. I think this is the key to longevity vs a sheet metal component. I just put new "flavorizer" bars and grates on my Weber last week for the first time. I also wanted a new grill, but I can't find anything to complain about with my current one.

zmotorsports · Jul 9, 2019

So today my Jeep rolled over the 100k mile mark.

After work today I decided I had looked at my cut downspout long enough. I had cut one of them with my line trimmer about a month ago so I came up with a plan to add some thickness to it and while I was at it I may as well do the other two that are in the grass as well.

I purchased some 4” thick walled couplers to wrap around the thinner 4” drainage pipe.

I chucked them up in the lathe and removed the outside mold seam as well as the inside dividing ridge so they would fit snugly around the pipe.

After removing from the lathe I clamped it in the mill vise and cut a section out of each one so they would snap over the drain pipes fairly snug.

Ready to dig up a little grass and install.

I cut a little grass out around the downspout and then replaced the grass after installation. That should prevent further cuts.

Balor · Jul 10, 2019

GJ needs to have a Like Button installed.

zmotorsports · Jul 10, 2019

Bigblue&Goldie said:
Looking at your Kenmore, it's similar to my ~15yo Weber in that the lower half appears to be cast. I think this is the key to longevity vs a sheet metal component. I just put new "flavorizer" bars and grates on my Weber last week for the first time. I also wanted a new grill, but I can't find anything to complain about with my current one.

I think you're on to something. I like the cast base and lid but I wish it had a cast iron grate as well rather than the steel rod type. I think that would be a more even heat when cooking. I know there's nothing wrong with mine, especially after fixing the igniter, but I just really want one of those Weber Genesis stainless steel grills.

Just can't bring myself to buy one until ours is used up and I don't see that anytime soon the way it's going. :lol_hitti

I hate to admit but I did let it go a little too long between cleanings/PM's because it had a lot of buildup in the bottom cavity around the ceramic briquettes but now that it's clean it works as good as new.

Thanks for stopping by and checking on my projects.

zmotorsports · Jul 10, 2019

Balor said:
GJ needs to have a Like Button installed.

Thank you and thanks for following along.

aka Larry · Jul 10, 2019

Only with Mike could 'downspout' and 'lathe' be used together in a build!

Nice work as always man.

Finallygotit · Jul 10, 2019

zmotorsports said:
...... I like the cast base and lid but I wish it had a cast iron grate as well rather than the steel rod type......

Mike, trust me, you don't want a cast iron grate. Stay with the SS grate.

:beer:

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