MP&C Shop Projects

[xtremek]

Actually, I want to do an air ride suspension and do that for the trailing arms. But that project needs an engine first and it's about number 8 on the list

 

[Capt Chrysler]

Hello Robert, why not just move the springs inside the frame rail?
Capt. Chrysler

 

[MP&C]

Some have done so and it takes up all the room for stock fuel tank and dual exhaust tail pipes. You can do one or the other but not both...

 

[Capt Chrysler]

I kinda think the "stock" factor might be a little stressed right now. Your dailing in of the body bumped you up a couple!

 

[MP&C]

Why it's just a little bit modified.


Still working on the frame, Kyle was prepping the frame for welding on the strengthening plates while I drilled the plates for plug welds..


Plug welding....

The outer perimeter will be Tig welded...

 

[1/2 Cup]

The strengthening plates look great, well done.

Regards

 

[AnthonyN]

Robert, I am guessing that you will be doing rust protection between the frame and the plates, like a weld through primer. Can you tell us what you are using?

 

[MP&C]

Anthony, for this we didn't use any paint between, at some point we need to finish this car..


We had cleaned up the frame fairly well underneath and the new plates (hot rolled) still retain a light mill scale, which should help protect a slight bit. The entire perimeter will be welded using the TIG, so we shouldn't see too much corrosion in there. Plus, I'd venture this will not see as much rainy travel in the next 60 years as it has in the past 60. If the owner had a bottomless barrel of cash we could take everything apart, epoxy, and reassemble. But absent that, at times you draw a line in the sand..

Now, more importantly, when do we get to see some pictures of your Charger? Here's my old one, another that I should never have sold.. but that big block and 4 speed was going to get me in trouble!

 

[Divcod]

Anthony, for this we didn't use any paint between, at some point we need to finish this car..


We had cleaned up the frame fairly well underneath and the new plates (hot rolled) still retain a light mill scale, which should help protect a slight bit. The entire perimeter will be welded using the TIG, so we shouldn't see too much corrosion in there. Plus, I'd venture this will not see as much rainy travel in the next 60 years as it has in the past 60. If the owner had a bottomless barrel of cash we could take everything apart, epoxy, and reassemble. But absent that, at times you draw a line in the sand..

Now, more importantly, when do we get to see some pictures of your Charger? Here's my old one, another that I should never have sold.. but that big block and 4 speed was going to get me in trouble!

Robert, Agree on the need to draw the line, although I always go over the line , as to what is possible and what is required. Looking at the frame one could remove all of the brackets, clean and paint the joint and then re-rivet. Even at our low shop rate it would be hard to justify the cost. Still waiting for the person with a boat load of money.

 

[MP&C]

Still working the frame, here's the driver's side plate all clamped up and ready to go.. Hindsight and all that, should have made the plates about 2" longer and we wouldn't have those pesky holes in the way at the front end..

So we decided to cut out some 14 gauge and fill in those holes. Cut a piece the same width as the hole, and rounded the end. Then used the band saw to cut a vee on the back side of the "plugs" and continued to clean up the radius with the 3" Roloc sander. Once close, a bit more on the band saw and break off the remaining, then fine tune with the sander..

Magnet used to hold in place for tacking..

For TIG welding the perimeter of the plates, we decided to make up a "crutch" that we could rest our hand on for better holding the torch...

Kyle is getting a pretty good hold on this welding stuff...

He even let me get in some practice....

 

[MP&C]

Kyle got the welds finished up on the frame plates...

Frame is ready to send to get media blasted...

And the rear was busted apart for some media blasting as well

Getting the bus parts prepped for paint, the owner had a used bumper in stock so it will get repainted...

 

[aggierailroad]

Somehow missed this one....




What has been your experience with the tape around oil, and what tape did you use?

We considered some 3M double-sided body molding tape (as I had that in stock), but given all the WD40 used we feared it would have been a temporary hold...... letting go right in the middle, the way my luck runs.. We'll revisit the clamping method with Cody, he's coming to the shop when we punch the "GOOD" hood sides. The final version will likely be a bit longer, so we could even use some vise grips, if they don't pull puckers in the metal from the weight pulling down....

Sorry I missed this... It's like a 3M VHB 4950. High bond strength and oil resistant. For turning operations, the first thing to break the bond is if you overheat the part with the tool.

 

[Richard D]

Man I wish your shop was down here!

 

[36racin]

Man I wish your shop was down here!

Me too. Because my car would be inline to be done by these masterful hands and his apprentice.

 

[MP&C]

Thanks for the comments guys!

Sorry I missed this... It's like a 3M VHB 4950. High bond strength and oil resistant. For turning operations, the first thing to break the bond is if you overheat the part with the tool.

We should be punching the louvers next Saturday, the 12th, and we have a couple different options to make some back stops without drilling holes. I have plenty of body molding tape, so I'll give that one to Cody as an option as well.


We've been waiting for an opening at the machine shop's blasting booth, we're going to get the frame done first. They have some large platform in there now for the US Navy, so it looks like another couple weeks.. So in the meantime, Kyle has been prepping some front end components for paint..

......and we should have this showing up tomorrow, need to get some metal cut out of the side and new replacement made up...

 

[HD FLHX]

Every time a school bus pulled up at the body shop all I seen was $$$$ signs.... They were quick easy money, on big trucks we were able to charge a higher shop rate which meant more money in my pocket since I worked on a 50/50 commission. We always bought replacement panels directly from Thomas with all the rivet holes predrilled, swap out the panels, squirt some yellow & black 2 stage on & out the door they went. I think I still have some left over rub rail end caps in the bottom of my toolbox...

 

[MP&C]

Joe, I can't do but so bad here, the bus owner let me borrow his trailer when I went to MN to pick up my new shear, then came over with his skid steer to unload it into the shop..


Here's what we had to contend with on the bus. Some can opener effect going on....

After cutting some of the mangled mess out of the way.........

......we saw that the bottom structural member was not going to cooperate. The horizontal section behind the weld tear at the top used to be vertical... So to save some time, we'll cut this out and make a replacement. This is 16 ga, and is there to keep vehicles out of the passenger compartment. It did it's job, so let's put in a new one to restore the integrity..

Here the bottom flange is pushed in over an inch..

Here's the replacement we made up..

Comparison....

All trimmed, we'll get the replacement panel formed and fitted Tuesday..

Spare parts...

 

[iajonesy]

Well, Robert, you've been schooling us on how metal work is done, I guess it's only fitting that you have the vehicle to drive us to school. Keep teaching us.Thanks.

Mike

 

[MP&C]

Mike, it's taking me to school as well. Didn't look like this much work when I first looked at it..

 

[iajonesy]

I have faith in you, Robert.

Mike

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice Robert. I just wish I had a large enough shop to pull a full-size bus into, or at least our coach.

Great job as usual.

Mike.

 

[MP&C]

This was done at the bus owner's shop, my shop isn't large enough and it was too brisk this past weekend to work outside. For these bus repairs we tend to make parts that can be painted and assembled after the fact, since the buses don't fit in my booth either..

 

[zmotorsports]

This was done at the bus owner's shop, my shop isn't large enough and it was too brisk this past weekend to work outside. For these bus repairs we tend to make parts that can be painted and assembled after the fact, since the buses don't fit in my booth either..

Gotcha. Well I still wish my shop was bigger though.

Mike.

 

[MP&C]

I think all of us run out of room about 2 years after completion. Yup, bigger is better....



Well our bus side panel is just shy of 8' long and about 24" wide. We did a light pass on the wheeling machine just enough to break the grain, figured it would have less chance of waves that way... We found out real quick that 8' is a bit long, so some 1x2's were pony-clamped under the outside edges to provide a bit of support. We tried to make a pass through the bead roller for the stepped flange at the bottom, with less than stellar results, a bit wavy up and down. Good thing we had the other half of the sheet. More wheeling, and used the offset / step dies in the Lennox Tru-Edge.

Given our challenges with the long panels, we had to call in reinforcements. Regardless of the late hour that Scott's attire suggests, it was only 8 at night!

Linear slides really came in handy, nice straight detail this go round..

Comparing the bend relief above the rear bumper ear...

Tomorrow evening well get it fitted to the bus and final trimmed..

 

[MP&C]

Finished the welding of the lower structural member on the bus repair...

.....and underneath it is tied to the floor cross members

Added the frame around the fuel door, this helps prevent the side panel from flopping around as the fuel door is pushed closed..

Thursday evening we'll get all the holes pre-drilled for the skirting and start prepping for paint..

 

[MP&C]

Took delivery yesterday of a Blocking Hammer from Peter Tommasini. To give you an idea of the size of this beast, the stump is 24" in diameter..

This should come in handy in making the 16 ga repair panels for the front fenders on John's Beiderman truck..

 

[RickP]

Took delivery yesterday of a Blocking Hammer from Peter Tommasini. To give you an idea of the size of this beast, the stump is 24" in diameter..

Wow, that thing is a beast! Nice hammer -- I'll bet it works well on those fenders. Will those have to wait until the wagon's completed, or will you be able to fit them in sooner?

 

[MP&C]

Should get to them sometime this spring..

 

[MP&C]

The braces for behind the lower skirt were mangled pretty well, had to untwist the pretzels to get accurate measurements..

Getting all the holes prepped...

Welding in the new braces..

All the pieces of the puzzle... Well, almost..

Now to bust it apart for paint prep..

 

[Bighead38]

Does Thomas sell the pieces that you made? Was it cheaper to buy them or to make them with all the labor time? Good work as usual, I love this thread. It's so hard to find a good metal artist these days like yourself.

 

[MP&C]

Thanks guys. On the parts from Thomas, as far as I know you can buy the complete panels from Thomas, but the labor involved in replacing it would be considerable. Most of the repairs I do for him are done so the pieces are removable, then painted, then re-assembled, since my booth isn't big enough to put a bus inside. It seems when we've ordered larger items from them in the past, shipping takes its toll and they are seldom without damage. Since then we've made what we could. Typically the only pieces we buy are the lower skirts, wheel opening trim ring, rub rails, and luggage doors..

 

[Ohmthis]

Great work as usual Robert. How long did it take to put that flange in the long piece?

 

[MP&C]

Only about 10-15 minutes, once we got the machine pulled out of the corner so we had clearance for an 8' panel.

 

[Skyline]

Given how few people have the skills and equipment to do intricate sheet metal work, and the vast number of those yellow busses on the crowded roads in suburbia, it really makes me wonder where our local bus operators get them fixed when the inevitable damage occurs.

Great work BTW!

 

[MP&C]

Thanks!


Well, only one more piece to make for the bus, we need a cap to join together two pieces of rub rail....

Bent up some 18 ga on the Baileigh magnetic brake...

Then for the highly technical stuff, bent the rest using vise grips to clamp it in place and a dead blow to incrementally tap the ears around...

Continued to use the hammer to tap it around, then tightened up the radius on this die/post dolly

We'll get some paint on the bus parts tomorrow..

 

[JC23]

Sweet!

 

[MP&C]

Cody Walls drove down from Delaware today so we could punch louvers in the hood sides for 35 Chevy he's been working on, see some of his beautiful work here...


http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/cody-walls-builds-a-35-chevy.976318/


After using the samples we punched last month, Cody wanted to run one more test sample with larger louvers to check the flow against where the headlight lines up. Here Cody and Kyle wheel a new test sample...

Using the Lennox to punch the louvers, stops were riveted in place.

Clamped to the hood side, we decided on a slightly larger, with more to be added at the rear than the front..

The Driver's hood side takes it's turn...

One down.....

Passenger side....

All finished up...

Can't wait to see these on the car..

 

[Iron-Iceberg]

Those are very cool! Nice work.

 

[yaidunno]

The hood sides turned out great!

 

[zkling]

Wow, just wow. So much skill and talent.