MP&C Shop Projects

[larry4406]

Robert,
You act like Virginia is a foreign country....we're only across the line.....

Two hours each way is a road trip. I stand by my statement.

Hell I live in Northern Va and commuting to Blacksburg to go to VPI back in the day has a 5 hour plus run!

 

[gearhead1960]

Hell I live in Northern Va and commuting to Blacksburg to go to VPI back in the day has a 5 hour plus run!

@larry4406 late 70's early 80's that was a regular drive for me from Falls Church. I-81 sucked then, ***** now. Fastest time I recall I did it in was like 3 1/2 hours. Needless to say, I was haul'n A**. Can't drive like that anymore.... Most enjoyable part was Rte. 460 through Ellett Valley.

 

[WoodsTruck]

You guys have it rough. I had to run to the next state over to pick something up. 16 hours 0 minutes, 962 miles roundtrip.

 

[PugetDude]

It’s a big state. I stand by my statement.

Not a big state by western standards. More like a big ranch.

 

[Bob Heine]

Not a big state by western standards. More like a big ranch.

Scott, Arizona (my birthplace) is almost 3 times the size of Virginia but Virginia packs a million more people inside its borders. Not sure where in Virginia Robert was going but there's a city he has to navigate to get to the Northern Virginia area. It's possible to avoid the parking lot route but that means a bridge and lots of little back roads.

 

[MP&C]

One expensive lesson we learned from installing a window three times, the tack strip that the owner bought was too thick for the headliner, and as a side effect cramped the glass going in. This also meant the upper window clips, which also serve to "position" the garnish molding, pushed the molding down far enough that the back side was visible through the glass.





In order to remedy that view through the glass, we need to fabricate new clips that allow the trim to position higher on the glass. We start with a set of dies for the Lennox so we can make a run of the needed shape, and then cut them individually to size. This should give us the best consistency on size. Our first set of dies will take a folded 90* shape and form it into a "U" shape. We used the Southbend "milling machine" to provide a relief for the long side flange of the clip.

Additional reliefs and some roloc sander action and we have the lower die ready for the shortened clip.





Then our 3/8 end mill is brought in from the end to form a matching profile.





A piece of 1018 is welded onto the side to give us more "meat" to make the folding ramp, and then machined to clean up the weld.








Using the pneumatic belt sander and a cone shaped die grinder we add the ramp to the upper die and then run a profile through..

Our next set of dies for the wrap around fold....

Clips cut to length and mounting holes drilled





Next on the list was to install the new wiper washer nozzles on my daily, since the old ones couldn't stand the heat under the hood with a turbo. The barb fitting had broken free of the nozzle and we no longer had windshield cleaning service. Upon removal, I found that one of the barb couplings had disintegrated as well. And here we were one hour after the auto parts stores had closed. Here's a still intact sample:





Since we had some stainless brake line left over from the wagon, lets make some lemonade...











Back in business.. And the artist has made some progress on the Lennox....

 

[MrPink]

That is super cool work on the Lennox

 

[xtremek]

Nice recovery on the barb, and your tooling is always cool to see.

 

[MP&C]

Update on the Kent bike seat, we have a good fit and now it's off to the upholstery shop..

 

[MP&C]

So I've been rather lax on the updates as we've had a distraction here at the shop. Someone had a mishap in returning home on Memorial day (about midnight) from one of the local watering holes. Let's call him "Dale Jr"





Seems he was coming in a bit hot in the final turn where his left tires were out in the grass in the opposite lane..





Which, when combined with over-correction....














Here, I guess not wanting to go a lap down, he took the nearest path back to the "track", completely ignoring pit road to his right....





The remnants left behind suggested the drivers window broke out, likely when this gem flew out of the vehicle...





So we've been rebuilding from that the past few weeks in spare time, pre-painting pickets to limit June/July sun exposure.....











and we finished off here yesterday around noon...





Still have one more coat of paint to apply, but this will hold it until cooler days or the next mishap at the track..

 

[larry4406]

Robert that ***** on the fence!

We’re you able to use the phone to nail the guilty one?

 

[WoodsTruck]

I figured the license plate in the first photo would have worked just as well.

 

[MP&C]

Police on premises and provided incident report with all pertinent details.

 

[txvwnut]

Did you at least take the obligatory nut sack picture on the perpetrator’s phone? I mean it’s the least you could do.

 

[MP&C]

Dang it! Another opportunity missed!

 

[zmotorsports]

That ***** about the fence Robert. I had someone take out my brick mailbox at my last home that I had to haul away and rebuilt and that was bad enough, I can't imagine having to rebuild/replace several hundred feet of picket fence. It has turned out very nice however.

 

[jbmatth]

Having to deal with the damage I'm sure was not fun at all, but I'm sure when you found the plate and cell phone made you crack a smile. Hopefully they had insurance and that you will be getting reimbursed for your time a bit as well, don't forget to charge them your hourly rate.

JB

 

[MP&C]

With fence repair duties out of the way we can get back to some progress on the wagon. Finally got the correct clips for the beltline molding...











We had been attempting to polish up some of the stainless trim but always seems to find 67 years worth of scratches difficult to remove. So we opted to give Trizact a try, starting with 1500, then 3000, 5000, and finally 8000.. The edge of the 3000 and up seemed to bear the brunt of the polishing duties, and wore off much sooner than the center. In an effort to get more life out of the trizact pads, we purchased a 5" Dynabrade where we could cut the outer (worn) portion off the pads and continue to use.. The Trizact did well on the stainless, a much easier task at the polishing stage...




















We also have been working on the wiring, and getting it run inside some protective loom. To keep things tidy and knot free, we opted for some heat shrink tubing spaced at regular intervals.. Where I've seen electrical tape used in similar situations, the tape seems to turn into a sticky mess in short order so we'll give this a try. Jared has some re-wiring to do on his 39 coupe so this is good practice (learning curve) for him.. This section is from the fuse box to the rear of the body, the tan wire pulled out is for the fuel sending unit.














These clips are just about the right size for this harness "portion", we got them to run along the frame rail behind the rear axle, but found use for them in a couple other locations. Corvette part.











Here Jared made a protective channel where the wire passes under the rear seat frame.

 

[WoodsTruck]

Again, nice work on the wagon.

Have you encountered "heat shrink tape"?

Seems like I'm finding times I forgot to install the shrink tube before making my connection, or wanting add some to an existing loom.

Adhesive Lined Heatshrinkable Tape

www.wirecare.com

 

[MP&C]

I have not used that but do have some rolls of vulcanizing tape, or “self-fusing electrical tape” as McMaster calls it. Sticks to itself, no adhesive.

 

[stinkity stoink]

Getting there with the wagon !!

 

[gba2331]

I have not used that but do have some rolls of vulcanizing tape, or “self-fusing electrical tape” as McMaster calls it. Sticks to itself, no adhesive.

Where have these products been all my life? Hallelujah!!!

 

[BMW Rider]

If you want to wrap the wiring instead of using loom, you can get wrapping tape that is non adhesive. It is a bit stretchy and you can wrap the wires fairly tight with it and it clings to itself as you wrap, but does not adhere at all so no sticky mess on the wiring. You do need a single wrap of regular tape or heat shrink to secure the end of the wrap.

 

[zmotorsports]

Beautiful work on the polished stainless Robert. That is yet another amazing talent that you possess.

 

[MP&C]

Mike, some days you get lucky and the hair brained idea works!

 

[MP&C]

More progress on the wagon, we're getting some of our wiring run to the back of the car...





In cutting out door panels our upholsterer cut out the speakers a bit too large for how we were mounting them. I don't think I had conveyed those details as I had planned on doing the speaker cutouts portion.. So to keep him from having to do that work over again, we offered to cut them out this time around.





6-32 Riv-nuts used to hold the tweeter grill in place...











8-32 machine screws were sharpened to transfer the hole pattern onto the panel, then our speaker spacers matched to those for cutting out the center hole.














Next, holes drilled for our stainless trim that we had welded the impaling pins on prior....








The stainless trim would be needed for upholstery, so we got to polishing.. A board was drilled to accept the impaling pins and better hold the trim piece for our prep stage of removing 67 years worth of scratches. Also worked well in holding things steady at the buffer..








We used 3M Trizact on the DA, starting with 1500 grit and finishing with 8000 grit. This process cuts out the first two buffing stages, and seems to polish out nicer. Buffing process was using green rouge on sewn wheel and final was grey rouge on loose wheel.

This is after 3000 Trizact:




This is after 8000 Trizact:




This is after buffing:




That'll do pig, that'll do.

 

[MP&C]

Some fabrications in the shop last week.... I had recently taken delivery on a 40mm thick piece of phenolic for making dies for the Lennox nibbler. This was much thicker than I had used previously, so a new universal holder was needed. A piece of 2" tubing was cut in half to form the U shape, and opened to the correct size using the Dynabrade air belt sander.














To hold the die inserts in place, some pointed set screws were added to each side. Then two flat set screws were added to the bottom to allow fine tuning of die position.











all ready for the next set of dies..

Next, I had a shroud to fabricate for the day job, this is to provide a bit of environmental protection for some EMI filters.





In order to punch some ventilation louvers I needed to adapt the Mittler Bros. louver dies to the press brake. Some 2-1/2" square stock was sourced, drilled, tapped, and assembled..

















And to round out the weekend's activities, we had our passports stamped and made a run to VA to pick up some shop equipment. First, an oscillating spindle sander, which will be heading to a buddy's shop in PA. Next, a P2 Pullmax, which Was originally bought for Maine Township High School West in Des Plaines, IL. It is heading to a buddy in Memphis TN.

 

[22george]

Robert,
Be very careful not to breathe the dust when sanding etc phenolic. It will cause cancer.
We used it making forming blocks on aircraft. Supervision was very cautious about safety when grinding phenolic.

 

[white6589]

Thanks for the updates Robert.

Getting closer and closer on the '55 wagon reveal.

 

[MP&C]

I spent a week in Tennessee just south of Nashville, attending a metalshaping workshop and delivering the Pullmax there for Mike Abbott of Steel Rose Metal Co in Memphis TN. We had a good time learning tips and tricks, meeting old friends and making new ones.


Jesse Harris, who lives about 15 minutes from me, travelled out as well, and gave an awesome demo on using the bead roller with a focus on artwork.









A leading demo on an aluminum Rolls Royce door...





One of the attendees lives just north of Nashville, and a few of us travelled one evening to check out his shop, Ace Chassis. He has been building pulling tractors for about 20 years now and has quite the setup for machining, welding, and sheet metal fabrication.





Upon return from TN, Jared brought over his 39 Ford so we could install a new wiring harness in place of the convoluted mess that was there.

He had some issues and a local fella that wires boats or something had made some repairs. This is his mainstay, I'd never seen the stuff and now having seen his work, I have my doubts about anyone who would use it on a regular basis.





Here's some before pictures to highlight both his repairs and what was done before he got there. For some reason he decided that two separate runs of 12V power from the same source needed a resettable circuit breaker between them.





Personally, I'm confused. But that's not the half of it. This is a "ground" cable that was attached to the frame.





under the dash...





This is in the passenger front floor area, there is a fusebox in there somewhere..





The battery was located behind the passenger seat, and here is the cable routing beneath the car...





Yes, that's the positive battery cable against the muffler.....





With all this we found our best option was to remove the battery and start cutting out ALL the wiring.





First order of business was to fabricate a mounting plate for the new fuse panel to get it out of the floor...





Having removed the most splices I have ever seen under a dash board, our goal was to have as few splices as possible, and make direct runs where we could. W crimps were used throughout, adding glue lined heat shrink in place of the previously favored liquid tape.. Tail light wiring was plenty long so new contact buttons eliminated the typical splicing of pigtails..





Tach and Speedometer connected...





Headlight switch...





For routing purposes, and to keep from drilling the firewall, we made some cable management using rare earth magnets and cable saddles..








more to come......

 

[larry4406]

Wow what a bird's nest of wiring!

I think this is clever "..cable management using rare earth magnets and cable saddles.."

 

[Horror Business]

Rat’s nest, indeed!

 

[stinkity stoink]

seriously with that battery cable !!!

 

[zmotorsports]

Looks like an awesome class that you attended Robert. I love the tractor, but tractor pulling was one of the first forms of racing/competition that I participated in the mid-80's before I got into drag racing. I even had my old shortbed Chevy in a few truck pulls when my wife and I met and I kind of thought I could stay with it but it fizzled out in our area about as fast as it took off. I still enjoy watching it on TV however and the tractors and trucks are works of art. That is awesome that you got to go to the guys shop.

Your wiring looks very clean and sanitary, I love it.

Robert, if you get a moment, could I ask that you pop into my thread and check out the rust repair on my son's WJ that I have been working on for the past week or so? It has been a while since I have been in the rust repair replacement and paint & body sector and would like your opinion on how it looks as far as cutting the old rust out, fabricating the rust repair inner panel, welding the patch panels in and how I went about protecting and sealing the areas to prevent future corrosion issues.

In the past I had used a combination of or two different methods of performing rust panel replacement of epoxy treating the bare steel before welding and/or the copper based UPOL weld through coating. I really don't have a definitive answer on which method is better and have used both in years past. On one hand I feel that brushing some epoxy primer on the bare steel then fitting the panels and knocking off the epoxy just where the welds is the best method but then there are times I wonder if the weld through coating may provide better longer lasting corrosion protection. I haven't had an issue with either method but simply don't have a definitive answer on which is the better method and why. I used the epoxy primer method on this repair.

By keeping the tack welds small and intermittent by grinding them to just proud of the parent material and then adding another about 50% overlapping I feel it doesn't get hot enough to burn the epoxy off more than about a quarter of an inch back but then I wonder if the weld through coating would stay put better and provide longer lasting protection in that small **** welded seam?

I would love to get your perspective on it especially on a daily driver that will most definitely see inclement weather driving conditions as opposed to a show piece that more than likely won't be taken out in such weather.

Thanks Robert.

 

[GreyOwl]

WOW!! How did that car not burn to the ground before you started on it??

 

[jimkinney]

Liquid Electrical Tape is great as a water sealer over good quality electrical tape. It works, but is not so great on it's own.

I used to build wire harnesses, and I'd be ashamed to put that in anything but the trash.

That ground loop makes a great hanger.

Jim

 

[MP&C]

We've found out our wiring expert was also moonlighting as a welder..

 

[zmotorsports]

We've found out our wiring expert was also moonlighting as a welder..

HOLY ****!!! And on a steering component to boot.

 

[larry4406]

HOLY ****!!! And on a steering component to boot.

And to think he could have used the steering column as a raceway for cable management…

 

[Wiz02]

Come on, it's not that bad, at least there is no wire sticking out of that goober, er weld.