Above 1200 Sq/FT The Warthog Hidey Hole

[dlcwent]

My bet is on Mr. Baker, there's lots of frame and engine work to do on the '57, my goal is to be able to drive it by June of next year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good luck JB. I hope to be seeing pictures of yo tooling around in it.

 

[BUGTHUG]

sounds like a plasma cutter??

 

[BIGBAUM83]

I know it'd be a whole lot of work, but a Duramax powered '57 4 door would be pretty awesome!

 

[speedfreek1210]

I know it'd be a whole lot of work, but a Duramax powered '57 4 door would be pretty awesome!

I second this!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[oldironfarmer]

Seems JB has two Duramax engines...

 

[mybigwarwagon]

I know it'd be a whole lot of work, but a Duramax powered '57 4 door would be pretty awesome!

Ohhhhhh




I'll be in my bunk.

 

[rmack898]

Let me officially join the challenge committee.

That would be one cool ride.

If i can put a diesel in my Samurai and a diesel in my golf cart, you can put a Dmax in your '57.

I tripple dog dare you.

 

[shortykorte]

Sounds like a smart move to me too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jbmatth]

Good luck JB. I hope to be seeing pictures of yo tooling around in it.

Thank you DLC, hopefully I'll get it running by then, time will tell. Sadly the tools I hoped to have delivered in time to get some work done on my days off didn't show up. So I did some cleaning instead.

sounds like a plasma cutter??

Not a plasma cutter Herb, but that would be a good idea...now where is that Bay of E's link...

I know it'd be a whole lot of work, but a Duramax powered '57 4 door would be pretty awesome!

I second this!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Seems JB has two Duramax engines...

Ohhhhhh


I'll be in my bunk.

Let me officially join the challenge committee.

That would be one cool ride.

If i can put a diesel in my Samurai and a diesel in my golf cart, you can put a Dmax in your '57.

I tripple dog dare you.

Sounds like a smart move to me too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow, I'm starting to feel a little ganged up on here! I have put some serious thought into it but eventually opted not to go that route. The suspension I have planned for it just won't take that much weight I'm afraid. The amount of wiring and costs involved are just too much in all honesty for now. A friend did a duramax swap and had $10,000 into it just to get it to run and TONS of custom fabed parts. In the end he spent almost $25,000 into his truck and hasn't even gotten to paint yet. Also man those things are heavy and big:

I was able to get the engine pulled from Twin 1 this weekend, of course even after draining the coolant, blowing air into the top and all I still made a mess with the coolant. I tried a few other things on Twin 2 to try to get it running but was unsuccessful. I listed them for sale as is and have someone coming this weekend to look at one truck and the engine/trans combo. If he buys them that will make enough money to purchase an entire LS swap donor for the '57.

More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

As Andy mentioned in his post I made a trip over to his place to get rid of some scrap aluminum and pick up some old beams he had taking up space for my next big project. I didn't take nearly enough photos but we had a great visit, he showed me how to make some muffins and I helped him assemble his gantry crane. He also showed me how to mount and balance a tire:

He loaded me down with a few odds and ends he had laying around like this "cracker box" arc welder:

I haven't stick welded in close to 15 years so we shall see how that goes. I also loaded up this forge:

It is missing a fin on the blower so it shakes a little when you crank it over but will do a fine job when I start bending some red metal soon.

Lastly he beams:
View media item 73668
They were ~30' (~10m) initially, his SIL torched off 16'-3" so I could make my table out of them, I'll square up the ends and will have a 16' table when it is said and done. I also bought some 3" x 3" x 3/16" (76.2mm x 76.2mm x 4.76mm) square tube and a half sheet of 3/16" plate that will be used for legs on the table.

I also did a lot of cleaning in the shop and it is much cleaner now, ready to get started on the table. Along with that I mowed on Sunday and snapped a few photos to show how the drainage ditch and berm look now after the grass has gotten established, before:

After:

Thanks again to Andy for everything he has helped me out with ,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

Here are a few more photos from the past and present where I've done some clearing to gain the yard back. Just north of The Warthog Hidey Hole
Before:

During:

After:

East side of the shop
Before:

During:

After:

Then this is the area on the NE corner pretty much between the two places shown before:

Turning out but will take a few years to really fill in, and someone to spray some weeds eventually.

JB

 

[dchance]

jbmatth, You have done some work. It is looking really good.

Dwight

 

[BUGTHUG]

did you plant some grass seed on the berms?looks like a golf course

 

[-Brent-]

The yard looks awesome! Clearing out the brush so you have all that space under the trees is really great. I'm envious of all that shade... and lush green space.

 

[shortykorte]

Definitely looking good. I too like seeing the trees standing proud.

With those I-beams, this table will be interesting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jbmatth]

jbmatth, You have done some work. It is looking really good.

Dwight

Dwight,
It has been a while since I've heard from you, don't be so quiet. Thank you for the kind words, the yard looks great right after I mow it. Now today it is a little shaggy with all the weeds in it, but my gardener doesn't believe in spraying. (AKA I'm too cheap to buy the chemical.)

did you plant some grass seed on the berms?looks like a golf course

Herb,
No planting, just let it fill in with the Bermuda that was rolled in with the dirt. My gardener is also too cheap to buy seed.

The yard looks awesome! Clearing out the brush so you have all that space under the trees is really great. I'm envious of all that shade... and lush green space.

Brent,
I do enjoy it under the trees there, hopefully some grass will grow there in the next few years but if not I may just have to spread some shade tolerant varieties under there. It gets really dusty when I mow. Off to the far left in the last photo you can see my favorite tree on the place. It has the limb that grows out to the west and is a nice place to sit and drink some ice water when mowing.

Definitely looking good. I too like seeing the trees standing proud.

With those I-beams, this table will be interesting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Shorty,
Thank you for the compliments, it has definitely taken a lot of work to get it to this point. The beam will make a very stout table, the beam is S6x12.5 3.375" wide, 6" tall, and 12.5 lbs./t so about 200# each, the 3x3's are 6.87 lbs./ft. Grand total the table will be in the 700 pound range when I'm done with version 1. It'll be strong enough to hold a car I bet.
JB

 

[Guster]

Twisted cup brush on an angle grinder makes real quick work of knocking the rust of those beams. But suggest doing it outside to keep the rusty dust off everything.

Some nice scores. Nothing wrong with that Lincoln tombstone buzz-box. Is Andy cleaning out his shop or something?

 

[shortykorte]

Twisted cup brush on an angle grinder makes real quick work of knocking the rust of those beams. But suggest doing it outside to keep the rusty dust off everything.

Some nice scores. Nothing wrong with that Lincoln tombstone buzz-box. Is Andy cleaning out his shop or something?

With JBs air system, I'm thinking he needs a portable sand blast rig.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[oldironfarmer]

The place is looking really good JB!

The hard work is paying off!

Is that my welder? Did I see you take it?

What's going on here?

(I've been trying to get JB to take one of my welders for a couple of years so he can get some real heat on structural welds. He finally agreed)

 

[Grizz1963]

I find myself making involuntary noises in my mouth, looking at your progress and as it is now.

I love gardening, landsacaping and getting things back to square.

You have done so awesomely well on all you lay your hands on.

Well done and thanks for sharing.

 

[BUGTHUG]

He loaded me down with a few odds and ends he had laying around like this "cracker box" arc welder:

I haven't stick welded in close to 15 years so we shall see how that goes. I also loaded up this forge:


made out like a bandit on the tombstone welder, did Andy give you the 3 year warranty with that

 

[jbmatth]

Twisted cup brush on an angle grinder makes real quick work of knocking the rust of those beams. But suggest doing it outside to keep the rusty dust off everything.

Some nice scores. Nothing wrong with that Lincoln tombstone buzz-box. Is Andy cleaning out his shop or something?

Guster,
Thanks for the suggestion, I may have to get another couple of twisted cups, I have two but don't think they will last through all of this. I will most definetally do it outside, no sense in making a mess right after I cleaned up my shop. It appears as though Andy is, his shop is much easier to navigate when I was there last this past winter.

With JBs air system, I'm thinking he needs a portable sand blast rig.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Shorty,
I've considered that, and may have to just bite the bullet and do it, I just hate the idea of buying sand just to throw it on the ground. But if I also bought a giant tarp I might just be able to reuse it. That would really but the Condiment Corner to the test.

The place is looking really good JB!

The hard work is paying off!

Is that my welder? Did I see you take it?

What's going on here?

(I've been trying to get JB to take one of my welders for a couple of years so he can get some real heat on structural welds. He finally agreed)

Thank you Andy, it was nice to purge a few things that I realized I'll never use...until I realize I did really need them. So about the welder, yeah I should have mentioned I was borrowing it, I'll bring it back when you aren't looking so you don't notice it was ever gone. As a side note Andy also returned some of my scrap aluminum in the form of serial number 3 A.M. hammer and Bo D'Arc handle kit. I told him I would install it first thing Tuesday morning...I apparently lied. It is on my bench and ready though at least.

I find myself making involuntary noises in my mouth, looking at your progress and as it is now.

I love gardening, landsacaping and getting things back to square.

You have done so awesomely well on all you lay your hands on.

Well done and thanks for sharing.

Grizz,
The kind words are really appreciated, it truly means a lot to get compliments on things I've worked passionately on such as the yard. We don't have many visitors but it is wonderful to hear. I had a neighbors dog follow my wife home during her run, I took him back and the neighbor kept going on and on about how much better our place looks since we bought it. Makes me proud for some reason.

He loaded me down with a few odds and ends he had laying around like this "cracker box" arc welder:

I haven't stick welded in close to 15 years so we shall see how that goes. I also loaded up this forge:


made out like a bandit on the tombstone welder, did Andy give you the 3 year warranty with that

Herb,
He actually gave me a lifetime money back warranty, if it breaks I can get it fixed and take it back for all of my money back. I have some 6011 3/32" (2.4mm) rod coming in the mail soon to put it to the test. I decided to wait to buy the rod online because it was not only cheaper, but I am sad to say I don't have a NEMA 6-50 outlet to plug it in. I also have a plug and 25' 8/3 extension cord on the way. (Thanks for that tip goes to Bob Heine.)

Updates in the next post,
JB

 

[oldironfarmer]

You'll do a lot better with 1/8" 6011. That little 3/32" will stick over and over. Why it's called "stick" rod, I guess.

 

[jbmatth]

Andy,
Darn, I thought you said to buy 3/32", I guess I'll have to buy some more rod then. So with the 1/8" you recommended 90-120 amp correct?

All,
I had a frantic phone call from my mother yesterday about one of my little brothers. He was in Atlanta doing his final paperwork before traveling to Ft. Polk, La. today to rejoin the Army. Well his truck overheated and he didn't let it cool down and it started to knock. He doesn't do any mechanical work and is not going to be able to get it fixed before having to leave. They are VERY low on money at the moment and can't afford to have it fixed. He took his wife's car to make the trip which leaves her without a car.

So I offered to let him borrow my Lemon car the problem is the logistics involved. The best option I could come up with was to load The Lemon on my trailer and tow it to Ft. Polk with B.P. 2.0, swap out it for his wife's car, take that to her just outside of ATL, load his truck and hopefully an engine then come back home to do the repairs here. That means I would have to travel alone a total of 2,050 miles (3,280 KM) and about 32 hours of total driving over a weekend.

It looks like the first weekend he will have available is August 26th, but the next weekend is Labor Day so a 3 day weekend. I think I'll wait for that to have a little more sleeping time just in case.

The next problem to overcome is that The Lemon has had some strange acting blinkers since I found a rat nest in it last year. After swapping every bulb from the good side to the bad one at a time it still persisted. I eventually traced it down to a bad ground and finely found it:

Got that fixed and a few other things taken care of. Now I have to just change the wipers, then change the oil in my truck, check it over real quick, buy at least one spare for my trailer, and hit the road. On top of that my in-law's AC went out and I have to check that out as well before the temps get back into the Mid-90's this week and weekend. Luckily I don't have to do all of that between tonight and tomorrow morning as I'd initially thought. Woo Hoo. So here are all three yellow vehicles lined up ready to move out:

JB

 

[rmalkow2]

Wow, you just got super busy with all the driving and moving of vehicles ahead. Drive safe.
The yard looks fantastic with all that cleaned up area under shade trees.
While the big diesel would be unique in a 57 Chevy I have to agree with you by going the LS engine route. It will make for a very nice and streetable drivetrain in that car. Can't wait to see you out enjoying that.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Super cool on the Lincoln Tombstone. I have my grandfather's, it doesn't show nearly as well.

That's a lot of seat time you have coming up! Drive safe.

When you get ready to start on the LS stuff, just let me know. I've got a few swaps under my belt and will try and help out with what little knowledge I have.

 

[Bob Heine]

JB, I don't know if this is an option but can you break up the car/truck swapping into two trips? Here's my thought:

Weekend 1 (8/26/17)

• Pay for a one-week rental car for your sister-in-law.
• Take the Lemon to Ft. Polk on your trailer and swap the cars.

That appears to be two 8-hour drives in two days. Rest up for a week and maybe even check over your sister-in-law's car so you aren't returning another problem to her.

Weekend 2 (9/1/17)

• Drive to Atlanta with your sister-in-law's car on the trailer.
• Bring the truck back to OK.

That appears to be two 12-hour drives or three 8-hour drives with two overnight stays.

The chance of a disaster is always there but tiring yourself out needlessly makes it more likely that you'll make a mistake or won't react as fast to another driver's mistake.

 

[Growlertdi]

JB, I don't know if this is an option but can you break up the car/truck swapping into two trips? Here's my thought:

Weekend 1 (8/26/17)

• Pay for a one-week rental car for your sister-in-law.
• Take the Lemon to Ft. Polk on your trailer and swap the cars.

That appears to be two 8-hour drives in two days. Rest up for a week and maybe even check over your sister-in-law's car so you aren't returning another problem to her.

Weekend 2 (9/1/17)

• Drive to Atlanta with your sister-in-law's car on the trailer.
• Bring the truck back to OK.

That appears to be two 12-hour drives or three 8-hour drives with two overnight stays.

The chance of a disaster is always there but tiring yourself out needlessly makes it more likely that you'll make a mistake or won't react as fast to another driver's mistake.

I like this option much better if you can swing it.

 

[oldironfarmer]

That's right, JB. After a bit you can use 75 amps on 1/8" 6011.

90 and 105 are good places to start.

Wish I could get away to make the trip with you. Tying down the cars and all

 

[Lwel9226]

You'll do a lot better with 1/8" 6011. That little 3/32" will stick over and over. Why it's called "stick" rod, I guess.

True story...... You might also try some 1/8 6013, and 1/8 7014, Have fun...

LynnW

PS: 7024 is also good rod and very easy to use, but only good for flat welds....

LW

 

[Lwel9226]

Good luck on your trip and drive safe....

Lynn W

 

[shortykorte]

Safe travels. Will your brother join you on the Ft. Polk-ATL around trip?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jbmatth]

Wow, you just got super busy with all the driving and moving of vehicles ahead. Drive safe.
The yard looks fantastic with all that cleaned up area under shade trees.
While the big diesel would be unique in a 57 Chevy I have to agree with you by going the LS engine route. It will make for a very nice and streetable drivetrain in that car. Can't wait to see you out enjoying that.

I would have to agree, also the though of having to dig deep into a duramax on the side of a road or finding someone with more experience than me to do a repair is not likely. LS parts are very abundant and much easier to troubleshoot. I always have the option to do a duramax swap in the future. Also thank you for the kind words on the place and I'll update on the trip below.

Super cool on the Lincoln Tombstone. I have my grandfather's, it doesn't show nearly as well.

That's a lot of seat time you have coming up! Drive safe.

When you get ready to start on the LS stuff, just let me know. I've got a few swaps under my belt and will try and help out with what little knowledge I have.

Thanks for the offer, and I'm sure I'll take you up on it if I get stumped. Most likely I won't get to the LS part of the swap until winter so hopefully I'll have a little more breathing room at work.

JB, I don't know if this is an option but can you break up the car/truck swapping into two trips? Here's my thought:

Weekend 1 (8/26/17)

• Pay for a one-week rental car for your sister-in-law.
• Take the Lemon to Ft. Polk on your trailer and swap the cars.

That appears to be two 8-hour drives in two days. Rest up for a week and maybe even check over your sister-in-law's car so you aren't returning another problem to her.

Weekend 2 (9/1/17)

• Drive to Atlanta with your sister-in-law's car on the trailer.
• Bring the truck back to OK.

That appears to be two 12-hour drives or three 8-hour drives with two overnight stays.

The chance of a disaster is always there but tiring yourself out needlessly makes it more likely that you'll make a mistake or won't react as fast to another driver's mistake.

Great idea Bob, and if things hadn't changed yesterday I would consider it. No need for a rental for my SIL, she lives next door to her parents for the time being until she moves to Louisiana with my brother. I'll give more detail on the changes below.

I like this option much better if you can swing it.

That's right, JB. After a bit you can use 75 amps on 1/8" 6011.

90 and 105 are good places to start.

Wish I could get away to make the trip with you. Tying down the cars and all

True story...... You might also try some 1/8 6013, and 1/8 7014, Have fun...

LynnW

PS: 7024 is also good rod and very easy to use, but only good for flat welds....

LW

Good luck on your trip and drive safe....

Lynn W

Thank you Andy and Lynn, I have a lot to learn about welding and rod/metallurgical details but will practice a bit on some scraps before cranking it up on the table.

Safe travels. Will your brother join you on the Ft. Polk-ATL around trip?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you Shorty, and I'm wishing for the best as well.


All,
Good news is it doesn't sound like I have to make the entire trip and will get some company for over half of it. After discussions with my mother and brother it looks like the plan will be to do the driving on Labor Day weekend. I'll head to another brothers house in N.E. Arkansas where I'll pick up my mother and MAYBE play with is '68 Camaro some. Then she will travel with me to Georgia where my brother will meet us with his wife's car. I'll give him The Lemon and pick up his truck to bring back here to try to fix. In the mean time I have some new tools to play with. See below,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

As mentioned earlier I have picked up a few new tools, here is the majority of them that will fit in one photo:

\

From left to right there are a couple of scraper to help clean up greasy messes, a couple of strap wrenches that I never thought to buy when I was near a computer, some Metabo 3" grinder discs for S.S. recommended by MP&C, a 12" (300mm) Proto crescent wrench to fill in a gab I had from 10" to 15" (My first Proto, and I'm impressed, it was really cheap to boot.), transfer punch set for up to 1/2", 1/2" fuel line disconnect tool, and lastly a Craftsman laser level to help with some layout work.

Next up:

A Drill Doctor 750x for sharpening bits from 3/32" to 3/4", I have probably 100 bits in need of at least a touch up.

I won this used Evolution Bora 2800 Mag drill and it even came with 8 different annular cutters, but sadly not the size I need but still good to have and will come in handy for drilling 64 holes in the beams for the table.

An Evolution Rage2 metal chop saw, I've seen some good reviews about this online from owners not just people paid to review tools. Once again it'll come in handy for working on the table. Check out the teeth on the blade:

I will give it a test run tomorrow probably. I was putting some of this away when I realized I needed to move some tools around in my boxes to fit the Drill Doctor in with the bits. That meant my grinder drawer needed to move to another shallower drawer. To ease the space constraints I found a good place to hang my grinding wheels:

So I guess I'll tell my plan for the table. It will be a frame table for mocking up the frame on the '57. The cost of new suspension components, bushings, brakes, an axle etc are crazy high and I don't have the money to do that so I decided to mimic what some of the big time builders do and use C4 Corvette suspension. There are a few beat up molested C4's for sale around here I can pick up for around $1,000. I'll pull the suspension from the C4 body and make a jig to fit it that will then be used to build mount points to the '57 frame. Then simply bolt on suspension, brakes, rear dif, etc. I'll gain 4 wheel disc brakes, independant suspension, and will safe a lot of money while challenging myself on a not too common build. The holes will be used to mock up the jig and keep everything fitting tight.

So now the cat is out of the bag. Sadly I go on to a new assignment Monday and may not allow access to check in here so if you don't hear from me before mid-November do be alarmed.
Keep Moving Forward,
JB

 

[OutlawDrifter]

When I saw the size of the beams I figured it was a frame table, not to mention the length you described. Very cool! I'll have to look into the chop saw.

 

[mybigwarwagon]

Do you have any kind of Ac in the hidey hole or is it just smoking hot in there.?

 

[shortykorte]

Looking forward to your review of the Evo saw. I want one just haven't pull the trigger.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BUGTHUG]

that sounds like a lot of money for a 4 door? be interesting none the less.

 

[mybigwarwagon]

I just watched a video by Hand Tool Rescue where he restored a forge like that. Pretty cool stuff.

 

[Pluribus]

How did I miss this thread before? Will be looking forward to updates on the shop, tools, and projects!