Above 1200 Sq/FT The Warthog Hidey Hole

[Chrisb62]

Merry Christmas and have a joyous and Happy New Year.

 

[Finallygotit]

Merry Christmas JB!

 

[MrPink]

Hope you and yours had a good holiday sir.

 

[jbmatth]

This is the time of year I wish I lived down south cause cold temps and constant drizzle when others have 70's and 80's sounds nice. we might have a white Christmas and all our kids and their families will be here if it doesn't snow too much so all good. here's to wishing you and your family have a great holiday too.

also I know while you are in the MIDDLE of a engine build or project it always seems like there are issues and it will never end, but as you know keep plugging away at it a little at a time and ONE DAY while you are driving the Cobra or one of your other projects you'll be smiling from ear to ear (and we'll all be JEALOUS).

cheers!!!

Drives, this was a very unusual Christmas for us, well above average temps for this time of year, but you won't hear me complaining. The evening of new years we should be back to normal freezing temps every night. I too would like to move more south, but I don't want to think about moving anytime soon.

I'm still plugging away at the swap, little by little and I'll post some progress updates in a few. I would have loved to have had it running over the past few days of very nice temps. In time.

Merry Christmas J B

Thank you Don, I hope yours was merry as well.

And so we come to the end of the second year that Imdid not make it back to your place.

but we hve Messenger and the forum.

Just to,say Merry Christmas to you and your gang JB.

Here’s to a great 2022 as well.

Grizz, I'm hopeful next year will allow you to return to our area and we can catch up in person. I do enjoy our chats and seeing some progress on your projects as well. Merry Christmas to you as well as a happy new year.

Merry Christmas to you and your family J B

Thank you, I wish you a happy new year and trust your Christmas was wonderful as well.

Merry Christmas from Texas. Have a happy and safe New Year.

Billy

Billy, I'd like to thank you for sending some of your warm weather our way the past couple days, it helped to make Christmas that much more enjoyable. Hopefully your New Year will be great.

Merry Christmas and have a joyous and Happy New Year.

Chrisb62, Merry Christmas to you as well as a happy new year.

Merry Christmas JB!

Cheers back, have you gotten any miles on your Cobra lately?

Hope you and yours had a good holiday sir.

We surely did, lots of fun and I did lots of work as well.

JB

 

[jbmatth]

I am back after 4 days off from the Christmas break and have some progress to report, with most of it being forward progress. As mentioned before our weather was wonderful for the time away with only one morning even remotely considered cool. We of course had a great Christmas with lots of family time and enjoyed the weather outside a bit as well. Something I didn't get photos of was all of the work I did on the pasture, I probably had 25-30 hours cleaning the fence line and one smaller section of the horse pasture. For the fence line I used one of the 3 point heads like this image I borrowed from Amazon:

It made a huge difference and I'm really happy with the way the fence line looks now. After that I cut down the bigger trees and limbs that this wasn't meant for and used the tractor to add them to the existing brush piles. Sadly the only day I could have burned in the pasture was Christmas day as it was too windy other than that but did get one smaller fire going in the horse pasture yesterday afternoon. That one will take some more work...

Anyway onto the cobra, with the remote oil filter mounted I could make up the last of the lines, in this photo you can see why I went with shorter 90° fittings for this mount as otherwise it would have been below the oil pan:


I made up that last connection and done with the oil side finely:


I also received the last part needed for the fuel side and it is done now as well, woo hoo! Next up I bent some TIG welding rod to the approximate shape I needed for the radiator hoses and picked a few options up at the parts store. The top one fit great, the bottom I was out of luck with any I could find but was able to make it up with splicing two together, more to come on that one:


Lastly I used my wheel measuring tool to figure out what offset I needed on the front rims to go ahead and get them on order today, much more room than the rear but I'm only running 245's up front vs 305's on the rear:


Since I was already hear I decided to install all 4 of the original wheels and tires to see it on the ground for the first time in a while. Oil pan clearance is going to be a little low:


Yep, just a 2x4 is all I have or 3.5" (90mm) I think a skid plate might be in my future dang it. That is all for now, I made a little progress on the clutch hydraulics then had to take a step back to regroup...more to come.

JB

 

[mybigwarwagon]

Yikes that is low.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Definitely will be driving around obstacles and not over them!

 

[TMcCay]

Yeah, JB. A skid plate is definitely in your future. Oklahoma roads pretty much demand it with only that much clearance. I would bet that there are bigger rocks than that on your dirt road.

 

[Grizz1963]

.

JB

Welcome back.

Of course we missed you.

Good job on the yard work and the Cobra.

Just to say, I am super jealous of your little shop and the lift.

Having seen it two years ago when we stopped by for a breakfast beer, it would not take me long to fill, but man it would be fun for a few months.

Looking real tidy too.

 

[jbmatth]

Yikes that is low.

I knew it was going to be, but ouch I wasn't expecting that low.

Definitely will be driving around obstacles and not over them!

If you can't dodge them ram them...may not be the best plan of attack.

Yeah, JB. A skid plate is definitely in your future. Oklahoma roads pretty much demand it with only that much clearance. I would bet that there are bigger rocks than that on your dirt road.

I should be good on my gravel roads, I only drive 10-15 mph on it anyway. Speed bumps are one thing, but hitting a bump then a pot hole that sees the suspension already compressed would likely end in a very bad day.

Welcome back.

Of course we missed you.

Good job on the yard work and the Cobra.

Just to say, I am super jealous of your little shop and the lift.

Having seen it two years ago when we stopped by for a breakfast beer, it would not take me long to fill, but man it would be fun for a few months.

Looking real tidy too.

Thanks for the kudos, my body certainly knows I've been busting it lately, lots of sore muscles but luckily back feels great. I never thought I'd be able to fill this shop, I was very wrong, it is packed right now and needs a good cleaning.

Hopefully next year you'll be able to make the trip, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

JB

 

[jbmatth]

I didn't do much of anything on the car yesterday but did get a few things moving along. First of all I ordered my new wheels (rims, does it really matter, I've used them interchangeably but I'm sure one is more correct than the other?) yesterday after work. I did all of the research I could and decided these are the ones I want, pretty typical for a lot of cobras and I knew they would complement the car well so I went for them:

After measuring everything out with the tires in place using the wheel fit tool I came up with 18x8 front with +25mm offset in the front and 18x11 rear with -10mm offset in the rear. I was also pleasantly surprised they were almost $250 per wheel cheaper ordering them locally vs ordering them online, woo hoo! They quoted 6-8 weeks, I won't hold my breath though.

In other news I also picked up my driveshaft after being built from parts I ordered online. That is when I got the bad news he will be closing down shop June 1st after 35 years in business. He does other machining work and welding work but I've only ever used him for driveshafts. He is going to try to sell his entire shop, business, contents, etc. If the business doesn't sell I told him I'd buy his equipment he uses for building driveshafts. Sadly I can't justify buying the entire business with all I have going on, but getting some equipment would certainly be nice.

JB

 

[MrPink]

That ***** about your driveshaft builder. I have one 20 min from me that will be making mine, I will be supplying both ends they will do the tube and balance work.

Nice classic choice on wheels too.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Wheels will set the car off nicely JB, great choice! The Halibrand knockoff style wheel is still one of the best looking out there!

 

[zmotorsports]

Those wheels will look great JB. Yes, I use the term wheels as well. It's like nails on a chalkboard when I hear people calling them "rims".

 

[jbmatth]

That ***** about your driveshaft builder. I have one 20 min from me that will be making mine, I will be supplying both ends they will do the tube and balance work.

Nice classic choice on wheels too.

I think the next closest one is in Tulsa which from my house is over 2 hours away. It would be a great excuse to stop in and see Andy @oldironfarmer as he is pretty well on the way. I've only had to have driveshaft work done 3-4 times, but that would be 8 hours of driving each time rather than 3 minutes from work.

Wheels will set the car off nicely JB, great choice! The Halibrand knockoff style wheel is still one of the best looking out there!

I pretty much had to go this route, there really wasn't any other style I could find that would work on the car. I like the ones I have now, but they just don't fit the car well in my opinion.

Those wheels will look great JB. Yes, I use the term wheels as well. It's like nails on a chalkboard when I hear people calling them "rims".

Thanks Mike, now I'm excited to see them in person and on the car.

JB

 

[Bob Heine]

JB, those are the perfect wheels for your Cobra. I have always referred to the part of the wheel that mounts the tire as the rim. I have heard the rim referred to as the hoop as well. There's the deadly split rim...

...and the fancy rims:

 

[jbmatth]

@Bob Heine, Luckily I've never had to deal with a split rim, but haven't heard anything good about them from a safety standpoint. I did a little research just now, the wheel is all of the metal that the tire mounts on to connect it to the car with the lug nuts. The rim is the outer cylinder the spokes mount to on the inside diameter and the tire mounts to on the outside diameter. The rim can also be call be barrel, clear as mud? Mine will be made like your second photo as the center section will be offset from the centerline of the barrel. I'll obviously get a better look when they arrive and will try to get some photos as well.

JB

 

[jbmatth]

Well it is the end of another year and as per my tradition I like to do a year in review. Every year I'm surprised at how little it seems like I've done until the year is over and I can reflect back and see how much actually was accomplished. I really does just blow me away what consistent effort can add up to over a long period of time.

So here goes, I started off they year putting the new and improved engine in Alex's Mustang while he was out on orders:


Once that was done and he returned home we took off to the Grand Canyon with some other car friends, seen here at 4 Corners:


Of course I have to share a photo of the Grand Canyon as well:


Other times I just wanted to go for a cruise around, one of them was in the Go Cart:


I did make it to a couple of Gambler 500 events as well, one taking the now sold Chitbox:


And one in the Fauxrari:


I really like this car more than I should for a $700 car, I did buy it this year and took it for a few short cruises around as well:


Then we can't forget some fun times on the Mini Bike:


Another car I picked up this year and eventually sold was the BMW Z4 I won in a raffle, seen here traveling through Colorado:


Lots of miles driving this year, because I'm a nerd I track all of the miles I put on all of my vehicles, this year my total so far is 41,177 miles (65,883 km)!

More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

As usual I do a lot of work in the shop on vehicles such as the water pump on Lever Action:


As well as the clutch slave cylinder on it:


I put a skid plate on Chitbox:


That was a well timed upgrade, it got beat to heck on the Gambler. I also had to rebuild the transmission on the S10:


I also replaced the damaged fender on the Black Jeep:


One of the other big things that seem to happen every year is buying vehicles, such as the new pink Jeep pictured hear with Bear:


A 2500 Silverado 6.0L with 5 speed Manual:


An 80's Jeep Cherokee pictured here with the Fauxrari also purchased this year:


Most recently the Impala SS with a transverse mounted 5.3L V8:


More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

As mentioned earlier I also had to get rid of a few vehicles to fund other projects, the first to go was the Chitbox, then the S10 after the trans rebuild and upgrade:


The Black Jeep, and finely the BMW:


Some may remember we had a very rough cold spell were we didn't get over 20°F (-7°C) for 10 days, once we hit this:


It was the first time in probably 25 years it got cold enough to walk on ice on a pond but this was our pond, shown here with Cat:


I did a lot of work around the ranch too, such as putting in two gates:


Cutting down a ton of trees and burning some:


and some more:


Many others not shown as well. We did get a surprise when we had a horse born:


The baby is now just as tall as Mama at only 8 months old. At the beginning of the year I finished the roof on the lean to version 1:


Later in the year I added another 24' (7.5m) to it making it a total of 20'x72' (6mx22m):


More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

Lots of work on stuff not vehicle related in the shop this year as well, such as drilling holes in my welding table:


As well as modifying some clamps to work with them:


Put a new handle on an ax head found in the dirt and put a new edge on it, I used it a lot when working on trees and stumps this year:


I made a new tensioner for the Go Cart:


And did a mechanical rebuild on a band saw:


Not mentioned yet but the new tractor I picked up this year needed some repair work on the bucket due to a little bit of cracking:


There are a few times with repairs are just not feasible such as the 6x6:


After cleaning it up I eventually sold it as repair would have meant a completely new frame and drivetrain. The Lemon seemed to need a lot of work this year such as replacing the AC clutch:


Some suspension parts:


Also a few failed oil changes:


This turned out to be a bad oil filter after 3 tries I discovered the flawed threads on the filter. That was a more costly and labor intensive oil change than usual.

More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

I used the tractor bought previously a few times early in the year and was having a lot of trouble getting it to run right, it did help with piling a few trees, and run the new ripper to pull some old foundation out of the ground. I installed some teeth on the bucket and that made it a dirt moving machine but sadly I was only able to use it for that one time before I couldn't get it to start again. Here is the ripper:


With it down for the count and needing to get some work done at the same time I scored a great deal on a newer 3020 diesel:


I was able to get it, a 200 gallon sprayer, and bale spike all home right before it rained cats and dogs on me:


I certainly put it to work, mowing the pasture:


Moving trees and limbs into burn piles:


Digging holes to set posts for the lean to extension:


And stacking round bales in said lean to:


Lastly mowing the entire pasture again:


The reason I had to mow the entire pasture was because the rancher renting our place needed to replace the clutch in his tractor, he doesn't seem to be in a huge hurry for it to get done, he delivered it in June and it still looks like this today:


More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

By far the most time consuming job I've done this year has been working on the cobra, I brought it in right after the oil change troubles on the Lemon:


I did a lot of re-wiring under the dash:


Recently I finished measuring the offset for the new front wheels to fit the new tires:


The will complement the much beefier rear tires:


And will hopefully match the new wheels on the cobra:


All of this will help support the new engine:


A 7.3L Ford engine known as the Godzilla, that name is pretty tough sounding so it better have the muscle to back it up, I believe it does:


Luckily it fit without tooooooo much trouble:


Soon after header fabrication began:


After many many many hours the first header was complete and much bigger than the old header:


More to come,
JB

 

[jbmatth]

Also after many more hours the second header was complete:


I managed to beat all odds and complete the fuel system as well, a new pump, filter, lines, regulator, and fuel rails:


I also installed the new lower profile oil pan and remote oil cooler where I have an oil pressure sensor:


With that done, alternator bracket built and belt installed I gathered the parts needed for the radiator hoses and fit them as well:


The last two needed parts for the hydraulic side of the clutch are scheduled to deliver today, not many more hours until all I have left to do is wait on the wiring harness and computer. I also got away for a long weekend to go deep sea fishing with some high school friends where I managed to get the big one of the day:


I picked up a few new toys as well, one was this:


I love that rifle but need to get a few more rounds through it before I feel comfortable taking it out hunting. I used my old reliable 30-06 to get my biggest deer yet:


Many things abbreviated to get it all in, but it was a very fun and enjoyable year, here is to 2022 and hopes it'll be just as eventful and coming out of it healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Keep moving forward,
JB

 

[Trapps]

NEARLY 630 TQ?!?!?!?!

 

[Mr.zippy]

I’d say that was a productive year! Thank you for sharing everything with us…..hope 2022 is an even better year.

 

[Dan99]

Cool Cobra! I like the old Keller saw my Dad had this one I need to repair it.
needs a new arm to drive it.

 

[jbmatth]

NEARLY 630 TQ?!?!?!?!

It should be a fun little car when done, this is on pump gas even, the car should be around 2,500 lbs when complete.

I’d say that was a productive year! Thank you for sharing everything with us…..hope 2022 is an even better year.

Glad to share, it is as much for me as it is for ya'll.

Cool Cobra! I like the old Keller saw my Dad had this one I need to repair it.
needs a new arm to drive it.

It is very nice to have, I got this one from @BB767 of Restored 1930's Auto Shop fame and restored it about that same time. For the arm you have there a good welder should be able to weld that cast up and make it good as new. Short version is clean it well, grove to obtain a full penetration weld, pre-heat, weld with nickel rod, slow cool wrapped up in insulation. I've done it a few times on cast and haven't had a failure yet.

JB

 

[Dan99]

Thanks for the tips! I'll try it soon.

 

[jbmatth]

Thanks for the tips! I'll try it soon.

@Dan99 That is a very short version of it, there are plenty of good videos online to help out. I have always done it with TIG welding, but I'd expect you can do it with other processes as well. Nickel rod isn't cheap either, but cheaper than grinding it out and doing it again. Good luck,
JB

 

[Dan99]

Yes I have Nickel rod. I have read about nickel rod to make a California one piece bumper for my 1955 Chevy 210 2 door post.
I'll look for using it on cast. I have a temp/custom bumper currently.

Thanks.

 

[mybigwarwagon]

My year in review would be massive amount of mud, lots of sweat, sooooo many junk vehicles, and a smattering of assorted drug addicts.

 

[Finallygotit]

JB, there is no grass that is growing under your feet, geez!

 

[racer-john]

Happy New Year, jb

 

[86turbodsl]

Man that is a nice summary. Happy New Year.

 

[Trapps]

2500 Lbs. 630TQ. Fun little car....more like Saturn V. I hope you have a strong tire budget because with a heavy right foot, even those 11" meatballs you're planning will have a short life. Massive fun.

For the record, my bike weighs ~440Lbs. wet and dynoed at 171HP & 96TQ at the wheel. I think your car is going to be scarier!

Please share some videos once you have it out on the road.

 

[jbmatth]

Yes I have Nickel rod. I have read about nickel rod to make a California one piece bumper for my 1955 Chevy 210 2 door post.
I'll look for using it on cast. I have a temp/custom bumper currently.

Thanks.

Now you have me wondering why the need for nickel rod for the bumper, I'll have to look into that as I planned to do similar on my '57 bumpers and to tighten them up to the body a bit.

My year in review would be massive amount of mud, lots of sweat, sooooo many junk vehicles, and a smattering of assorted drug addicts.

We have been so dry here for so long any moisture would be nice, we had a pretty wet spring getting around 20" or so the first six months of the year but in the last 6 month what I can find close says 9" but I'd be surprised if it is that much and only 4" in the last 4 months. The creek on our place has been dry for at least 4 months now and I've only ever seen it dry up once before. I wouldn't doubt our pond will freeze solid this winter if we get weather like last year.

Luckily no drug addicts I've had to deal with but plenty of junk vehicles, most of them I drive regularly.

JB, there is no grass that is growing under your feet, geez!

No rest for the wicked.

Happy New Year, jb

Thank you racer-john, I hope you have a good one as well.

Man that is a nice summary. Happy New Year.

I really enjoy making these summaries each year, impressive how much gets done over a years time. Have a great new year as well.

2500 Lbs. 630TQ. Fun little car....more like Saturn V. I hope you have a strong tire budget because with a heavy right foot, even those 11" meatballs you're planning will have a short life. Massive fun.

For the record, my bike weighs ~440Lbs. wet and dynoed at 171HP & 96TQ at the wheel. I think your car is going to be scarier!

Please share some videos once you have it out on the road.

More than a tire budget I just hope I can find them when I need to replace them, right now the set I have for the rear are the only ones I could find in the US with a huge backorder on them now. Driving a bike like that would be nuts, I had some 1,000cc street bikes in the past and they were scary fast. This car should be an absolute blast to drive.

JB

 

[jbmatth]

It has been a bit of a whirlwind of stuff going on here, the new year made it and we are all still doing well. We had a birthday party for Cat and had 9 little kids at the house and about the same for adults and it was all just some of the family. One of the things my nephews really seemed to enjoy was playing around on the tractors, here is a niece and nephew that really didn't want to get off of them:


A couple days prior I picked up a milk shake for Cat as well and she really seemed to enjoy it and the order number made me laugh a little, the monkey hat and the look on her face says it all:


I did a little bit of fence work by adding a section that will allow the horses to have access to about 22 acres along with the lean to, their hay, watering trough close to the house and hydrant, and give the cattle about 15 acres their hay, and the pond. Perfect and now the cattle won't eat all of the expensive horse hay. In other news I've been working after work and a lot on the weekends clearing an area about a 1/2 an acre that is locked in by the creek and fence in the horse pasture. I can't get anything over the creek so it is all hand work for now but making good progress. This tree split and the entire thing was dead so it all had to come down:

This was the last of the first half, the second half is all down now (partially in this photo) as well as almost all of the small trees I'm going after this year in the background) but I'm still working on burning it all. I'll be saving some of the firewood but not much, I already have enough for 5 years of burning in the shop:

After a lot of time spent with that Echo Timber Wolf with the 24" (600mm) bar is a monster and is best used when a big saw is needed. I still find myself reaching for the Stihl MS 170 for all of the small stuff as it is so much lighter. I've also started to try to sharpen the chains more often, before I'd wait until it was just too difficult to cut with, now I sharpen it after every other tank of gas or when cutting gets tough and it has made a HUGE difference. Note to file as 1/2 Cup would say.

I did get my new clutch master cylinder in and have been working to bleed it, but it is being difficult. The flex hose sent with the kit wasn't long enough and had a section with a bleeder on it by the bellhousing but due to line up issues was pointing down. So I had to use a short section of hard line coming out of the master cylinder. I did bench bleed the new master cylinder and did get good flow to the slave cylinder. The trouble now is to get the air out of the slave cylinder having the only bleed point being the fitting at the slave cylinder. More to come on this one.


JB

 

[Pressingonward]

Are those copper brake lines, or just copper-coated steel? I'd be very wary if solid copper - it can work harden and crack suddenly. I have no direct experience, but have seen it discussed when people use it for fuel lines.

Looks like your Cobra is coming along nicely!

 

[Grizz1963]

That order number would have Herb “BugThug” salivating, he loves anything 666 especially number plates.


Speaking of BugThug, he has not been here for a while, and I did send him a PM and not had a reply.

Anyone know anything.


Progress looks great JB.

You never sit still, do you.