Messages

I wanted it finished by saturday,but i'm running out of time.
Russ[/quote]

Just tell her it was a one man "Overhauling" show.  She will understand.

When we were at SEMA last November, Overhauling was doing a 1967 Charger in a tent on the grounds.  We went in to watch for a while and I counted 23 people working on the car.  I told my wife that is why mine is taking so long. Ha Ha!

Mike,

Mine is just like N.C. Rodder's except it is easier to see on his car.  My car is black.

Mike,

I can take a digital photo when I get home tonight and email it to you.  PM me with your email address.

I need a measurement from center to center of the shock mount holes in the upper hats on a Mustang ll crossmember that is using a T bird rack.

TIA

John,

My Chassis Engineering crossmember measures 34" between the upper shock mounts.  I am using a T bird rack but I don't think that has anything to do with the shock mount holes but I've been wrong before.

Dave,

It appears you completed a successful "passing of the torch" to Kyle.  Congratulations to Kyle and his grandpa.  I'd be proud to have that sit in my drive way.

Not to far from you, Iron Ridge

Jack,

I sent you a PM.

Can't make it either. Going to Wi. to pick this up. Gonna be a low buck fenderless ride

Jack,

Where in WI are you going to get that truck cab?  That must be a transplant truck as it doesn't have enough rust for a WI vehicle.

Frank,

Try one part molassis (sp?) to 4 parts water.  I've used this solution to remove rust from small parts in a Pyrex baking dish.  I don't know how it would work on cast iron.

Daryl,

Plastic media blasting is the best way to remove powder on a large component such as a frame.  There are strippers designed to remove powder as well but I have not had any experience with them.

Preheating the frame to 150 - 200 degrees F prior to applying the paint helps the powder melt and flow out reducing the orange peel look.

That is a spring time temperature for Wisconsin, Minnesota & Michigan.

Guys,

For all of you with Rods in the build stage, has it ever seemed like it would NEVER get done? Or, it's a dream you will never realize?


Most definitely.  I'm on the down hill side building my '39 Chevy I've owned for 23 years this month.  Plenty of reasons for taking this long; lack of time, money, chasing parts etc. like others have mentioned but family has always come first at our house and hot rods further down the list of priorities.

We built a '32 Ford sedan when we were first married.  That car took six years to complete but we were DINKS at that time and life was a much slower pace back in the 70's.  We drove the '32 three years and put 28,000 miles on it before we out grew it due to the arrival of our two daughters.  We sold the '32 and bought the '39 Chevy to get a trunk for luggage and more interior space.  We had no idea back in 1983 that it would take us this long to get the car where it is today.

The girls have grown, one married the other getting married this July.  We wanted to have the car done for the weddings but that didn't happen.  I've been told patience is a virtue.  

My brother-in-law's car is in the upholstery shop and should be done in a couple of weeks.  He is on year 16 building his car.

Keep the faith.  You are not alone.  The building experience makes it all worthwhile when you fire it off for the first time and take your maiden voyage around the block.

I use the eastwood cheep gun and their powder, I started with an old electric oven. It worked but was almost impossible to control the temp. I now have the HF powder coating oven. It works better but it is so small I cant get a lot of my parts in it. I have managed to get the front control arms from my 61 galaxie in the oven but I knocked enough powder off that the look bad in places. I have found that if I only do one side then bake that then do the other side of a part I have better results.

My complaint with the cheapie system it that I can't seem to get the coating thickness uniform, it can be to thin in places and to thick in others and it will sag if it is to heavy.

Scott...

Scott,

Try preheating the part to 175 degrees, painting and put back into the oven to cure.  The preheating should get the powder to gel upon contact and avoid the thin areas.  My powder coater suggested preheating my frame before painting to get a thicker dry film coating.

Thanks for the info guys! Rick....That kit from Stainless Works seems like a pretty good buy and I'll remember the tip about purgeing the pipe! Do you recall what gauge/type it was? I'm definitely not looking for show quality but want it to look nice....I think I will use the higher grade as Frank suggested.I will grab last months StreetRodder and see what else might be available and it sure won't hurt to see what might be available on eBay.

Daryl,

My kit came with .060" 304 material.

Daryl,

I bought a 2-1/2" Rod Builders Kit from Stainless Works at the Indy Goodguys a couple of years ago.  The kit included (4) 45 degree bends, (4) 90 degree bends, (4) 180 degree bends and (4) 4 foot lengths of straight tube.  The kit was $400 and had free shipping.  Stainless Works phone number is (800) 878-3635.

The kit had everything I needed plus I have a number of pieces left over.  I have full length headers but the kit has enough bends and pipe if you are using block hugger type headers or exhause manifolds.

I made all the cuts with an abrasive wheel chop saw and found that most times the two pipes that I wanted to weld together were slightly out of round.  I made up a tapered plug that I resized both pipes before welding.  This helps prevent blowing out the welds at the joint.  To hold the pipes together for welding, I took some screw type radiator clamps and cut 3 slots so I could tack weld (TIG) the pipes together while the clamp held the pipes.  Another thing I learned was to purge the oxygen out of the pipe with argon and cap the ends of the pipe before welding.  The welds are much cleaner.  I tried this on the last two welds and this made a significant improvement in the asthetics of the weld.

I also made up 3 bolt flanges for each joint so I can unbolt the entire system and replace mufflers in case I don't like the sound of the mufflers I bought.  For hangers I bent up and welded 3/8" diameter stainless rod and used OEM rubber hangers.  My tail pipes run underneath the rear axle due to no room with the triangulated 4 bar rear suspension I built.

My TIG welding made drastic improvements from the first weld to the last but I'm not going back to redue the welds.  It will be just fine for me.

Try Jack's Auto Ranch in Watertown, WI

(920) 699-2985

I think their web site is: www.jacksautoranch.com
but I'm not positive.