plywood bombers

Almost 4 years ago
I whipped out this longboard out of some scrap aluminum.

whabamp longboard

It's one of those things that prove that not all my chit works out.
My idea of stiffening it up backfired,
and the welding made it way more curved than I had planned.

01march09

The big drawback was the weight.
All together it was at least 10 lbs!
Going downhill was fun,
but as a commuter board,
it didn't have that snappy glide after a kick.

the boss

With the kids getting a revived interest in skating,
it was time to have some backyard fun.

While his friends were getting new sector 9 longboards,

Jake and I made a deal to make a couple boards,

and see how much he liked longboarding versus the trick boards,

before we bought a bunch of junk that may just sit around.

Sure a board is only $30 or so bucks,
but where's the fun in that!?

jakob at work

My tricks were always extremely limited,
but I would ride forever just as basic transportation.
During the school years,
we had a good downhill group of friends,
bombing the hills of point loma and ocean beach.

Back then I must have made dozens of longboards out of scrap plywood,
even that thick shelf wood.
It seems every weekend was moving the old gullwing trucks to a different board,
a different shape.
Can't believe some of the chit we did without helmets!

jake's blanks

It was time to get the kids to the roots of skating!
Jake expertly cut a couple blanks out of some scrap wood...

plywood longboards roughed into shape

After a couple minutes with the grinder,
we had shaped a board for each of us.
Too bad Jaxon had the sickness at the time.

homemade longboard

My ancient pair of Tracker Trucks - MPI and ALVA wheels!
and one board was down.

jakob and macey

Jakob used some skinnier independent trucks,
and pirated the wheels from his old footboard.

family that skates together...

Within an hour or two we were ready.
The boards worked perfect,
just the right amount of flex,
and the truck holes were almost straight!


This was one of the first runs,
a little short yeah but we were trying to get used to them.
It's a fast street so I'd rather him not fall - me too!
These scrap boards saw more use in one day,
than the aluminum board ever had.

Jakob Perich skateboard mechanic

By the next weekend,
it was obvious my board needed some bearings.
They may as well had rocks in them.
Jake said it sounded like it was a car goin down the hill.
We found some fakey REDS at the swapmeet for $10,
and took out the old crusty MPI bearings.
They were so wobbly I'm surprised they rolled.

MPI wheels and bearings

Perfect timing as they had just cleaned the back table.
Within minutes we were on the road.

Jaxon & Jakob Perich

Now Jaxon was good to go.

He had his first runs down the hill,

and is more of a biker than a skater.

After a while he got the hang of it.

I've got some Indy trucks for his board,

and we'll get it together for the next weekend.

Now it's a bummer the kids have so much homework after school,
and it gets dark a bit too early.
It's been fun getting our carving techniques down!

TP

honey bear

If I was a samurai warrior,
this is definitely the helmet I would choose to guide me into battle.
Nothing is more frightening than a guy with a rabbit on his head.
Of course to wear this one I'd have to be about 2 feet tall.

crouching rabbit samurai helmet-kabuto

Out of curiosity,
I found out these are called Kabuto,
and there are many different versions of them throughout the ages.
If I were around back then,
I'd be the guy making these not wearing them.

Another addition to the "pure feline awesomeness" finds,
this orange cat was on the same guys table.

orange flowery cat

To be honest I'm not a cat person.
I'm allergic to them,
and really if they are doing their job of killing mice and rats,
I don't want to be touching one anyway.

A boy cat was sneaking into our garage at night,
and dammit if the thing was pissing in the 40.
It was the rankest smelling odor that lingers way too long.

Anyway I have noticed that there are alot of cat related figurines out there,
so here's to all you cat lovers.

This was our score of the day.
It had rained all night,
so the swap meet was about a third of the size.
Usually a good sign as there's fewer buyers too.

swap meet scores!

Keeping with the Richard Petty theme of the week,
the '64 plymouth model and the '36 ford model were $8!
Both were still in the original bags!
The little Tonka roadster rounded it to a ten-spot,
all conveniently from the same seller.

The honey is my attempt at a healthier diet.
I've come to realize I'm a sugar addict.
I'll have teaspoons of brown sugar in oatmeal,
than another teaspoon in some hot tea,
multiple cups throughout the day.

I've tried to ween myself off a bit,
but it's not easy.
After giving up coffee - (almost 2 years already!)
It's my one last vice.
How do you think I get the energy to scribble on here!

TP

too long?

Guess the holidays are over.

empire nativity set

Time to clean up the yard!
Just kidding.
Actually the wife was upset
when I put the baby Jesus in before Christmas!
We can't screw around with the nativity set.

TP

how to mount 525 steering box with scrap!

The green 40 ford project june bug is so close,
I've made a detailed STD list and it's only one page.
Of all the projects,
the exhaust is the one that I'd like to finish,
even though it's just modifying the old Lincoln headers.

1940 ford coupe dashboard

Well to do that,
the steering predicament is taking a priority.
The coupe didn't handle too bad,
as long as you were comfortable with the 1/4 turn of play.
Okay it wasn't that bad!
Most of it was a loose tie rod,
but the box still had a tired spot in it.

stock 1940 steering

Part of me wanted to deal with it later.
When I finished the alternator last weekend,
the box was ripped out,
now I had to tackle the project.

stock 1940 ford steering box mount

Many months back I had prepared for this occasion.
After a bit of studying,
the GM Saginaw 525 steering box was supposedly the best upgrade.
I found out this unit was used in 90's Jeeps,
and these were available at the car parts store for way cheaper than anywhere else,
under $200 after the core charge.
The biggest difference in the newer ones is a 3/4"x30 spline u-joint is needed,
the earlier units use a 3/4"x36 spline.
Also the threaded holes are metric.

1940 ford vs GM saginaw 525 steering box

If I didn't get the box last year,
the 40 steering would have remained.
That money would have been better spent on a driveshaft right now!

Check out that bitchin gold paint on the greasy box.
I mentioned earlier how all the suspension was gold back in the 60's.
Craziness!

steering box templates

A couple templates were made to help visualize the position.
The old 40 box is tiny in comparison,
but the steering shaft to steering arm is alot farther.
This was the biggest concern,
as the steering arm was bent to miss the flatheads oil pan.
The 302/5.0 has a different double hump oil pan,
so it was a gamble if there would be enough space.

stool time returns!

At first I thought of using the stock mount and redrilling it,
the 3-bolt patterns are really similar.
There was only an inch or so missing for the forward hole.
If the engine was out I may have done that.
Since the space is extremely cramped,
and I'm working on my back or over the fender,
it seemed easier to do it the long way.

measuring 525 steering box

A plate was made out of 1/4" steel,

and some scrap hole-saw cutouts were sorted out.

Instead of guessing the hole placement,

the spacers were clamped between the box and plate.

They are necessary as the new box isn't flat like the 40.

test plate

With the spacers stick welded together,
the big holes could be drilled.

525/vega steering box adapter plate

This is where the project veered off a little.
Instead of using the threaded holes,
I drilled them out for 7/16" bolts.
Not sure if this was a good idea or not,
as the ears are a little angled.
The threads were drilled out and everything fit,
but I still need to flatten those ears a bit.

more stool time!

The plate was made to replace the original mount,
after it was cut out,
however using the original riveted attachment pieces.

trimmed not cleaned

With everything trimmed down,
the plate was tacked in place.
Now the box could be test fit.
Hopefully this first plate would work.

clamped

With the box bolted in place,
it looked like a natural fit.
The steering arm and drag link had plenty of clearance.
Time to weld everything up.

test fit

The stick welding wasn't as fun as I'd hoped.
Upside down out of position welding with obstacles is tricky.
After the first pass with 6011 and a second with 7018,
the mount was crude but very strong.
Nothing a grinder and black paint can't fix.

mounted mount

Some time in the future I'd love to remove the fenders and engine
to really give the frame a good cleaning.
Until then it's gonna look like this.

box mounted

It was very convenient that the ford steering box had the same
spline measurement as the 525 box,
even with the 4 filled spline spots.

steering arms
C-9ZA-3590-A
1A-3590B-M1
78-3590-M25

I don't know where all these steering arms came from!
The bottom arm is original to the car.
The middle arm is strange cause the ball joint is switched to the top.
The top arm is oriented like the bottom but is alot shorter,
so may be good if the steering needs tuning later on.

(Hey J Jeep the hammer tricked worked again!)

clearance

Fortunately the original steering arm worked fine.
There are about 3.5 turns lock to lock,
and it looks like that is enough to turn with.
If anything I'll look for a longer steering arm.

modified 1940 ford steering

Of course after this was buttoned up,
I found the mother lode of mounting plates.
Earlier internet searches using "525 mounting plate" were very slim.
Using "vega mounting plate" I found this.

Pete & Jakes 525/vega steering box mounting plate to Ford

This thing is a bit cleaner,
however the box would have been an inch or so higher.
For this engine layout,
I'd rather have it in the lower position.
Plus I saved $60-85, reduced my scrap pile,
and had fun with the grinder!

june bug 40 STD list

Now to figure out the steering column.
That may be more difficult than this was.
At least a couple things can be crossed off the STD list!

TP

STP #43

Just what I needed - more stickers.
How could I pass these up?

richard petty - five time champion-daytona 500

I didn't expect them to be this huge!

richard petty's glasses?

These were from some time after 1974,

cause that's when he won the race.

I'm hoping the sticker is still sticky.

This was when guys transported the cars on the backs of flatbed trucks.

A credit card street rod has more technology than most cars on the track!

These 70's Dodge Chargers & Plymouth Roadrunners
were the toughest looking (and performing) out there by far.
Would be cool to have a VINTAGE NASCAR races,
I'd actually consider watching them!

petty and baker

Lotsa information on this guys site ...
Petty Charger
Check out the peace sign on the headrest,
I guess the builders trademark.

addict

Couldn't stop at one.
The guy has a few more check ebay!

TP

El Desayuno de HAMB #3

Wow as I'm writing this,
I found out the last HAMB breakfast was at least a year ago!
perich brothers (and sister): san diego HAMB meet
Sounds about right as the mooneyes show was coming up.

Anyway,
the same thing happened at the 3rd SD HAMB breakfast.
San Diego HAMB meet up is on again! - THE H.A.M.B.
The cheerleader Paul aka "hombres ruin" started the fire over a month earlier.
Again I thought how ridiculous it was to preplan something so early.

3rd san diego hamb breakfast 2013

After all that posting 6 cars showed up!
Out of a city of a million people,
for some reason I'd thought there'd be at least 8!
In good faith there were guys with garaged projects,
so it was cool that people showed up even without cars.

barris 1940 mercury custom?

One of the big head turners was this 1940 mercury,
supposedly a barris chopped car.
With the headliner on there's no way to really know.
Most early cars were done using crude techniques - gas weld and lead.
If a car has really clean sheet metal chop work,
its gonna most likely be a newer build.
Just a pointer!

5.0 mustang in a merc - sleeper

This thing was hiding an injected 5.0 from a mustang and airbags.
Looked like a big money car redone about 7 years ago.

checkerboard firewall and hood

Never was a big fan of checkerboard paint,
but this car pulled it off.
From the patina of the checkerboard,
this may have been from the original customization.

Noel's chopped 1940 mercury

This thing had some sweet lines and great attention to detail.
Lucky owner!
Glad I don't have to take care of it!

chopped 1951 shoebox ford

Another really cool custom was this blue shoebox.
This thing was just finished 5 months ago,
and was really a show piece.

chopped 1951 shoe box ford

I like the 51's with the double bullet grille,
This one had a 70's camaro clip and running gear.
It amazes me that people can finish there cars this nice on a budget!

1957 corvette

This corvette showed up in an unconventionally unfinished state.
Most corvette guys are so picky they aren't fun to look at.
This one had the right amount of "I just want a cool driver".
His 350 was backed by a t-5 transmission.
The styling on these rearends is crazy!

1957 chevy corvette

This 28/29 roadster pulled up,
right out of an 80's time warp.

1929 ford roadster - fuzzy knight

While most 80's hot rods were trending toward pastels and bondo,
some guys kept it as traditional as possible.
This one helped me out alot as it had a SBF 302 in it,
and I studied the alternator placement,
even though it ended up the opposite.
He was also using this trick "snow white" water pump setup.

ford windsor with snow white water pump

And last but not least Paul's shoebox...
His was as clean as last time,
and again amazed me with the finish-work.

hombres ruin's 1949 shoe box ford

It was a good way to start the morning,
and helped get hot rod in my brain for the weekend project,
not to mention a tasty Perry's breakfast!

Definitely quality over quantity made it out,
both in people and cars.
Hopefully more projects hit the road for next time.

TP