14 July 2016

Mike's Ranfla - 1936 dodge pickup

Here's the typical snowballing project.
Mike dropped his 1936 dodge off
to fix a couple broken welds,
and sync up the carburetors.
As soon as the engine was all tuned up,
he found a Sharp intake for his flathead 6.
This rare piece would match his Sharp head.
 He completed the set with a matching fuel block.
Jason and his dad Mickey were amazed,
as this was made by their grand/dad.
The previous intake was a hi-rise Edmunds,
and the linkage needed to be modified.
That was fun...
The deteriorating vinyl fuel hose was replaced
with steel lines painted a copper patina.
Looks easy but this was a tricky layout,
I should've cleaned up the wiring too...
Instead he wanted to do a more drastic change,
and rough up the green paint for a mild patina.
Sure!
How could I pass this up!?
The kids helped a bit,
but wow there was a lot of square feet.
The body was a bit rough,
this was an old work truck,
so sanding high spots uncovered the red primer.
Other parts like the headlights and hood weren't green,
so those were rattlecanned to match.
There was a point where we had to call it good,
and let Mike finish up some pesky details.
He liked it so much 
he gave us his custom BBQ.
Way cooler than this pic shows!
More in that later...
The best part was when he sent updated pics,
and they weren't of him stuck on a tow truck.
I had showed him some fake patina tricks,
and he powered them out the next day,
just in time for a July 4th cruise.
Good times...
Thanks Mike and Sophie!
TP

12 July 2016

inoxidable II - digi-pipe

Who needs digital sketches...
Fortunately he had his emergency repair to follow,
as the flange angle was not like the pic!
TP

11 July 2016

Whaler Resto - pt xix - just add $$

The whaler's been getting some water time,
I'd say half fun and half as a workboat,
which is fun.
Jakob has been the best at peggin the trailer.
Which is good at the boat ramp,
we don't look like a bunch of hacks.
Bummer a couple weeks ago,
someone desperate ripped off the battery.
That was a good battery too...
But it wasn't a true boat battery,
just a nice car battery,
that was likely to disintegrate 
getting slammed around on the water.
Supposedly the lead is thinner or looser.
Scored a great replacement on CL...
Yep that's how we do it...
This was the opportunity to add 
a scrounged battery switch.
Scrap wood was hacked up and holes cut.
The next idea was to add this Facor,
a Racor knockoff direct from eBay China.
Typically just the clear plastic base is $50,
this whole unit was $38 shipped!
It was worth a try.
More holes drilled,
New battery cables and fuel lines ran.
It definitely helped the tail heavy weight balance.
Now for the big plunge.
The old steering unit was a lucky find,
but the cable had finally deteriorated,
the rusty wire sheath exploded through the plastic.
Not to say I didn't tape it up and use it.
The 90 degree bend was the last straw.
No luck scrounging the junk pile here,
I had multiple lengths but not the 14' needed.
Hours of studying and searching...
It is so rare to buy something new!
I chose a teleflex copy called Pretech,
which happened to be the cheapest.
Instead of the reduction gear box,
we got the planetary gear style.
The quality was equal or better.
The console was made around the bigger box,
so size wasn't really an issue.
The more compact box definitely saved space.
The only mod was reusing the original angled bracket,
the Pretech one was flatter.
Everything seemed to work...
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Water time...
We bring the kids and their friends.
Holey Chit!
I pull off the trailer,
and the steering is reversed!
Wow what a mind £uck when that happens!
My head was racing,
but the fix was easy,
other than messing up the wires again.
If you notice the box has two holes,
and I chose the wrong hole,
and didn't look to check...
Doh!
The kids had been waiting patiently,
and it seemed like we were off.
Nope!
Holey Double Chit!
The engine would run then die.
Wtf!?
Was the wiring messed up,
the new fuel filter?
I almost scrubbed the day,
until I saw the crimped fuel line!
The tank had scooted onto the hose.
Double doh!
I gotta figure out some kind of guard or strap.
Anyway we did make it out,
without any further hitches,
other than Jaxon ripping his girlfriends cast condom...
Oh and our new additions had fun too!
Introducing Suki and Bumi!
Good times...
TP