The screech

It's been 4-5 years 

since wedging the 302/5.0

into the green 40.

Long enough I can't pinpoint within a year!!

Holey chit...

This time period has been a battle.

Long term readers may remember,

custom brackets were fabbed up

to fit in a mopar alternator.

I had mistakenly bought the newer regulator type,

not the old points style,

which is larger and uglier than the early 60's radial housing.

From a distance still looks better than a ford or chevy.

The mistake ended up being the correct choice,

as a '76-'78 distributor was modified with an 80's Chevy electronic ignition module,

which pairs up best with the higher output

and the solid state regulator.

"Where's the battle?" you ask.

The battle emanated 

from an occasional piercing belt screech.

Over the years I've changed the alignment,

at least 3 different times.

The main bracket was off a hair,

long studs allowed adjustment as well,

and a new belts would be quiet til they weren't.

The temporary fix was having extra belts,

about one a year.

Was it 5 or 6?

The permanent solution was so easy

it's embarrassing to admit.

Basically the little inside bracket would pivot under force,

allowing the alternator to swing crooked,

resulting in el screecho.

All that was needed,

was a second hole,

which wouldn't allow the twist.

Less than 2 hours total time,

lifted a half decade weight.

Doh...

Now that we had a solid running rig,

the goal was to make it a snow car.

After months and years of searching,

a budget trac-loc/posi/limited slip center 

was scored on eBay.

The 8" rear had a street perfect 3.00 ratio,

so I was picky to not want dragstrip gearing.

Since Jaxon was back from his summer so-cal stay,

he was volunteered to focus all those years 

of push-ups and junk moving,

installing his first pumpkin.

Ahhh child labor has its benefits.

The gamble on an original 70's unit

seemed like a mistake the first.

Clunk ...clunk...clunk...

until oil additive and figure 8's 

finally soaked in.

The difference was significant.

Maybe no chains this year,

I found some old studded tires that look fun.

Now we're ready for winter!

Okay maybe windshield wipers 

and door windows would be nice...

TP

Klunker nope Bomber #33

Let's welcome the new two wheeled addition

to the Perich quiver.

Yes Houston we have a problem...

These things multiply like rabbits!

It all started with a chance Ebay score.

Okay it wasn't really by chance.

With the rainy season dwindling early,

it's possible to explore the local paths.

With two older kids,

we don't need to be fighting over rides!

What a great excuse...

So I hunted and scrounged,

scoring this bitchin 1936 Schwinn C model frame,

80's gold wheels and a truss fork.

Of course a budget frame will have issues...

The rear axle dropouts were seriously splayed out.

Good thing I know a welder!

This is quality 80 year old metal,

TIG rod beefed up the deadened space.

The worst were the fender crosspieces,

mangled by over tightening fasteners through the years.

The tubular steel was replaced with stronger solid rod,

sourced from a couple of long bolts.

A little heat and coercion,

the curves were matched better than original.

Most important was filing and sanding

the leftover braze,

allowing a clean weld.

Lotsa splatter and holes if you don't.

Since fenders aren't in the future,

no holes were drilled yet.

There's a possibility for BMX style brakes,

then the overbuild will be needed.

A couple seat posts welder from some shop scrap,

ready to roll...

But let's throw some paint on there first.

We went hog wild with the patina.

And beyond hog wild on the badge.

Can't ride it without an overpriced one of those...

Fortunately there are cheap-ish badges around,

even if you go Gucci with an Excelsior or Ace.

Beaters shine up sweet with some paint and time.

The gold BMX wheels needed hand brakes.

Decisions of drums, cantilevers, welding pivots...

Too much thinking.

For now a set of coaster brake rims will do,

changing the klunker build to a bomber.

Back in the 70's,

klunkers had gears and hand brakes,

bombers used more simple foot brakes.

The aluminum cranks and wheels make this super light,

resulting in a quick and fun ride.

The old road bike Brooks saddle is softer than it looks!

T

G

G

Budget Boomers - Electro Voice Sentry

Let's see,

what do we have here...

More big speakers!!

For years now I'd been wanting to build speaker cabinets,

and fill them with good components.

Cause I don't have any other projects to do...

Sadly I've collected good components a few times,

Altec 416/515 woofers and horns,

but with no carpentry tools and the big pdx move,

let them slip away.

A chance craigslist perusal uncovered these gems.

At $100 a piece,

they solved the cabinet building issue,

while supplying decent mid-grade components,

supposedly from Electro Voice Sentry speakers.

Of course there were reasons for the budget price,

found after they were unloaded at home.

Each woofer had a little rip.

Darn!

The packing tape repairs had fooled me.

The tears didn't cause any rattling or buzzing,

so a hack repair was in order.

Tissue paper and wood glue to the rescue!

Basically paper mache acting like a fiberglass repair,

They dried up stiff as the rest of the cone.

The gaping holes 

allowed me to check out the guts.

Electro Voice t-35 tweeters,

1823m midrange driver, 8hd horn,

and some big magnet 15" 8g? woofers,

all hooked up with custom crossovers.

The tuned port cabinets were well made with plywood.

Not show quality,

but perfect for the garage.

Definitely a score for the dough.

But the sound...

For shop speakers they were just ok.

Some tunes were mixed evenly,

others were grating.

The blaring mid-range was like a shotgun.

I resorted to putting cotton balls in the holes,

which softened the sound.

The builder had started to tune them

Each speaker had 2 knobs,

L-pads that control the two horn outputs,

but they weren't wired.

A quick solder hook up allowed easy experimentation,

uncovering the faults of the system.

Come to find out the EV 8HD horns

have design flaws from the get go,

throwing sound out like a cannon.

Maybe a pair of Altec 811b horns (top) could help.

I couldn't resist copycatting color cues from

old JBL 4345 monitors.

Ugly enough to be cool.

The first one went back together easy,

and the music was finally tamed.

The wild horn diffused the sound waves.

Definitely worth the effort.

The second one needed a new L-pad,

which took a week to arrive.

One was broken,

and both were glued in.

Which meant they disintegrated upon removal.

JB weld is some strong stuff...

Maybe a hammer and channel locks didn't help!

I really didn't want to wait another week.

Since the first speaker worked so well

without needing to move the tweeter knob,

the L-pad ohms were checked at the position used,

about midway,

about 5 ohms.

Luckily I had a stash of 4.7 ohm resistors.

Justifying why hoarders don't throw anything away!

A single measured at 5.8 ohms,

which maxed out the 20% variation

these were spec'd at.

Two in parallel measured at 3.7 ohms.

I'm sure there's a formula for this...

Two were wired up to the tweeter + wire.

One could be cut out if the sound was too bright.

Finally the set was complete!

Time for a late night cranking session..

More soon!

TP