when 7 is 8

Most of you probably know this weekend was daylight not savings time.
It takes a while to adapt to losing the early evening daylight,
but it also makes waking up early much easier.
That is unless you stay up the extra hour tricking yourself that it is earlier than it isn't.

james dean zombie towel

According to the clock the boys and I all woke up early,
but really 7 was actually 8.
Since we have the almost weekly ritual of scrounging around the sunday swap meet,
we rallied up to go.
Holey Chit!
The place was packed!

free jaxon!

(Chako was Jaxon's nickname for a couple years)

We walked around and everything was picked over.
It hurts seeing scroungers carrying out the early treasures!

70's or 80's schwinn 10-spd bmx awesomeness

In the far corner we spied the deal of the day.
A white 80's or so schwinn BMX conversion with Suntour drivetrain.
Yes!
No!
The seller was holding it for its new owner!
Aw shucks...
The bike was so bitchin,
but today only a picture would suffice.
Dang it if we had actually gotten up earlier!

schwinn stingray chainguard stickers

We had an actual purpose to go the swap meet,
and that was to have some stingray decals made for Jaxon's stingray.
She did an awesome job,
although the whole time I was kicking myself for not scoring that bike!
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Jimi Hendrix - if 6 was 9
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On the way home,
we spied a neon sign declaring an estate sale.
Gotta stop for that!

kidnap van or armegeddon vehicle?

People were swarming around like vultures.
Strange what happens to stuff when the owners die.

stool that needs refinishing

They lived into their 90's,

in the house since the 50's.

It was almost a shame to remove this old vice.

beat up Dunlap Vice

We were pleasantly surprised it was 1/2 off day,

so for less than $20 we got a bunch of consolation prizes.

descoware oatmeal  pot

Yeah a bunch of junk!

Anyway later that night I found out we missed the SD Velodrome swap meet!
Dang butt cheeks!

TP

june bug sunday

Sundays have been set aside for the green 40.
While there are many other things I should do,
I can't afford to let it stagnate into a long term project.
We haven't come up with a proper nickname,
but it looks like a June Bug.

june bug

Last week I mentioned it was time to swap rear ends.
The old banjo could be used with an open-shaft kit,
but that $250 got an arguably stronger 8" with better gearing,
and the extra will go to modifying the driveshaft .

1940 ford coupe

My gamble was hoping the '68 mustang rearend would fit.
I had measured and remeasured but don't trust numbers as much as the real thing.

1968 ford mustang 

And a parting shot of the stock rear end setup.

stock 1940 ford rear end

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Jimi Hendrix - live stockholm 1969
Wow what a great video.
I've seen snippets of concerts,
but this one is uncut goodness.
Cool to see them tweak the stacks.
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dropped rear

The rear end dropped out so fast,
it actually is taking longer to write this post.

test fit

The 8 inch was rolled under and it looked like the perfect fit.
Depending on the rear tires,
there could be an inch to spare on each side.
A definite relief.
Now I'll have to mock up the new wishbones and make some bracketos.

More to come.

TP

threading the needle

I've driven many nighter freeway miles on the verge of sleep.
When coffee and music fails to work it's wonders,
a good trick to stay up was to open the windows to get as cold as possible,
than close them up and put the heater on to to warm up,
than repeat.
If you're passenger/navigator is annoyed,
than they're not doing a good job keeping you up.
Once I'm past that sweet spot of time from 3 til sunrise,
I'll be fine.
(no I haven't done this since having kids!)

threading the needle

Well the other day (swap meet last week)
 we were leaving the shop,
and the driver of this truck didn't know that trick.
He/she barrelled off the highway,
right between 2 palm trees.
It could have been ugly,
if you look closely at the pic,
 there's barely a foot if that next to the base of that tree.

Lucky guy!





Jimi Hendrix - 1983...a merman i should turn to be

This is not the song to listen to during this driving time.
It's like the lead in to something bad happening.
Bitchin song though.


TP

rainy day schedule

It's been raining down here,
so the plan has changed a bit.
Yeah yeah yeah,
 rain down here means sporadic sprinkles.
But it's still wet!

tough mama
1955 chevrolet truck

Instead of doing body work outside in the fresh air and sun,

the body is temporarily planted on the freshly painted frame.
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Jimi Hendrix - Rainy Day, Dream Away

1968 - what more to say!

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Time for some bondo magic...

TP

how to - bear claws!!

After the hinges were figured out,
I thought a bit about door latches.

partially eaten bear claw

Well before I could think too much about them,
a buddy of mine sent me these super bitchin bear claw latches.

bear claw latches

These are some really bitchin mechanisms.
If you are in the market,
here's the link.

USA Made High Quality Bear Claw Door Latches - THE H.A.M.B.

They're not an easy bolt-in,
lotsa modifications needed.
Of course there are no instructions,
and very little info with an internet search.

So,
since this is the first time I've done this,
let's do a...
"how to install bear claw latches"

The first thing I did was make the mounting plates.

rough 1940 ford door

Instead of imagining what to do,
the plates tell you where to cut.
Hopefully.

roughed in

After the plates were tacked in (each side)
the posts landed in the worst possible position.

original striker base

The stock 40 striker has a box that the threaded nuts live in.
This all has to be cut out,
but the remaining sheetmetal is holey and flimsy.

flimsy base

It did allow the mechanisms to be test fit.
Now the doors could actually close and click shut!
it was time to finish the installation.

First the doors...

Add caption

The mechanisms were installed and removed at least 4 times each.
The bases needed to be tacked, cut, moved, twisted
than retacked to get the proper alignment.
I didn't want to ruin the moving parts with cutting disc or welding spray.

The filler strip boxed in the plate,
so the door assembly was now very rigid.
Not too pretty though.

bear claw latch installed

Now that the door part was permanent,
the latch post could be positioned to the perfect spot.
This meant filing the hole a little further inward making an oval,
until the door and body was flush...

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Today I had to pull out one of my favorite repeaters to finish the last part.
With maybe an hour to work,
I wanted to get this last section finished,
and this song definitely helped. 10 times!

Jimi Hendrix - Hey Baby - (new rising sun)

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Since the latch post is continually hit by the door,
a reinforcement base was cut out of some 1/8" plate,
and a 7/16 hole was marked using the ovalized hole as a guide.

base plate

The post was a little short cause I inset the latch a little too far,
even though it was flush with the outside of the door.
The plate helped space it out properly.

positioned correctly

With the post tightened in the right position,
the plate was welded on.
Since I was pressed for time,
I jumped around the plate welding <1" beads,
but didn't let it really cool at all,
just finished it.

migged up
crude but effective

Well you wouldn't think it would warp,
but those posts need to be centered in the mechanism,
and somehow it warped in the right direction.
both sides actually fit better after they were welded and tightened.
Whew!

working passenger door!

To say I am relieved that everything worked out is an understatement.
This project was spread out over 9 days,
working about an hour every other day.

The latches were test fit the first couple days,
and the alignment was a little off.
The doors sagged a bit,
and they also stuck out so they weren't flush with the body.

working driver's door!

When there's too much time inbetween work sessions,
my mind goes a little crazy,
basically making a molehill into a mountain.
Maybe that helps being prepared.
If I had done this in one long day,
I probably would have gotten a little burnt with a half-ass finish.

side view
1940 ford chopped coupe
wow it looks rough in this pic!

If you look closely there's a custom pull string.
This works so well it may be there a long time.

Now I can move on to that huge gap under the door!
With the doors held tight with the new latches,
the patch panel can be positioned correctly,
much easier.

Talk at ya later...

TP

fun with pipe

Let's have some more fun with pipe.

bent pipe

This was one of my brothers jobs.
He's the opposite of me,
as he'll spend the money on proper materials and outside labor,
like bending this 5" pipe.

smile

This was one of those,
"can you just cut it out really quick before you go home?" jobs.

The next morning we checked out the lucky recipient, a tugboat.

rubber rainbow

Yeah, looks like fun, huh?

I told you when Pikachu works,
I'll do the fitting,
and he'll do the welding,
than I'll assist him, grind between passes, rub his back, just kidding.

best seat in the house

At the beginning of the job,
it was kinda sketchy sitting up on the bow,
high above the water while working.
Than as the hours passed by it was like sitting on a chair.

Same with fitting that piece,
there was no cutting on the boat,
so I had to walk back and forth to the pier carrying that thing,
at least 5 times.
The first time all I could think was to not drop it in the water.

Didn't seem like it but there was a chitload of welding to do.
It carried on til dusk.

sunset welding

My brother came by to help out too.

el jefe

By the time we finished it was too dark to take decent pictures.

metal rainbow

Weird how many uses there are for pipe.

double metal rainbow

Anyway some jobs like these are fun.
They are so random and it will be there for years.
Also makes working on cars or bikes so much easier,
or lighter duty anyway.





Long Hot Summer Night

TP