secret stash - norden steering box

The recent shop move has forced me to filter through the seriously tons chit I've been hoarding for years.
It's been a huge relief trimming off some of the dead weight,
there was almost 3000 lbs - a ton and a half just in scrap steel and aluminum!

not so secret stash

Along with the junk,
I've been ditching some good stuff too.
Most of it is stuff that is cool but I realistically won't ever use,
either there is no future project in mind,
it is a part that relies on something I don't have,
or it is the 4th or 5th multiple version.
While clearing some of my now limited space,
it also allows my other projects to get completed,
so another project can take it's place!

hmm what have we here...

So as I sort out some of this stuff,
I'll start posting since I'm taking pic's anyway.
Some of it is tough to find on the internet,
and maybe it will help out some other poor hoarder.

Norden sprint car steering box

Okay so the first piece I'm torn about keeping is this Norden steering box.
I've had this for a really long time.
Around '94 or '95 I found this at the LA roadster show.

norden steering box

One of the main reasons why there is cowl steering in our RPU.
I considered using it but figured it wouldn't be good for a long-term driver.

Norden cowl steer box

Most likely this would have been in a sprint car like a Kurtis or Solar midget,
so it was built for a couple hard races for hopefully a couple seasons,
not a daily street driven roadster.

Kurtis Midget Sprint Car with Norden steering box

This is the only picture I could find quickly of a box actually installed.

1946 Solar Midget

Okay here's a quick tangent.
That box would have been installed on one of these too.
1940's Solar Midget
Interestingly enough these Solar Midgets were built right here in San Diego,
at the Ryan Aircraft Company.
Small world huh Tom!

Okay back to the actual steering box.
Here's some pictures.

Norden Steering Box

Cool to see how companies adapted there engineering skills after WWII.
What looks so simple is actually really intricate.

Norden steering column support

What looks like a simple aluminum carrier bearing,
ends up being a clamshell work of art.

norden steering column carrier bearing

Instead of a throwaway heim joint,
there's a bolt-on support ring.

Norden Steering Box

The box looks easily disassembled for rebuilding.
I wonder if the insides are custom Norden or donor gears from a big 3 manufacturer?

Norden Steering Box

The other thing that is cool about older speed equipment,
is instead of a production type sand cast finish,
most everything is either polished or at least smoothed out.
Hugely time consuming but well worth it.

norden steering box

Maybe it was too hide a rough casting,
or maybe it was because of cheap labor!

Norden Cowl steer

So now I've got to figure if this is a keeper or not.
The gamble is if I ever want to restore an early postwar sprint car,
or build a car specifically around this piece.
Even up to last year I had been collecting parts for a track roadster,
which this could have been in.
At the time I had a v8-60 and the 27 roadster body that would have been...

track roadster vs sprint midget

But it turned into the chocolate and cheese roadster.
For now this is about as close as we'll probably get!
Thanks Jakob for getting the model out!

Jakob's pre-modelmania

More later!

TP

flakekings friday lite

Hey Guys.
Out here in internet land there's a weekly event called flakekings friday.

FLAKEKINGS

It's a great way to unintentionally spice up this here blog.
A friend Chip mentioned that while reading this one on fridays,
he'll scoot the window over so his wife and kids don't think he's a perve,
as there's always the perfect thumbnail pic over there on the right.
He he he...
I sometimes wonder how many of us have to do the same!

perichbrothers (and sister) 

Well here's our perichbrothers (and sister) version.

Hey this is still a family website what'd you expect!

While sorting through all my junk from the move,

this was on the shop wall(s) for years.

My wife painted this before we were married.

The kids were shocked to find out we weren't always the normal law abiding boring yelling parents we are now!
Why would mom paint naked girls?
******************************************************

The Distillers - Oh serena - live
******************************************************
The other day we were blasting some easy listening punk,
the distillers, the bronx, early pennywise & rancid...
The kids were like...what the heck!
Good times...

TP

score

I was driving through the nicer part of the neighborhood today,
and this old thing was being loaded up onto a car hauler.
Another guy had already stopped to ask about it,
and I was already in drive mode to stop for a photo-op.

porsche 356 cabriolet

The street is like the semi-main street through town,
and the houses are a little pricey here.
In the old days it was common housing for Naval Officers, doctors etc.,
and with the recent estate sales you can see these deep roots are slowly dying.

porsche 356 cabriolet bye bye

So somebody scored on this old porsche 356.
I'm sure it was bought new and had minimal miles on it.
There's a minor dent in the side of the (original?) oxidized paint,
a cool sign of a survivor car,
not an overdone undriveable restoration.

Wonder where it's going?

TP

how to the essential drillium

What better project to get the garage warmed up and covered with aluminum shavings.
I love this old pre-harbor freight mini drill press.

workshop

This old Campagnolo chain ring has been lying around for years,
and today was the perfect opportunity do some non-essential drillium.

marked and punched

The most important part is the layout.

holey chit

After the holes,
the next step is the chamfering or countersink bit.
It takes the sharp edge off,
and some think it will keep it from cracking under stress.

holey chit

This is what it would look like installed,
although this one is a different one.

campagnolo drillium

It makes the typical road bike look a little more race huh?
Not that you can see it 800 miles away.

schroder road bike 1973

There are some really cool intricate examples of drillium if you study it.

Velo-Retro: Peter Johnson

And I guess that is the difference if you do quick hour job,
or if your a racer/mechanic looking to shave every ounce and intimidate the competition.

2008

Anyway it was fun and I was able to cross something off the bottom of my list!

TP

how NOT to remove a schwinn kickstand!

After all his help moving the tons of junk out of the shop,
all Jaxon requested was removing the kickstand out of his Schwinn Stingray,
so we could take it to the sandblaster.
He had been asking about this for months actually,
and I'd look at it and that's about how far it went.

how NOT to remove a kickstand

Typically I'll search a ton on the internet to figure out how to do something like this.
This time we only searched a couple pounds.
There is a video out there and a picture of some expensive tools,
and it looked easy enough.
Of course this was because of the video translation on the miniature Ally cellphone screen!
Judging by the actions,
I thought the kickstand just had to be pushed out a bit,
than the pin removed.
Nope!
Okay let's ditch that dang phone.
After a more thorough search on the big screen,
we figured out the trick.

schwinn kickstand dissambly
(ripped off picture)

What looked like a tool that pulled the kickstand out,
is actually pushing the bushing in.
The spring needs to be compressed the smallest amount,
than the T-pin pops right out.

how to remove a schwinn kickstand

There are a bunch of fancy homemade and production tools,
but this one came out with a crescent wrench, pliers and a screwdriver.
Installing probably won't be as easy,
so by then we'll whittle out the correct tool,
like something from this link.
★ RATRODBIKES.COM ★ • View topic - Schwinn or Park kickstand removal tool

homemade kickstand removal tool
(not mine!)

This one looked easy to make,
some copper tubing and time.

Jaxon Perich and his stingrays

After patiently waiting for way too long,
Jaxon finally can get this bike pimped out.
By then he may be too big for these little bikes!

TP

soulless wonder

It's amazing how fast time flies after a deadline.
Last week at this time it was a scramble to the finish.
Now the kids have completed the first week of school and the dust is finally settling.

shop - july 2012

So trippy how fast a shop can go from back to back fabrication projects,
to an empty soulless shell.

shop - august 2012

I think over the past 4 years we squeezed every bit of soul out of it!

shop - july 2012

I'll definitely miss being able to be crazy loud til the wee hours of morning,
however in the past year,
my desire to work in the "sweet spot" hours from 12-3+am had steadily decreased.
Kind of a compilation of the kids getting older and me realizing they realize I'm not around,
and maybe the lack of being able to be totally spent the next morning,
among the many reasons.
My time management skills will definitely need some honing now.

shop - august 2012

At the end of the last day the 40 project rolled out,
with steering and a nicely mounted 9".

emergence

After many months of partial views,
it was really cool to see it from multiple angles.

1940 ford coupe chopped channeled & sectioned

I was scrounging through some of the early build pictures,
and the amount of work to get to this point still boggles my mind.

1940 ford coupe chopped sectioned & channeled

There is still a ton more work to do.
Lots of mechanical stuff now.

perich brothers 1940 ford coupe

My biggest hurdle now is cleaning up the backyard!
I couldn't be as organized on the last days of moving,
so I've got my time cut out trying to get this chit right.
Now you know the reason for the swap meet tarp and shed!
At least the old 40 is home finally.

messy yard

Likewise the Hurtlocker Truck finally rolled out of the shop.
First time ever with the new suspension.

Hurtlocker Truck
1955 chevy with 1985 corvette

Ken had scored big time with some craigslist Foose rims.
Really made the old truck a peach.

Hurtlocker Truck
1955 chevrolet with 1985 corvette suspension

Rolling it around to the dirt lot helped settle the suspension a bit,
as it looks an inch or so lower than when it was inside.

home

At the end of the day we towed the truck to it's new and final home.
I'll give you a nickel if you can guess what it's sitting next to!

Better get back to cleaning!

TP

dismantling the beast

I'm sure my 28 loyal readers have been wondering what's going on with my sparse posting the past weeks.
There was a hint if you looked at the background of some of the shop pictures.

don't tread on me!

Yep we're gettin' out of the old shop!

gems amid the junk

My grand plan was to bust the big junk move,
then have a couple power days to put some time into either the 40 or the 55 projects.

hurtlocker truck

Then reality hit when I remembered that this depended on other people that don't have the same planning  priorities.
At least the 9" rear end was installed in the Tres Huevos 40 earlier.
Ken & I were also able to throw a couple days at the hurtlocker buttoning some things up.
A couple more days would have been nice though while we had some momentum.
Oh well!

hurtlocker truck - 55 chevy pickup

He scored on those wheels!
His best craigslist steal yet.

speakers!

As my brother's guys took care of his equipment,
my junk slowly migrated to the big doorway.
Right when you think you got a handle on it,
the pile get's bigger.

on the move

So glad I made that dock cart!
And man oh man was that A-frame handy.

perich brothers - Jaxon & Jakob

Instead of a fun summer going to the beach or on some bitchin trip,
the boys were stuck with me moving seriously tons of chit.

perich brothers

Never once did they complain,

or think it was unusual that there were so many heavy loads.

Awesome kids.

They were the catalyst I needed to do the move on time,

and have fun doing it!

Child labor at its best.

holey chit

That's not to say it was only us Perich Brothers (and sister).
Thanks Mike and Pat for the big muscle!
And my Wife for some serious cleaning!
(Luke you owe her!)

close

So anyway that's what's been taking most my time.
By the time we'd get home we were bushed.

More soon!

TP