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Jul 27, 2020 12:41:26 GMT
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Good stuff. What kind of blowtorch is that? It's just a regular screw-on-top-of-the-bottle type butane torch, screw regulator and piezoelectric ignition. Nothing special, bought it at the hardware store. To get the metal cherry red I have to add a little more heat from my small propane torch (butane doesn't really burn hot enough). Impressive fabrication. Having helped a neighbour a few times with shaping brackets and specifically flat bar, without heat, I know its not that easy to get the bends just right. May try heat the next time. Absolutely do! It turns hard steel that likes to crack into a substance more like warm toffee (though I suppose a better description would be akin to bending copper of the same thickness, cold). If you heat it in a narrow area you can get just that area to bend as it will "give" where it's red hot and remain the shape it was where it's not incandescent. Plus if you heat it up again once it's bent then let it cool slowly you relieve a lot of the stresses of bending the metal and it's less likely to crack in the future. It does soften the metal (which can be remedied by various heat treatment, how fast you cool it down mostly) but for things like this it's excellent. The method I used was to heat the area up that I wanted to bend, put a pair of pliers quickly about 1/4" away from where I wanted the bend and then twisted. That starts the metal to "get the idea" it should bend there as you change the crystalline structure by stretching it. Heat it up again because the pliers suck a lot of heat out, bend it to closer to what I wanted and heat again then drop the piece down in the jaws of the vice and then a few blows with a BFH to fold it neatly. Clamp it back up in the air again, heat and then move the flame away slowly to let it cool off slow until it's no longer red, then turn the gas off and walk away for an hour until it's all cold. Phil Edit:. Huzzah, 100 pages!
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Last Edit: Jul 27, 2020 13:30:25 GMT by PhilA
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Jul 27, 2020 13:58:56 GMT
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So, the list, as it stands:
Redo brakes (shoes, flexis, wheel cylinders) Engine gaskets Repair door window glass and mechanisms Set tappets correctly Thermostat Parcel shelf carpet Screen defrost air pipe Relocate battery to the trunk
Not a big list. I've been trying to chip away at it all.
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Last Edit: Jul 27, 2020 14:27:02 GMT by PhilA
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Jul 27, 2020 14:09:03 GMT
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Compared to what I have completed:
Buy car and transport it home Rewire car Repair dashboard gauges Clean and paint firewall Engine top end rebuild Rebuild gearbox Build new radio Fix heater Fix windscreen wipers Fix alternator Fix carburetor Fix distributor New plugs/leads/fix wire tray Fix rear lights Create keys for the locks Fix ignition switch and starter Fix indicators (wiring, switch, reflectors) Fix headlight switch Fix interior light and switches Tidy up paint on roof Fix radiator Fix horn, add relay Fix hood latch Make Chief light up
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Frankenhealey
Club Retro Rides Member
And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death
Posts: 3,875
Club RR Member Number: 15
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1951 Pontiac ChieftainFrankenhealey
@frankenhealey
Club Retro Rides Member 15
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Jul 27, 2020 14:38:04 GMT
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Sadly I've always found that the last 10% of the list takes 90% of the time :sad:
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Tales of the Volcano Lair hereFrankenBug - Vulcan Power hereThe Frankenhealey here
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Jul 27, 2020 14:40:06 GMT
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To put it on the road would require only doing the brakes and moving the battery at the minimum.
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Jul 28, 2020 18:37:21 GMT
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Just ordered the correct thermostat for the car; typically it's a non-standard affair. That should be here soon.
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Shiny new old stock things in new old stock packaging! Woo It's a strange contraption, but I guess it does the task. It all wedges up inside the housing like so. Cut a new gasket, applied sealant and torqued it down, did up all the hoses and filled it back up. Ran it to temperature, it warmed up, hung briefly at 180 as the radiator filled up with hot water then settled to a steady 190, not bad for just idling in the garage in 93 degree weather. Heater blows red hot. Also, being as I just broke 100 pages, might as well have another milestone: How about that? Phil
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Jul 31, 2020 12:17:22 GMT
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BOJ - Bodge? Hardly!!
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Jul 31, 2020 23:55:46 GMT
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Outside in the evening sunshine.
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remmoc
Part of things
Posts: 917
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looking good , stat is the old bellows type , they fail open not closed apparently so better really
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40+°C today. Washed the car.
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glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,090
Club RR Member Number: 64
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1951 Pontiac Chieftainglenanderson
@glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member 64
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It really is a handsome thing. 👍
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My worst worry about dying is my wife selling my stuff for what I told her it cost...
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Living the Mid Century Lifestyle there Phil
Cocktails and pool parties, too?
Great stuff.
John
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More like Miller Lite and a barbeque!
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is that lower than stock by a bit phil ?
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is that lower than stock by a bit phil ? Yes, it is. About 3" lower all round than stock. Phil
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jpsmit
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,254
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Stance is perfect. The car looks so right
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Rain today. Went to the garage, decided to do something useful. A few people had commented on the photos that the chrome looked a little dull. Well, yeah. I hadn't cleaned it in nearly 2 years. Also, previous owner used heavy handed wire wheel on it and made a horrible mess. Did what I could to polish those scratches out, but it's down to the nickel in a lot of places. Still, better than it was. Used small polishing wheel to get into some of the tighter spots, of which it has surprisingly many. By no means done, but it looks better. Too hot to carry on for today. Phil
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