Wagon Progress

Thanks crash!






Picked up the console from the powder coater, the outside was done in satin black and will be covered in upholstery, the inside parts were done in wrinkle finish, this will be their "covering"






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Tonight we worked on some stainless for our seat belt escutcheons..






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Some measurements and geometry from high school should get us the correct size from the onset...






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Using the mag brake and a 3/4 tube to bend our radius...






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Tacked together using the TIG






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Got running late and missed some pictures, but here's the part welded up and polished..












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More progress, Mike installed the driver seat so we could mock up the lap belt for locating the lower escutcheon.

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Then we contemplated vertical or parallel....

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Remaining escutcheons were welded up...

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Ideally the inner opening of the ring should rest on the midline of the sleeve. This provides for a good fusion weld and starts the formation of the radius we're looking for around the inside opening. Here's the various stages of welding the escutcheons:


Mike got the remaining openings cut in the arm rest and kick panels for the escutcheons...

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Test fit...

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…..and JB got started on the speaker trim rings for us...

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The recess on the rear is for the stainless mesh...

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Did some mockup of the fuel lines so we could get the required fittings identified..






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Finishing up the polishing of our seat belt escutcheons.. after using roloc scotchbrite pads to clean up the vixen file marks, we then used 320 dry, 1500 wet, and 3000 trizact damp. Then to the polishing..






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Here's the comparison between the 3000 and after polishing..






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That should do for us..
 
Some progress, doesn't look like much until you look at the floor...






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Sometimes these louvers can be a challenge to sand.






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In the spirit of "everything's a tool", a strip of 18 ga steel and a wrap of PSA paper does a good job of getting in the tight spaces.






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Another shot of the scrap pile before I clean it up, this is what went into fabricating the escutcheons..






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And now for the reason we didn't post earlier this week, had to make a speed run for Taco Tuesday.. even saw a full rainbow in the process.






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Back in the shop this weekend, but we had a distraction in another Meco torch that showed up for sale not three miles away. So needless to say about the only thing accomplished was more welding practice!!






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After planishing...














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More progress on the wagon, we had ordered some 3/8 Stainless fuel line, which comes in a coil... so we needed to be able to straighten it out as I can see me "unbending" and getting it right.. So I placed an order with McMaster Carr for some pulleys designed for 3/8 rope and using 3/8 bolt hole in the bearing. Part number 59475K51.






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A drive mechanism was made using 3/8-16 stainless all-thread, and the slider was cut and re-welded to better fit the 1" square tubing.






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A better view all around of the design, we used three pulleys so this could also serve as a bender as well as straightener..












Then Mike and I did a test run using copper tubing...












Now onto the stainless....






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At this point we measured and cut the 20' piece in two so it would be more more manageable.






Straightened....






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Now we used the adjustable spline to get the curve of the frame for the proper bend on the stainless...






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A strip of tape applied helps to lock the shape from moving, and the tubing is marked for the radius distance..






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The tube is placed back in the new machine to add the radius to match our profile...






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Adding some of the needed bends...






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For some of the interior details, we took delivery of the speaker trim rings from my cousin JB, he did a nice job cutting these out for us... They still need holes drilled, stainless mesh cut to fit, and polishing...






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....and our Mopar door clips we were going to use for the rear arm rests turned out to be a bit brittle, most snapped off rather than pull back through the hole. So we ordered the similar GM version, keeping our fingers crossed...






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Alas, in my typical Murphy strikes again mode, these were slightly smaller and/or the holes already located in the kick panels were slightly gaping.. We searched the entire shop for a MacGyver solution and found that a 3/8-16 hex nut did a good job of "capturing" the clip, but without the "not letting go" part that a hole in sheet metal provides if the clip rotates slightly while in the hole. So some 3/8 stainless nuts were machined so that they could be welded into the kick panel and yet have the thread grip flush at the surface.






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Saturday we got the tank installed so we could get a good reading on where it locates in relation to the body mounts in front of the axle.

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We also pulled a pattern from the body mount so we could bend the lines around it accurately.

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Highly technical drawing showing our tank location...

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Tank located per our drawing in relation to body mount..

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The more I look at this, the less I wanted to use the braided lines between the hard line and the tank. I'm just not comfortable with another fitting in the vicinity of the tail pipes. So back up and punt, looks like we're getting new tubing and bending again. The last lines weren't long enough to make it back to the tank, so we'll chalk them up as practice pieces, learning curve, if you will...
Here the Body mount pattern is bolted up, the lines will make a bend behind this body mount, travel across to the middle, and then toward the back where it will attach directly to the tank.

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The lines will come close to the passenger tail pipe, so we'll add a heat shield. I visited a local motorcycle shop and picked up a donor...

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trimmed to fit...

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That should do. Next, we need to finish the kick panels for upholstery, which means mounting the speakers. The trim rings from cousin JB will need holes drilled to match the speakers. We have some button head allen screws we plan on using, but didn't really care for the surface mounted look...

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This would look so much better with the details of counterbored holes. Alas, the pitfalls of working on Saturdays without a local source. What's a person to do but make their own. The extended die grinder almost fits the Aloris tool holder too well, like it was made to be.


A 120 grit roloc sanding disc does well to backface the cutting edge and we are in business..

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Much better, all in the details..

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….and adding the tweeters to the kick panel...

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Took delivery yesterday of the 304 Stainless mesh for the speaker grills.

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Just like we used different widths on the trim rings so they would be proportional to the diameter, with the mesh we used three different sizes as well..

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For the bass speaker grill we are also adding a BelAir emblem. The mesh will be recessed for that so the emblem is flush, then the remaining mesh will be pressed outward so it is flush with the surface of the trim ring. (or so) Now for the unofficial poll, would you orient the mesh straight across/up and down, or at a 45 degree rotation?

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Thanks, The adjustable spline is available 18" to about 6', iirc. Got it from 12V tools, they had a sale going on and thought I'd try it. Does come in handy, and a bit a tape on the side locks it down fairly well.


https://12vtools.com/




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Thanks to all for their input on the speaker grilles, the owner has decided on the 45* rotation. Our other choice to ponder was whether to use chrome, polished, or brushed finish. We clamped some of the rings in the lathe and gave it a brushed finish, others were polished so we can compare..



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Here it was decided to go with the polished over brushed, and for ease of maintenance, we opted for chrome plating. So all the holes were drilled, counterbored, and transferred to their respective mounting location. The tweeter trim rings will be held in place with 6-32 hardware, the mids use 8-32, and the sub uses 10-32. Rivet nuts were installed where needed..



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With the trim rings ready to send for plating, we turned our attention to the fuel lines, where we wanted a direct run all the way to the tank. Our bending efforts found Mike in a bit of a stretch..



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The fuel line passes behind the body mount, we have a heat deflector in place where it passes over the tail pipe, and then it will connect directly to the tank. They will be secured with adel clamps fastened to the floor braces from underneath. Return line in place, supply line to go:









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More progress on the fuel lines, with both lines now routed, we opted for glue lined heat shrink as an abrasion resistant covering where it passes closely to the body, and regular heat shrink to keep the two together.



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Mike installs an anchor point for adel clamps in the shock crossmember



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Test bends at the fuel pump..



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Next to add some AN fittings..
 
Our vent/check valve for the fuel tank will get mounted up behind the driver's tail light by the filler neck. We bent up a piece of stainless tubing last night for the vent line. The glue-lined heat shrink works well to provide a cushion/vibration dampener up against the tank.. For our stainless bends, we had also bought a roll of copper tubing to use for test bends. Inch increments were marked, bends made, and then these marked "starting points" could be transferred to the stainless for more accurate bends.....and less of a scrap pile.


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Video version..





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Finished up the fuel lines at the tank, bending and flaring..

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test fit to the pump.....

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Helpful hint of the day, copper line works well for trial runs...

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Side stepped the area above the third member with the fuel line in case of extreme movement... the Adel clamps floating there will attach to the underside of the floor brace.

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Busy weekend! Saturday we got the power window mechanisms cut to length, and installed for the rear windows. We found some 1/4-20 x 1" standoffs about perfect for spacing the vertical part where it needed to be for locating the window track centered in the opening..

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Lock nuts used to keep the spacer from spinning during attachment...

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1/4-20 Rivnut added to secure the top..

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Track is pretty well centered....

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Also made a bracket for the Diacro No. 1A bender so we can use it in our universal stands..

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Sunday was the Coming Out Car Show put on by the Southern Knights Rod and Custom Car Club. We got Brad to bring his car out for the event. It's like a magnet, he was answering questions all day. We had some metal fabrications on display, and I enjoyed talking to many people about their projects, welding processes, and our fabrication capabilities.

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*photo credit Mike Tunney, Old Liners Car Club
 
Thanks for the kind words Eddie... We're still learning though.... some days we make scrap, some days it works.


We need to do another spray out test panel, so we can nail down the top color to accent the green. These car bodies just aren't big enough to do a two tone...……..

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….so we fabricated a fake quarter panel using the Tommasini wheeling machine, and sprayed it with some epoxy primer. We'll get it blocked on Saturday and spray the bottom using Organic Green Kandy Basecoat, and spray the top with Galaxy gray, to see how well those two go together...

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