Aluminum Bits

I machined up a whole slew of aluminum crap this weekend. The top photo has a bunch of cinch-up devices for swingarms on Ducati singles. A long bolt runs through the swingarm and one of the aluminum pieces and threads into another piece on the other side of the swingarm. When the bolt is tightened up it takes the side play out of the swingarm. I made these for a buddy of mine. He had a couple of the threaded pieces, so I made three more with threads and five pieces with the through hole. I also made myself a set while I was at it. I can keep them for a sample or put them on the bike I plan to build some day.

Also in the picture is a bung for a 1/4" pipe plug. A guy from the gym has a pontoon boat with a leak so he wants to put a drain plug in. One of these days he can bring it to the school and we'll get it welded in.

The long shaft is for the high mileage car. I turned the end so it would fit inside a piece of tubing that will end up being the steering shaft.

In the top and middle picture, are two pieces used to connect a cable to a 1/4" rod. This is for the brake and throttle on the midget. They sell these things plenty cheap but the place where I usually buy my go-kart parts has a $25.00 dollar minimum order. Besides, I like engineering and making this stuff myself. Plus, and this is a big plus, this is the last thing I need to do on the midget before I finish weld and paint it. Yippy damn Skippy, another project almost done!

The bottom photo has the tie rods for the high mileage car. I just had to shorten them up. They were used on a car from a couple of years ago. I had to turn the OD and then rethread them.

Lots of little pieces and some more progress made. I've still got plenty of my own projects to work on and we're already busy working on some things at school with the vocational guys. The rookies start welding this week as well. I need to prioritize the job list and resist the temptation to start anything else until I get a couple more finished up but with everything I got done this summer, I've got myself a little breathing room.