Improvise, Adapt, Overcome

 

Made a couple of tools yesterday - the tee handled piece in the foreground is a spring compressor. I still need to tack the handle on. This is for one of those things that can be done without the tool, but it's just so much easier with it. Especially if I'm going to have to take the job apart several times, which I'm sure I will.  

The wooden dowel chucked up in the drill motor is to polish up a bore. It's longer than I need but the beauty of using a dowel rod is it's easily shortened. I chucked one end up in the lathe to drill a pilot hole, threaded in a screw and then cut the head of the screw off. I cut a slit in the other end to hold a couple of wraps of emery paper. Worked like a charm.

The lathe chuck had a bunch of chips that had gotten into the scroll and the teeth on the jaws. I took the jaws out, after marking them, cleaned everything up, put some white lube on the jaws and put them back together. Much smoother now.

The box of hardware showed up yesterday. I'll get everything sorted today and maybe bolt the shocks on the trailer as well. I need to pull the wheels off to get them cleaned up and painted. It'll be warm enough to paint them and the trailer frame this weekend. Be nice if I could make that happen.

I've left the intake manifold for the jitney on the horses after using it to make the exhaust header because I'm toying with the idea of adapting it for a two barrel carb or two single barrels. I've got another manifold with a carb on it, and I've already made an adapter for an air cleaner. I like the old school look. As most any old hot rodder will tell you, when it comes to carburetors, if one's good, two's better. No hurry on that. I plan on starting up the motor with what I've got to eliminate any initial headaches.