Ain't Misbehavin'

 

I was at the dentist yesterday and they asked me what type of music I listen to. The answer was jazz, blues, classic rock, and older country stuff. Some how it got settled they'd put on Hank Williams Jr. Two of the young ladies working there came in and thanked me for playing some country music which I thought was pretty funny. Hank does a real nice version of Ain't Misbehavin' himself. I've got an LP or tape or CD of Leon Redbone stuff around here somewhere that I need to find. Now that I'm gearing up to spend longer hours in the shop, I need a better variety of music out there. If Sirius XM hadn't pissed me off I'd get that rigged up out there to have a better selection than commercial radio. I've got a record player that I can use to burn CDs. I need to make a bunch of those up - "music to soothe the savage beast" and all that.

I got a little more accomplished on the roller after coming home from the dentist - would have got some more done but ran into a snag. First off, I bought my "black" pipe from Menards. It's sourced from over seas and it's black pipe because it's covered with black paint rather than the varnish pipe is usually coated with. I sanded the paint off and then was going to weld the hubs into the ends. According to the plan book, the hubs should be slightly larger diameter than the inside diameter of the pipe. Not with this pipe. I looked up the specs for 1-1/2" sch 40 pipe and the ID on this one is about .040" large, meaning the hubs won't be on center when welded in. Also, the welded seam running the length of the pipe is a little under sized causing a slight flat spot. I got one of them running pretty true - only about .005" total run out. I might take a skin cut across it to eliminate the flat spot on the seam. Much more work than I'd figured on but it will probably be worth it in the long run. 

Back On The Roller

 It was a little chilly yesterday but not a bad day for a little lumberjacking. I've got quite a bit of brush and tree branches that need trimming. I can do that throughout the winter. I might call the tree guys back for a little professional help on a couple of the big branches that are over hanging the barn. I'll keep picking away at things and see how it goes. They cut down the stuff that I was really concerned with this summer. I don't think there's any panic on the rest of it.

After the lumberjacking I drug out the parts for the roller. There's not too much left to do. The rollers are made by pressing a sprocket hub into a piece of 1-1/2" pipe. They're a snug fit but I'll tack them in. After I get them tacked I'll put them in the lathe between centers and polish them up. The sprocket hubs have two set screws each that will keep them attached to the 1/2" rod that they will spin on. I need to put a couple of flats on the rod so the screws will hold better. Maybe just spot drill the rod so the screws will drop into a shallow hole. 

The roller shafts run in brass bushings that are pressed into the adjusters. I had to ream the adjusters, press the bushings in and then ream the bushings. I need to weld the drive sprockets to the hubs as seen in the lower photo. Nothing to that. I still need to make a couple of keepers for the bushings for the top roll. I thought I had made those already but since they weren't in the box of parts, I guess not. I also need to make the handle and cut the three roller shafts to length. Only thing after that is clean and paint. Depending on what else comes along in the next few days, might have it finished up next week.  

Pattern Progress

 

I was out running some errands yesterday and had my cowboy music playing in the truck. It's been quite a while since I've been in the heart of Texas, or anywhere for that matter. But we're having a beautiful fall here in Indiana. The trees are having one of their better years for color. Of course in a week or two you won't be able to go out of the house due to all the smoke from people burning their leaves. Apparently the "Green" memo has made it around to everyone in my neck of the woods yet. But a beautiful day yesterday to be out in the country blasting some old cowboy tunes just the same.

I finished repairing the part for the bender. There's a 1/8" strip welded on to each side now for reinforcement. I didn't have any gray spray paint so went with blue. I don't really care what color it is, just don't want it rusting. The paint is Rust-Oleum that's primer and paint in one application. The label mentions priming prior to painting, however. Have to see how well the paint holds up.

Half pattern for the dash hood - at least that's what the auto sheet metal book calls it. Since that book has now become my bible for skinning out this rig, that's what this piece will be called from this date forward. It also has a bit of the side attached where yours truly will be climbing in and out.

Half pattern for the seat back. In the auto sheet metal book, most of the seat backs are listed as having an angle of 78 degrees. I used that as my number as well and it looks good . The seat will actually line up with the back edge of the particle board and I'll have a seam on the sides where it will over lap the sides of the dash hood. I'm debating if I should rivet the two pieces together, use some Dzeus fasteners or weld it. It might be prudent to be able to remove the dash hood to access the wiring, etc. 

My plan is to roll a bead near the top edge of the seat back and the top edge of the dash hood then trim the sheet flush to the outer edge of the bead. The bead will be bumped to the outside. I can then drop a piece of aluminum round bar into the inside of the bead to reinforce the edge and eliminate the safety hazard of having an unprotected straight edge. I need to make a sample piece to see how it works but I think it will work just fine. I'll probably make the dash hood out of two pieces since that will be a bit trickier to get to fit snuggly on to the frame. Especially since I want to curve a bit of a lip along the top edge. The seat back I should be able to make out of one piece. However, I need to finish making the roller. I dug the plan book out. I'll figure out where I left off on that and see about finishing it up. Between the roll and the motorcycle project, I've got enough to keep me busy for a while. 

The auto sheet metal book and the plans for the slip roll both came from Lindsay. He retired several years back but the business was taken over as Your Old Time Bookstore. According to their website, they were going to call it quits as well but have continued operations. I checked out a few of the offerings and most things seem to be on sale. I'm guessing they aren't going to stay around too much longer. I'm going to see if they have anything that I didn't already purchase from Lindsay and place an order if I find something that catches my eye. If you're a tinkerer like I am or just interested in how it used to be done, you might want to check them out while you still can.

Time To Start Thinking Pattern Development

I got the pieces cut out to reinforce my tubing bender and some pieces for the side hustle yesterday. I was going to do a bit more in the shop but I discovered there was a MotoGP race on television - about the last chance to watch racing of any kind this season. And since it was an international event there wasn't any of the political BS like NASCAR or sportsball, just racing mano y mano. Franco Morbidelli was the winner by the way.

 I took a quick look at the jitney after cutting out the parts. I wanted to give some thought to changing the cockpit design a bit. One of the things I was concerned with following the original plan was mounting a decent roll cage. If I make the cockpit/tub more like the car in the previous post, I can still make a boat tail rear but narrow it up a couple of inches on each side so I can mount a hoop behind the tub directly to the frame rail as well as a couple of braces to the rear without having to poke holes in the sheet metal. 

Regardless of what I settle on for sheet metal, I'm going to need a layout/template for the skin. I got out my book on making automobile sheet metal that I bought some years ago from Lindsay before he retired. The book is a reprint of a 1912 edition so all of the cars featured are some of the earliest examples of automotive coach building. And that's a good thing for a one off builder like myself. There is a lot of info on the process of building panels including, which is why I dug the book out, pattern development. It runs you through the process of drawing out two views and then developing the true length lines required to make a flat pattern. 

I used to teach a little bit of this at the high school. To be honest, I was never real good at it. I always had to work through all the problems before the students so I wouldn't look like a dumb ass but I did have a fall-back if needed. Our department head was a whiz-bang with this stuff and if I needed some help he could answer any question I could come up with. Fortunately, I could answer most any question the students might have had, so it was all good. I'm going to start drawing up a couple of options for the cockpit and make a full size half pattern to see which one I like best. I'm starting to develop an image in my mind's eye that I think will work for me. It's about time to sweep the floor and bust out a new piece of soapstone. 

High Noon

 

High Noon was on last evening just long enough to catch the opening tune before the Missus changed the channel. Not like I don't know how it ends but Tex Ritter was stuck in my head until I fell asleep later.

I saw both of these on a Facebook group that appeared to be Dutch. They had some pretty neat cars and bikes posted but I couldn't decipher much of anything of the captions. However, a couple of really interesting things caught my eye with this rig. Looking at the side view, I like the look of the screened- in sides of the hood. Not just the screen but the rolled bead framing it. Likewise the rolled edge around the cockpit opening. The cockpit itself has a shape that's similar to a T bucket - looks good. I'd like to have a good look at the rear of the car to see how that was finished off. I was planning on doing my build according to the blueprint I've got but after seeing this, I might change things a bit. Probably won't be going with a headlight in the nose but I like the look. I'm diggin' the muffler/collector too. Cool looking car.

Didn't get any shop time in yesterday but got some more done outside. I've neglected some things the last couple of years, but I'm catching up with it. There's always plenty to do around here even if I'm staying on top of it. Most of what I need to do now I can do over the winter - assuming of course winter isn't going to be brutally cold with a blizzard every third day. It is 2020, however. Maybe a bit more outside work today and a little plasma cutting. A couple of pieces for me, a couple for the side hustle. 

Saddle Up

 

Back in the fabricating saddle again, not like I haven't been doing some, but I'm working on the soccer goal repair and the boss has a bunch of material on order for future work. 

Actual saddles made from a 2" sch 20 pipe I split. The saddles need to fit over a 2" tube. The ID on the pipe before splitting was 2-1/16" so they should bolt up nicely. I used the plasma to split them. I used a straight edge to guide my cut and was able to cut quickly enough to get a nice cut without wandering all over - hardly any clean up. Now I need to figure out how to free hand cut some more pieces for the side hustle without a bunch of grinding.

Note the shop math on the plate. Since I needed to get the holes spaced equally on the saddles, I worked out from the center line an equal distance - nothing new here - but to find the distance from the center, instead of multiplying the denominator times the whole number and adding the numerator and then dividing by 2 like they teach you in math class, just find half of the whole number, half the fraction and then add them together. Remembering of course anytime you want to find half of a fraction, just multiply the bottom number (denominator) by 2. And since every self-respecting welder/fabricator will have a piece of soapstone, finding half of 3-3/8 shouldn't take longer than about 5 seconds. For those of you who've been doing math with your young-uns, give them a couple of fraction problems and see how they solve it. If they do it the long way as normally taught, show them the easy way. You never know, they may have to find half of 17-5/8 some day without taking all day.

Took a good look at the front end on the Rickati project. I loosened up the fork legs and the axle nut and spun the legs by hand and the tubes appear to be bent. Normally they bend just below the bottom clamp but if not too bad they can be straightened. I've done a couple of these in the past with satisfactory results. I'll take these apart and see if I can do some good. If I can get them close, just put them back together so they're parallel and they should work. The trail might be off a bit but this is going to be a slow speed rig - that's what vintage trials is all about anyway.

Speaking of which, I went to the AHRMA website the other day to check on the vintage trials rules and they have a beginner's class. The results don't count for the championship and the course is the "easy line". I saw that they are going to have an event this weekend in Illinois. I didn't bother to look up how close to me it is but I did note they are running a cross country event as well. My original plan with the Rickati was to take it to the AHRMA events and compete in the trials and then spectate the road racing events. Plans haven't exactly worked out that way but they might still. I just need to finish up the frame and then send the motor out to my buddy. Paint the frame while he's got the motor and then button it all back up when he's done. Simple enough.

 

I'm A Big Fan

 

The big brown truck showed up yesterday morning - fan, spacer and radiator cap. The cap is a threaded item to work with the Model T radiator I bought. The box the fan came in has some instructions to determine the length of the spacer required and the length away from the radiator, belts and hoses. 3/4" is the magic number they say. Now that I've got the parts, I'll locate the radiator and then adjust the engine placement accordingly. One of the mounts has a couple of tack welds that will have to be ground off but I tacked it where it would be easy to remove. 

I made the fender mount yesterday. It looks crooked in the photo but there's two things at work here. One is the camera angle, the other is the fork legs are not in alignment top to bottom. I need to check the forks to see if the legs are bent or what ever else that could be causing the problem. It seems to be quite a bit of mis-alignment but I'll loosen up the pinch bolts and see if I can get the front wheel pointed straight first thing. I don't think I replaced the fork seals, so I'll have to pull the front end apart at some point anyway.

The fender bracket is all set other than a final polish. When I held the fender up to it while checking the fit, it appears the fender was designed for high mounting with the larger radius, rather than a smaller radius to fit snug over the tire with a low mount. I'll have to trim the fender but I won't do anything until I make sure I can get the front wheel pointed straight.

I need to remake the rear loop and get the rear fender fastened and then do something about a rear wheel. I'll need to buy some shocks as well but I've used up my allowance for the month and I can work on the jitney while I solve the wheel problem. I still need to find a tranny for that thing, but I'm moving forward and enjoying myself.