Hot Rod Forum banner

The "What Did You Work On Today" thread

3M views 36K replies 388 participants last post by  cerial 
#1 ·
4 hour work day for me at the shop. Used the time to do a valve body swap on a '01 Jetta 1.8t auto .... I successfully installed a transbrake on the car .... that however wasn't my intention.

Its in 2 gears at once in park, all other gears (R/N/D/2/1) are forward gears.... they all seam to be first gear.

I have it torn back down most of the way. Tuesday I'll actually get the VB back out and see whats up.... but part of me wants to take it out for a test drive the way it is just for the fun of it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: drive til its broke
#3,421 · (Edited)
today I get to fabricate some bottom pieces to a pick up bed. Boss wants me to match what's under the cab. What pisses me off is how and tbe he hell am I supposed to fab this up? We have NO metal fab tools and I've been asking for a vise for like a YEAR!!! The pieces aren't very long, about 24". Before and after wheel opening. So I can make for instance a 25" piece and fold 1/2" on each side for the jamb and then use the shrinker or stretcher to get my shape. I think that would be the easiest way, and while I'm at it to make traces of each piece for the other side, including contour with the contour gauge. I think it will be fun but I need a vise and to possibly shape up some wood for certain areas to hammer form, cause that's the poor man's way of doing it with the limited tooling as of now. Wish me luck.

edit:just called the boss and they're getting the vise and shrinker. YES!
 
#3,422 · (Edited)
so the boss gets a shrinker/stretcher from HF and because they didn't have any boxes on display the kid had to go to the back to get them. I guess they ship 2 boxes in a box cause we got TWO SETS in a box for the price of one. So I'll split the cost with my boss and give him $75 for a set. That worked out well.

As far as the work I'm going over, it baffles me...somebody actually designed the thing pretty good but welded it really badly. So I'm going over some welds and cutting some areas out and starting over. Tomorrow I get the shrinker/stretcher mounted to the vise and get started fabricating that little area behind the wheel on the bed.

Highlight of the day...getting home and seeing my daughter playing in the front yard and my new $75 shrinker/stretcher kit....oh, and The Warriors beat them old men called The Spurs! YES! :D
 
#3,423 · (Edited)
Tech,Are the two different colors???? one is the shrinker and one is the strecher..Wear a glove when using them ,the handle will put one hellofa blister in your palm...
Your on your way NOW!!! have fun with it...
Heres a pic of mine (in the back ground)at the left of the tool box one is yellow and one is black. to get the most out of them you really need a foot operated stand...this stand works great ,you could make one but this works and is well worth the money...even with free labor its cheaper to buy than build, the steel will cost more than the unit...
 

Attachments

#3,424 ·
car show

went to my first car show of the season here in Maine with my car. All legal and inspected as a streetrod. Nice sunny day at the local high school parking lot. about 400 cars, trucks, motor cycles and anything else with a motor and wheels. Nice to finally have my own car at the show.
 
#3,426 ·
That is looking so cool! The only thing I got done yesterday was that I was handed $100 from a friend for helping him (he always does that, has TONS of money and always does that no matter what I say) so I have my money for the 49-54 front end I am going to go get next weekend. Of course once I get it, it won't be a 49-54 Chevy Passenger car front end anymore, it will be a 53-62 Corvette front end. :D

But that is the only thing I did with any of my projects yesterday or the weeks before. I just haven't been able to get out there darn it!

Brian
 
#3,427 ·
Tech,Are the two different colors???? one is the shrinker and one is the strecher..Wear a glove when using them ,the handle will put one hellofa blister in your palm...
Your on your way NOW!!! have fun with it...
Heres a pic of mine (in the back ground)at the left of the tool box one is yellow and one is black. to get the most out of them you really need a foot operated stand...this stand works great ,you could make one but this works and is well worth the money...even with free labor its cheaper to buy than build, the steel will cost more than the unit...
yes, 4 bodies in all. 2 yellow and 2 black. I knew it right away as soon as he opened the shipping box cause I've seen the boxes on display.Still need some other metal working tools but I'd rather get the paint for my car soon. well, it's a good start on a pretty simple project, or at least it seems simple. :D
 
#3,428 ·
After a lot of head scratching, and a lot of fab work, plus some modifications, I finally got the gilmer belt system mocked up. Definitely not a bolt in thing, and luckily I had a $5 swap meet alternator bracket that I reworked to fit.

Then I punched a bunch of holes in the axle with a holesaw and lots of Rapid Tap. Got all 11 drilled with one bit!!!!


Finally cleaned up the front floor pans and painted them too. So shiny the camera didn't want to focus, or it was high on fumes!
 
#3,429 ·
One of my friends on the Ford Barn was kind enough to print and send a timing tape calibrated for my Flattie. Now I will be able to set my distributor up and not just set the initial timing.

The Chevy distributor is able to run close to 40 degrees of total advance but the flathead can only stand about 26 degrees. Having the tape is going to really make it easy to see what the distributor is putting out for initial, mechanical, and total advance. I hope to play with it some tomorrow.

Thanks Richard in Florida. :thumbup:

John L

 
#3,430 ·
One of my friends on the Ford Barn was kind enough to print and send a timing tape calibrated for my Flattie. Now I will be able to set my distributor up and not just set the initial timing.

The Chevy distributor is able to run close to 40 degrees of total advance but the flathead can only stand about 26 degrees. Having the tape is going to really make it easy to see what the distributor is putting out for initial, mechanical, and total advance. I hope to play with it some tomorrow.

Thanks Richard in Florida. :thumbup:

John L

I put them on everything I own! Summit sells them based on balancer diameter for about $3, so hard not to have them. They're such a great aid in tuning!
 
#3,431 ·
I put them on everything I own! Summit sells them based on balancer diameter for about $3, so hard not to have them. They're such a great aid in tuning!
I can see that. I borrowed a Craftsman timing light that has the dial which allows you to use just use the one timing mark but I kept getting conflicting readings. The concern is the circuitry of the timing light is causing issues. Now I can use just a plain old timing light and not have to wonder.

The guys on the Ford Barn who have spent a lot of time playing with the SBC distributors say 20 degrees of mechanical and 6 degrees of vacuum are ideal for the flathead. I believe this distributor is set very close to the 20 degrees mechanical but I also believe it is giving me 10 or 12 degrees of vacuum advance. It tends to pull well at full throttle but ping under a light pull. I should know what I have for sure in a day or two. :)

John
 
#3,433 ·
Got only a couple of hours on the Stude frame. More grinding. Got a little more primer on it. About 3/4 ths done on paint prep.

My universal parking brake cable kit came today. So I guess I will get that fabbed in after the frame gets painted.. Race car with a working parking brake!!
 
#3,434 ·
After a lot of head scratching, and a lot of fab work, plus some modifications, I finally got the gilmer belt system mocked up. Definitely not a bolt in thing, and luckily I had a $5 swap meet alternator bracket that I reworked to fit.

Then I punched a bunch of holes in the axle with a holesaw and lots of Rapid Tap. Got all 11 drilled with one bit!!!!


Finally cleaned up the front floor pans and painted them too. So shiny the camera didn't want to focus, or it was high on fumes!
You are a craftsman ,great work Thumbs up for the Nostalgia look ma be my next project,
 
#3,435 ·
You are a craftsman ,great work Thumbs up for the Nostalgia look ma be my next project,
Thanks a lot! You'd have laughed if you saw how I cut the 1/2" off the back of the alternator pulley, but it worked! :) I put the back of the pulley on my portaband saw and turned the pulley as I cut. The back step kept the saw blade aligned, and turning made a nice smooth cut. So after cutting it I didn't even have to dress it off. Put it on the alternator and checked it by spinning and it was perfectly true!
 
#3,437 ·
Thanks a lot! You'd have laughed if you saw how I cut the 1/2" off the back of the alternator pulley, but it worked! :) I put the back of the pulley on my portaband saw and turned the pulley as I cut. The back step kept the saw blade aligned, and turning made a nice smooth cut. So after cutting it I didn't even have to dress it off. Put it on the alternator and checked it by spinning and it was perfectly true!
That's the difference in a True mechanic and a R&R ,mechanic ,,remove and replace
 
#3,440 ·
Sears and Robuck:D and a flying VW, Seriously a stx 38 ,a 160 48in a ZX425, 54 in deck and a 850 tractor6 ft mower
Just wanted to see if I could make your eyeballs bulge. We've got a serious JD collector in town here. Multiple , multiple tractors, implements and anything else JD you can imagine! His house is painted Green and yellow and he lives on John Deere Lane. Got a couple myself.

BB :thumbup::thumbup:
 
Top