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2x4 and forstner bit?
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Flying south, with a flock of bird dogs. -
Well that's too easy! Sounds like a great idea. I can just drop them in the hole and use my arbor press to compress them so I can remove the clips.Originally posted by Beagle View PostComment
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Just found this picture I took a few years ago. This is my buddy's '40 Chev coupe, with 383 SBC. But back in 1968 it was my '40 Chev coupe with a 413 Mopar, Torqueflite, and rear axle, all out of a '59 Imperial. Back when I owned it I had a '47 Ford transverse spring front axle, and it was a gasser. Now it's more of a low rider show car. I sold it to Steve back in 1973, and he finally had it built aout 5 years ago.
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Drove the '39 over 300 miles today, and it was great! Hotter than heck here today, but she never got over 180 degrees, even a few times sitting in traffic. Got a little over 20 mpg average, so I'm tickled with it. I need to get a bunch of miles on it before the end of the month so I feel confident taking it on a 900 mile trip.
I do need to replace the alternator before the trip, as it's charging a little high. It runs about 14.5 vdc, and I think it might be getting close to quitting. So I'll go ahead and replace it before it completely goes bad and fries my battery.Comment
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After rebuilding the double doors to my shop this morning, and replacing the transparent fiberglass panels with corrugated galvanized steel, I took a closer look at the '39's alternator. I found a 63 a. 10SI alternator I had NIB here, and thought maybe I'd try it. Not sure why it was here, or where it came from?
I started the car, and put my Fluke volt-ohm meter on the output terminal and got 14.3 v., so the volt meter is reading closer to 15 v., and must be a little high. Decided since I had the spare I'd still give it a try and see how it worked.
Bolted it on, and started the car again. Seems the reason it's not on one of my cars was obvious. It read 12.8 v. on the gauge, and with the Fluke it's barely over 12.2v., which is battery voltage running! Swapped the old alternator back on, and I'll take this one over to one of the parts stores and see if they can test it, to see what's going on.Comment
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Alternator failed the test. Amazing a brand new appearing alternator, still in the box failed. Guess it will become a core trade in now, in case I need one.Comment
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Another 500 miles on the '39 since the repair. So at 1000 miles it seems to be doing great now, and ready for it's first trip. Heading out in the morning on a 1000 mile round trip to meet up with some friends up near the Canadian border.
I hit the wrecking yard a couple days ago to get some insurance. Purchased a new space saver spare that just fits behind the trunk divider panel. Tossed in the tool bag, and a small hydraulic floor jack, just in case. The rest is packed with camping gear, as we'll be camping at our friend's place up north. Heading home Sunday, and about a 7-7.5 hr. drive each way.Comment
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Just got back a few hours ago, and had a fantastic trip! Nice to see my friends after over a year, but also nice to get this many miles behind the wheel of the '39 too! Probably got at least a couple hundred extra miles as I did a big detour over past Grand Coulee dam, just because I'd never been there, plus I was having so much fun on the trip!! Totaled around 1200 miles for the trip.
The 700R4 is just the best decision ever for this car build, and the ability to cruise down the road and let the car just lope along. Lot of 60-70 mph driving, and the OD trans makes the '39 love cruising at 70-75 mph more than any hotrod I've ever owned. It just purrs along at about 2200 rpm's there, and feels better there than even a little slower 55-60mph does.
I tracked the gas pretty closely, because of the darned 12 gal. tank, and limited distance between fill ups. I ended up filling far too often, just because I feared running out. So I usually only took 7 or 8 gal. of gas, but the car averaged around 19 mpg out on the flats, and 17 mpg in the mountains where it spent more time in 3rd than OD 4th. So I could easily go 150 miles and have some reserve left. But I'll probably keep looking for a larger fuel cell that's the same length and width, but more depth to get 15 or 16 gal. capacity, so less fuel stops.
Zero problems with the car anywhere. I did have a couple really windy areas where I had side gusts of around 35-40 mph that surprised me. I didn't expect a car this big and heavy to get pushed around like it did, and it was a little spooky to feel it. But not something so bad I wanted to pull over and wait it out.
Probably going to take me a full afternoon with my pressure washer to get all the bugs off the front suspension! I've got quite a collection of critters stuck under there, plus all over the front of the car too! But I guess that's something I'll have to accept if I'm going to put lots of miles on it.
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Somewhere over in NE Washington. My GPS sent me on a wild goose chasse, but it was still fun!
And a quick stop when I got to Grande Coulee Dam.
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Got out this morning and used my pressure washer on the lower soap setting, with cleaner in the holding tank to soap down the suspension. Then turned to the higher setting and blasted away all the bugs off the suspension. After that I repeated the same with soap setting, and car wash in the tank to soap down the body and followed up with my wash brush to get all the bugs and grime off the body. A quick spray off with my 45 degree head, and the car got back to looking new and clean again.
I was going to just wash it all by hand, but then decided to try the pressure washer on the lower setting, and it did a great job with less effort. Ready for the next trip, if weather holds up, which sounds iffy!Comment
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Looks like fall is starting tomorrow around here with rain, rain, and more rain! So put the car in the shop for the year, and will begin finishing the bodywork soon. Have some little changes planned for winter, but mostly cosmetic.Comment
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Autumn here is amazing and goes on for months. In MI it was beautiful and went on for day (yes, singular). We didn't move here for the summers and winters but for the springs and falls.
Glad that you guys are getting some car-enjoying weather - take it while you can get it!
DanComment
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The Austin is always in the front garage, and easy to get out. So if we happen to get a decent day it will be my standby car during winter.Originally posted by SuperBuickGuy
I plan to pull the wheels off the '39 and the valve covers; and have them polished. Just the outer rims on the wheels as American doesn't polish out the machining on their wheels, and I think they'll look sharper with the machine marks gone. The old Weiand valve covers are dark, and I hope a professional can get them brighter. Otherwise I'll likely replace them with something that looks old style, but is new.
I picked up a new air cleaner the other day, but they shorted me the carb adapter for std. 4150 carb inlet. So I'm waiting for them to fix that, and install it. It's a downdraft injector stack style that pulls air in the stacks. It may or may not fit under the hood, so if it's too tall I'll cut the hood to allow them to just peek through.
Want to replace the rear brake shoes too. They had plenty of material, but no idea how old they were, so I'll turn drums (or replace) and put good shoes on while the wheels are off.
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My old '69 Suburban is my any day driver vehicle. Rain, snow, whatever it just gets me wherever I go. But I do like to get my hotrods out if we get a sunny day in the winter, so like having one ready.Comment
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I think I changed my mind on paint color again! But this is the one that's got my attention more than any previous color I considered. Competition orange!
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