Ognib

Are you making your rod ends? They look pretty good.

I found a local distributor for the urethane mold making supplies I need but haven't had a chance to drive cross town to pick them up. I have some time off & on today, but need to be at home, so am going to bend the second header for the engine. I drilled a series of holes through the jig block that are following the layout of the individual tubes. cut some pins for the second side & installed them for reference points on the assembly. More as the day progresses.

I've long been a fan of Chip Foose's dad, Sam. One of his most tasteful builds to my eye.

Nice work!

Brings back memories...I had one of those in 69, right after I got out of the army. It was an exciting car to drive!!

I respect you for admitting your oversight & also for your determination to do it again until it's right!

Really like your work, Harry. The top turned out very well.

Well, I don't wear a white shirt & tie when I work & I don't have a lab coat but the "vibe" of the character in the pic is right in line with what the wife says I'm like. I put it up for wallpaper on my monitor & she saw it & said, " O.M.G., where did you find that pic of yourself"?

Want to start with small pieces for the casting, to conserve materials in case of mistakes while getting use to the procedures. The Stromberg 97 carburetor. A legendary piece of performance gear from out of the past. On the scale pieces, I'm cutting 3 of them down to the 3 main sections of the carburetor... the air horn, which held the choke, if used... the center section, which held the fuel/float bowl, the metering systems & accelerator pump... the base, which held the butterfly's & main jets. Separating them like this will allow me to get visible gasket materials in them for realism. On the base, on the right, part of it was cut away during the separation & will be rebuilt with wax before pouring the molds.

s-l-o-w...Sometimes the work has to dictate the pace in order to achieve satisfactory results. Especially when you're doing something for the first time. Just the way it is. You can usually tell when viewing someone's work whether they're actually thinking about it or just pounding ahead with the "get-er-done" mentality.

Thanks, Tim, I really appreciate your comments. As you are no doubt aware with your own wip thread, the production of the thread does take some time. Feedback from the viewers tends to make the effort worthwhile.

Fantastic work, Tim. How long since you've done a full mock up of the car? Bravo!!

Too much shrinkage on the test's that I thinned with solvent. They have good strength & flexibility, but the amount of shrinkage will make it impossible to maintain accurate dimensions of the part in the mold. Had to try though. More research. This is what I think I'm going to use. http://www.smooth-on.com/Urethane-Rubber-an/c6_1117_1146/index.html The urethane products are less expensive than the silicone, & probably don't last as long, but offer low viscosity for good pourability with fine detail reproduction & are dimensionally stable. All of these points are important to me. I'm not going into production with this, just want to cast a few extras of each of the parts in case I damage something during the build. This is all just so I can pour wax copies of the parts for use in the metal casting phase.

Thanks, Randy, I thought it turned out pretty well. I could buy the industrial silicone mold ingredients at the industrial prices, but I've found in my experience that there are frequently less costly ways to achieve satisfactory results on projects by doing the research. After all, this is just a hobby & half the fun is figuring it all out. So, the research continues for a suitable mold material for pouring wax masters of the parts to be cast. The first mixes from a couple days back, I was just winging it to see what happened. The thicker of those two mixes is a very usable consistancy...tough & resilient & showing good detail but had to be "spooned" into the mold. Not good for detail on complex shaped parts. I need a mix that's a little thinner so it can be poured while retaining the characteristics of the thick mix. I'm now employing the scientific method...measuring all ingredients & keeping notes. 1 oz silicone, 1 oz naphtha & 1/4 teaspoon of cornstarch for activator filled a 3/4 x 3/4 x 1 1/2" box with about a tablespoon of excess. This will help me to determine volume needed for larger pours. This mix poured into the box with about the same consistency as thick pancake batter.

Ultimate realism, Tim, congrats.

The mix that I thinned & poured still has not completely set up. Next mix will get more activator. The out of the tube thick mix is now out of the box & is flexible & very tough...I can't make it tear...& it returns to it's original shape faithfully. The piece of wood I pressed into it was mahogany with a fairly open grain & all of the fine grain detail is represented in the mold material. So good detail is possible with it.

Hey Scott, Thanks for stopping in. Always enjoy your comments & appreciate your compliments on my work. Love the pic! Put it on my puter monitor as wallpaper. My wife will agree with the mad scientist title. She watches me with bemusement & awe at times when I get on a mission like I am with this build & the different, most interesting, tangents I go down to achieve my plans. But she has no doubt that I will build this model as I've set out to do...she's seen me do it before on other projects. I must give a public kudos to 10thumbs for initially inspiring me to pursue this aspect of building. When I saw the superbly executed wheels that he cast for his 32 Bantam project, I commented on his work & asked if he'd share some info with me. He's traded several P.M.'s with me in helping me find a direction in this. Many thanks, sir.

My thick mix with the higher % of activator was non-stickie the to touch in about 45 minutes. Going to let it set in the mold box till tomorrow to assure a complete cure before I pull it out. The thinner mix has jelled, at this point, but no where close to being cured. One of the first pieces I'm going to cast is the center section. In 1:1 the sides are attached to the axle tubes & are bolted to the center section. That's the way I'm going to build it, for maximum realism. Took the jewlers saw with a fine blade & made the cut.

Spent the last couple of days researching metal casting in anticipation of making parts for the deuce. Found a formula for mixing a pourable 100% silicone mold. Clear silicone caulk from the hardware store thinned with mineral spirits to a flowable consistency with a pinch of corn starch as an activator. Small piece of wood as a shape to mold Also another test batch where I just added the starch to silicone right out of the tube to see what the set time is on it. pressed a small piece into the top of it as well. See how this works out. The beginning of my foundry for melting aluminum for casting. If you viewed the vids, you know where this is going.

Thanks for stopping in, Harry, glad you like. Here's a follow up vid to the furnace build from earlier. After melting painted dirty cans, he shows how to separate the slag from the clean melt while pouring ingots. On the second melt of the ingots, there is no slag, just clean aluminum...time to pour parts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_3806279377&feature=iv&index=5&list=PLbDYIZ0o1HPIymwDTE7falNuZ84o_n4Nj&src_vid=hHD10DjxM1g&v=lSoWxG30rb0

Work goes on with progress on the bucks. Since I'm committed to doing this project in aluminum, I've been giving a lot of thought as to how to accurately & realistically reproduce many parts in metal... Quick change center section, axle tubes, spindle assemblies for front axle, transmission case, engine block, heads, intake manifold, water pumps...and the list goes on. I've recently been introduced to the world of metal casting. Since then, I've been researching the processes, with emphasis on being able to do it at home, at a reasonable cost. Here's a vid on building a smelting furnace for aluminum...on the cheap. Fired by charcoal. Quite brilliant, actually. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHD10DjxM1g The plan is to use throw away aluminum soda & beer cans for casting material...They're out there by the millions. It's a soft alloy which is very weldable, which is essential to this project...I have a vid of a guy tig welding aluminum cans. The furnace shown in the vid demonstrates how it will melt aluminum cans in a matter of seconds. Here's a vid on building the mold out of refractory plaster with explanations of sprue work etc. I'm thinking about the furnace above, or perhaps a modified version for firing the molds also. The method is called lost wax investment casting. However, I've learned that plastic & resin model parts can be used for this procedure, thus eliminating the need for carving an accurate wax master, thus assuring accurate parts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aub_UpFereQ More on this as things proceed.

Really nice work...love the detail. Don't think my old work hardened fingers could ever articulate such small parts.

Nice work, Tim!!!

Good idea, Scott, the bucks are a major portion of the time involved in this...Tedious, at times...the type focus required that makes yer brain fuzzy after a while. Ya it is, Richard. fitting the grill to the shell. Trimmed to this point with the nippers...little ragged in spots Final trim with a cut-off wheel in the dremel, due now, nice & clean, so I can finish wrapping the inner lip up tight to the buck.

I can do this! I know I can. One step at a time I'm figuring it out. Hard to hold the hood in good alignment to the shell with just fingertips... the two actually fit much nicer than the pic shows.