AmericanMuscleFan Posted January 16, 2021 Author Posted January 16, 2021 8 hours ago, Tortuga Kustomz said: Great tip, i want to get one of those machines so i can do cool stuff like you guys Thanks Marcos! Finding ways to fabricate complex and unusual parts is very pleasant and it's especially rewarding when you find a way to overcome a situation that poses a manufacturing challenge. These devices are rather expensive but they are worth every penny they cost when your budget allows it. On the other hand, we can also obtain amazing results in a traditional way, we see very good examples of it everywhere on this forum, you have some in your backyard my friend! Take care, Francis
Ian McLaren Posted January 17, 2021 Posted January 17, 2021 And the excellence continues. I saw the quick release and can only shake my head at the work involved in the smallest of parts.
AmericanMuscleFan Posted January 18, 2021 Author Posted January 18, 2021 22 hours ago, Ian McLaren said: And the excellence continues. I saw the quick release and can only shake my head at the work involved in the smallest of parts. Thanks for the kind comments Ian! It's really fun to explore new territories... Even more small parts in the making so stay tuned my friend! Francis
AmericanMuscleFan Posted January 18, 2021 Author Posted January 18, 2021 Hello everyone, A lot of pics today... As I mentioned in my last post the next update will be the dashboard so here it is in its late stage I would say. I will probably have small details to add to it but the main elements are there. The bezel of the gauges was particularly tricky and delicate to make because I used very thin aluminum (0.006 ") that I salvaged from the door of an old computer diskette. The gauges are not perfect for the D100 because they were made for a '68 Dart but still look pretty similar, just a little bigger than the real ones, I'll live with that... They were designed using the same technique as for the RPM but I no longer have access to negative film production devices (analog) which are now obsolete or very difficult to find in this digital world... I particularly love the simplicity of the D100 dashboard and it brings back fond memories of my youth with my uncle during the hay season! Comments and suggestions are welcome. Take care, Francis Hand made gauge bezel with thin aluminum (0.006 "). Adjustment made to the edge of the dashboard. A quick test because I can't resist... Negative film made with Adobe Illustrator and printed on an AGFAimagesetter at high resolution. The needles are painted from behind and covered with white paint, the same technique as for RPM. Sorry for the blurry photo. Glove box button machined with black ABS plastic. All dash knobs are machined aluminum. Note that I added the cigaret lighter even if I am not a smoker... Different view. With the instrument gauges. Different view. The odometer reads 36132.8 miles Different view. These old imagesetters were very precise, not sure if I could find something so precise today as an alternative? Another quick test because I can't resist... again...
Mike Williams Posted January 18, 2021 Posted January 18, 2021 Oh my! I do love the dashboard and instruments. So typical Mopar, also the Alternator gauge. Seen a lot of those in my day. Good too Francis, you added a lighter for the truck. These small extra things will add a few dollars to the resale value! Perhaps along with carpeting in the cab? Beware! Should you choose an electric bench seat, with toggle switches down on the sides of the bench....should these also work....I will not speak with you anymore. Only because this luxury was unavailable at the time for this pickup. We do want to keep things realistic, yes? Smiling now from ear to ear, a wonderful view here Francis! Mike..
streetmachine11 Posted January 19, 2021 Posted January 19, 2021 some amazing craftsmanship here. you inspire so many people with your builds Francis. really nice to see your process and all the details you do
AmericanMuscleFan Posted January 19, 2021 Author Posted January 19, 2021 19 hours ago, Mike Williams said: Oh my! I do love the dashboard and instruments. So typical Mopar, also the Alternator gauge. Seen a lot of those in my day. Good too Francis, you added a lighter for the truck. These small extra things will add a few dollars to the resale value! Perhaps along with carpeting in the cab? Beware! Should you choose an electric bench seat, with toggle switches down on the sides of the bench....should these also work....I will not speak with you anymore. Only because this luxury was unavailable at the time for this pickup. We do want to keep things realistic, yes? Smiling now from ear to ear, a wonderful view here Francis! Mike.. Thank you very much Mike, these kind comments are greatly appreciated! I had this dashboard in mind for a long time and have to say I am very happy with the results but my fingers hurt for two days holding this little piece of aluminum. I had to use the traditional ways to achieve it because my beautiful machines were of no help. What I like about these old trucks is their simplicity, they were so crude and poorly equipped that it makes them look good. It's a bit of a paradox because I have a weakness for luxury vehicles with a lot of equipment. Don't worry about the seats, they will be fixed and not adjustable, we can talk to you again! By the way, did you read my last PM? I would be curious to know more about this mysterious product... Take care, Francis
AmericanMuscleFan Posted January 19, 2021 Author Posted January 19, 2021 9 hours ago, streetmachine11 said: some amazing craftsmanship here. you inspire so many people with your builds Francis. really nice to see your process and all the details you do Thanks a lot Jason! Your comments are actually very inspiring to me and keep me going. It is not negligible and I really need it in order to keep my motivation on a build that is starting to stretch over time... Take care, Francis
foghorn62 Posted January 19, 2021 Posted January 19, 2021 23 hours ago, AmericanMuscleFan said: Negative film made with Adobe Illustrator and printed on an AGFAimagesetter at high resolution. The needles are painted from behind and covered with white paint, the same technique as for RPM. Sorry for the blurry photo. Ok, now I am officially jealous, as if I wasn’t before. You are a man of many talents my friend! You mean everyone should have access to an AGFAimagesetter? TCOTTC
AmericanMuscleFan Posted January 19, 2021 Author Posted January 19, 2021 2 hours ago, foghorn62 said: Ok, now I am officially jealous, as if I wasn’t before. You are a man of many talents my friend! You mean everyone should have access to an AGFAimagesetter? We are therefore equal, I am jealous of your talent with brass! It's one of the sad advantages of getting older if I may say so, I was able to work with devices from another era... I have worked in graphic arts and pre-printing for 32 years so this is pretty straightforward for me. You can be sure that if I had the space available I would have one of these dinausaurs in my workshop, I'm sure units of these old imagesetter that either sold out for a piece of bread or were scrapped... a shame! ? Take care, Francis
Ian McLaren Posted January 19, 2021 Posted January 19, 2021 36132.2 miles? In a lot of parts of the country cutting up a truck with that low mileage would have a lot of angry people at your door, I wouldn't spread that around too much!
Nazz Posted January 19, 2021 Posted January 19, 2021 Excellent chapter Francis ,bravo! the dash is as stunning as the rest of the truck. Looking forward to more! Definitely on it's way to being a best seller! Jerry
Lorne Posted January 19, 2021 Posted January 19, 2021 Super crisp gauges!! That will look very cool with close up photos of the finished truck. Gotta put a simulated "magnet" stuck to the dash like,..... Hooker Headers logo or something?? And,... I'm sure you have a key cut for the ignition already Francis!!! HA!! GREAT WORK !!! Western Canuck
AmericanMuscleFan Posted January 20, 2021 Author Posted January 20, 2021 5 hours ago, Ian McLaren said: 36132.2 miles? In a lot of parts of the country cutting up a truck with that low mileage would have a lot of angry people at your door, I wouldn't spread that around too much! Thanks Ian! You are right and the other dark side of this low mileage odometer is that any other models where I use these gauges will have the same low total on the odometer. I haven't finished having angry people at my door... But maybe the truck is on its second lap, who knows? ? Francis
AmericanMuscleFan Posted January 20, 2021 Author Posted January 20, 2021 4 hours ago, mustang1989 said: Thanks Joe! But I'm sure Michael J. Fox has already seen others as they say so well! 1 hour ago, Nazz said: Excellent chapter Francis ,bravo! the dash is as stunning as the rest of the truck. Looking forward to more! Definitely on it's way to being a best seller! Jerry Thanks for the kind words Jerry! I will start to assemble some engine components and install the floor permanently, so I will be able to offer you updates soon, let's say, a little more substantial... 1 hour ago, Lorne said: Super crisp gauges!! That will look very cool with close up photos of the finished truck. Gotta put a simulated "magnet" stuck to the dash like,..... Hooker Headers logo or something?? And,... I'm sure you have a key cut for the ignition already Francis!!! HA!! GREAT WORK !!! Western Canuck Thanks Lorne! I always had a weakness for speedometers when I was a child, in fact I had a few but my parents were not too keen on seeing me collect them! I retain the idea of the sticker on the dashboard, it makes a lot of sense for a drag racing truck! Sadly, I lost the original key but I don't think I can have another made at Mopar, I will have to manage with the means at hand... Thaks again to each of you guys! Francis
butter Posted January 21, 2021 Posted January 21, 2021 That is about the nicest dash I have ever seen!!! The clarity of the gauges is unbelievable. As always with your work, it all fits, and it's all in scale.
Bainford Posted January 21, 2021 Posted January 21, 2021 On 1/19/2021 at 9:18 PM, AmericanMuscleFan said: I always had a weakness for speedometers when I was a child, in fact I had a few but my parents were not too keen on seeing me collect them! Nice work Francis. The dash looks great! I wouldn't worry about the mileage, I'm sure the odometer is on it's second time around... at least. I chuckled at the speedometer collection as a kid. A friend and I had a dozen or so between us as kids. Any time Dad went to a junkyard for a part for something was an opportunity to score another speedometer. He wasn't keen on having them around either, though, and the collection seemed to thin out from time to time, without my input.
mustang1989 Posted January 22, 2021 Posted January 22, 2021 Still here......still watchin' and lookin' forward to the next chapter in this build Francis.
Claude Thibodeau Posted January 22, 2021 Posted January 22, 2021 Hi Francis! Masterfull work, bravo! Your idea to use the thin aluminium from a disquette is clever. Those a rare nowadays, but I think my wife may still have a few stuck somewhere. I'll find them, and thanks to you, I can already think of some uses for them! CT
AmericanMuscleFan Posted January 23, 2021 Author Posted January 23, 2021 On 1/21/2021 at 1:05 PM, Tortuga Kustomz said: wow that's amazing Thanks for the kind words Marcos! On 1/21/2021 at 3:01 PM, butter said: That is about the nicest dash I have ever seen!!! The clarity of the gauges is unbelievable. As always with your work, it all fits, and it's all in scale. Thanks Ron! I must admit that the imagesetter did most of the work, drawing the gauges was very easy for me because it was the kind of work I did every day at the time. On 1/21/2021 at 3:52 PM, Bainford said: Nice work Francis. The dash looks great! I wouldn't worry about the mileage, I'm sure the odometer is on it's second time around... at least. I chuckled at the speedometer collection as a kid. A friend and I had a dozen or so between us as kids. Any time Dad went to a junkyard for a part for something was an opportunity to score another speedometer. He wasn't keen on having them around either, though, and the collection seemed to thin out from time to time, without my input. Thanks Trevor! I'm pretty sure we weren't the only ones to see our collections slowly melt away without knowing where these precious items were going! On 1/22/2021 at 6:49 AM, mustang1989 said: Still here......still watchin' and lookin' forward to the next chapter in this build Francis. Thanks Joe! I will install the floor pan permanently next as I need this operation done to go further with the most interesting updates... at least some that will show more concrete progress...! On 1/22/2021 at 10:06 AM, Claude Thibodeau said: Hi Francis! Masterfull work, bravo! Your idea to use the thin aluminium from a disquette is clever. Those a rare nowadays, but I think my wife may still have a few stuck somewhere. I'll find them, and thanks to you, I can already think of some uses for them! CT Thanks for your kind comments Claude! As you do so well and so often yourself, finding a second life in everyday objects is very pleasant. I found this material almost by accident because most of these old floppy disks have doors (if I can call them that) made of stainless steel but I have found others (few) with this very thin aluminum. I imagine it depended on the manufacturer but they have produced so many that you are sure to find some in the lot. Not a lot of material available by diskette but what we do is not very big either... Thanks again everyone, more updates soon, Francis
AmericanMuscleFan Posted January 25, 2021 Author Posted January 25, 2021 Hello everyone, I was about to permanently install the cabin floor pan and realized that I had forgotten to make an important safety component, the fire extinguisher! I found the perfect place to mount it, between the seats and thought about using the original gas tank anchors to secure it in place. I had to do this part before the floor is in place because I will not be able to work or add parts when it is permanently glued. The latest modifications to the floor pan are made with all the openings made for the components of the Lenco gear levers. I have probably mounted and dismantled the floor pan hundreds of times so hope it will adjust as I expected, I will take this step soon. Comments and suggestions are welcome. Take care, Francis Openings for the shifter components are made. The large opening is for the 3 forward levers, on the right for the reverse gear lever and the other in the rear is for the shifter mounting bracket. Underside view, I made a kind of duct to close the void between the transmission and the floor pan. I also added some round embossing shapes for the rear cabin brackets. Fire extinguisher in progress. The fire extinguisher mount was made with 0.006" aluminum. The bottle neck is 2 part of brass welded together and the opening lever is machined aluminum. Different view, the tip is a small brass tube, the end of which I crushed to make the diffuser and the pipe is an electric wire shield. Test fit. Different view, the bracket will be secured in place with tiny aluminum bolts. Fire extinguisher anodized in red. The release strap is 0.005" brass material. Last test fit. Different view.
Glen Powers Posted January 25, 2021 Posted January 25, 2021 Well Francis imagine my surprise that your background was not as a master Swiss watchmaker!!!!!!?. Just out of this world what you are doing with this build. Glen
foghorn62 Posted January 25, 2021 Posted January 25, 2021 (edited) I am at a loss for words Francis, I have completely run out of superlatives to describe your work! Every post gets better than the last. I’ll just get back on my tricycle and hand out some more candy. TCOTTC Edited January 26, 2021 by foghorn62
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