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johnshenry Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2001 Posts: 9359 Location: Northwood, NH USA
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Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 5:21 pm Post subject: |
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Hacksaw-BoB wrote: |
Hi John Henry,
What a GREAT job restoring the Ivory Bakelite dash pod !!!!
Truly a labor of love bringing back the life into this dash pod !!
SUPER !!!
I found when I repaired a couple of these dash pods some years ago, there were minor
electrical issues that surfaced.
Seems that when you have the different metals such as the brass lug, the steel bulb holder
& contact strip and whatever the rivet metal is made out of, there could be a metal reaction
such as oxidation between the different metal causing a slight resistance that may effect
the 6 volts causing an additional voltage drop, in this case the ground return.
I found cleaning a small area around where the different metals connected and then making
a small solder bridge across the different metals resolved that type electrical problem.
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I have not seen that issue (yet) with the pod eyelets Bob, but I have with the '46-'49 semaphore arms, between the arm and bulbholder. Same thing, two pieces of metal riveted together and yet no electrical contact between them. It is very baffling to troubleshoot until you figure it out. And yes, a little bit of solder cures it..... _________________ John Henry
'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab |
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Jacks Samba Member
Joined: July 15, 2006 Posts: 2344 Location: San Clemente, Ca.
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Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 6:50 pm Post subject: |
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That electrolysis is a problem on the fuse boxes as well. Best to use fuses with similar metal as the blades, not the fuses with aluminium strips. _________________ Jack Staggs
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johnshenry Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2001 Posts: 9359 Location: Northwood, NH USA
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Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 8:13 pm Post subject: |
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Max's pod is done, except for the ignition lock/key. Hopefully we can get the correct A profile ignition lock for it. I enjoyed this challenge and will be proud to see this pod in his split. One of the original knobs was badly cracked and split apart when I tried to drill the shaft to tap it. Luckily I had another original one in the parts pile that was a perfect match.
One of the bulb towers was broken, but I opted not to try an d fix it, it won't affect the pod's use.
One of the other special things about this pod are the original indicator lenses. Most of the original green lenses were what some call "M&M" green. It is a translucent color. Finding good, usable "M&Ms" is always a plus.... all of the common reproduction lenses available now are the more transparent green color, very different looking.
And the original red lenses are special also. I tried to take a close up of one of these. Most all of them have sub-surface bubbles in them which, over time, develop a gold-flake looking color in the bubble. Under the surface, it cannot be buffed out (I used to try!). Again, the chance to use original parts, with very unique characteristics not found in reproductions.
_________________ John Henry
'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab |
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mdvanderploeg Samba Member
Joined: November 06, 2011 Posts: 126 Location: Raleigh, NC
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Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 8:42 pm Post subject: |
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I love this.....it's functionally new but still shows enough patina that it fits with the age of the car. Great job. |
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usariemen Samba Member
Joined: August 28, 2004 Posts: 1745 Location: Germany
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 3:02 pm Post subject: |
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johnshenry wrote: |
Here is the early '49 ivory pod restored. I really think that this is the Holy Grail of pods. Again, they only started making ivory pods in '49, and sometime in mid-late '49 they swapped the indicator lights with the oil on the right and the high bean on the left. So this one, with the high beam on the right is very rare, was probably only made for a few months. And especially rare in this condition. The speedometer in it is dated Sept '49.
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Hi John
I just saw this info.
It says the swap of the indicator lights was in january 1950
from car 140537
_________________ Master of my domain! |
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johnshenry Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2001 Posts: 9359 Location: Northwood, NH USA
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 5:00 pm Post subject: |
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That would make sense, even with 12.49 dated speedo pods with the lights already swapped..... as those parts would have ended up in Jan '50 (or later) production cars. Thanks for that info.... _________________ John Henry
'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab |
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johnshenry Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2001 Posts: 9359 Location: Northwood, NH USA
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2015 3:58 pm Post subject: |
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I enjoy a challenge to try and fix (valuable) old parts to make them useable. I bought this "decoration" skinny Star coil a month or so ago. Other than being well patina'ed, it is in pretty good shape. An skinny stars are falling into that category of "you can't find them no matter how much you have to spend". And often times they don't work.
At first I considered building up a steel shank with the MIG using short bursts, but figured that even though bakelight can handle quite a bit of heat, that would be just too much. So I figured I would make a donor piece and face to face solder it on. You can see that the copper wire was broken off too and when I first tested it with a meter, got an open reading unless I touched the wire end. So solder was a good choice, MIG would not have adhered to the copper.
I have a temperature controlled soldering iron that was able to push enough heat on the tip to "tin" the exposed end. Before I went further, I wanted to make sure the coil would produce a spark, so I soldered a wire on the terminal. I used a piece of coat hanger wire in the high voltage connector and looped it over to the coil case, left it about .5mm away from it. Then connected a 6 volt supply to the terminals and when I removed one clip, I saw the spark. I did the same test with another star coil I have to see if I got about the same intensity. The coil seems to work fine.
I cut a donor section of an M5 screw off and chucked it in my drill press. Then spinning it and running a carbide disc on the Dremel against it, I was able to shape the "nipple" like the original terminals have.
With both faces of the shank tinned with solder, I used very thin pair of needle nose pliers to hold the replacement terminal above the coil, and used a micro butane torch to heat just the donor piece, and then lowered it onto the coil. Took 4-5 tries to get it the set in the right position, not crooked. Then I glass beaded the coil and applied some lacquer clearcoat on the bakelite as it really appeared weathered and sun bleached. Pretty happy with the way it came out!
Final step was to mask and paint it with a satin epoxy enamel.
The soldered stud is pretty strong, but I will recommend using 2 thin nuts on either side of the eyelet, both on the donor section of the terminal. If one nut was used and the eyelet was down against the coil, tightening the nut would create a force on the solder joint and it probably wouldn't last. I am going to list this coil in the classifieds and describe it honestly. Once installed on an engine, I don't think that there will be any stress on the soldered repair and it should work fine. _________________ John Henry
'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab |
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Jacks Samba Member
Joined: July 15, 2006 Posts: 2344 Location: San Clemente, Ca.
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2015 5:23 pm Post subject: |
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Very nice repair John. I have done a few repairs of the same nature on 356 nla oil temp senders. Perhaps brass/copper or aluminium nuts would be a good choice for the studs. In my world, folks like to tighten stuff as though a tow chain could be attached to any given fastener. _________________ Jack Staggs
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johnshenry Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2001 Posts: 9359 Location: Northwood, NH USA
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2015 6:17 pm Post subject: |
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_________________ John Henry
'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab |
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ZwitterND Samba Member
Joined: September 08, 2005 Posts: 1451 Location: Fargo, ND
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2015 8:34 pm Post subject: |
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You continue to impress me, well done John. _________________ Bill |
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Brezelwerks Samba Member
Joined: March 17, 2003 Posts: 1421 Location: Tyngsboro, MA
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 2:28 pm Post subject: |
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I do give you credit for the effort, that post replacement does look the part.
However, standard tin/lead solder is incompatible with the steel/alloy post, for that reason if just using a standard solder with that small copper core, the joint will surely fail, almost once installed, and there is not really a way to create enough strain relief on the wire attached to prevent early failure, particularly while the engine is running and with vibration.
A silver bearing solder would improve the joint, to create much higher surface tension, but you would sure be introducing alot higher heat to the joint area, somewhere starting at @400F depending on what you use, but still there would be a problem with compatibility with steel, unless your replacement threaded post was a brass base, maybe nickel plated to match the other post, then you would have compatible metallurgy. Overall though, you need much greater surface area of soldering compatibility, that doesn't really exist.
The best solution would really be to understand how much post material left you have to work with going into the coil top, to determine if you can drill and tap down into the coil, thru the remaining post center. Then use a small diameter threaded post/rod, to be used as a threaded mounting pin, for your finished threaded nipple tipped post to screw down on. Drill taps for 2-56 and under are available, to thread both holes on your new replacement pin, and the new hole in the coil. Then you have a viable mechanical joint that is likely to reliably last.
Its worth the effort to save a working the coil given it's value, and if one is unfamiliar with this tedious small scale work, usually a local jeweler or watch repair shop could do it for you. |
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Zwitterkafer Samba Member
Joined: November 17, 2007 Posts: 874 Location: Lanark County, Ontario, Canada
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Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 11:36 pm Post subject: |
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I am not convinced that drilling into the original stud, to install a small threaded post, is the best solution. One reason is that preserving a quality electrical connection to that small central copper wire (held in there how?)may become a considerable challenge.
I would have used John's method, but with a twist. There looks to have been a single thread or two remaining on the original stud. I would have sourced a thicker brass nut, threading it all the way down on the original stud, (cutting threads first if need be) such that the brass nut would bridge the break in the original stud. If the stud, as well as the repair piece, are perhaps brush plated with nickel, this would help solder to sweat into the junction. I have sweated joins like this before, even steel to steel, and have had remarkable success. (Can't recall, it may have been silver solder)
Having a thicker nut under the wire connector is a compromise I would be willing to make to feel confident about the mechanical strength. _________________ "Criticism comes easier than Craftsmanship"
- Zeuxius, 400 BC |
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johnshenry Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2001 Posts: 9359 Location: Northwood, NH USA
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2015 9:20 am Post subject: |
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Zwitterkafer wrote: |
I am not convinced that drilling into the original stud, to install a small threaded post, is the best solution. One reason is that preserving a quality electrical connection to that small central copper wire (held in there how?)may become a considerable challenge.
I would have used John's method, but with a twist. There looks to have been a single thread or two remaining on the original stud. I would have sourced a thicker brass nut, threading it all the way down on the original stud, (cutting threads first if need be) such that the brass nut would bridge the break in the original stud. If the stud, as well as the repair piece, are perhaps brush plated with nickel, this would help solder to sweat into the junction. I have sweated joins like this before, even steel to steel, and have had remarkable success. (Can't recall, it may have been silver solder)
Having a thicker nut under the wire connector is a compromise I would be willing to make to feel confident about the mechanical strength. |
That is actually a pretty good idea Zwitterkafer, I actually considered some kind of "sleeve" over the repair area as well, but in the end really wanted to make it look indistinguishable from original if I could. I don't think there will be any kind of stress/vibration on the joint either as this wire is secured 250mm away at the distributor. I have had good results with similar solder-on-steel joints in the past. As long as it works for the person who uses it, all is good... _________________ John Henry
'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab |
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johnshenry Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2001 Posts: 9359 Location: Northwood, NH USA
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Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2015 8:59 am Post subject: |
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Here's a neat little tool that I made to extract the speedo pod lens "barrels" when they get stuck in the pods. About half the time you can tap the lenses out from the front and they will come out with the barrel. No pic, but for this I use a turned down, soft wood dowel which slightly concave on the end face.
But quite often, the barrel gets stuck in the pod, the lens pops free and there is absolutely no way to grab/nick it from the face to push it out. The bevel of the bakelight at the opening tapers down very thin and it is easy to chip/crack it if you try to go in there with dental picks, jewelers screwdrivers, etc.
So stared at this for a while a came up with a way to come in from the back of the barrel and grab the 4 lens retaining bumps in the barrel. I took a large nail, ground the head a bit to give it give it just the right diameter to fit into the barrel from the back. Then, with a Dremel disc, I cut four notches in it.
The trick is to slip it into the barrel, aligning the notches in the nail head with the bumps in the barrel, then rotate nail 45 degrees and "lock" the nail above the bumps. Originally I was trying to then pull the nail shank to extract the barrel, but figured out that I could easily tape the nail head through the hole in the pod with a small punch, and get the barrel out. Works like a charm!
Pics below show this tool with a piece of broken ivory pod and a barrel.
_________________ John Henry
'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab |
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johnshenry Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2001 Posts: 9359 Location: Northwood, NH USA
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 9:04 pm Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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Wow, been a long time since I posted an shop work. Tonight I tackled an intake that I have had from a Canadian enthusiast for WAY too long. This was a true 25hp "Zwitter Intake" that did not have a rotted heat riser. Instead, it had a badly mangled left side intake runner. Sorry I don't think I have a pic of the original condition. I fooled around with it maybe a year ago but didn't really see a good way to fix it and just shelved it. Tonight, feeling guilty that I have had it so long, I took another shot at it.
First order was to MIG fill a big dent on the right side heat riser.
This is always a challenge as the MIG repair and ground, then flat filed then smoothed again, and invariably on a pitted intake, ends up way smoother than the surrounding area. Media blasting will help with this a little bit.
Next came cutting off the left side intake runner just outside the outer tack weld.
You can see how it was bent and misshapen. I was able to put a 9/19" socket on a long 3/8" extension and it slipped snugly into the cut off section. I then heated the tubing where it was bent/curved a bit with a propane torch until it glowed bright red, then gently bend it back and got it pretty straight.
Here you see a donor section from a trashed 36hp intake, as well as the original cut off 25hp end casting.
The runner tubing is the same diameter on both, about 0.910".
With a lot of filing and trial fitting the piece is made to fit and held in place with tiny neodium magnets.
You can see another dent in the nearside heat riser tubing near the flange that I later MIG filled. Note that those little magnets are great for aligning/holding things, but you can't weld within 3/4" or so from them as the magnetic field skews the arc on the MIG.
Tacked up:
Then after a lot of grinding an filing:
All done:
The discoloration at the bends is a result of a de-stressing procedure I do. Most of these old intakes are bent somehow, someway, and don't sit flat, or line up with the fixture holes perfectly. I use a drift pin and force it to fit on the fixture (they might off by a few 16ths, not too much). ONce it is all bolted down tight, I heat each of the major bends with the propane torch until they glow red, then let them cool. This allows the tubing to "set" to the correct points in on the fixture and when I unbolt it, everything stays in place.
This intake will look much better after blasting and some paint and baking; I'll post some additional pics later. Zwitter intakes are rare, but ones with original, intact and usable heat riser tubing are very, very rare! _________________ John Henry
'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab |
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usariemen Samba Member
Joined: August 28, 2004 Posts: 1745 Location: Germany
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 11:11 pm Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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That must be the one I sended.
Came off one of these engines that where lifted around by a kind of crane grabber who did some damage.
Good to see it was rescued finally.
Well done. _________________ Master of my domain! |
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Zwitterkafer Samba Member
Joined: November 17, 2007 Posts: 874 Location: Lanark County, Ontario, Canada
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2015 11:17 am Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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Informative post by JH, as always. While contemplating fitting a 36hp manifold on 25hp heads, (the 36hp end casting ODs are usually milled down to fit) I was curious if anyone had ever transferred donor 25hp end castings onto a good early 36hp manifold, without cutting the latter? It would be easy if the end castings were just a press fit (some supposedly are) but most seem to be brazed on which makes it a bit of a challenge. Just wondering if anyone has attempted this and has any advice? _________________ "Criticism comes easier than Craftsmanship"
- Zeuxius, 400 BC |
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johnshenry Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2001 Posts: 9359 Location: Northwood, NH USA
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2015 11:34 am Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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Zwitterkafer wrote: |
Informative post by JH, as always. While contemplating fitting a 36hp manifold on 25hp heads, (the 36hp end casting ODs are usually milled down to fit) I was curious if anyone had ever transferred donor 25hp end castings onto a good early 36hp manifold, without cutting the latter? It would be easy if the end castings were just a press fit (some supposedly are) but most seem to be brazed on which makes it a bit of a challenge. Just wondering if anyone has attempted this and has any advice? |
While I believe anything is "possible", I can tell you that swapping endcastings by pulling, re-pressing is well... impossible. It is a chamfered edge on the tube end inside the casting so there is virtually impossible to push it out, and I think it is probably heat pressed in, there is no copper crush ring. You'd probably have to slit and collapse it a bit to get it out, thereby creating more stuff to deal with.
I am able to mill 36hp castings to work with 25hp heads (there is a pic back in this thread of the tool I made, I think), but in this case, I wanted to use the original 25hp casting so it matched the other side. _________________ John Henry
'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab |
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Grant Reiling Samba Slow-Change Artist
Joined: November 28, 2003 Posts: 491 Location: behind the wheel
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2015 1:57 pm Post subject: |
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ZwitterND wrote: |
You continue to impress me, well done John. |
x2 John; I cannot decide which is more impressive: The restoration work you accomplish, or the tooling you contrive in order to accomplish the tasks? ...HMMM...tough one.
Keep making progress on your 'backlog'...eventually you'll reach mine.
Oh, and Happy Holidays to you and yours,
Grant _________________ 1952 Azure Blue 12G (LHD Deluxe 3-fold sunroof Sedan).
"What you really know is possible in your heart is possible.
We make it possible by our will.
What we imagine in our minds becomes our world. That’s just one of many things I have learned from water."
Misaru Emoto
The Hidden Messages in Water |
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johnshenry Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2001 Posts: 9359 Location: Northwood, NH USA
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2015 7:37 am Post subject: Re: Zarwerks shop spy cam .... |
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The owner sent me a pic of the intake as it was received:
_________________ John Henry
'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab |
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