OK, so I didn't realize it had been getting close to a year since I last posted anything related to my car. I also didn't realize how long it had been since I actually did anything on my car. I had the whole chaos of changing jobs last summer. Also, there was the hit on the finances associated with that chaos. Then, of course, there was the Holiday season which is made all the busier by throwing in all of our birthdays. Well, now it's time to get back to work.
So, since my last car-specific post, I have done a bit of work. I have pretty much stripped the block of all of its accessory pieces and removed the heads. I wanted to get an idea of the internal state of the cylinders. To my inexperienced eye, they look pretty good. There is a bit of carbon coating everything, but there is no rust, no apparent ridge and no evidence of detonation happening. I e-mailed a machine shop asking for a rough idea of price for the machine work for the engine parts. The sales guy called me back and told me the heads would be about $500 for a thermal clean, shot peen, pressure test, magnaflux, and surfacing. Considering the heads are just a hollow block of cast iron, it's fairly pricey. For $600 or so, I could get some premium aluminum Cyclone heads that would look killer, although not original. Hmm...
Anyway, one of the big things I have been doing is scoring parts that I am going to need for the eventual restoration. I now have the original water pump plus a replacement. I have an original Stromberg AAV-25 in need of a rebuild. I got a new set of radiator shutters and some random bits and pieces. One of my most successful acquisitions was a radio. It is in much worse condition than the one in my car, but it is complete. Having this radio means two things. Most importantly, I now have an original replacement cover that I can use for my radio. Secondarily, I have a case that I can play with to try to create a modern radio inside the original case which is powered and controlled with the original connections. That should be a fun project.
My pile of parts ready for restoration/repair is getting a little large. One of the big things holding me back is the fact that I still don't have my compressor hooked up. Just yesterday, I finally got the circut breaker hooked up. I still have to pull the wire down to the spot I mount the 220 V outlet. Once I get that done, I can go buy all the parts and pieces I need to hook up my pressure blaster. That's where the fun begins.
I'm not sure what I should tackle first. One thing I need to do for my car is recast the steering wheel. A while back, I got a '37 wheel with the rim in good condition. I figured I could recast my wheel by creating a mould from the good wheel. A little epoxy should give me a nice shinny new wheel. Except, I have never done anything like this before. I was a little hesitant that I would screw up my good wheel core trying to cast the new part. As such, I managed to get a spare '38 steering wheel core in good condition which I can use as practice. If it works well, then I can sell the new recast wheel for a hefty profit. If not, I sell it for what I paid for it. Either way, I can't loose.
Well, that's all I have for now. Hopefully I won't be writing my next car post a year from now. I would like to start with some more regular work. Maybe, now that Laura is getting old enough to help, I can start getting her into car restoration and repair. Little girls like that sort of stuf, right?
Oh, one other thing. Here is the gallery link to the photos since my last post: http://www.therhodeislandreview.com/?page_id=260&g2_itemId=13258
The costs of free firewood
6 years ago
