55.2-59 NON Automotive Parts used in your Build Lets See them Before and After

[Hcb3200]

Ok I was inspired by our friends at the H.A.M.B someone started a thread and the responses are outstanding.
So we have to do it here.

What are those NON Automotive parts you have used on your ride. Post us some pictures Before and after are awesome if you got them.
Some will be self explanatory.
Hot rod and rebuild guys have been doing this long before Reduce, Reuse, Recycle was cool.

Here is my old Rheem AC unit now a custom air box. And my old steel trash can now a heat shield.

if you need inspiration take a look at some of this stuff.
Most inspired by the jeans pocket now a pocket on the door for stuff.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum....ustom.1294718/

[mr48chev]

That kind of repurposed items I can live with but every time I see the term "non automotive item on a car" my brain says rat rod.

No photo but the rear crossmember on my 48's frame is a length of heavy Unistrut channel that I rescued from the scrap bin at work when I put a rear mount gas tank in and needed to remove the original crossmember. It just looks like a piece of 4 inch by ? rectangular tubing from the back. It originally supported stainless steel tubes up in the rafters at the fruit juice plant I worked in.

My rear bumper is a length of polished stainless steel pipe with stainless steel endcaps welded in. One of the salesmen I did business with gave me the end caps and the pipe was salvage used pipe out of the plant that my buddy tig welded the end caps and brackets on just before I drove the truck to Bonneville in 1998.

[leegreen]

I never met a piece of scrap metal that did not have potential. My truck is full of metal being repurposed, patch panels, cross members, brackets etc

rear splash apron was part of a discarded desk


Obligatory ammo can used as a console. The padding used is a piece of cross linked EP foam a file server was shipped in. It is firm but squishy, just right when you use your elbow to lift yourself and shift position

I welded the latch on the back of the can so it functions as a hinge. Front latch works as normal

[unclebrad]

What a coincidence. I just posted in the "what did you do to your truck today" thread about making up an air cleaner body from part of an old propane heater body.

Just got it roughed out. Need to sand/paint, and make the bottom piece that sits on the carb.

[mr48chev]

That looks a lot better than a lot of air cleaners I have seen.

[unclebrad]

Found a dome-shape on a portable clothes line and cut what I needed from that. (No one will miss it until we go camping again)
Tack welded it to the top of the new air cleaner body and took the grinder to it to smooth off the excess metal. (I'm not a great welder) Then filled in with some paste epoxy. I'll sand that smooth later, and paint with a two-stage paint, or get it powder coated. (I just don't know if they can powder coat over the epoxy.).
I found a base online for about $25. It'll take a few days to get here but it's much better than spending the time and effort to make one up.
Next update should be the final product.

[dsraven]

will the filter be breathing through the underside gap between the outer shell and the base unit or do you think the oval shaped holes will flow enough air for wide open throttle at higher rpm's?
dunno what I will use for an air filter housing yet as my old project is running a 4.2l Atlas engine. they kinda look wierd on the top. maybe just cross that bridge in 20 years when i get there (or so it seems, project is always running on the back burner to something more important)

cool innovations and ability to think outside the amazon box

[mr48chev]

I'm thinking that he is going to do like I plan to do and most guys who convert one of the early 50's Cad/Olds oil bath air cleaners to paper towels filter do and that is buy a base a few inches smaller than the ID of the inside of the cover.

I picked up an aircleaner base at a swap meet that gives a couple of inches of clearance around the element.





I found out you are better off to buy the whole lowbuck chrome filter or a base with info on what element fits it though.

[unclebrad]

Originally Posted by dsraven

will the filter be breathing through the underside gap between the outer shell and the base unit or do you think the oval shaped holes will flow enough air for wide open throttle at higher rpm's?
dunno what I will use for an air filter housing yet as my old project is running a 4.2l Atlas engine. they kinda look wierd on the top. maybe just cross that bridge in 20 years when i get there (or so it seems, project is always running on the back burner to something more important)

cool innovations and ability to think outside the amazon box

Yes mr48chev, I am going with an element (cleanable), and dsraven, mr48chev is also right that the base I ordered will allow about 1 1/2 inches all around the under side.

The holes are more for visual interest.

Here is what it currently looks like (upside down) with the filter placed in there.

[1project2many]

My interior firewall cover is a piece of linoleum. I used adhesive to attach jute backing to the "shiny side up" of the linoleum and painted the bottom flat black. It has a look and texture similar to the original.

[vintovka]

How about decking? Also for pads between chassis and bed. Choicedek from Lowes.

[leegreen]

My floor mat is 'diamond plate' rubber roll floor mat from princess auto. Diamond side down. One seam at turn of floor to firewall, one under front edge of seats. Seams are overlapped, diamond plate removed at overlap with cheese grater style bondo file, both surfaces roughed up then glued with contact cement.



Just leave the stuff in a shed to air out for a few weeks before you install it or your cab will have that new tire smell - bad!

[PDW HOTRODS]

I have seen round cake pans used for air cleaner to hood for cowl induction hoods.

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by PDW HOTRODS

I have seen round cake pans used for air cleaner to hood for cowl induction hoods.

I saw that some back in the 70's and 80's before there was much metal forming going on by individuals or aftermarket pieces available.

On the other hand when my wife decides that her metal baking pans, Muffin trays and big baking sheets with the lip that is about 1/2 inch tall get too stained up to use I snag them for the garage. You can tear a carb apart on that big baking tray and any gas that is still in it that spills doesn't go anywhere and any small part that comes out stays on the tray. The muffin tin is great for little parts when you want to keep them separate but close by.

[unclebrad]

A little update before the final product pictures, which are probably a couple weeks out.

(The air cleaner body is at the powder coat place. FYI, for powder coating, any epoxy must be a high heat type that is good for at least 400 degrees.
The guy strongly recommended JB Weld High Heat.
I bought two JB Weld High Heat epoxies - one being "Extreme Heat" - and, although neither is that great to work with, the Extreme Heat is very hard to work with.)

For anyone that might try to do this project - I jumped the gun a bit when I ordered the air cleaner element. I had seen one about the right size, at a good price, and bought it. It was about 12.75 " diameter, which left a good amount of room around the inside of the approx. 16" diameter body.
Turned out that it is hard to find an inexpensive 12.75" air cleaner base.
My answer to that was to buy a 14" base and cut it down, re-sizing the outer ring to fit.
Here is a little diagram:

[mr48chev]

i ran into that with that Cadillac Aircleaner, I lucked out and found the smaller aircleaner with base at a swapmeet. That same aircleaner new isn't cheap though.

[Florida5100]

I have a guitar pedal switch under the original foot-switch to trigger my 350, no pics tho.

[unclebrad]

Finally got the air cleaner back from powder coating and put it on. they did the valve covers too. they call the color "titanium".

I had some issues with the powder coating guys sand blasting all the filler out of the seams, so they had to redo it, but it is done now. I can move on to the next thing.

In an posts 4, 6, 9, 15 ) I talked about making it.

In real life, it has a little more metallic showing, but you get the idea.