What did you do with your truck today, Part 3

[mick53]

I think I'm ready to try again. One of the problems I had with the 4 jaw chuck was getting it tight enough to suit me without deforming it. I went back to the 3 jaw because it lines up with the spokes (6) in the pulley. I also made this thing to hold it against the chuck for piece of mind. I figure if it slips it might not destroy itself and me. I also made a new and improved tool. Nothing left but the doing. I have .004" runout.

[mick53]

Well I haven't failed yet because I haven't given up. It is now a quest. Here's what I know. Pulley is 6061 aluminum. Coating is type 3 anodizing .002"-.004" thick. The tool bits I'm using are not some overseas sweat shop steel they are repurposed Armstrong high speed cobalt. I think it's pretty hard stuff. The test pulley I made is 6061 aluminum. It cut it like butter. The same tool worked terribly on the first groove on the real pulley. After looking at it I thought I forgot to put a relief cut on the front of the tool. The manufacturer and the anodizing company both told me that machining the finish was no problem. After thinking about it they have probably never done it. I sanded the finish off the face for countersinking and it was a nightmare. It laughed at aircraft stripper and we get the good stuff here. I spent a lot of time making the second tool and was quite proud of it. I checked my tool height and set my RPM's. I ran it in and it Angelina Jolie'd itself and was gone in 60 seconds.
it barely scratched the surface, more like a dent. I took an insert tool and came in from the side at .005" and shaved it off. Gone baby gone. I ordered a nice grinding wheel and some HHS tool bits, probably from a sweat chop overseas. Sorry so long. Thank you for your time.

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by mick53

Well I haven't failed yet because I haven't given up. It is now a quest. Here's what I know. Pulley is 6061 aluminum. Coating is type 3 anodizing .002"-.004" thick. The tool bits I'm using are not some overseas sweat shop steel they are repurposed Armstrong high speed cobalt. I think it's pretty hard stuff. The test pulley I made is 6061 aluminum. It cut it like butter. The same tool worked terribly on the first groove on the real pulley. After looking at it I thought I forgot to put a relief cut on the front of the tool. The manufacturer and the anodizing company both told me that machining the finish was no problem. After thinking about it they have probably never done it. I sanded the finish off the face for countersinking and it was a nightmare. It laughed at aircraft stripper and we get the good stuff here. I spent a lot of time making the second tool and was quite proud of it. I checked my tool height and set my RPM's. I ran it in and it Angelina Jolie'd itself and was gone in 60 seconds.
it barely scratched the surface, more like a dent. I took an insert tool and came in from the side at .005" and shaved it off. Gone baby gone. I ordered a nice grinding wheel and some HHS tool bits, probably from a sweat chop overseas. Sorry so long. Thank you for your time.

I'm betting that you'll get it. Persevere!

I am a little concerned about the .004" runout. I could see that causing a resonance at some RPM if the grooves are not concentric with the O.D. of the pulley, and with the shaft that it's mounted on.

[mick53]

Originally Posted by DransportGarage

I'm betting that you'll get it. Persevere!

I am a little concerned about the .004" runout. I could see that causing a resonance at some RPM if the grooves are not concentric with the O.D. of the pulley, and with the shaft that it's mounted on.

Well it could have been the coating? I cut it off so it's round now I guess. My secondary radiator has an electric pump on it so it wouldn't strand me. at least the A/C and P/S would still work.

[DransportGarage]

That should do it. Looks like you're ready to soldier on!

[mick53]

I finished my water pump pulley! I'm calling it a big win. It seems my problem all along was the coating. This is the first time I made a lathe tool from scratch. I used a jewelers file and 500 grit sandpaper to radius the tops and deburr it. Thanks for everyone's advice and support. A special thanks to idbeast. I still need to have it anodized black but they have a $100 minimum so I might wait until I have more to take in.

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by mick53

I finished my water pump pulley! I'm calling it a big win. It seems my problem all along was the coating. This is the first time I made a lathe tool from scratch. I used a jewelers file and 500 grit sandpaper to radius the tops and deburr it. Thanks for everyone's advice and support. A special thanks to idbeast. I still need to have it anodized black but they have a $100 minimum so I might wait until I have more to take in.

Whoa! Nice job!! I suppose you know you'll never run out of stuff to talk about when you show up at a cruise in. The most common stupid question will be, "Where did you buy that?" Maybe put together a numbered picture album so your answer could be "See picture #27", or "See picture #152".

[Rickysnickers]

Impressive work!! Top notch

[Black_Sheep]

Got the new calipers and stainless brake lines installed after the false start last weekend. I also cleaned inside the front wheel wells and the front half of the undercarriage, including the chrome oil pan, pulleys, etc...

Tired and sore from rolling around on the floor for 2 days.

[mick53]

Originally Posted by Black_Sheep

Got the new calipers and stainless brake lines installed after the false start last weekend. I also cleaned inside the front wheel wells and the front half of the undercarriage, including the chrome oil pan, pulleys, etc...

Tired and sore from rolling around on the floor for 2 days.

Congrats on going with Wilwood.

[MiraclePieCo]

I took the panel truck out for the monthly gathering at the local country store. Fun little show with a couple dozen cars, live music, and food vendors.

BTW: I got my new gauges installed. Dolphin sent me a free replacement set, and they work perfectly. Kudos to Dolphin for great customer service!

[pvienneau]

Removed and replaced spark plugs. Holy crap were they covered in thick black carbon. Its amazing the truck started. Seems I've been warming her up with the choke too much. Starts so much easier with the fresh plugs. Had black coming out the tail pipe as well. To much choke.

[dsraven]

Dunno if you are familiar with the old stuff, manual chokes etc, but in general if it is running like it has a big cam in it, "loping", then too much choke. You gotta babysit the old girl, release the choke a little at a time and enough so it still runs but just on the edge.

[evilokc]

been driving the wheels off of it lately. love when everything works.

[MiraclePieCo]

Originally Posted by dsraven

Dunno if you are familiar with the old stuff, manual chokes etc, but in general if it is running like it has a big cam in it, "loping", then too much choke.

Haha, as teenagers, when cruising the main drag we used to pull the choke out to make the car lope like we had a nasty cam!

Originally Posted by evilokc

been driving the wheels off of it lately. love when everything works.

I know what you mean. After getting my gauges sorted out I'm feeling real good about my truck.

[1project2many]

Broke the dang master cylinder cover. I actually remembered to keep the battery charged this year so I could get it fired up quickly when I found the right day for first drive. Yesterday was the day. Brake pedal was low so I attempted to open the stock master to check fluid level and it broke in half. Grumbledy grumble. The cylinder date codes to the truck correctly and I'd like to keep it so I guess it's off to Ebay to try and find a replacement cover for cheap.

[mick53]

I went to Wisconsin and picked up another chassis for the 53 3100. It's in nice shape and was only $150 from a guy on Stovebolt. It should have taken 8 hours but someone put Chicago in the way so it took 11.

[Dan in Pasadena]

I FINALLY finished my dad's old masonry box for use in the '55 bed. Considering what I started with I think it finished out nicely. The Chevrolet script is from a 1954 car sourced from eBay.

[MARTINSR]

Cool!

Brian

[oldstrk]

Finally time for some final assembly

[oldstrk]

And it's finally out of the barn

[my56chevytruck]

Originally Posted by oldstrk

And it's finally out of the barn

your choice of engine and the paint trim is awesome. very sharp

[dsraven]

Hey Bam, your truck looks awesome. Great job and incentive for those of us who have stalled out. It looks great with the glass in and no chrome in the rubber. All your personal touches make it a subtle one off. It looks like it was supposed to be that way from factory. I hope you drive it with great pride, you deserve all the head turning and thumbs up.

[BAM55]

Originally Posted by dsraven

Hey Bam, your truck looks awesome. Great job and incentive for those of us who have stalled out. It looks great with the glass in and no chrome in the rubber. All your personal touches make it a subtle one off. It looks like it was supposed to be that way from factory. I hope you drive it with great pride, you deserve all the head turning and thumbs up.

Thanks man I really appreciate the kind words. I've been driving it a lot and its a lot of fun.

[Russell Ashley]

That's a sharp looking truck. I like the Olds trim on it, and those Olds engines just look right in a hotrod. Back "in the day" if your car had an Oldsmobile engine you were the top dog.