'46 Chevy Shorty

[Tango]

Yeah Caddie...brakes be good. And I was very pleasantly surprised to hear that the make of the original system was willing to revamp what I had already paid for to work with the new plan. His custom master has his own input shaft that is smooth and rounded on the end to work with his hydraulic adapter. We need a threaded rod to hook things up. When I called I was expecting to hear something like "too bad, not my problem" ...or.."sure, and that will be another $500 bucks". Neither was the case. He said he would mod the shaft to whatever we need and only charge for shipping.

Thank You! And Merry Christmas to you too!

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Tango

The flame maple dash panel is now cut out for the Allison shifter, drilled for the mounting bolts and is finished off with a few coats of satin lacquer. Still more to do here as well, but at least it represents some movement forward.

Happy Holidays to All!!!


ONWARD!

Happy Holidays to you, too Tango.

You have some absolutely GORGEOUS parts for your build. Holy Moses you make me look like a Butcher.

Send that Cabinet Maker a bottle of good firewater and maybe get your tiny project bumped-up the list.

[ol trunt]

Hey Tango. That dash is beautiful. The cranks are also a work of art. A first drive around the block can't be far off now!

Caddy is right about the SHHHHH. I'll bet it wouldn't be too hard to record the air brake sound to be played back through a small speaker each time the brake lights came on--too much fun. Jack

[Tango]

I am MOST fortunate to know a couple of guys who really are masters in their fields. The car builder puts together multi-hundred thousand dollar custom and racing rigs but gives me a bit of a buddy break on stuff like this. The woodworker is an old friend who was a commercial photographer when I met him many years ago and he originally only took up the wood thing as a hobby. Turns out he is a natural with wood and now builds some of the finest Arts & Crafts and Mission style furniture in America. He will also be helping construct my shower, sofa bed & kitchen cabinet. I am NOT at all good with wood so it really helps to know someone who is and who has the right tools to make some tricky stuff look easy and function properly.

Coming up with wacky ideas is fairly easy. Making them work is another matter. I have been playing with measurements and designs for this stuff for several years. It is time to begin making some sawdust and metal shavings.

[M1031A1]

Merry Christmas Tango! So long as the wood and metal shavings are coming off the correct places that should be fun...... LOL

M

[Tango]

Roger that M. There have been a couple of times when I really did get them confused sort of. I have discovered that circular and jig saw blades for wood are not the best choice for metal.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by ol trunt

Hey Tango. That dash is beautiful. The cranks are also a work of art. A first drive around the block can't be far off now!

Caddy is right about the SHHHHH. I'll bet it wouldn't be too hard to record the air brake sound to be played back through a small speaker each time the brake lights came on--too much fun. Jack

an air actuated parking brake can do it too.. my red bus has a mechanical lever brake but i could put an air one on.. i do have an air dryer so i get thaty Shhh air purge sound.. the DEV bus is real air brakes..

ive never built anything like Tango's friends.. or Tango - amazing stuff going on in this thread!!.

-Christopher

[Tango]

Might be easier to get a CD with air brake sounds and run it through an external speaker activated by the brake light switch.

[GuidoLyons]

Onward!

[Tango]

Just a test fit --- Howdy...played around today with the new dash. Tried it out and then started drilling all the mounting holes. Had to start wit 1/4" in., then go back to a smaller bit so that I can then tap them all to 1/4 x 20 x 1-1/2". Was a royal pain trying to align them all. Won't know how well I did for a while until such time as I try and fit them all.


From the passenger side...and then...


...head on.

Still need to tap all the holes so stay tuned for any screw ups.


ONWARD!

[Robin97396]

As you know, incorporating the screwups into the design is what makes a build so unique.

As always, your work is looking pretty immaculate by my standards.

[M1031A1]

WOW!!!!! Looks AWESOME!!!!!!

Way to go!

M

[Tango]

Thanks All --- I'll have to wait and see how the drilling and tapping works out before I can comment. Wish me luck.

[plfking]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

As always, your work is looking pretty immaculate by my standards.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

That's a nice piece of timber, Tango......might not hurt to pick up a nice cheap pine plank at HD and bore thru-holes and install inserts into THAT, then use it for a template of sorts.


Don

[Tango]

Spent Christmas day mostly drilling and tapping 22 (1/4" x 20) holes to mount the new dash panel. Then went and drank my ass off!

Love the Holidays!

[Robin97396]

Me thinks you're getting your priorities mixed up on this holiday. You clearly should have done more drinking than working today.

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

Me thinks you're getting your priorities mixed up on this holiday. You clearly should have done more drinking than working today.

I thought about working on the bus today, but it seemed rude.

So I cooked a prime rib instead and had a wonderful meal with the family.

[M1031A1]

We played an abridged game of monopoly today..... Just six hours......

M

[cadillackid]

Love that new dash!!!! have you found some cool shiny gauges to put in it yet?

[Tango]

I managed to get in just about equal parts work hours and drinking hours. Even walked away from a gathering with a very nice bottle of Port as a gift.

As for the work part...I am always nervous about getting proper alignment on things like this. So many holes...so many opportunities to screw up.

The Gauge thing is another issue still to be dealt with. Since there is nothing but engine directly behind the dash/firewall, they will have to go somewhere else. May hang a couple (TinyTach & Speedo?) on a buildout attached to the wood panel but most will likely go on a separate panel...somewhere. Maybe above the windshield.

Have I ever mentioned how little space there is in this rig?

Had hoped to have the fasteners for the dash by now but not having much luck finding what I want. Something functional and somewhat decorative...in an industrial sort of way. Found the perfect units online in stainless but when I went to order a couple of dozen all I got was "Out Of Stock". Great. Will hit a couple of local places this week to see what I can find.

Till next time...


ONWARD!