1949 Bentley Boattail Speedster

[Shea Laking]

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[IMG]http://cache-02.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/12/2010/05/500x_01-delahaye-1280_01.jpg

Aahhhhhhh.....[dr[dr

Regards,
Shea

 

[PA41]

Back to the real world of jalopy speedster building...

I got a good day in the shop today--was motivated by the little show I went to Saturday. A line of $50,000 soul-less Plastic 32 Fords gets me all motivated to wallow in rusty junk..

I removed the front fenders and replaced the cut coils with a full coil set. I did this constantly circle tracking, and other than a chainsaw, it's one of the few things I have mastered in my life. A home made screw jack and a couple floor jacks and an hour ya gots a new set of springs. Remove the shock, Pull the cotter key-turn the BJ Nut a turn or two, set the screw jack between the two BJs and tighten pretty good and if needed whack the side of the spindle at the BJ with a shop hammer till it pops. Set up the second jack take the tension up-remove the nut and carefully let the arm down. Pull the spring and reverse to install. I am getting way slow--usta do it in the dark in the mud between races..

It raised the nose appx 2"--I like that look, more antique than custom --what I'm after.

Hard to see in the pic, but it's up. Sometimes the NerNet pics are flattering, sometimes not. It looks better real here than in the pix. (Usually the other way)

Did some work on the tail too-- in the next post..

PA41

 

[PA41]

Did some tail work. Pinched in the rear part to try and get a closer profile--worked better. It has a little double hump butt cheek thing going on in the turn down--I'll just say I ment to do that??

Need to trim the botom edge a little to even the sides out..

You can see how wide hipped it is here compared to the sexy classics. Not a perfect shape, but it'll fly. The side transition may be a little abrupt at the door post--we'll see..

The doors need cut down and the posts will be trimmed to make the transition easier..

I tweeked the cockpit 1/4" the other day, and it threw the hood/nose fitment off and inch!! Had to cut and realign the nose mounts to adjust it.

Had a good day- got a lot done- satisfying day-I like old junk iron--really a pleasure to work with..

Will nail down the steering colum this week while the fenders are off and it's easy to get to. I need to make a quick and easy setup to remove the fenders--the girls are pretty, but they are in tha way!!

PA41

 

[hotrod preacher]

lookin' good PA! yep, i know now-there's def. a "fetish" on the fender-thing, you refered to them as girls.....

i've got to find time to cruise down some saturday in my 46........and trade you outta that A coupe..........or that T sedan body.......or the .....or that..........man do i have a bad case of "iwanna"

 

[Sam_Fear]

I think when you get the fender insides and the axle pans (or whatever you wanna call it) on there you'll be amazed at how good the tail looks. Got any side shots of your double humped butt? Tail looks great sewn together!

 

[bob w]

Besides building a unique and creative ride, you are an entertaining writer.[cl
I hope you don't get a big head getting two compliments in one post.

 

[PA41]

Besides building a unique and creative ride, you are an entertaining writer.[cl
I hope you don't get a big head getting two compliments in one post.

Thanks BW, I really enjoy myself in the shop, and talking about these cars adds to the fun.

As far as too many compliments giving me the big head-- Naaw. My shop is the 'Arkansas RAT ROD Special Olympics' headquarters! Lotsa encouragement and Everyone gets a trophy!!!


(Ain't this kid havin a good time!--I Love it!!)

PA41

 

[PA41]

I think when you get the fender insides and the axle pans (or whatever you wanna call it) on there you'll be amazed at how good the tail looks. Got any side shots of your double humped butt? Tail looks great sewn together!

Thanks Sam--the double humped thing is real low--could be covered with bondo easily if I need to-doesn't hardly show in the pix.

PA41

 

[PA41]

lookin' good PA! yep, i know now-there's def. a "fetish" on the fender-thing, you refered to them as girls.....

i've got to find time to cruise down some saturday in my 46........and trade you outta that A coupe..........or that T sedan body.......or the .....or that..........man do i have a bad case of "iwanna"

Thanks Preacher--Yeah Come on down when ya can---That T sedan could be had reasonable--Like for some fenders, or for a couple 40s truck hoods--I saw a guy making fenders outta a set, or in exchange for some body work on the bently parts..

Suchadealyouwouldn'tbelieve!!!

PA41

 

[PA41]

I had a fella give me a Harbor Freight shear/break/roller that was broken, he said it never worked. Got it home and removed the shear/break part--too far gone to fix for now-the cast shear arm end was broken off. I replaced a missing bushing and 2 shear pins in the roller, and it works fine.

Free stuff is good. Gathering up sheetmetal tools for the speedster fenders.

PA41

 

[PA41]

I reworked the HF $100 English wheel I bought a few weeks ago. Heres the before --the wheels didn't line up and they flopped around, and the frame was week. I triangluated the frame with some 1"x1", cut the mandrel saddle off the tubeing and realinged it to the top wheel. I recreated the top wheels hole and tighened it up considerably and it works alot easier now. It would steer itself real bad at first and you had to fight it. It still steers a little, but a lot better. A workable tool now, where it really wasn't before.

A buddy came over Sat, and I watched him use the English wheel for a couple hours--I love to watch other people work on my car--I'm good at it!!

He was actually pretty good--had an eye for the metal and rolled out a couple 10"x12" fender panels. I learned a lot watching..

Trimmed the door tops off and started capping the cut with a rounded piece from the roller.. Will post a pic later.

Sheetmetal work is different from what I usually do--a little cleaner and quiter and slower and little things mean alot ... Not nearly as much fire and smoke--kinda pleasant...

Good weekend.

PA41

 

[PA41]

More fender building 'Tools'.. I rolled the pieces for the door tops, and wanted a compound curve up in the end, and used the piece of oak as a hammer form to get the turn on the end, and used the english wheel to smooth up the hammer marks- My first compound curve-worked pretty good.

PA41

 

[Sam_Fear]

You are my new hero.

 

[PA41]

The passenger door top. I wanted a rounded top to follow the round edges of the hood and the boattail. Used my new freebe roller, and used the firewood hammerform and the english wheel to get the compound curve on the turn up.

Used some checkerplate scrap from the firewall with a curve to add interest and texture on the interior.

Good weekends work. I sure enjoy this stuff....

PA41

 

[cosmic12]

Cool stuff, I wish I had a dollar for every time I have used a hunk-a-tree to form something
A buddie of mine bought the floor mounted e-wheel from HF and had to do alot of mods on it also so don't feel like the Lone Ranger

Keep up the good work[cl

Mine's in storage now

 

[PA41]

You are my new hero.

Thanks Sam--I was really pretty proud of myself

I only have mediocre skills, but I ain't afraid to fail (I've done it alot-It don't hurt that bad), and have a real good (and undeserved) self image. Ain't got no shame--I think I'd make a good politician .

So-Untill the next election--I'll just keep using sticks of firewood and free crappy tools to build cars...

PA41

 

[PA41]

Cool stuff, I wish I had a dollar for every time I have used a hunk-a-tree to form something
A buddie of mine bought the floor mounted e-wheel from HF and had to do alot of mods on it also so don't feel like the Lone Ranger

Keep up the good work[cl

Mine's in storage now

Thanks C12-- Sorry to hear ya had to store your project--life gets in the way sometimes.. Hold on to it--they are good to keep your mind off your probs..

Yeah--that HF E-wheel was suprizingly poor. Although it was still worth the cost after I reworked it-I think. The mandrels seem pretty good, and I got 5 or 6 plus the anvil, so it worked out--especially since I don't have any room for a real one. I complain about Chicom stuff alot, but I use a bunch of their tools that I couldn't afford before they came on the market. Generally I think they are improving, but I stay away from most of their electric tools, and these metal working pieces seem pretty shabby. But I did get that roller for free!! So theres a good side even there... Free crappy tools are better than none!!..


If those guys can out captilize the captalists--more power to em.. I think we'd better start learning to speak Chinese--when this world finance BS collapses, they are gonna own everything..

There I go Hijacking my own thread again!!!

Later

PA41

 

[Shea Laking]

Thanks C12-- Sorry to hear ya had to store your project--life gets in the way sometimes.. Hold on to it--they are good to keep your mind off your probs..

Yeah--that HF E-wheel was suprizingly poor. Although it was still worth the cost after I reworked it-I think. The mandrels seem pretty good, and I got 5 or 6 plus the anvil, so it worked out--especially since I don't have any room for a real one. I complain about Chicom stuff alot, but I use a bunch of their tools that I couldn't afford before they came on the market. Generally I think they are improving, but I stay away from most of their electric tools, and these metal working pieces seem pretty shabby. But I did get that roller for free!! So theres a good side even there... Free crappy tools are better than none!!..


If those guys can out captilize the captalists--more power to em.. I think we'd better start learning to speak Chinese--when this world finance BS collapses, they are gonna own everything..

There I go Hijacking my own thread again!!!

Later

PA41

Hmm...Not sure I should post this, but...

I often think about this very situation and I'd like to offer my "take."

1. "Made in China" isn't necessarily the pure garbage it used to be, but there is still some definate "quality" issues there.
2. How many big "domestic" companies outsource parts (or even the WHOLE THING) from "somewhere else" only to find quality levels suffer. This "Profit, first, last and ALWAYS" type of cancer has spread to EVERY level of the consumer market, not just automobiles (though living here in The Dirty 'Shwa in the long shadow of the CAW, cars are the most obvious).
3. If China, or India, or Bengladesh were to "take over the world," there would be no market for these cheap "hobbyist" tools such as my American car buds buy at Harbor Freight and my fellow Canadian car buds would buy at Princess Auto. The residents of these other countries have been raised with an entirely different mindset that our so-called "Western Cultures," therefore, hobbies WOULD NOT exist!! Therefore, they would have no market for their cheepy tools. Kinda like the snake swallowing it's own tail, inn'it?

On to a more positive note, PA-I'm totally diggin' on your cut down doors- the diamond plate sill is one cool detail, too-something many others likely would not have thought to do, in an area of the car's interior perhaps often reserved for a skin of exotic wood, or perhaps engine-turned aluminum or stainless...

Regards,
Shea

 

[Sam_Fear]

Nothing says rat rod classy like diamond plate.

 

[jfg455]

Thanks Sam--I was really pretty proud of myself

I only have mediocre skills, but I ain't afraid to fail

How could you possibly fail while holding a hammer? I see it as a win win situatiuon. Either A: the part comes out as I see it or B: I get some much needed cardiovascular work out smashing the part to bits! See, win win! [cl