I'm still moving along with the exhaust heat shield.

I machined 6 more mounting points, making a total of 12.

Paper layout of the fixture

After welding each of the rails, I bolted them to the first 6 mounts I made earlier.  If you look closely, you can see the left side rail warped during welding.

When I welded this tab on, it shrunk the inner edge of the driver side fixture rail.  I was able to stretch the welded area back out and straighten the tube.

After.  I should have held up a straight edge before and after, but the front edge moved about 1/8" after correcting the warped section.

More welding - center braces.

Installed in the car.  This fixture will be used to locate the mounting points for the exhaust heat shield, and will also be used to support the shield during welding.  With this fixture, I won't have to weld the heat shield overhead while it's in the car.

All 12 mounting points welded in.

I finished up the reinforcements in the rear suspension area.  I wasn't happy with the quality of my work from ~4 years ago, so I reworked some of the structure.

Next step: brushed stainless steel exhaust heat shield.

I machined a few threaded mounting bosses that it will mount to.

I made a fixture to hold them all at the right spots.

Mounts welded.

It took a few practice bends to get the shape just right...

Once I was happy with the shape of a practice piece, I transferred my pattern to the 22ga stainless steel sheet.

I practiced dimpling the sheet for the M6 button head screws, I plan to dimple all of the mounting holes.

This test was a little too close to the edge, but it turned out decent.

The first section is complete.  The entire heat shield will be 4 or 5 sections; this was the easy one!

Woody Sr. started reassembling his custom Road Glide.  He's still waiting on a few pieces from paint, but it runs!

This week Fro stopped out for some gunsmith work.  The paperwork finally cleared on his full auto Uzi, and he needed my help to modify one of the barrels.

He bought an aftermarket 9mm barrel rather than adding suppressor threads to the hard-to-find OEM barrel.  The quality isn't as good as the OEM piece, so it would jam occasionally.

I loaded it in the lathe and opened up the chamfer where the bullets enter the barrel.  All fixed!

Then we all shot it!

Fro

Woody Sr.

Woody Jr.

Afazz

I made a proper bowl on my stump out of .06" thick annealed aluminum.

Rough shape

More tucks around the edge to shrink it even further.

Finished.  It's not perfect, but it's just a practice piece.

Dave bought a 1967 Ford pickup from his friend Ian, they're working together to make it roadworthy.  This thing is totally awesome!

Cool patina.

I think it has a Ford 390 swap, but I don't really know anything about this era of pickups.

The interior shows how simple these old trucks were.  I love it!

I finally carved up the Red Oak stump that Dave cut for me over 2 years ago.  I cut a 5" diameter, 3-5/8" radius bowl for shrinking metal.

I plunged in with a 7-1/4" circular saw, then I carved out the area with a chisel and sander.

Here is the finished stump, my custom-ground Vaughan radiused forming hammer, and two practice bowl-shaped pieces (white aluminum and bare steel).  I have a lot more practice before I can use it to make useful parts, but it's a good start!

Dave, Ian, and I went to Pittsburgh Parts-A-Rama this Saturday.  I went with the expectation to spend $8 on admission, take a bunch of hilarious pictures, and come home empty-handed.  Success!

Here is a great example of the wide variety of junk that was for sale. 

Hungry?  Parts-A-Rama has food for sale too!  I hope Fiber One uses a "born-on date" system rather than "expiration dates"... but I doubt it.

'Murica.

$1000 for this.  Funeral costs not included.

Some nice looking junk.

I have been looking for some boat shit AND a dog crate.  What luck!

Sleds 'n' Beds.  And a golf cart.

Yup.

Nice bed extender.  My favorite part is the lone weld that doesn't appear to be holding anything.

The box of titty mags was only half on the tarp, so I don't think they qualified for the $1 each special pricing.

This is exactly how they're packaged from Timken.

Ian found some old Chevy fenders, but we didn't end up buying them.

Classy!

50% off! 

This was pretty cool

huh.

Rascal gang.

Beer truck converted into a rim truck.  Brilliant work, Roy!

Remember this from last year?! I can't believe it's still on the road!

I think the roller skates are my favorite item in this photo, but the used tire is a close 2nd.

These drunken hillbillies assembled a roadster in the grass and took it for a drive.

This same Spray Paint was for sale last year... at the same booth.  I wonder what the shelf life is?

Mullet? Check.  Rat tail? Check. 

We spotted this sweet Gremlin in the parking lot of Texas Roadhouse.  It looked pretty well done!  Note the 427 badge on the grill.

I bought the only item of the group, a new-old-stock Facom hacksaw for $12.  Great success!