Resto - "Chair-Loc" applied to timber spokes

Well the "Chair-Loc" from the USA arrived last week and I have brushed two coats onto the timber spoked wheels aready with the 2nd coat going on a couple of days ago which has still not completely dried off so its a waiting game now before I can lightly sand them all back again, fill up some holes, then give them a final few coats of lacquer and then bolt then all back together.
The "Chair-Loc" is a not to thickish liquid that brushes on very well but does tack off quickly just the same so you don't want to take you time with it, and yes the second coat went on alot quicker than the first anyway here are a couple of pix of them dring off in the resto shed, oh and I have buffed and cleaned up the metal rims on both the timber spokes and also the tyre rims ready for reassembly.

While all that was going on I also found a little time to resprayed the front and back brake drums which by the way will look great when bolted back onto the timber wheels and now I just have to clean up all the bolts and thread ends to make a good job of it.

One other thing that I completed a few weeks back was that I made up the two new cowl / firewall timber posts, it was a first time for everything so I had a go at making them and they came up looking just great, still yet to mount the metal hardware to them but that will happen when we install the front doors and you can line everything up properly.
All this helps if you have the original old timbers to copy off which I did although a little rotten as you can see but those two cowl timbers had some tricky little angles and curves on them just the same which do not show up in the pix.

Well thats about it for the moment as I'm just waiting for the spokes to dry off then I'll be back into it ASAP.

We walked for dad again "Light The Night" - Leukemia Foundation

Oh 12 months can fly by, and again the Leukemia Foundations "Light The Night" walk was on again and I said last year after our massive effort that we all put in to raise money that I would walk again and will walk every year for dad and I wasn't going back on my word.
After attending the Melbourne walk last year with about 3000 people we decided that this year we would support our smaller regional walk which was held up at Traralgon in "Victory Park" instead of us having to drive down to Melbourne.
As the afternoon closed in so did the weather and by 4pm it was absolutely pouring straight down with very heavy rain, by 6pm when we picked up Mum it had not eased up at all but the 5 of us were still keen to go up to participate, put our money in the tin, turn on our lanterns and walk for dad.
We arrive at at 6.30pm as we pulled into the car park just on dark, yes it's still pissing down and the local hall on the edge of the park where the walk was to start from had about 40 people sitting inside around the edge like an old time dance all looking rather cheesed off and blank at the conditions outside.
We went in, signed up, put our money in the collection, got our lanterns then stood around for a few minutes wondering what is going on? I then asked a few people "is the walk on, are you going to walk" which I got replies like "It's to wet" - "oh no the weathers bad" - "do you want a cooked sausage".......
Now I know it's raining hard outside, there's no wind, just rain, and what's a little bit of water anyways and besides that,  dad went thru hell in hospital fighting this shit cancer for 6 weeks and he showed us all you just don't give up when your cards are all but screwed up and thrown down in front of you so be buggered if I'm going to just stand in the hall eating a cooked bloody sausage and let some rain stop us, so I looked at Lisa, Mum and my two kids and we all knew what the other was thinking, we walked outside, put up our umbrella's turned on our lantern and the 5 of us started walking through the park, yes just the 5 of us! and it felt bloody good to do, yes a little damp I'll admitt but bloody good just the same and sure the emotional charged levels of last years Melbourne walk were not there, but as we walked across the park grounds, following the wet footpath the 5 of us joked and laughed about it and about what dad would be saying,  "Silly buggers, go on get home out of the rain".

As we kept walking through the park a darkly dressed figure carrying a black bag came running towards us, it turned out to be a camera-man from the local "WIN-NEWS" who came running over and wanted to get some footage of the event which made it seem a little more silly as there was only the 5 of us swinging our brightly lit lanterns, so he got some footage for the nightly news and we all done the ole man proud, but next year I think we shall return back down to Melbourne and make a night of it.....Love ya Dad xxoo

Here are a few pix of last years Melbourne walk...

Resto - Timber spoke wheels - brake drum buffed up

With a few hours spare on this lovely spring Sunday afternoon, I got straight to work with the grinder in buffing up the 4 x brake drums ready for a paint with etch primer and then a black top coat like the chassis, here's my handy work.

A before and after picture

 4 x brake drums completed and ready for painting soon

Resto - Timber spoke wheels getting a makeover, Part 2

Just a quick post and 2 x pix showing a front and rear wheel which have been lightly sanded around the centre section where the brake drums when installed bolts up tight against the timber spokes.
The timber is very tight, smooth and looks great now that I have removed a layer or two of old crud and stain that you can see was embedded in them as shown in the previous posts photos.
So with no arrival of the "Chair-Loc" product from the USA yet, but hopefully it should come in the mail this week. I will just keep working away on gettting them a little more smoother....Thanks.

Front Wheel

Rear Wheel

Resto - Timber spoke wheels getting a makeover

So now we are onto the timber spoke wheels of the old Chev and after our little fun "test drive" on the weekend I decided to remove the wheels from the car and get the four of them ready for the "Chair-Loc" product when it arrives from the States.
I unbolted the front and rear brake drums from the wheels and to my surprise all of the original 6 bolts on each wheel are still like new with no rust at all on them and it also took a bit of heavy hitting with the hammer and punch to knock each one of them out, which is a good sign that the timber is nice and tight and it looks like it is to, so with a little sanding they will look great.

I then turned over each wheel and lightly but carefully tapped with a hammer onto a small block of wood so not to dint the timber, each of the spokes evenly as I went around in a circle a few times until the spokes came away from the steel hub by about 10mm and you don't want to go to far as to disturb the join between each spoke, this is so that I can sand in between the hub and timbers a little and then also brush in the "Chair-Loc" to make a nice and secure job of it, but just by looking at the wheels now I think I am pretty bloody lucky to have timbers in this condition considering it sat outside in the weather under a tree on a farm for a good few years before dad stumbled across it.....

More info and pictures will follow soon over the next couple of weeks after I sand, fill and lacquer up the timber.
Thanks for looking in from time to time, Grant :)

Resto - Rear axle pivots cleaned and regreased.

Today the 4 x u-bolts that hold the rear axle in place to the springs were removed and dismantled so that the "Axle Saddles" could be pulled apart, clean, regreased and then all re-assemebled again like new and yes they were rather dirty and gummed up inside, but not anymore.
I had the assistance of Ray once more who showed up today around lunchtime for a quick visit with a few spare parts from his "man cave" that came in very handy, cheers Ray.
We also rigged up the speedo temporally with the cordless drill and a couple of long wood screws onto the make shift timber dash after giving it a little TLC and so then I through Ray the "keys" to Monty for a lap of honour up and down the street and yes Ray jumped at the chance for the ride of his life....One very brave man!

Here is that video taken today

Also today after Ray left to go back to Melbounre I removed the 4 x brake drums from the wooden spoke wheels as now the chev is sitting back up on jacks stands in the shed wheel-less looking all bare again and undriveable :(
The timber spokes that are located in behind the brakes drums are rock solid and extremely tight which is great, I will give this area a good clean and light sanding while I am waiting for the "Chair-Loc" product to arrive from the USA and also while I am at it I will clean, prep and then paint black the outer facing sides of the brake drums which will clean up the look of the finished timber spokes when all re-assembled and completed..

Cheers once again and thanks heaps...Grant

Resto: Sanded back the timber spoked wheels

I suddenly got the urge to give the timber spokes a good sanding  to see how they would come up, this overpowering rush of enthusiasm was brought on by the sudden appearance of 4 x brand new timber spoke wheels and metal rims on Ebay to suit a 1928 chev for a good few hundred dollars but they were located up in far north Queensland and the postage would of been a killer, but bloody hell new timber spokes on ole Monty, how flash would of that looked?
So for quite a lot less money I could buy a pile of sandpaper and still have a jam jar full of coins to buy my new exhaust with so I quickly calmed down and got to work on my old wooden spokes, I was curious as to how they would turn out as I have never laid any sandpaper on them before, only a light pressure wash when I first rolled Monty out of the shed covered in dust and then a few months back I brushed them with kerosine as they are a few borer holes in some of the spokes.


After about an hour of light sanding on each of the wheels I was bloody surprised at how good they looked, yes there are a few borer holes here and there and the slightest bit of wood rot in a couple of spokes I think they will look fantastic when given the final coat of lacquer when that time comes.

I will now get some good wood filler to treat the pin holes and I also have a product coming from the USA called "Chair-Loc" it is a clear liquid that you brush on, it soaks into the timber and the timber swells up inside to make the joins super tight and strong again.
My chief of staff/director/technical advisor in the mechanical division of this resto, "Ray" used this product years ago on his Chevy spokes which had began to loosen and was extremely surprised with the results and how quickly the timber returned to a strong tight hold in all the joins, so once again I shall give it a go, not that I can see or hear any loose spokes when I give each of them a gentle hit with the hammer but while I am at it I will do the job right.
 

This is the wheel with the most borer holes in it, but nothing that cannot be fixed

Like I said with a bit more work with some sandpaper and time these will hopefully turn out fine...
Thank you looking in from time to time..

"Small steps, its all about the small steps".


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One Driving and One motor starting video

A couple of videos here, motor is just a little loud "straightout pipe" as I am waiting on a new exhaust system to be installed soon.
Had a few battery troubles last week but now with a new battery charger purchased all seems fine and strong cranking power has returned.

I have really got to love the old 3 speed gearbox with the double clutching of the pedal and the way 3rd gear just pulls away when the throttle given a slight nudge, it should all sound nice, quiet, and very vintage when the new exhaust gets fitted up.
BTW the brakes are just amazing, it pulls up quickly and dead straight and they haven't bedded in yet which will come when more miles are driven one day! also from the very short distances that I have driven Monty the steering now seems firm and responsive with no wandering at all, but like I said I have only driven it a few times up and down the street....

Thanks for looking in from time to time and bloody hell we are pushing 5000 views of this site, amazing!!
Talk to you soon :)