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My 1967 Belvedere Convertible Plans and Restoration (aka - Mad Scientist Build)

Lathe progress . . .

Been getting some work done on the lathe ( when the snow is not falling and making a mess down here ) . . .

This is the backing plate from the other chuck, but the raised part in the center of this plate does not snugly fit into the depression in the back of the new Bison Chuck - so we need to make this work better . . . that's where the "new" piece of metal comes into play . . .

Here you can see the dowel pin holes that are drilled for securing this to the new plate ( call it the mid-plate ) when it's all bolted together.

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This is the "new" mid-plate with the center rise larger than the Bison depression - the plan is to put it on the lathe and sneak up on the diameter to snugly fit into the back of the Bison, and keep that chuck centered and not moving when in use . . .. the square plate was cut on the band saw, to near shape, so that the final shape can be milled . . . in progress in this picture.

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The final mid-plate . . . ready to be turned and fitted to the new chuck . . .

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My engineer friend is teaching me all kinds of new stuff with his Bridgeport, and helping me to get this lathe dialed in and working ! ! !

I'm having a blast learning and doing all this as I get my new lathe functional and ready to go into my shop . . .
 
Lathe work and dial in continue . . . update on the progress . . .

First the original backing plate was installed and faced ( it's cast iron ) . . .

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So nice to see the first time that I'm actually making shavings on this lathe . . . there will be PLENTY more shavings that this lathe will create in it's future . . .

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Here's the finished facing of the cast iron backing plate - this was turned flat across the front to accept the mid-plate . . .

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Then the mid-plate was bolted to the original backing plate so the outer edge could be cut and faced to accept the Bison chuck . . .

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Added the additional "touch" of the stamp that is used . . . BSH = Brick **** House . . . that's how we build things . . .

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Got the other edge faced, and the center rise dialed in to accept the chuck . . .

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And the Bison chuck is now mounted on the lathe . . . man is this a NICE piece of "machinery"

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After mounting the chuck Rocky worked with me to see how well we "hope" to be able to get this thing dialed in . . .

the initial findings that we're seeing are
- - that this chuck is incredible
- - no difference regardless on which of the 3 jaw bolts are used to tighten the jaws ( that's great )
- - reproducible results every time we remounted the measuring steel rod . . .
- - got a little work to get the head squared and true . . . and then it's "game on" . . .

got some work to get this tired old lathe back into functional standards . . . but we think we've got a good machine to start ! ! !

YAY ! !
 
Have a co-worker that's expecting her first born anytime in the next couple weeks . . . so I made this for her baby . . .

Design how I want the name to be laid out on paper . . .

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Had some really nice spalted maple planks that I thought would look good - glued it up to plywood for strength . . .
Then transferred the name design to the wood work . . .

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Cut it out on the jigsaw . . . and then spend a couple hours sanding all the nooks and crannies . . .

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Then applied a little Watco Oil to the wood to bring out all the colors in the wood as a result of the spalting . . .

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Turned out pretty well . . . will deliver the "gift" to her tomorrow . . . Hope she likes it . . .
 
Finally back in the shop and "trying" to make heads and tails out of where I left off . . . but I've got some work done . . .

Trying to figure out this hidden/covered/locking cover for the fuel filler . . . and made some progress . . .

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This is how it'll look when the lever is pulled and the door partially pops open . . .

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Got the internals figured out, and bolted in place where they need to be . . . had to figure out "how" to do that . . .

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On the back side - had to add a pair of brackets that allow the front cover, to hold securely in place, and bolt to the real filler tube
( think this is going to work - now to figure out how to plumb this thing through the floor and to the tank - that I don't have yet . . . )

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Had a small area on the passenger rear wheel well that was not "right", and didn't want to fill it with body filler ( that would not hold )
So I added some weld metal, and ground it down to the proper contour so that it'll better hold the body filler . . . ( think this will work better )

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Now to try and keep the momentum going . . . need to order my axles ( the rear end was narrowed 3" ) and just a bit nervous to order the new ones . . .
 
Finally back in the shop and "trying" to make heads and tails out of where I left off . . . but I've got some work done . . .

Trying to figure out this hidden/covered/locking cover for the fuel filler . . . and made some progress . . .

View attachment 572544

This is how it'll look when the lever is pulled and the door partially pops open . . .

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Got the internals figured out, and bolted in place where they need to be . . . had to figure out "how" to do that . . .

View attachment 572546

On the back side - had to add a pair of brackets that allow the front cover, to hold securely in place, and bolt to the real filler tube
( think this is going to work - now to figure out how to plumb this thing through the floor and to the tank - that I don't have yet . . . )

View attachment 572547

Had a small area on the passenger rear wheel well that was not "right", and didn't want to fill it with body filler ( that would not hold )
So I added some weld metal, and ground it down to the proper contour so that it'll better hold the body filler . . . ( think this will work better )

View attachment 572548

Now to try and keep the momentum going . . . need to order my axles ( the rear end was narrowed 3" ) and just a bit nervous to order the new ones . . .
Just be sure that you have an adequate breather tube for the filler pipe .....ask me how I know this.
 
Got back out to the shop again today and worked a bit on the car . . . it appears that the original fill hole location is not going to work with my new filler tube, so the original hole was welded up . . .

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I'll have to find where the new access will be and get it drilled and routed - this should really be "fun" . . . ( sigh ) . . . always something . . .
 
Got the filler tube Tigged to the Filler end - now to try and figure out where I need the new hole in the trunk floor . . .

Guess I'm starting to get the "feel" of the TIG now . . . and it seems to be going a bit better now . . . ( I can hope )

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Just a bit of advice, get the pool of the weld shiny and then add filler rod or you can move the puddle around like you were gas welding.
 
Got a chance to make some shavings on the lathe today making my first part . . .

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ran into a wall when the chuck that came with the lathe is a POS . . .
 
Made a custom dimple die to allow me to apply the look to a couple very tight holes on the car . . .

Here's the final project a.. put together . . .

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And the look of the hole after it's been processed . . . not too bad

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Now I can "fix" the couple holes that I added to the car and could NOT get with the other dimple die set . . . YAY ! ! !
 
Work on the car . . . finally . . .

Had the car show at the Speedway - rained on Saturday . . . but saw this 66 Chevy II . . . wish it was MINE ! ! !

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And . . . won an award for my Chevy II . . . and a compliment about my paint job . . .

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Now - back to the Belvedere . . . Finally got the Emergency brake mounted to the tunnel . . .

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And it'll sit in this location by the front seat . . . this should work out just fine . . .

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And then this . . . have not seen the dash in my car in a couple years . . . WOW . . .

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And with the temps down here in the 70-80 . . . Titus has been helping me out . . . yup . . . laying around . . .

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And my door hinges . . . have a "bit" of wear on the pins . . . these big ole B-body doors . . .

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So my plan is to add some more surface area of contact for the pins - now it has (2) 1/8" contact points which causes them to wear . . .

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So I made this on my lathe . . . I'll weld it into the hinge and give me a lot more contact area . . . can you say BSH ! ! !

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Yeap, those will last another 500,000 miles! Like the emergency.... or should I say initiate tail slide brake.:thumbsup: That's about the only fun I can have in my Chevy Cruze:(.
 
Long, long over due . . . While up in Ohio visiting 747Mopar ( Devin ) and attending the Mopar Nats . . .
we made a trip to Summit and ordered my new axles for my narrowed rear end !

This is the fist time I've ever done this - sure hope that I got those measurements RIGHT ! !
 
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