54 replies to this topic

[Pablo]

Respectfully disagree. Never solder long pieces of wire to rod. Makes it curl like a Pringles potato chip. But thanks for chipping in, Bill 

[Larry Horner]

Looks lovely Pablo! Maybe it's just me but is there not something satisfying about heating the crap out of a pile of metal with a butane torch? 

[Pablo]

Yup 

 

Got my disc sander and band saw securely mounted to a plastic table today    Drop arm and pans sized and squared.  A strip of 1/16 thick sheet doubles the Dynamic tongue gizmo to the proper .125 height above ground zero for the Cox flag

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pablo]

Drop arm hinge assembly will perform double duty as the bite bar. Tinned pieces of .025 wire buttress the hinge tubes. Everything is starting to flow. Been using my Hakko 455 a lot for this build

 

[dc-65x]

Very cool Pablo.  

 

A chassis can't have too many shiny 1/16" brass rods and tubes.  

[Pablo]

Thanks Rick. It feels very relaxing to sit down and build again 

 

Pans are pretty simple

 

 

Building on a white colored table instead of an old wooden dinosaur really helps my vision. I eyeballed the pan widths on the jig, freehanded the hinge wire soldering, and the width check was 3.000 front and 2.999 rear   

[Courtney S]

Might need to get your eyes checked

[Pablo]

I had an eye exam and when I told the doc my right eye is .001" off he said eat a carrot 

[Pablo]

I checked my Thumbler's on my garage floor and was pleased to see it's level

 

I'm curious to see how the chassis comes out of the tumbler in the morning. It's 28 degrees and snowing so I hope it doesn't freeze   Maybe I should add a couple drops of anti-freeze? LOL

 

I've been preaching for years the reason tumbling results vary depending on which soap one uses is due to water chemistry. We shall see. This Tennessee water is a lot harder than Mississippi water and it leaves calcium deposits on my dish drainer. Ain't complainin' - just sayin'

 

Nothing I like better than watching a soft snowfall from inside a warm house. I glued the vintage new Cox head and shoulders together, attached a Champion sticker to the "Bob Rule" can, and gathered some decals for the Cuc body

 

 

[Don Weaver]

You're safe, moving water at 28* won't freeze, especially inside a garage...

[Pablo]

TN tap water and Buffalo Arms soap worked fine

 

 

 

[Phil Smith]

Really nice work, Pablo!

[Martin]

Looking great   glad to see you did not miss a beat.

Hope you are settling in to your new digs.

[Pablo]

Thanks guys     I spent lots of time planning, hiring professionals, and spending money. It worked out OK for me  

[Larry Horner]

Pablo, finish product looks awesome! I know you were hoping for a chassis that had a certain amount of heft ... so what was the final weight?

[Pablo]

Let me assemble it and I'll weigh it

[Pablo]

Black Cuc has sat idle for a few days; during my move the PODS gremlins got into my stash of 1/8 axles. Bought more at my local raceway tonight so I'm back at it. Next step is getting the Cox head/torso painted while I assemble the rest of the car. Noose has accepted the job      .....

 

[Pablo]

Noose works fast. Driver is done and heading to Tennessee soon

 

[Larry Horner]

Looks like James Garner ... or should I say Pete Aron?

[Pablo]

Who knows? I can't keep my eyes off the legs of your Kawasaki avatar driver LOL

 

Time for trimming and pinning. This is one of those "if I screw it up, I shall return to France and you will never see me again" deals. So, yes, I am puckered up. I started with the rear end. Lots of air needs to flow out

 

[Pablo]

On a body like this, I find taping a sheet of sandpaper to a flat block and hand-sanding the bottom edges works well. Scissors never cut straight for me. I started with 400 grit then finished with wet 600. Takes lots of patience but I ended up with straight, smooth edges 

 

[Pablo]

Trimmed, pinned, wheel wells done. Smooth sailing, it just takes me lots of time. Waterslide decals are inside. Window "rope-a-dope" mask at the ready. I pulled my compressor and paints out of the cold garage into the kitchen to defrost overnight  

 

 

Assembly was a piece of cake. Cox Super Flex lead wires and quickchange flag with clips, silver strand braids. Buttoned down with a press nut gizmo - it ain't vintage but I really like the way they work - resulting in very little flag wobble and it sits real low 

 

The Cox 29T meshes sweet with the 7T steel pinion, and she passes the drivetrain test fine. I mean it scares me   Fore/aft balance point is just behind the bite bar, which makes me feel good 

 

[Pablo]

The piece of rope mask method is still the easiest and best method I have found for Cuc windshields. It isn't perfect but it gets the job done.  Noose interior will be arriving soon .......

 

 

[Pablo]

I actually met that dog once, he's really cool. So I'm proud to put his sticker on my Cockroach car 

[Larry Horner]

In my neighborhood, there is a guy with a Ural motorcycle with sidecar. And his dog is always in the sidecar wearing both a helmet and goggles ... it's pretty awesome. I'll take a pic for you next time I see him!