More Willy's progress...

The Willy's is finally on the ground and a roller.  So...we pushed it outside to take a look...

Zoom zoom....

The zoomies are progressing along nicely...

Even though they are are relatively simple, they have been a pain to make look symmetrical. On top of that, they aren't hidden under the fender...

pop...pop.....pppop...ppoppp.pop....

Over the weekend, I became one step closer to fulfilling my lifelong ambition of becoming a Carny...just have to loose some teeth, get some tattoos and become extremely creepy...

Anyone want some popcorn?  Only $.50 a bag...

"Organ Repairman Assistant".....

Several days ago, a friend called me up and asked for some help with some repair work he was doing to a vintage pipe organ in a church in Cuyahoga Falls.  He said that, "E" wasn't working and he had narrowed it down to the bank of primary coils.  I, naturally, had no idea what this meant, but I figured why not and told him I'm in.

Well, much to my amazement, this thing was huge!  However, it was jammed in 3 of the smallest rooms I have ever been in.  I weigh about 180-190ish and I was about 30 pounds overweight for where we had to go to get to this thing.  The second picture shows where we had to crawl and contort around the supply piping to get into the first room.  The fourth picture is taken from the same spot looking in the other direction showing the door leading into the second room.  In this picture, you can see a chair that acted as a step to access the "walkway" that lead over the pipes to a ladder that lead down a story to the third room where we had to work.

Originally built by the Schantz Organ Company and installed in 1946, much of the organ is completely original.  It has 14 ranks, or different sets of pipes, for a total of 854 individual pipes.  Everywhere you looked there were pipes....round ones, square ones, steel ones and wood ones.  I can't imagine how or where you would begin to start tuning.

As for the repair, it took about 15 minutes to complete and my help really wasn't needed.  Regardless, I was glad for the opportunity.

Prototyping...

Here are some pictures of a project that we have been working on for sometime.  I covered it a briefly in a post HERE, but now it's completed.  Together, it is a new style of computer controlled clutch for large industrial equipment like rock crushers and tub grinders.  It's a fairly interesting design as it completely contains all of the hydraulic and control systems so that the customer really is only responsible for hooking up two wires to get it functioning.

Basically, there were two parts that we were responsible for, the bellhousing and endcover.  They bolt together in the middle and house all of the internal components like bearings, shafts and clutch discs.  Ultimately, these parts will be cast out of steel and will involve far less machine work.

This particular unit was for a trade show that happened last weekend

Zoomies!

Yet another project that has come through the door.  The customer was having a hard time finding a set a headers to clear the frame, so we'll just have to make them.  This should be in and out in no time...

You can see the difference from the set the customer supplied and the one's I am making.  The "originals" swooped to far down and interfere with the frame.  The new ones have a much tighter bend and have a straight section right above the frame to get the outlets out away from the firewall and the driver.

Getting close on the Willy's...

We have made some progress over the last week or two on the Willy's.  The front frame is boxed an completely welding.  A new Ididit steering column is in place and well as the Corvette power booster and master cylinder.  The steering is hooked up, radiator is mounted and the engine is bolted in.

I have to give credit to Ididit, they make a really nice product.  I don't know why I spent so many years messing with old factory GM steering columns, trying to force them to work with their goofy mounting and loads of extra wires.  Using this column, I couldn't believe how easy this went.

Those with a keen eye might notice the some what limited clearance between the header and the steering shaft.  We originally set everything up with block-huggers and once the mounts were welded in and finalized, the customer brought these over and wanted to use them.  Oh-well, guess we will just have to "relieve" a small spot on the one tube.  We'll get it to work. 

Next is the brake lines and the front fender brackets.  We'll then be able to bolt the front back together and start finishing the rear.