To me building a hot rod or custom car is all about building with what you’ve got, using some ingenuity, and making things from scratch. Sure you can point and click with your mouse and buy a “hot rod in a box” from online vendors, but I think that those cars lose the soul that makes a hot rod so dang cool. Recently I built a chassis for a 1930 Ford Model A coupe I’m putting together and I needed to make some simple motor mounts to attach the Flathead to the chassis. I know you can buy some, but where’s the fun in that?! I decided to show a simple way to make some mounts from scratch.
Tag: Fabrication
DIY Removable Exhaust Hangers
Adding a new exhaust system to your ride but don’t want to use the cheap parts store hangers and clamps? Lets face it we all know how horrible they are, aside from just looking tacky, they almost never last. The U-bolt clamps are just as bad, you better hope you […]
Fitment Issues with Stamped Patch Panels
In the past finding replacement body panels for a classic or antique car was very challenging, usually they would have to be taken off of a broken down or wrecked car. If you could find one it was great because its sure to fit as long as its not damaged. […]
Sheet Metal Cutting Tips and Tricks
Working in sheet metal can be fun, and it can be frustrating, but if you like old cars eventually there will come a time when you will need to cut, and eventually even weld sheet metal. At first glance it seems as if it would be like working with paper […]
DIY Custom Spoiler End Plates
Car enthusiasts are always looking for a way to have their car stand out from the crowd but buying off the shelf parts will only go so far. There is a good chance that someone else out there wive the same combination of parts. The best way to give your […]
Quick Tip- Dull Sharpie Tips
There’s a few items that most every car guy or gal have in arms reach at all times when working in their shop. For me one of those is Sharpie marker. They work great to write notes on things as I work or to mark out measurements, trace lines for bead rolling, etc, etc. These work great when sharp, but they tend to wear out and get dull quickly. The more dull they get the wider the mark will be that it leaves.
5 Sheet Metal Projects to Get you Work in Aluminum
Aluminum is one of those materials that a lot of beginners and DIY guys and gals in our hobby tend to shy away from, especially sheet aluminum. The reality is that once you have an understanding of how it reacts when shaped and welded, it’s a beautiful material to work with and it can be formed into complex shapes much easier than steel of the same gauge. It also saves weight and can be mirror polished without rusting. Today we’re going to focus on 5 projects you can do yourself to get your feet wet in Aluminum work.
How to Diagnose your Sick Plasma Cutter
What does this mean to you? That small, intense plasma beam is extremely powerful and can cut through metal with ease. This also means it can wear out consumables. We get calls from time to time about customers that have had issues with their plasma cutters. The symptoms are often that the plasma cutter won’t initiate an arc on the metal, or the arc will start and stop erratically while you’re cutting. I decided to put together a few causes for those sort of issues. Hopefully one of them can save you time when diagnosing an issue with your plasma cutter.
Build a chassis/fixture Table on a budget
In a effort to make my life easier I decided I would build a table that I could build and modify chassis on in the future. I only had a few simple rules; it needed to be mobile, I needed to be able to easily level it, and it needed to be AFFORDABLE. If you haven’t checked, the metal required to build a heavy fabrication or chassis table new is big bucks. I’d rather save that cash for my project cars and repurpose some metal from my local scrap metal yard.