Smallfoot's AA

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Torchie

Recycling at it's best [cl [cl [cl

Hey thanks guys! Here's how my driver's side window frame is shaping up and my patina is kicking in:

Some time ago I posted a pic of door parts I cut out including this handle. The outer skins on the model a handle are stainless and when I saw what the original deal was, I figured I could remake the insides, tap the stainless shells fairly straight and figure them in on my build. Here are the pieces after straightening and making the inside pieces. I used 1/8" steel bar for the inner handle, a 3/8" bolt welded to it for the axis. Cut a flat into the end of the 3/8" bolt and fashioned a lever to that on the inside with jam nuts and washers. The bear claw is attached with a 3" rod using dual double "L"s. Sorry no pix of the inside lever yet. I put the handle around back. I made 2 pieces of everything required because I'll have to do it all again on the passenger side. I think the handles came out good and man are they slick. Door operates great. I still need my weatherstripping in there but everything is nice a solid

It hadn't occurred to me before that your latch was on the cab, and the striker bolt was on the door. That's a slick door handle setup.

Seems to work pretty good. After seeing how the lever worked out, I don't really need anything extra for inside handles. The insides just clear the edge of my seat and offer about 4" in length on the lever that you can get a finger on and trip the latch.

Looking great smallfoot.
Excellent job on the handles.[cl [cl [cl
Torchie.

Now that's cool.

If a fella made that door handle look like something else, he wouldn't even need a lock. Not that I saw one, but...

Anyway, the whole concept is very cool!

That door handle idea is over the top cool SF!.

Thanks to all for the comments! Always appreciated...
I had thought about disquising the handles back there and considered something like rings that would look like tie downs. Actually thought I might have to go that route because for a week, I couldn't find my damaged parts. I'm one of those guys that keeps most of the drops around until the project is complete. I got ready to do the handle and couldn't find em....probably doesn't have anything to do with my lack of organization...
Today, all I did was back step. Last night after pool, everybody wanted to go down to the barn to check out the hotrod progress. When I cranked it up, one of em saw a leak start under the tranny. I checked it out and found pretty quickly that I had busted the filler tube o-ring. Went and got some today and played and played until I was throwing stuff across the room...meanwhile, back at the ranch, I'm just cooling off! Had this trouble before, you get what size worked good before and this time you can't make it fit???!?!?!? I've been reading and seems that o-rings seem to vary from maker to maker in size even though supposedly the same...I think I got a fat one. Bought 2 to have a spare. Broke the first one trying....jeez! Sorry for the rant but pressure had to go somewhere!

O-ring composition is a big deal too, as I am sure you know. Not all are created equal. Different chemicals need different O-rings. Hopefully the guy at the parts place sold you the ones you needed. They are supposed to know about that stuff.

Hope you leak stays away.

I broke the one that was in it with a stupid move. Tried to bend the tube with it in place. I knew right away when the leak started what I did to create it. The one that fit last time was 3/4x9x16x3/32...think I got it at lowes. Went to Ace and got the same size according to packaging and they didn't fit. Anyhoo, I ordered a flex filler tube this am to change things up. I just simply got things too tight around that area where the filler tube was. I had a rattle and found the tube banging on the edge of the firewall/hump....short cuts are not generally good and I know that.

smallfoot said:

I broke the one that was in it with a stupid move. Tried to bend the tube with it in place. I knew right away when the leak started what I did to create it. The one that fit last time was 3/4x9x16x3/32...think I got it at lowes. Went to Ace and got the same size according to packaging and they didn't fit. Anyhoo, I ordered a flex filler tube this am to change things up. I just simply got things too tight around that area where the filler tube was. I had a rattle and found the tube banging on the edge of the firewall/hump....short cuts are not generally good and I know that.

Click to expand...

Good to see you have a sense of humor about it, anyway. Sometimes we get away with it, sometimes we don't. No sense in being to hard on ourselves when we don't.

Smallfoot, one of my sayings is "Don't be so afraid of making a mistake that you don't do anything at all; you will miss most of the opportunities coming your way if you don't try."
I've been where you are a few times and it's annoying, but how many of our 'outside the box' fixes or shortcuts worked out? Probably quite a few, right, so you are looking at a 10% failure rate and hanging your head, when you should be looking at the 90% success rate of the other fixes and popping your shirt buttons. Have a good day.

It's nice to see someone else make a mistake for a change

Heheh! Ya'll gotta know I've got a sense of humor...did you see what I started with?
MM, I got taught very early by my Pop and some good friends that we're only bounded by imagination. If you can see it in your head, you can find a way to make it. I guess I'm lucky but you're right, alot of things I make, turned out great.

It was something that caught my eye at shutdown time in the barn, reached in there with a prybar and moved the tube over. That caused the length of the tube to draw itself up about 1/4" and I could see the end of the o-ring sticking out. I spent about 2 hours fitting and re-fitting, bend here, reposition, fail , do over...I simply didn't leave myself room to make the twists to bring the tube out in the shape it needed to be in. Right now, I'm headed down to hook up a temp rig until I get my B/M flex tube.

Got both sides done on latches, hinges, and door tops. This is how my handles turned out back there:

And my homemade hinges from 2x4 frame steel. They look a little funky and my body lines are slightly off both sides but the doors work great...next step will be setting up the windows.

Well,I said it before,I"ll say it again ,Looking good!