My father has worked in manufacturing his entire life.. Ironically the majority of his employers manufactured products made from stainless steel. So his transition to his own "fabrication" shop has been by no mistake.
Given my fathers predisposition to stainless steel, and the stainless steel steering column I purchased for the Recycled 40 Ford woodie, I felt it only appropriate to make a shifter from the same material.
Having pilfered a piece of 3/4 stainless from Dads shop I set the tapering fixture on my lathe.. and went at it.
The result. A perfectly tapered stainless shifter handle, unlike any other in the world. For an additional touch of class I added a stainless knob that started its life as a drawer pull.
SHIFT!
the shifting mechanism.. was another "recycled" part.. as I had previously purchased a cable shifter from IDIDIT
with some minor modification. I now shift my auto trans.. via the column..
Friday, November 7, 2008
SHIFTING into HIGH Gear!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Its sometimes called networking.
However, in this case.. I'd still call it luck..
In order to find stuff.. you need to "spread the word" that your looking. The advent of a multitude of online forums has helped somewhat, but when you really need a part.. your need to self advocate..
TO EVERYONE..
Despite the number of visitors to this site.. Apparently, not everyone knew that about this project..
Most did, but some of the MORE important local Rodders DID NOT.
BY chance, at Hershey this year, I mentioned to my friend "Rod" that I was working on the Recycled 40 Ford Woodie..
He asked what I needed, and as it turned out, he had it..
Most people wouldn't be so excited..
But as it turns out.. this was EXACTLY what I needed.. and was only 20 miles from home..
Its interesting, that Rod KNOWS everyone, he's connected.. and he's helping me locate other parts as well.
I am very fortunate..
