We believe the only way to truly understand your machine (car, boat, motorcycle, go-kart) is to work on it yourself. The bond between man and machine can only be built through emotion. The pain, the joy, and the craftsmanship that goes into it are what define that bond that we […]
Channeling an early 30’s car looks the cat’s meow but it creates ALL sorts of problems with actually making the car drivable inside. Every step of this project I’ve had to take a step back and figure out how to fit everything into the car with the decreased room inside. Because the transmission and driveshaft tunnel protrude up above the floor now I couldn’t just put the seat up on top of the tunnel or I’d have my head up out of the roof. I needed to get the driver and passengers butts as close to the floor as possible.
In the past self etching primer was the go-to coating to apply over bare metal on a car. Metal required little prep work to apply it, it flashes/drys quickly, and it came in 1K Aerosol cans for small jobs. In the past 5-10 years you’ve probably been hearing more people talk about Epoxy Primers and their use as opposed to self etching primer. We decided to give you some insight on where and when epoxy primer works best.
At times rust repair can be ultra simple; cut the old rust out, cut a square of fresh metal and weld it in. But those repairs aren’t usually as frequent as we’d like. Rust seems to like to creep into a curved area or into a body line that takes more care to repair. I recently decided to tackle a large rusty area of the rear portion of the floor on Project Pile House.
After you’ve been building and modifying cars for a while there’s some things that you become pretty particular about. It could be just how you like something to look or function, or just an extra step you take to save yourself headaches in the future. One of mine is an exhaust system that’s leak-free and sounds good. I’ve had bad luck over the years of header unions leaking over time. It seems either they crack at the welds or they just fit poorly and leave much to be desired when fitting the rest of the exhaust.
There’s a misconception among enthusiasts and even some professional body guys about welding sheet metal. The fact is that no matter how good or careful you are, metal WILL warp when you’re welding on sheet metal.
Possibly the biggest undertaking yet on this truck was making the new custom bed for Project Pilehouse. To quote Ron Covell in a metal shaping class at Eastwood headquarters; “I think those bedsides were the single largest pieces I’ve ever seen bead rolled in my life!”. The bed was definitely […]
In this part of the country (Mid-Atlantic) cars, wheels especially take a beating during the winter. Slippery roads, corrosive salt on the roads, and potholes that could swallow a small child wreak havoc on your automobile. The cost to replace a damaged aluminum wheel can be VERY costly. In the classic car world wheels may be obsolete and impossible to replace if you have a damaged wheel. I decided to tackle repairing a badly damaged aluminum aftermarket wheel I have had stashed away for years.
If you want to get better at anything you need to practice and push yourself to try things a little out of your skill/comfort level. Metal Shaping is 100% one of those things that you need to practice and work to get better at, even if it means wrecking a […]
