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1950 Crosley Farm O Road Restoration and more


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Yep, I think I can see the two posts sticking out that drives the hydraulic pump. There is a spacer that goes over the pins and then matching pins on the pump go into the spacer on the opposite side. The bracket that holds the pump shows in the engine picture.

 

I plan to keep my hydraulics, not sure what I will do in the future. If I get something to hang off the lift hitch I may want to install it. I was warned that the hydraulic pump will not hold up to road speed driving for very long and I do like to get out on the road from time to time.

 

PS: I did sell off my military tires a few years ago at the Nationals because I didn't feel safe driving at speed with them. I was going to have two sets of rims and tires and switch back and forth but decided it wasn't worth the bother. The military tires were an option, there are plenty of factory photos showing standard car tires for the 5 primary positions and tractor treads on the duals.

Edited by Jim Bollman
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Been spending time on all the small parts.  Running them over the wire wheel to remove the big stuff.  66 years of crud built upon them, stuff that the sand blaster won't touch.  Some now will be sand blasted, some cleaned and painted or powder coated.

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Been spending time on my 1990 Thunderbird that I just got out of storage, my jet skis and other things.  Not enjoying them, working on them.  Last fall my jet ski broke the intake grate and I replaced it only to find it still wasn't running right, come to find out a week or two ago that it was missing the intake shoe, I got a used one off craigslist and put it in, now it should run right again. 

I bought a 1990 Thunderbird LX brand new in 1990 and it has been in storage since 2000, has less than 24,000 miles on it and I decided now that it is an antique, time to get it out.   Also, the kids are gone, so they won't be messing up the interior. :D  Had to replace the fuel pump to get it to run, and the radio is not working.  Has optional external CD player that works part time too. I have read that those radios were junk, so I need to find one that is set up for the external CD player. 

I also had to get the 1950 Crosley tow truck running as we (Kiski Valley Region) are using it in the photo shoot for our car cruise on August 17th.  Wasn't hard to get it running but had to move a few cars to get it out.  Needs cleaned up some, but it is now ready.

On the FOR, I worked on it some today, welding in some of the large hole in the rear of the frame.  At some point in time someone torched  the hole to make it bigger.  I laid a bead of weld around it and then ground it smooth

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Edited by dalef62 (see edit history)
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Last bits of welding on the frame.  The steering box had broke a piece from the mount and needed to be welded.  A piece of metal was found and cut to fit the broken area and welded in and ground smooth. 

Also more filling and sanding on the frame.

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Another great project!!

 

I couldn't help but notice the leaf spring square u-bolts.  Could I ask the dimensions for those?  I've been searching high and low for some for my 1913 Metz and have had no luck.  Those look to be about the right size.  Maybe you have a source for those and some in the same style in various sizes?

 

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13 hours ago, Luv2Wrench said:

Another great project!!

 

I couldn't help but notice the leaf spring square u-bolts.  Could I ask the dimensions for those?  I've been searching high and low for some for my 1913 Metz and have had no luck.  Those look to be about the right size.  Maybe you have a source for those and some in the same style in various sizes?

 

Luv2Wrench, looks like something a blacksmith could easily make out of a good grade (5 or 8) of rod, threaded the proper amount on each end. In fact, the pic of the one that dale posted looks kind of like that is how it was made.

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5 hours ago, dalef62 said:

Jeff,

The square u-bolts are available from various Crosley suppliers.  The size is 1 1/2" between bolt and 2 3/4" bolt length, 3/8" diameter. 

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YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES and YES!!!!!!!!!!

That is a 100% perfect match!!!!

 

While I could certainly have made that, I've got a lot of things to make already.  I certainly wasn't looking forward to making 8 of those....

 

Thanks for the quick reply.

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Having a wheelie shocking time on the FOR today. :D  Powder coating the backs of the 6 wheels and the shock brackets black.  The wheels were originally black and Crosley painted the fronts white.  You can see three of the four shock brackets in the oven baking at 400 degrees.

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The Kiski Valley Region had their car cruise on Saturday, not a good day as rain moved in just about the time the cruise was to start.  It was hot and humid making it feel like 104 degrees.  After two showers the rains cleared and we did get 25 vehicles out and had a good time.  We used my 1950 Crosley tow truck for the backdrop and have the entrant pull up behind the tow truck to get their picture taken.  At the end of the cruise we present the owner with their picture in a custom wooden dash plaque.

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Edited by dalef62 (see edit history)
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Back to work on the FOR.  The weather is beautiful, lower temperatures and low humidity, great for working.  Powder coating wheels and suspension parts.  The tie rods and center link were done with cast iron powder coat, the links and U-bolts were done with bare steel powder coat, shock mounts were done with gloss black powder but they will need filled and painted as there are too many pits, and the wheels with gloss white.  Now I need to find some tires!  I will only use five of these wheels for the FOR, one will be a spare wheel.  I still have to find two wheels to use the outer rim for the bud wheels, which I have the centers, will have to look in my stash for ones with bad center hubs.  Total wheels on a FOR is 7, 4 wheels on the ground, 2 bud wheels and one spare. 

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2 hours ago, dalef62 said:

It limits the size of parts I can powder coat, but Crosleys are small.

:D

 

Curious Dale, have you ever tried powder coating a piece than beating the heck out of it with a hammer to see how the coating holds up? I've always heard that powder coating is extremely durable and impact resistant, but don't have any experience with it.

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Paul,

When I first got my powder coating kit I wanted to try it out and I coated two different things, one was my hammer for the tire weights and the other was the hooks that I use on my trailer to hold the straps at the front.  I have abused the hammer, using it like it was to be used in a tire shop, tossing it to the ground when I am done with it.  It has it's nicks and scratches but it still has it's purple color and shine in places.  The hooks on the trailer have stayed on the trailer and it sits outside all year long and they still look great.     

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I had some re-built wire wheels powder coated. It was a mistake. The wheels work and move as they turn. They wore the coating at the rim and sometimes in the hub. Rust appeared. Also under the tyre edges on the inside the powder looked OK but in fact the rim was rusting away quite happily underneath.

 

The trouble with powder is that if there is a nick or chip or even some porosity, you can't see the rust under it. When I had the wheels redone recently, I put a zinc undercoat on first. That should passivate any areas exposed by a chip in the coating.

 

So are paint solids applied this way and cooked any stronger and more resistant to chipping than POR15 (moisture cured paint solids) or cyanoacrylates or epoxy, for example?

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The  media blasting, powder coating and filling and sanding continue on the FOR.  The front end backing plates have now been media blasted and powder coated gloss black and the frame continues to get filler and sanding.  It is close to another coat of primer and then it can be flipped over and primed on the top side.  Hopefully when the frame is painted gloss black the chassis parts will be ready to install back on the frame.  That is my plan anyhow and I am sticking to it.:P 

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John,

Thanks for the ad.  A nice looking FOR, but the auction company doesn't know anything about it.  Says it has a Cobra (copper brazed tin block) engine in it and it is clearly a cast iron block, along with a few other errors in the ad.  That was the one at the Bruce Weiner Micro Car Museum.

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Not much to report today except cleaned all the holes through the frame with a drill to remove the filler and I sprayed a coat of primer/filler over the bottom side of the frame.  Looks pretty good.  Will now flip it over and do the same to the top side. 

Have a great Labor Day weekend and stay safe...

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Edited by dalef62 (see edit history)
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  • 2 weeks later...

Dale, I have been researching powder coating, to see if I want to jump into that for my restorations. Question for you.......in doing some reading online, I found that there are fillers made to use with powder coating (for example, here is a discussion with several products suggested: http://www.finishing.com/1600-1799/1605.shtml , and here is a spec sheet from another product: http://www.lab-metal.net/In-The-News/ID/8/Epoxy-Putty-for-Powder-Coating ). Have you tried using a filler, and if so, what kind and how did it work?

Edited by r1lark
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I had some help the other day and got the frame flipped over, not that the frame is that heavy, so now it is right side up and the work continues.  The top side is not as pitted as the under side and most parts will not show once the body is installed but it will be primed and sanded the same.

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Heading to Hershey Monday afternoon, should be in our spaces by noon Tuesday.  GBC 7-8   Stop and say hello and rest your feet.  Will have a few Crosley items for sale, along with a lot of other miscellaneous stuff,  also a 1992 Chrysler Lebaron convertible.

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John,

That is a fellow Crosley club members FOR.  It is a very nice FOR that he just got a while ago.  I saw your wife, Alice sitting behind the McLaughlin Buick early in the morning, but didn't see you.  She was busy so I continued walking, had to get back to the trailer to pack up and leave.

Was a great show week!!!! 

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Dale, not sure if you subscribe to Collectible Automobile, but they have a nice Crosley article in the latest issue. It's on the prewar Crosleys, and I was surprised at the variety of special body styles. This is the first article I've read that goes into some detail regarding the prewar cars - most articles mention them briefly and move right to the postwar cars with the 4 cylinder engine.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Paul, No I didn't see the article, but I did hear about it. 

Well, back from Hershey, all the unsold parts put away (I did sell the Weaver tire balancer that I had been advertising) and most of the summer toys (13 antique and classic cars and 5 jet skis)winterized and put away.  I have to put a new used engine in the wife's jet ski this winter because the old engine blew this fall.  Not many salvageable parts left after the catastrophic failure so I purchased a good used running engine from California and it is on it's way.

Also did a lot of cleanup in the shop and moved things around so I have more space in the work area.  I hope to bring my brother-in-laws FOR out and store it for the winter so I can use it for examples of how some things were done and also to copy a few things that I don't have, like the battery box, hood and emergency brake assembly.

So now I can get back to the FOR.  Today I sprayed a coat of primer on the top side of the frame and will wait for it to dry to add some filler and start sanding.  Doesn't look too bad and won't take too long to get it ready for paint. 

For anyone that judges, please take note of the lovely welds.  I have shown them before but I can't get over how nasty they are.  Maybe I welded them in a past life?   

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Edited by dalef62 (see edit history)
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The filling and sanding continues on the frame.  Hopefully after this batch the filling will be complete and it will be just sanding and primer.  It is really hard trying to preserve the sloppy welds and fill all the pitting at the same time. 

 

 

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Edited by dalef62 (see edit history)
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  • 1 month later...

No work to report on the FOR as I have had paying jobs taking up the space for the FOR frame, It is now leaning up against the wall.  I hope to get it back on the horses right after Christmas and get it primered again. 

Just wanted to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and remember the reason for the season.  Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

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