1913 Metz 22 - Our first project

[JV Puleo]

I have a  feeling small lathes, no matter how good they are, are really only suited to very small parts. Making a bushing or a special bolt...probably up to 1" or 1-1/2" diameter. There should be overlap with the big lathe but I've coveted a bench-top for very small parts. I just haven't found one of really good quality that I can afford and now don't really have room for it. I had an Atlas/Craftsman years ago and it was, to my mind, a piece of junk though I sold it for more than I paid for it. The only thing it successfully turned was plastic.

[dibarlaw]

Joe:

 I still feel bad about the RIVET we missed. It is probably sitting in someone elses garage /shed collecting dust and rust.

[JV Puleo]

I agree. That is the one small lathe I'd like to have. A curious story...I was talking about woodworking with a cousin of mine and he mentioned a good friend who'd taught him a lot. Just in passing, he mentioned that his friend's father had owned the RIVET company...Larry wanted to know if I'd ever heard of it.

[Luv2Wrench]

I have tube and parts ready to be brazed together.  I need to clean everything again and mount the base on the rotary table.  I'm hoping to get to that this weekend.   Since this is the first time I've done anything like this I'm going to find something similar to braze into the part of the tube I cut off as a practice run.

 

As per little lathes, I did manage to find a 9" Dalton lathe back when I got the Van Norman mill and 2 Monarch lathes.  Super neat little guy.  I'll probably restore it over Christmas Holidays.

 

 

[Luv2Wrench]

Small fabrication task today that was a special pleasure as everything I needed was in its place in the machine shop.  The item to be fabricated hold the chain guards on.  There is a left and a right.  I had the left and the right is just mirrored so it was easy to make.   It felt really good to have everything I needed, 4140 "in stock", correct end mills, 3/8-24 die, etc, etc.  I also brazed it together and that went pretty darn good.  I used the rosebud and it was super overkill for the small part.  I think the rosebud will be good for the hub/tube but it might be too much.  I have a setup with the DOM tube and a wheel mount (just like the bottom of the assembly in the above post) and I will braze those together tomorrow as a test.  

 

I also took a bit of time to clean up the rotary table I bought some time ago.  It is in great shape but suffered from some peeling paint and surface grime/rust.  Can't have that on my nice clean mills!

 

 

 

[Luv2Wrench]

Great day in the shop!  Got the horizontal/vertical index/rotary table freshened up.  I brazed up the test piece and it went pretty smoothly.  One thing I learned from it was that it needed to be isolated a bit from the rotary table bed because that was acting as a big heat sink.  I elevated the real piece and it was easier to get heat in the end pieces.  I got braze everywhere but I could clearly see it wicking up so I'm happy with the job.  After things cooled off I put the test piece in a vise and hit it with my big hammer as hard as I could.  I wasn't able to separate the two pieces and that test piece had less contact area (for the braze) than the real piece.  That was certainly a good feeling.

I have a few bits and pieces that need epoxy primer so I'll get that done first of the week.  I should be able to start on the wheels next week!

 

[JV Puleo]

I didn't think about a heat sink but you are right. I bet something like one of those mats used to protect a counter from hot pans would be good.

[Luv2Wrench]

The "rolling chassis" plan has changed a bit.  

 

I spent a couple day refreshing the media blast cabinet.  If you remember I made a huge double window blast cabinet out of plywood about 10 or so years ago.  It has gotten a fair amount of use and some of the plywood is suffering.  I was planning on cutting out sheet metal and lining the inside but a quick look at how much sheet metal is with shipping changed my mind on that.  I ended up getting plexiglass to cover the inside and I think that'll last longer than I'll be around to use it. I replaced the gloves and all 500lbs of the media as it had gotten a bit dirty over the years.  In the end the cabinet was back to "brand new".

 

With that completed I spent two days media blasting the 30x3 clincher rims.  I have 6 of them and I wanted to get them perfectly clean in order to pick which 4 I wanted to use.  Unfortunately only 2 of them were good enough to use.  As such I decided I would buy 4 new rims and have Stutzman build me new wheels.  I called Noah, left a message and he called me back.  He expressed surprise in that I was sending him 4 new 30x3 clincher rims as he thought they were now impossible to find.  I called Lang's and yep, they didn't have them.  Called Coker, nope, don't have them.  Same for Universal and everywhere I could think.  Fortunately a person at Lang's gave me a couple of numbers to call and I was able to find 4 and those will be delivered to Stutzman.

 

The short version of that is that I'm getting brand new wheels (at a cost of about $550 a wheel) but it will take awhile to get them.  As such there will be no rolling chassis this month.  I've decided to work on the drive train a bit.  I sent the friction pulley off to Paper Pulleys to get new paper on it.  I've started working on rebuilding the drive plate that is on the end of the propeller shaft.  Here are a couple of pictures of what I started with.

 

 

I was able to get everything taken apart a few years ago.  Some of the metal is usable but most will need to be fabricated.   One of the neat things about how the world has changed since I got the Metz project 12 years ago is that back then it would be difficult and expensive to have custom plates made.  Water jets were still a bit rare and expensive.  Now we have places like SendCutSend where you can send a DXF file to them and they send back the metal plates.  Amazing stuff.  I'm working on getting the CAD drawing done for that and will send it up soon.

 

I'll be using the lathe and mill to fabricate a few parts for the bearings.  I already have the wood and will cut that cut pretty soon.  For the aluminum disc, McMaster-Carr has such a disc in stock though the minimum thickness is 1/2".  I believe the Metz originally was 1/4".  Hopefully that doesn't cause an issue.

 

 

Edited September 25, 2023 by Luv2Wrench (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

I think that making the disc thicker will not be a problem and the added stiffness may be an improvement given how the "transmission" works. In any case, if making it thicker causes you to have to modify or make some parts you're certainly equipped to do it!

[Luv2Wrench]

Made some progress on the friction disc.  There's still a lot of work to do but it is fun to see it coming together.

 

[Luv2Wrench]

Yesterday I received the friction wheel back from Paper Pulleys as well as a 3/8" thick, 18" diameter cast aluminum disc from McMaster-Carr.  Pretty exciting to see this area of the car start to come together.  I'll will, of course, replace the nuts and bolts on the friction wheel before installing in the car.

[Lahti35]

On 9/18/2023 at 10:04 PM, Luv2Wrench said:

I spent a couple day refreshing the media blast cabinet.  If you remember I made a huge double window blast cabinet out of plywood about 10 or so years ago.  It has gotten a fair amount of use and some of the plywood is suffering.  I was planning on cutting out sheet metal and lining the inside but a quick look at how much sheet metal is with shipping changed my mind on that.  I ended up getting plexiglass to cover the inside and I think that'll last longer than I'll be around to use it. I replaced the gloves and all 500lbs of the media as it had gotten a bit dirty over the years.  In the end the cabinet was back to "brand new".

 

I just did some maintenance on my blasting cabinet also. Seems like it's always one of those "when I have time" things, only in my case I didn't have time for 2 years... My rubber gloves started rotting and when I cleaned out the dust collector it was almost full to the top. So much for "do not fill above this line", lol!

 

Always nice to have fresh media, I don't realize the diminished functionality until I dump new media in. 

 

Looking great, keep up the good work!

[Mike "Hubbie" Stearns]

IMO, if the bolts and nuts are not visible when the friction disk is installed, I would leave them as is. If visible,I would change them Mike. 

[Luv2Wrench]

Enjoyable Friday night in the machine shop.  I chucked up a 3.75" bar of 4140 and turned a bearing end cap to replace the original that was cracked.  Not a big deal but very satisfying to be able to make the parts that I need. 

 

I've decided to go to Hershey this year so maybe I'll see some of you up there wandering about.

 

Edited October 30, 2023 by Luv2Wrench (see edit history)

[Luv2Wrench]

Got back from Hershey late Thursday.  I walked the entire swap meet and managed to find a few Metz specific items that I needed.  I found a wonderful horn tube which is just awesome.  It is something I could fabricate but I always prefer to have original parts.  I also managed to find 3 hubcaps in the $5 pile at a booth.  I already have 6 of them but really only 2 are great.  All 3 of the ones I found at Hershey are in great condition so I now have a nice set.  I also picked up a carbide generator as well as a speedometer swivel and gear.  I wasn't 100% on including those on the car but I managed to find really good parts at reasonable prices.   I also met Mel Draper there and got some top irons from him.  I have the bows for the top so all that is left is to learn how to sew.   Speaking of which I stopped by @trimacar's space and he said he'd offer some advice when I get around to the top.

 

Back in the machine shop this weekend to fabricate the other bearing cone for the bearing assembly that rides on the propeller shaft.  This one was a little bit trickier as it is more of a thrust bearing.  Basically I had to make it twice to get the right fit.  It also has a pin in the inside that keeps the bearing cone turning with the shaft.  To drill the hole on the inside of the part you either need an angle vise or a mill with a rotating head.  The Van Norman 12 does have such a head and it was easy to put the part in the vise and rotate the head such that the drill cleared the top of the part.  It was funny to use that capability because when I bought the mill I thought I'd probably never use that feature and I've used it less than 6 months after I restored it.  Since a picture is worth a thousand words... attached below is a picture of me setting up the old part on the mill to get the angle and position correct.

 

 

Here's the old part (with the split), the new part, the dust ring and the bearing assembly.  The dust ring slides over the cone and sits on the shoulder.  The bearing assembly is now complete! 

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2023 by Luv2Wrench (see edit history)

[Luv2Wrench]

I forgot to mention, I bought a *bunch* of machine tooling and machinist tools.   I got a great 81 piece gauge set.  I found Starrett  0"-1", 3"-4" and 5"-6" micrometers, depth micrometer as well as an inside micrometer set.   Picked up some NOS large drills and a big box of 1"+ reamers.   I got various end mills including a sweet 3/4" 4 flute carbide end mill.  Another nice find was a set of taps with the corresponding drills.  Very cool unit as each tap has the needed drill right beside it.  Embarrassingly... that's just part of what I got.  I went to a car show and bought machine tooling.  

[Luv2Wrench]

I'm still here.... just spending a good bit more time in the machine shop than on the car.   I really need a 4-jaw chuck on my lathe.  It solves so many problems and allows me to make more complex parts.  I'd also like an ER-40 collet chuck on the lathe.  Joe kindly send me a slug of cast iron to make a back plate.  I've made a couple of spindle nose mock-ups, including one that is reasonable close.  I'm on attempt number 3 to make an ER-40 collet chuck.  This latest attempt went really good up to the point I tried to use a 50x1.5mm die to put the threads on.  My lathe does cut metric threads so my plan was to use a die.  I spent a fair amount of money on the die and it worked pretty good but unfortunately it is all but impossible to hold it dead square... and that really matters since it is pushing the collet in.  As such... now I'm waiting on a 64 tooth gear that may or may not fit my lathe and may or may not adjust the lead screw enough such that an 8TPI selection will end up cutting a 17TPI thread... which may or may not be close enough for the import ER-40 nut to thread on to.  If it works, then great!  I'll have an ER-40 collet chuck for my lathe.  I can then make one for my milling machine. 

 

While the ER-40 collet chuck might not be a success, I am getting a lot of experience making parts, specifically internal threads that fit my lathe's spindle.  As such... I should be ready to make the back plate for the 4-jaw once my collet chuck project is finished.

 

I'm also spending a lot of time getting the machine shop better organized.  I collected so much stuff over the years.  Much of which I didn't even really know what it was.  If something looked like it belonged in a machine shop and the price was reasonable... I bought it.  Years later I now have a better understanding of what is what and I'm going through everything.  The good news is that I did a great job of getting stuff!  The bad news is that storage has become an issue (things were stuffed in boxes before).  To solve that I picked up this great set of drawers off FB marketplace.  I restored them (before and after below) including building 3 of the small drawers.  I created a drawing for the card frame drawer pulls and had SendCutSend cut them out for me.  In the next week or so I'll make a die to create the indent and then turn the inside down for the "pull" part.   

 

 

[JV Puleo]

Jeff, what is the tpi of your lead screw? I seem to remember you have a quick change gearbox. Some time ago I calculated how cut metric threads based on the gearbox I have. It does need a transposing gear (or two) but I think I've got the numbers down. I've attached a screen shot.

[Luv2Wrench]

The Hendey has a stud gear, idler and a gear on the input to the quick change gear box.   The arrangement of those three gears allows 3 sets of 12 different TPI to be cut.  To switch between sets the stud or input gear needs to be a factor of four from the other.  For my lathe that is 120 teeth on the stud and 30 on the gearbox, 30 on the stud and 30 on the gearbox and finally 30 on the stud and 120 on the gearbox.  Those three gears are on the same plane so a 127/120 or 127/100 transposing gear doesn't work.

 

I have two plans for metric threads.  First is the specific case for 1.5mm that I need immediately.  I have a 64 tooth gear coming that I will pair with the 30 tooth gear.  That gives me a 2.1333 reduction of the lead screw.  If I cut an 8 TPI thread that will turn out to be 17.067 TPI which will be 1.49mm.  That's not 1.5mm and I don't know if it is close enough for the ER-40 nut to fit.  If it is then I'm done.  If not I'll find another solution.  If the approximation is OK, then I can probably get .75mm 1.0mm 1.5mm and 2.0mm from then 16, 12, 8 and 6TPI settings.

 

Plan 2 is a more generic solution using an approximation of the 127/X gearing.  When the stud and gearbox input gears are the same size then the QCGB provides 12 different TPI, ranging from 20 to 6.  If I switch the stud and gearbox gears out for 37 and 47 teeth gears then I get a ratio of 1.27027 which is similar to the 127/100 gear solution.  As you noted above, 20,16,10 and 8 TPI would yield 1.0mm, 1.25mm, 2.0mm and 2.5mm.  Should both of these gear combinations work then I'll have pretty good metric threading capability. 

 

I was able to make some good progress towards getting the friction disc completed.  I got all the holes drilled in the spokes for the center section.  I was able to use the ER-40 collet chuck I made to chuck up some Grade 8 3/8" bolts and modify the heads such that they fit the base plate.  The base plate has a D shaped hole for the bolts such that they are held in place.  I turned then Grade 8 bolts down, faced them a bit to get the right height and then transferred to the milling machine to mill off a flat to give the proper D shape.  This worked perfectly and I was able to knock out all 12 pretty quick.  That was a really great feeling!  I was a bit surprised with the ER-40 collet chuck because once tightened down there was minimal runout on the bolt even with the nut wobbling around enough to make one seasick!   I guess it is the taper that is holding the collet and thus the bolt so it makes sense but boy does it look bad!  Once the change gear comes I'll part off the threads, thread a new section and recut the internal taper for the collet.   Glad I made the chuck a little long.

 

All in all it was a great week and weekend in the shop.  The machine shop in particular is continuing to gain capability as I get everything squared away and learn how to do things.  Making things is a great feeling!

 

 

[JV Puleo]

I have the same problem. The reason I haven't done it is that the project that would have needed metric threading didn't work out and to set the lathe up I have to make at least 4 gears, including a special extended drive gear for the quick change box to engage the compound gear. I'll make them out of aluminum since extreme strength isn't needed for threading but it's still an expense and probably a weeks work...or more. In the end I decided to put the calculations aside and do it if I need to some time in the future.

Edited October 31, 2023 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[Luv2Wrench]

I'm back!  A little over 2 weeks ago I had double cataract surgery that was resounding success.  My vision is phenomenal now!   It wasn't that bad before but right eye was degrading at a far faster pace than the left eye which caused some issues.  My insurance thought it would be best to do both and at the same time.  I couldn't be any happier.   Right after the surgery I went out to Arizona to visit my daughter.  We went camping up at the Grand Canyon.  That was the first time I've seen it in person and it was fabulous!   We're planning on going back next year and get a back country permit so we can camp at the bottom.  Can't wait!

 

Per the metric threads, I ended up 3D printing 34 and 24 tooth gears.  This combination allows me to turn 1.00, 1.50, 2.00 and 3.00mm threads.   It took a couple of test prints to get it correct because of the shrinkage.  The gears performed fantastic.  Next week I'm going to turn 47 and 37 tooth gears which will allow me to turn 1.00, 1.25, 2.00 and 2.50mm threads.  Since I'm printing them with 100% infill it takes a long time.  The 34 tooth gear took a little over 7 hours.   The 47 tooth gear will be nearly double that at just over 13 hours. 

 

With the metric gears in hand, I parted off the bad threads on the end of the ER-40 collet chuck and turned a new section down to 50mm.  From there it was easy to single point the threads and get the nut turning on nice and smooth.  I had to recut the taper but that wasn't a big deal.   I measured about 5 tenths runout which isn't terrible.  I think the collet chuck is just about perfect but I did buy cheap ER-40 collets so there's likely some runout in those.  Even with that... it is night and day better than what I had before.  Anything under a thousandths is good so I'm thrilled.  I tried out a new cold blue system that I plan to use on the Metz.  It is easy to use and I think it leaves a great finish.

 

Riding the momentum of getting the ER-40 collet chuck completed I started on the back plate for the 4-jaw.  I was able to get it bored out and threaded pretty quickly.  Once mounted on the spindle I got it faced and squared up.  It is about 7" in diameter right now and the register on my 4 jaw is 5" so I'll need to turn off about 2" tomorrow.  Shouldn't be a big deal as the cast iron turns like butter.   After working with the 4140 for the last few weeks the cast iron feels like wax in comparison. 

 

[JV Puleo]

I like working cast iron though it seems that most don't, perhaps because there is so much free carbon that your hands get really dirty. Deep cuts and slow speeds make it almost relaxing to work with.

 

What was the cold blue system yhou used? That looks to be a very nice finish.

Edited November 19, 2023 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[Luv2Wrench]

Electrochemical Products Inc (EPI)

EK-SR148E  E-Kleen (cleaner/degreaser)

EP-258  E-Prep (activator)

IB-333 Insta Black

ET-503 E-TEC (sealer)

 

The cleaner and activator are optional but I thought the activator did 50% of the work so I'll continue using it.  The cleaner was probably good and given the results I will continue using it again.  The sealer I think is very nice.  Not too glossy but definitely so protection there so it shouldn't be rusting any time soon (thinking more about car parts as obviously my tooling is going to be rusting).

Credit to this video on YouTube (have your speakers turned down when you visit) for the solid demonstration of the product.  

 

 

[Luv2Wrench]

4-jaw chuck is mounted and works great.  Many thanks to @JV Puleo for his help getting the right cast iron blank.

 

It is a bit big at just under 12"  in diameter but given that my lathe has plenty of power it'll be fine.  It is great to get this capability added and comes just in time as I will soon need this to turn the brake shoes.   I was never able to find brake shoes for my Metz but a fellow Metz owner and forum member @MAG473 lent me one that was cracked and brazed back together.  I've sent this up to Cattail foundry to get a dozen or so made.   I'm going to discuss with Emmanuel King what kind of metal we'll use for the castings as I know there have been issues with these shoes cracking.  They are very similar to the one piece Model T shoes though not similar enough that they are interchangeable.   I'm wondering if I should get the cast out of bronze.  If you have any thoughts, let me know.

 

Whatever it is cast out of I will need to turn it down once I get the castings back and a 4-jaw will be helpful in getting the casting mounted reasonably centered before turning.

 

Over the Thanksgiving break I got the final pieces I need for the friction disc.  I'll be starting on that this week or next.  

 

[JV Puleo]

I have a 14 inch 4-jaw that weighs close to 100 lbs. and is a real bear to mount. I've gotten to the point where I only use it when I have to and then only first thing in the morning. When I'm tired I'm afraid I'll drop it. I have a 6" 4-jaw that was given to me by a friend who was the shop teacher at a local HS. When they eliminated the shop classes they sold the lathe and threw all the tooling in a dumpster...most of it never having been used. He also gave me a 3-jaw and I bought two big slugs of cast iron to make backing plates. The plate I sent you was one I'd bought for that project but it turned out to be the wrong size. I've never made the backing plate for the 3-jaw but on the rare occasion that I want to use it (almost always to hold big hex stock) I put it in the 4-jaw. That allows me to center the work piece perfectly.

 

I would go for bronze on the brake shoes...it's very tough and not prone to cracking. What were the originals made of?

[Luv2Wrench]

While the 4 jaw is bigger than my 3 jaw it weighs less, I guess because it doesn't have a scroll.   It is a bit easier to grab and hold over the spindle as well.   It is just enough weight difference that I can easily get it on and off without having to place a board over the ways like I do for the 3 jaw. 

I'm leaning towards bronze.  The originals are some sort of cast iron.  Cattail will be able to tell me what type and recommend what to cast the new ones with.  I'm guessing they say bronze.

[Luv2Wrench]

Went to the machine shop Friday and picked up my block.  I had the cylinders bored out and sleeved back to original (3.750") size.   To save you scrolling back... one of the cylinders had a small void in wall.  I'm fairly certain that's how it was originally.   Obviously that couldn't be bored out so it had to be sleeved.  The others needed to be bored out a bit I was concerned there might be more voids.  Sleeving seemed to be the best solution and that's what I had done. 

The engine will have new pistons, valves, valve springs and tappets.   I had the crankshaft polished.  I'll be reusing the connecting rods, rod bearing and main bearings.   The bearings were in great shape and had a bunch of shims so they had little wear.   

I have a reasonably good Holley G carb and, of course, a rebuild kit.  

 

Stutzman Wheel company finished my wheels and shipped them out Nov 24th so I should see those pretty soon.  Once they get in I'll shoot them in epoxy primer and a cream single stage.  I need to put the bearings in the hubs and figure out a dust shield for the inner bearings.  With any luck I'll get that done before then end of the year and just a short dozen years after starting the project I will finally have a rolling chassis. 

 

[Luv2Wrench]

Another day another problem...

 

When I order the aluminum Model T pistons I had them check that the wrist pin was 0.750" in diameter like the Metz pin is.  It was.  Or so they said.  If you've built a Model T engine you likely know that they are not but rather 0.740" in diameter.   Obviously 0.010" is too much slop to use the new wrist pin in the Metz connecting rod.  The Metz pin, obviously, doesn't fit in the piston.

 

I believe there are two solutions. Solution one is to ream the new piston out and reuse the Metz wrist pin.   Solution two would be to press out the bronze bushing from the end of the Metz connecting rod and replace with one that is bored and reamed to 0.740" in diameter.  I'm not 100% sure that I can press out the bushing and if I can't that would mean boring it out.  I'm not sure how to hold the connecting rod such that the bore would be perpendicular to the rod so I think boring that out, at least for me, is unlikely.

 

A further complication is that the Model T piston isn't machine to accept wrist pin clips.  My solution to that is to use teflon/nylon wrist pin buttons.  A further complication to that is that if I reuse the Metz wrist pin I will likely need to make it shorter to allow enough room for the buttons to seat.  Isn't building old cars fun?!

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

[JV Puleo]

I'd press the bushings out. Actually, a cheap way if you don't have a press would be to make two sleeves...one with about a 1/2" hole in it and the other slightly larger than the OD and longer than the bushing. Then you put a bolt through the center, with thick washers on each side, and screw it down. It should press the bushing out. Failing that...I have a fixture for holding a connecting rod flush on a mill table. It's heavy and will be expensive to ship but you're welcome to borrow it. Or...I could take a picture and you could make one. It isn't complicated.

 

If you bore it you can get it down to the point where the bearing wall is paper thin and then just peel it out. That way you don't risk hitting the inside bore on the pin end.

 

On second thought...maybe it would be better to ream the piston. You could take it out to about .748 with an expanding reamer and then hone it for a perfect fit. It would be tedious but certain. Are the Metz pins really good...you could make the pins from 3/4" drill rod with the center bored out. That way you could make them any length you want. And yes...this stuff is NEVER easy and always demands imagination.

Edited December 6, 2023 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[Luv2Wrench]

Given that I can buy new pistons if I mess them up and can't get new connecting rods... I'm going with reaming the pistons and making new pins out of .750" drill rod.  

The current plan is to use an adjustable reamer and machine an extension on it to sever as a pilot.  The adjustable reamers have threaded ends so it should be fairly easy to turn a shaft down to .740" and cut some threads inside.  In theory it will thread on to the reamer and serve as a pilot.  McMaster even sells these extension but not one that is .740" in diameter.

For the wrist pins McMaster has a bunch of different flavors and I haven't decided which one to get.  While I can turned hardened 4140 and tool steel on my lathe, I don't have any drills that would work in hardened steel.   I could get it hardened after machining but at this point I think I'm going to do without.  Knowing myself... I'll probably order both and try to find some drills to work with the hardened steel.  

 

 

Edited December 7, 2023 by Luv2Wrench (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

Jeff...the pilots worked with a sleeve that fitted over the extension and had tapered ends. The tapered end is pushed into the hole opposite the one you are reaming. I can take a picture tomorrow...I may even have a new expansion reamer that is right that I can send. I have two sets, one with extensions and one without and I'm not sure if the extensions are interchangeable. Actually, I've been meaning to check that. I may even have a spare tapered sleeve. I'll look tomorrow.

 

You ought to be able to drill the drill rod with HSS. I've done it. There is too much carbon in it to thread well but it does drill and turn albeit with very sharp tools. I'm not sure what you should use for a collet...3/4 is .010 big although the ER's may hold it, 18mm is about 3/4of a mm too small.

[JV Puleo]

I borrowed a picture from ebay...this shows the sleeves that fit over the pilot and center the reamer in the hole.

 

 

A one-off sleeve wouldn't be hard to make. You just need to ream it to fit the pilot (which will be smaller than the hole) and then turn a taper on it holding it on a mandrel. I'd get a pilot that fits your reamer and make the sleeve.

 

EDIT: I just checked the "product detail" in the McMaster catalog for the reamer that covers those dimensions. To my surprise, the extension comes with the tapered sleeve. Those parts are all ground to very fine tolerances. Given the choice, I'd bite the bullet and just buy the extension you need...that eliminates a good deal of worry about how accurate the tool is.

Edited December 7, 2023 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

Further to the above...when making the wrist pins. I'd drill about .010 under the finished dimension going in about half way from one end, flipping the piece around and going in from the other end to finish the hole, then reaming to the finished size. If you'd going for a 1/8 wall thickness on a .750 pin that would be a 1/2" hole. I think the late Harold Sharon said that the wall thickness doesn't have to be any thicker than 1/8. I don't know what he based that on but it sounds right.

Drill rod in it's annealed state is plenty hard enough for a wrist pin. I would not harden them.

 

A twist drill will wander when drilling a deep hole  (which is why they aren't used for deep hole drilling). The further it goes, the more it goes off center. That's why you drill from both ends. The wrist pins are short so it won't wander much, certainly much less than the amount left to be reamed.

Edited December 7, 2023 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[Luv2Wrench]

Wheels finally arrived.  They were shipped via UPS on November 24th.  For some reason they travelled between Atlanta and Ohio multiple times.   To make it even more fun the 4 packages got separated as well.  Eventually they all arrived and, of course, the workmanship by Stutzman was stunning.   I went through many hours of trying to convince myself to ignore the "as it was made" restoration rule and keep the wheels natural wood.   It almost made me physically sick to paint over the beautiful wood.    Wheels have two coats of epoxy primer and I'll shoot a single stage "Mini Pepper White".  I'll wait a few days and then mount the wheels.  With any luck I'll have a rolling chassis this weekend!

As a bit of humor... check out the tracking information for the last wheel that finally arrived this Saturday.   The other wheels had very similar but slightly different tracking history.

 

[cudaman]

Beautiful!

 

I have several packages coming from USPS that shows the packages being bounced around the country.  There was a mercury spill at one of the large midwest sorting centers a month or so ago, so packages and mail had to be re-routed for a while.

[Luv2Wrench]

I painted one of the wheels with the cream color.  I gotta say I hate it.  The color is fine (note the contrast with the white sheet of paper lying under the wheel) but I think it looks comical.   I really wish I had ignored the "make it original" and just stained the wood and left it natural.   Obviously at this point I'll paint the other 3 to match.  In the end it'll probably look OK.  Pin striping should help though I won't do that until I get the car finished.   I don't like the way the paint laid down either.  It has that "blob" look.   I'll try to make some adjustments for the other wheels and if that works I'll sand down the first one and reshoot it. 

 

[cudaman]

I remember when I first got my 1971 Plymouth GTX body back from the paint shop, it just looked like a big blob of Burnt Orange.  Once I got the stripes and all the other parts on it, it looked much better. 

[Luv2Wrench]

Stunning!

[JV Puleo]

The wheels on my Mitchell were painted an ivory/yellow color with black pin striping and there was enough original paint remaining to be certain of that. the chassis was the same color. I don't feel it's bad but it's a tough, and very subjective call. To me, your wheels look a little too white but computer screens and digital photos are terrible reproducers of color in anything but a general sense. Did you have any original paint or are you going by a period description? If the latter, I think you have some flexibility. I am not convinced they reproduced exact colors every time with anything like the accuracy of post-war mass production. To give you a weird example...my grandmother worked in t he paint laboratory of the Barrelled Sunlight paint company. She was a master at mixing paint to match existing colors. All of this pre-dated those mixing machines on the paint counter at the big-box stores. Matching colors was an art, even in the 1950s.

[Luv2Wrench]

11 hours ago, JV Puleo said:

The wheels on my Mitchell were painted an ivory/yellow color with black pin striping and there was enough original paint remaining to be certain of that. the chassis was the same color. I don't feel it's bad but it's a tough, and very subjective call. To me, your wheels look a little too white but computer screens and digital photos are terrible reproducers of color in anything but a general sense. Did you have any original paint or are you going by a period description? If the latter, I think you have some flexibility. I am not convinced they reproduced exact colors every time with anything like the accuracy of post-war mass production. To give you a weird example...my grandmother worked in t he paint laboratory of the Barrelled Sunlight paint company. She was a master at mixing paint to match existing colors. All of this pre-dated those mixing machines on the paint counter at the big-box stores. Matching colors was an art, even in the 1950s.

There's a sheet of white copy paper under the wheel for a reference.  I put it there so that my camera wouldn't make the wheel look completely white.  It likes to find something in the shot that is "white" and do a white balance based on that. 

 

Any samples I've seen from parts I had were mostly yellow.  That isn't how Metz described the color so I assume what I've seen was not original.  I've seen some pictures of a car that was probably original and that does have a bit more yellow it in.  I chose the color because another Metz restorer (on this forum) chose it after a considerable amount of research.  At the very least there will be two restored Metz cars with the same wheel color. 

 

My basic dislike of the situation is that I know I probably don't have the correct color, it most likely was not a high gloss finish and certainly didn't have that distinct two-part polyurethane "blob" finish.   On the flip side, had I slathered on a cheap paint with a brush like they did in 1913 it would look "terrible" to someone today.  My thinking is that since it isn't actually going to be "as it was", I probably should've done natural wood wheels as I prefer.

 

I think the whole "as it was built" mantra is a slippery slope.   I restored the MG TD that way but I also laid down 6 layers of clear coat with about 50 hours of wet sanding and buffing.  Something they absolutely didn't do.  

 

All that said, @cudaman is probably correct, with the pinstripes and tires on they'll look fine.