32 Ford Firewall

We do a lot of joint projects for King Kustoms And Hot Rods. This one was quite a challenge. The job was to replicate the bead detail from a stock 32 Ford firewall into a new custom firewall being built from scratch. Real 32 Ford parts are worth a fortune today so when you get really nice parts it might be a good idea to not chop it up. We made up a set of dies for the bead roller. I started by pressing clay into the stock firewall bead. Then the shape was carefully measured and drawn in AutoCad. Then The shape was plotted every .010 then those numbers are put into a spreadsheet program to give me a chart of the coordinates i need to machine to. We don't have CNC machines here so we have to do complicated shapes this way and i have been thrilled with the results. We machined the dies from 4140 prehard tool steel as we wanted to avoid heat treating costs. you must have a hardened surface to bead roll a surface with four radiuses. 4140 is not easy to machine but we got through it. I just can't believe how good it turned out. check out the finished product in bare metal.

Back to Business

It's been a awhile since we made a post. It's been a busy summer in the shop. Work on the 46 Schwinn is coming to a close. Paint is done and the detail work is just about finished. The paint on these old bikes are very labor intensive to reproduce. The frame is wetsanded in the picture and we are now rubbing it out by hand. Soon we will be assembling.

KING KUSTOM CHOPPER

HERE IS THE CHOPPER THAT THE RISERS GO ON. THE EYE CANDY IS JUST A BONUS.

SPRINGER RISERS

JUST FINISHED THESE RISERS FOR KING KUSTOMS AND HOT RODS. THESE WILL GO ON A BADASS LITTLE CHOPPER FEATURING A SPRINGER FRONT END. SEEMS NO ONE DOES CUSTOM PARTS FOR THESE SPRINGERS SO I GOT THE JOB. THE IDEA WAS TO MAKE THESE LOOK LIKE CASTINGS. THEY ARE MACHINED FROM 7075 ALUMINUM ALL DONE THE OLD FASHIONED WAY(NO CNC) WITH FORM TOOLS AND RADIUS CUTTERS. USING A MILL AND A LATHE ALL THE METAL THAT DIDN'T NEED TO BE THERE WAS MACHINED OFF. ( I WILL HAVE A SERIES OF PROCESS PHOTO'S SOON) THE PIECES WHERE METAL FINISHED WITH A BELT SANDER, DREMEL TOOL AND A D.A SANDER. THEN INTO A VIBARTORY DEBURRING MACHINE. LAYMEN'S TERMS=BIG ROCK TUMBLER. THEN A TRIP TO THE POLISHER. THEY LOOKED GOOD OUT OF THE TUMBLER BUT THE POLISHER REALLY MADE THESE THINGS POP! THE LEG OVER AT KING KUSTOMS AND HOT RODS BUILT THE HANDLE BARS. I 'AM PLANNING ON MARKETING THESE IN RUNS OF 10 BUT THEY WILL BE EXPENSIVE(AROUND $250.00 FOR A SET.) BUT THEY REALLY ARE ONE OF A KIND AS I WON'T BE MAKING THOUSANDS OF THESE.

WORLD OF WHEELS SUCCESS!!

JUST GOT BACK FROM THE WORLD OF WHEELS. GOT A SECOND IN CLASS AND WON "OUTSTANDING IN CLASS" AWARD. I'AM REAL PROUD OF THAT. CHICAGO IS A TOUGH SHOW TO WIN SO IT'S A TESTAMENT TO THE GUY'S THAT WORK ON THIS CAR. THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!!