OK Charlie, What's With The Car Avatar?

In Australia that's what we call 'bush mechanics', Charlie

Do whatever it takes to make the bastard work. ....or as John Williamson (Aussie Singer) would say/sing...
Hey True Blue, can you bear the load
Will you tie it up with wire
Just to keep the show on the road (full song here )

How did your good wife react to the ongoing work.......did she cease talking to you ?
She was pretty quiet during the whole thing. Maybe she thought along the lines of her 3 sons. LOL.
 


It was a typo on Charlie's part, Andy, you'll live :D, he's gone to type in Captain and picked a new Member by mistake.

Charlie, I have hardly a mechanical bone in my body, but I find this enthralling, I am glad you have shared :)
Wiz,
Glad you like it.
More interesting stuff coming up as we move along - such as, clutch, brakes, shift levers, firewall, windshield and dashboard - all the essentials in modern travel. LOL.
TC
 
Very interesting. Can you do my old Dodge next? o_O
Post a pic with the dimensions and we'll see what I can do.
TC
 
Hi All,
It's me again with another bit of info on my Woody.
This is the windshield. It was a regulation safety glass windshield made by a professional glass company. {Did not want to take tooooo many chances with all the kooks out there on the road!}
Shoemobile-44.jpg


If you have ever done anything with glass, you know what the tape is for: to keep me from having to buy a second windshield!
Now on to some more interesting stuff, like the new gear shift levers. The next pic shows what they looked like next to the drivers' seat which is not there yet. This is the inside of the Woody.

Shoemobile-45.jpg


Yes, there are two of them. The original had the gear shift on the steering column, one single lever. I wanted to have a direct connection to the transmission, so I made two levers; one for reverse and first gears, and the other for second and third gears.
Here is a pic of what they looked like under the hood. The two L shaped pieces with the metal angles attached are them. The one closest is the Reverse and First lever. The long wooden piece is the clutch rod. More pics on that later.

Shoemobile-48.jpg


That's it for now.
Later.
TC
 
Wiz,
Glad you like it.
More interesting stuff coming up as we move along - such as, clutch, brakes, shift levers, firewall, windshield and dashboard - all the essentials in modern travel. LOL.
TC
firewall itables for woody ? or you threw that in and thoufht we woudn't spot it ?
 
@captain-sensible @wizardfromoz @sp331yi @Vrai @Condobloke and whoever I missed.
Cap,
No, firewall was for real. I believe they are an absolute requirement in a road vehicle.
Of course mine was made out of wood. Here tis:

Shoemobile-35.jpg


Actually, I did not need it cause we never had a fire in the engine compartment.
However, if we would have had a fire, we had easy egress through the very weak doors. One good kick probably would have got us out quickly.
Gotta go, but will be back later with more 'good ' stuff. LOL.
{I'm having a ball telling about this crazy project. Thanks for listening.}
TC
 
I am sure I speak for all the watchers here, Charlie, when I say we are having an absolute ball listening, reading and watching your story unfold.

Did much engine noise make it through to the cabin ?

I think your wife is/was secretly proud of your efforts, mate.
 
@Condobloke @wizardfromoz @captain-sensible @sp331yi

Here's another tidbit that I just drew up by hand to show the shift pattern. I hope it is understandable. The actual shifting was easier than explained.
Shift.png


I would guess that anyone who has never driven a stick shift car would be unable to figure out how to get this to move.
Don't ask me how I figured this whole scheme out, as my memory has faded into history, along with the actual vehicle.
Gotta go for now.
Back soon for some more goofy stuff I did with this thing.
TC
 
You have to put the R/1st gear lever in Neutral before shifting to 2nd, which would be a b#+$ on a steeper grade! Fun, though, unless in a hurry.
 
you know you have an engineer brain and i wonder what use you could have put that to if you got into ICT say around 1975 ? Theres an interesting story about Henry Ford and the V8 engine. Apparently he had an idea and put it to his PhD guys- they said it couldn't be done. he said Ok just carry on until you get it done -it was.
 
As the Deadhead said, "Never look back!"
 
@captain-sensible @wizardfromoz @sp331yi @Vrai @Condobloke and whoever I missed.
Cap,
No, firewall was for real. I believe they are an absolute requirement in a road vehicle.
Of course mine was made out of wood. Here tis:

View attachment 7019

Actually, I did not need it cause we never had a fire in the engine compartment.
However, if we would have had a fire, we had easy egress through the very weak doors. One good kick probably would have got us out quickly.
Gotta go, but will be back later with more 'good ' stuff. LOL.
{I'm having a ball telling about this crazy project. Thanks for listening.}
TC
Having a ball reading/listening!
Thanks for sharing @70 Tango Charlie
 
you know you have an engineer brain and i wonder what use you could have put that to if you got into ICT say around 1975 ? Theres an interesting story about Henry Ford and the V8 engine. Apparently he had an idea and put it to his PhD guys- they said it couldn't be done. he said Ok just carry on until you get it done -it was.
Looking back; I don't think I would have done well in a college engineering class. {I was teen age and knew everything then! LOL.} The whole 'formal education' thing was too structured for me. The only books I liked were comic books.
I might have ended up like those PhDs' and been stifled by those college PhDs' before they threw me out of class.
TC
 
You have to put the R/1st gear lever in Neutral before shifting to 2nd, which would be a b#+$ on a steeper grade! Fun, though, unless in a hurry.
Right on!
It actually got to be fun shifting the gears, and I got pretty good at it.
All that earlier training in my first car - the Model A Ford - was put to good use.
TC
 
@Condobloke @wizardfromoz @captain-sensible @sp331yi

OK Guys, it's time for the clutch assembly. This was also a fun part to figure out.
First comes the inside view showing the clutch pedal attached to the wood rod that goes through the firewall.
Shoemobile-47.jpg


As you can see, I did not dis-mantle the brake-clutch console; I think it was all part of the steering column set up.
Next, we'll take a look on the other side of the firewall.

Shoemobile-53.jpg

It took quite a few tries before I got this one right. There is a lot of torque involved, as I learned by making many mistakes.
One recurring theme throughout this whole project is: how messy can one man be! Tools laying all over the place. If I had a picture of my shoe shop before I hired any help, it would probably look the same.
That's it for now.
TC
 
Looking back; I don't think I would have done well in a college engineering class. {I was teen age and knew everything then! LOL.} The whole 'formal education' thing was too structured for me. The only books I liked were comic books.
I might have ended up like those PhDs' and been stifled by those college PhDs' before they threw me out of class.
TC
hang on teen age ends at 19 but you know maybe you could have directed nerds. Apparently Henry Ford was considered so illiterate he was not considered worthy as a witness on a court case. But he had the vision to make something work
 
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hang on teen age ends at 19 but you know maybe you could have directed nerds. Apparently Henry Ford was considered so illiterate he was not considered worthy as a witness on a court case. But he had the vision to make something work
@captain-sensible
Hi Cap,
My philosophy is this: a person can accomplish anything that he wants to. {The key word is 'wants to'.}
It all starts with an idea or thought, and moves on from there.
BTW I'm not ready to advance to Slackware yet; but............never say never is my motto. LOL.
TC
 
A very laudable motto. Some suggest reading works - basically metaphysics eg by Emmet Fox also can help with achievement/demonstration
 
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