POTD- PROJECT OF THE DAY: What Did You Make In Your Shop Today?

Last few weeks i've been more busy than usual, finally things have slowed down so i need to get back to fixing the cars i'm usually dealing with and doing some machining. First car on the list was my father's peugeot 405, over time his heater failed, also it was leaking. I bought a new heater core, but the aluminium pipes are not available also there were no new seals with the heater core. I used some high temp silicone and voltran seals. By the book the entire dashboard needs to come out but i cut a bracket and remove the steering column to get it out and the new one in, i also drove it out without a steering wheel and wash out the entire cooling system. Put it all back together fill the cooling system with G12 coolant purge all the air out, now the heater works better then ever.
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@GoceKU

Wondering if you sleeved those corroded tubes or expect the sealant to be good enough?
 
Foam Milling has started.

This is gonna be messy...
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The good news is the home made 5/8 ball end mill seems to be working. (Ignore that first pass, had the depth too much for this cutter)

It's running at 8000 RPM right now. Don't know if I dare crank it up any higher. Had to neck it down to fit a 9/16 collet, and this is hollow tube with a 1/4" ID. So, epoxied a 1/4" carbide end mill in the necked down end before turning it. That should help stiffen it up.

Only about 4 more hours of cutting to go! :) Then two days to let the foam settle out. Past experience indicates in a few days the static will dissipate, and the foam will drop like leaves in the fall.

For the record. I hate mach 3...
 
On my bmw motorcycle, this plastic “tongue” secures the fronot of the seat by sliding under the tank. A year or so ago I bought a seat which didn‘t include this vital part. I made one from wood, as that was the only capability I had at the time. Today I made one from plastic. Full disclosure: I didn’t do any fixturing, just traced the shape, clamped it in the vice and milled the surfaces. Anyone care to take a guess as to what the plastic is? I have no idea, it was in the collection of materials I got with the machines.

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On my bmw motorcycle, this plastic “tongue” secures the fronot of the seat by sliding under the tank. A year or so ago I bought a seat which didn‘t include this vital part. I made one from wood, as that was the only capability I had at the time. Today I made one from plastic. Full disclosure: I didn’t do any fixturing, just traced the shape, clamped it in the vice and milled the surfaces. Anyone care to take a guess as to what the plastic is? I have no idea, it was in the collection of materials I got with the machines.

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Oem manuf tend to like to use ABS, so thats my guess…
 
By the book the entire dashboard needs to come out but i cut a bracket and remove the steering column to get it out and the new one in

Goce we know your high level of competence in everything automotive.
Your method should be the recommended approach; faster, better, cheaper.

Brian
 
I made one from wood, as that was the only capability I had at the time. Today I made one from plastic. Full disclosure: I didn’t do any fixturing, just traced the shape, clamped it in the vice and milled the surfaces. Anyone care to take a guess as to what the plastic is? I have no idea, it was in the collection of materials I got with the machines.

Great work (even on the wooden one).
We adapt, we learn and we do the best we can with the materials, tools and skills we have.
That is success!

Brian
 
Goce we know your high level of competence in everything automotive.
Your method should be the recommended approach; faster, better, cheaper.

Brian
Oh, thats the old “rule of two”; better faster cheaper, pick any two…
 
We are face milling batches of 5 quantity mild steel plates as seen below. We remove about .055” so that it ends up nice & square. As it comes from the steel mill, the sides are a little rounded.

I didn’t think that it was going to work very well due to the long stickout, but it is going fine.

The spindle RPM is 1350. The feed is 11 ipm. Max DOC is .025”.

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I mark (e.g. “07”) & measure each plate, & I will pair plates of very similar dimensions. Most of these will be used for butt joints (for welding practice).

Once paired, they will be remarked (e.g. “09A” and “55A” ), & the pair will stay together for decades being welded, torch cut, re-machined, re-welded, etc. so that I never need to buy more material. I will, however, need to buy filler rod, MIG wire & stick electrodes as well as gases.

The plates at the end with non-matching thicknesses will be used for T-joints.

This is how they will be used:

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