1929 closed car footrest brackets...forging ahead

Posted by John Wogec On 2013/12/4 17:22:59

Hi Everyone,

I recently had brass castings made for the footrest brackets of my 1929 645 Sedan...some of you may be able to relate... 84 year-old pot metal that was literally crumbling. Well, I sent them to some guy out here on the west coast with a flashy website that makes claims about the incredible work they do. The first sign of trouble was when he said they could turn them around in "a couple of weeks". The next hint of a less than smooth landing was when I started emailing a month later and got replies about them coming soon. When I finally got the pock-marked castings back, he claimed he had the forge make sixteen separate sets, and these were the best. he had no idea why they came out so bad...he had never seen that before. At this point, my check had long since been cashed.

Well, after having flushed $250 on two really funky looking paperweights, I am going to forge ahead (pun intended)and have my originals 3D scanned and computer milled out of stainless steel...same technology Jay Leno uses. I know it will be ordcers of magnitude more expensive to make just two....so, if anyone is interested, I will have the AutoCad drawings saved on a diskette, and if mine turn out as good as I hope, I would be willing to have more than one set cut. I figure, the more possible sets I get made, the more of a volume discount I can get. I am working from originals that have had the nickel plating professionally stripped, the defects filled with resin, and lovingly hand sanded under a magnifying glass by yours truly...don't ask how I spent my Thanksgiving week.

So...let me know if there is anyone out there who might be considering a set...assuming mine turn out okay. Who knows, if this works out, maybe I will learn AutoCad and buy a CNC machine...not! At any rate, it may make for entertaining reading, and I am learning so much!