Re: Snapey's 1935 Racing Biposto

Posted by Matt snape On 2011/11/30 2:56:38

Well it has been quite a while since I last had the chance to sit down to update the blog, but in reality you have not missed very much at all. It seems that there is a world wide conspiracy to make sure that Snapey doesn't get to spend time in the shed as he would like. Even the weather has been conspiring against me, with regular rain and hot temperatures meaning the the back yard seems to need mowing ever second day... I might have to buy a goat. Although I am sure that Echo, the workshop foreman, would prefer a sheep to chase around!

Anyway, little has changed on the car, except that I finally got a phone call from the spring people (I did tell them that I wasn't in a hurry, but geez!) and plan to pick up the four rebuilt spring packs next week.

Also I now have the bearing housings that will hold the brake cross shaft in its new location. For all of about $30 each with the bearings this seems to me like a bit of a bargain. Not having a lathe meant that to clean up the cross shaft so the new bearing would fit on easily I had to revert to some old methods. About an hour and several strips of emery cloth later I had some nice clean surfaces that the bearing would slide nicely onto - the whole process was very zen and I am sure it was good therapy. I also made sure there was plenty of additional space to allow the shaft to be pushed further into each bearing to allow installation of the one at the other end.

Also the 6 wire wheels (although I think the car will only carry the one spare) should just about be painted by now. I elected to go with the same very dark 'Packard Blue' that I will use on the chassis and various highlights. With brushed alloy or light grey paint work I think it will be a nice affect - similar to the ex De Palma 902 record car that still lives in the US. Largely for cost and convenience I opted for spraying the wheels with 2 pack acrylic. While powder coating would have been better I would have had to send them away and try to specify a suitable colour - and all at a much higher cost. If for any reason I don't like the outcome, I can always have them cleaned up and powder coated later anyway.

So that is about all that has happened in the last couple of months, but stay tuned as I have some holidays coming up and hope to get some real work done then!