| I quit my daytime job April 12, and started running my own business full time. Unfortunately this means that I no longer have access to the prototype shop and all the machinery there - mills, lathes, hydraulic brake, welding equipment & alike, not to mention the helpful staff, always willing to share their knowhow. I would like to thank especially Matti Turpeinen, Seppo Koskimaa and Keijo Heikkinen for all the help and also for letting me use the facilities. Over the last 15 years, I have used all of that to build my speed boat, my Cobra, my Buick, a blasting cabinet, and an english wheel. I quess it was Seppo who taught me how to use the mill to fabricate my first part back in 1990 - a missing tailgate handle for my 1983 Caprice STW. I recall it was Matti who taught me how to weld stainless with a TIG (after he got tired of doing it for me for a formal fee). Matti also machined many parts for me with the CNC mill. Keijo taught me how to harden/anneal steel. That's all gone now, and below you will see some of the last achievements. |
 Since I am not using the original fender skirts anymore, nor the skirt extensions ahead of the skirt, the original molding that comes above the stainless gravel shield, wouldn't fit anymore. So I fabricated custom moldings. I bent a stainless tube with suitable diameter, to match the curve on the shield, then cut it in 4 slices. I used one slice per side to form the upper radius, and welded it into a strip of stainless sheet. Together they form the molding. After a lot of trial-fitting, sanding and buffing, the molding fits nicely. |
 This is a lockbutton for the door. Nothing fancy, just something to replace the worn-out originals. Stainless, of course. I nice little excercise on the lathe. |
 I actually
got two of these Comet Skyshields from eBay. These are made of
stainless, but there were a few small bits made of mild steel, that had
to be re-made. Some bracketry was missing as well, and had to be
invented. A few dings and dents straigthened, all buffed and polished.Made in the 40's by Charles Peckat Mfg Co., Maywood, ILL |
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| Maybe it was
the quality of the chrome job, maybe not, but the chrome bubbled up and
chipped off, separating from the copper layer, only after a couple of
hours drive. The #1 cylinder primary tube has survived better, as it is
cooled off by the fan. I didn't want to take this back to the plater,
and the driving season being close, I decided to grind the bad areas
off and coat them with Cermakrome, a metallic ceramic coating. I
also discovered a pinhole in the # 3 pipe-to-flange weld, which was
easy to fix. Note the choke heating tube on the #4 primary pipe.
Moreover, the #2/3 flange was slightly offset from the rest, causing an
exhaust leak. |
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