1973 Plymouth Duster repair and rebuild
Installing HDK torsion bar elimination kit.
So I "had" a mini-lathe. 7 x 14 grizzly. And with that, it took 5 hrs to get to the end where I was ready to cut my first crush sleeve free. Cutting 1in mild steel to 9/16 with .020 passes is not the fastest process.
As I said above, I stated with 1in mild steel rod. Cut a 3in chunk to put on the lathe. I cut the outer diameter to .58 inches in prep for final dimension following the drilling out the center bore. Got the bore drilled, starting to part it off when the cutter got jammed, crashed the lathe, and broke the new metal drive gears.
I had recently upgraded my mini lathe with new tapered bearings and all metal drive gears. Plus a lot of stiffening and adj of the cross and compound slides. Now Toast.
After the parting action, I was going to take it down to final dimensions including reducing the head size down to .100 (shy of 1/8 in). Roughly the size of a HD washer. And making sure the overall length was just shy of the width of the chassis. Figured I could do that with a grinder.
I am thinking I am going to weld it now and just be done with it.
Installing HDK torsion bar elimination kit.
So I "had" a mini-lathe. 7 x 14 grizzly. And with that, it took 5 hrs to get to the end where I was ready to cut my first crush sleeve free. Cutting 1in mild steel to 9/16 with .020 passes is not the fastest process.
As I said above, I stated with 1in mild steel rod. Cut a 3in chunk to put on the lathe. I cut the outer diameter to .58 inches in prep for final dimension following the drilling out the center bore. Got the bore drilled, starting to part it off when the cutter got jammed, crashed the lathe, and broke the new metal drive gears.
I had recently upgraded my mini lathe with new tapered bearings and all metal drive gears. Plus a lot of stiffening and adj of the cross and compound slides. Now Toast.
After the parting action, I was going to take it down to final dimensions including reducing the head size down to .100 (shy of 1/8 in). Roughly the size of a HD washer. And making sure the overall length was just shy of the width of the chassis. Figured I could do that with a grinder.
I am thinking I am going to weld it now and just be done with it.