Progress on the Cherry Bombs! I cut out the old mufflers with a hack saw, the pipe cutter was unfortunately too small, so it took longer having to saw it off by hand. Bought the exhaust clamps from oreily. Right now the pipes exit just at the start of the bed, so it is VERY loud in the cab. I'm taking in the rest of the pipes into work tomorrow I'm going to cut off the muffler off the other end and run the pipes out the back like before to try and move some of the exhaust noise further back.




All went in smoothly, just rounded out the end of the glass pack to fit the adapter, they were a little lopsided, they were used. I'll see how it sounds with the pipes coming out the back. I may end up putting the others back if its too loud. Worth a shot

 

Hey Daniel,
We initially went with some 40 series from Flowmaster turned down under the bed like you. It was so loud you couldn't think no less hear the radio or talk to your passenger. We didn't have the option of running the pipes out the back as we had moved the gas tank back there. We ended up using some brand new Mustang GT mufflers from Craigslist & running the exhaust out in front of the back wheels. Nice sound but not too crazy.

The Mustang GT guys seem to get rid of their mufflers after they purchase the car as I see them for sale all the time online here.

Good luck over there.

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

Nice work Daniel. Looking forward to seeing it grow.

 

Looking good!

Now we need a video so we can hear them roar...

 

Well guys it didn't work out too well with the cherry bombs

I drove to school in the morning and the constant noise in the cab was just too much. Made my ears ring and head hurt after.

Cruising was good due to the sound somewhat falling behind me, however in traffic (which is where i tend to spend a lot of time) was just too loud. Barely giving any gas sounded like wide open throttle. However I had a fun time when cruising from school to work, they did sound KILLER! But having that loud of an exhaust on a daily driver was too much.

After work I pulled off the cherry bombs and put my old mufflers and pipes back on, I had planned to but the pipes and put them on the cherry bombs, so I had them in the bed. Extending the pipe would have helped with the cab noise, but the outside noise is too much. Especially leaving at 6 in the morning and sometimes before that, I'm sure the neighbors wouldn't appreciate it.





Put the clamps and adapters back on the old muffler. I'm not sure what they are, they have the numbers on top and I'll check them out later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Sp...ature=youtu.be

Short clip I took of what it sounded like. My original plan, and still is my plan is to get Flowmaster Original 40s and run those. Hearing the cherry bombs got me thinking, I may put some cut outs and run a cable up to the cab to run no muffler when I feel like being obnoxious

Speedometer was acting up the past couple days, it needed lubrication, but I just unscrewed it due to a high pitched whirling noise. Just unbearable! So in disconnecting it, I lost track of my mileage, which is my fuel level estimator until I get my gauges. So that being said, I ended up running out of fuel on the freeway... But a call got me right back on the road after about 30 minutes.

So I'm prioritizing my list of things to get done in my truck and gauges is on the top right now. Started my billet, got some scrap aluminum from the shop, traced out my original cluster to get the pattern and cut out a ruff shape at home.



The luxury of heavy machines at work will have to wait till tomorrow before this piece of metal starts looking like an actual part. I'll keep everyone updated!

Thanks for all the feedback everyone!

 

Ben I read your reply before I left and kept thinking to myself he was right! Ive seen GT exhausts for sale on CL before and I'll check into it. Maybe a way to get a good deal!

Thanks Jackus! its been slow but coming along!

Jolly Joe theres a short clip in my previous post. I should have taken a few more before I switched back, I may end up putting them back on for a show in a few weeks however.

 

A Y Block or a Flatty would sound so great with the glass packs.
Still loud but much mellower. Like two Harley's running together.
Sweet music to me. I never understood why the 302 pony motor
barks like it does. It's almost rude at times. Try open headers on
any FE if ya want to **** people off and go deft. Is that a word? (deft).
Like deaf. That's it, deaf. I have spelled that wrong for like ever.

 

Hey all so I spent about 3 hours after work today on the custom billet. Started heading home around 6:15 and it took me an hour to get 15 miles!

So i started with a cardboard template. I took a apart my gauge cluster and traced the glass piece that was inside. I also traced the frame, the outer part of the frame for the back piece. Rough cut some aluminum with the shear to get a basic shape.




Next I moved over to the corner notcher to get a more detailed cut of the overall shape.




I got as close as I could. I rounded it out and de-burred the sharp edges on a 2-inch sanding belt then moved over to a much more fine 1 inch belt. Made a little test fit to make sure it would clear the hole in the dash.




Next came in the measuring to get everything square. I measure precisely with a caliper to find the center of the billet. I used a punch to mark the center and used that as a reference point for everything.



I made an X-Y graph with the origin being the center of the billet. Next, I used a straight edge to make a triangle, connecting the X axis to the Y axis (basically from the top and bottom to the right and left sides), to use to triangulate where to drill the holes.




Knowing that my gauges would four 2 1/16" and one 3 3/8", I then divided the diameter to get the radius to make a circle with a compass. I measured the compass with the caliper to make sure I was exact.




I estimated the best place for each gauge to go, having clearance on every side so not to look cramped. I spun the compass in all directions to see where it cleared. Once having a good spot, I used the punch to put a hole in the center of the circle, then carved in the circle with the compass.

In order to get a uniform look, I measured from the corner along the X axis and followed the hypotenuse (longest side of a triangle) of the triangle to the center of the circle I had just made, then transferred that over to the other side, using the mirror hypotenuse.




For the upper two gauges, I then made another triangle, using the bottom hole as a reference for a new Y axis, used the original X axis, and again picked the best spot for a circle along the new hypotenouse I had just formed. Measured the distance from the corner to the center of the circle, then copied that over to the next side.

For the middle gauge, I simply divided 3 3/8" by 2, to get the radius of the center circle, and used the middle origin to scratch a circle into the metal.

I then used a hole-saw drill bit on a drill press, with a vice that can precisely move along an X and Y axis. I used a 2" to make an undersized hole, and will file out any extra to make the gauges fit later. Clamped it down to make sure it would jump around on me, and added a little cutting oil every couple pulls.




The shop didn't have a hole-saw that was close enough to 3 3/8", so I moved over to a small CNC. A coworker, who is a fantastic machinist quickly came up with a chart with X and Y coordinates, based upon inches, with measurements to the thousanth.




Overall I would drill 81 precise holes to make a cutout of the center hole of the billet.



I had a computer measured axis points that could get me to the thousandth accuracy.




The box with numbers on the right gave me the X & Y coordinates of where to drill.

There was tiny bits still holding on the center circle in, but a quick hit with a screw driver and hammer knocked out the burs and the center piece. Next some quick file work smoothed out the rough edge I just drilled.




This is what I ended up with. I have guide holes punched for directional signals, and will add another for a high beam indicator. I'm going to oversize the holes for the back plate (which will act as a lip behind the dash while the front sticks out) and then weld it together from the back.

Going to measure the original gauge cluster to get angle and length of the arms that hold in the cluster. Add pem-nuts to eliminate clips or stripping out the soft aluminum. Also going to see if I can sneak this in on an order that goes to the plater to get it electro-nickeled (looks like chrome). Also going to mill some horizontal groves into the front to give it a little style. And probably a signature for all my custom work

My boss came over and peaked at my work, and told me another guy could have made that in 5 minutes on the punch press. Thats true, but he was busy this week making an R2-D2 for a halloween prop.




This all started out in sheet metal and was all punched and bent. The top dome was purchased, but that doesn't take away from the fantastic fabrication. I do work with some talented guys for certain and I'll be able to make some killer parts later with their help.

I'll get a program set up to punch more billets later. I know that these are expensive to buy (about $125 a pop), which is why I'm making my own. I'm hoping that I can sell a few to some guys who are on a budget for a little over half of that (for time and a kick back for help from my coworkers). I'll make a separate thread later, just specifically on my billet builds and publish it to the open forum. But for now, I'll just keep it here.

I've made things before, much simpler but never anything of the caliber with all the fabrication. Brought it home and impressed my dad, which is a big win because he's an engineer by the way, I'm only 18, but I'm starting my 4th year at the shop, but only in the past year have I moved into actual fabrication and not just helping out.

Hope you guys enjoyed the post. Let me know if you're interested. If theres a response I'll make sure to fabricate some more! Thanks everyone!

 

Very handy, your are Enjoyed the post

 

I enjoyed this very much. Keep up the great work.

 

Yes bring on more. Great ideas and great coverage
on how to do it. Keep it coming.

 

Nice work! I did something similar on my 54. But just mounted mine behind the dash with out it being flush mounted. Mine's not quite as precise as yours is. But I think it looks good.

 

Fordman75 that looks great! Question, where were you able to get the lights for the turn signals. I'll put a hold on drilling holes. I really enjoy the look!

 

Thanks for all the feedback guys! I'll be working on it more this week after work and post the progress

 

So I just filed out some of the holes to fit the gauges. These are not the gauges I'm going to be using. I'll install AutoMeter UltraLite into the panel. But heres a test fit of the gauges and a little sample of what it will look like.








The process I'll be using for plating is electrolous nickel. (not sure about the spelling). Hopefully going to weld the back plate mill the horizontal groves, add some mounting brackets and send it off for plating.