"It doesn't matter what you make, and it doesn't matter why. The importance is that you are making SOMETHING."

 

Love this.  Wife and I were talking about something the other day that made me remember this post I had started a long time ago.  We like to think we've done okay for ourselves.  Our conversation basically boiled down to the wondering why we were relatively "stable" in our lives.  What we decided is that because we know how to "make", create, build, DO- we've been able to save ourselves a LOT of money.  I was looking at a diagram the other day that showed what basic repairs on an average vehicle would cost.  This isn't the same diagram but you get the idea:

FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTY THREE DOLLARS!?!?!  For an ALTERNATOR?!  Holy cow.  The alternator all by itself is usually less than a hundred bucks, and unless you're working on a foreign car they aren't that hard to change.   I just replaced the starter in Mrs. Punches car.  Took maybe an hour, and the starter itself cost something like $65.  Not to mention we purchased the car for under $1,000 in need of some work, with low miles, fixed it, and have put almost 70k miles on it in the last 5 years. 

Moral of the story- everyone, man-woman-or child- should now how to weld and sew, and everything in between.

Custom Fire Truck.

So "The Workshop" hosted another build-off last month.  This time the theme was Fire Trucks!  Here's my entry for the build.  Turned out nice and I learned some new tricks in the process.  Getting more comfortable in this "medium" and the cool part is I'm learning some neat things I can apply in my metals classes.  I leave bits and pieces of builds on my desk at school during the week and I've had a couple of students ask about them- some are interested in trying their own builds and it gives me an opportunity to not only show hands on working skills but also a LOT of different problem solving ideas.

My starter pic.  Wasn't really sure where I was going at this point so I kept my options open.



Eventually I decided I had to go with the Ford.  First step was to drop the front as low as it could go.



Then try and figure out how to make it loooonnngg.





Ended up combining a base with the overall body of the truck. 







Fenders.  This was tricky but they turned out pretty nice.  Wanted to completely enclose them- old fashioned skirt style- but that didn't work out.







"Water Tank".  Again, something new.  Forming the curve was a challenge.







Ladder time!  Most expensive part of the truck.  Had to buy a whole roll of wire.







Ladder mount and some more cleanup.  We added a friendly competition halfway through the build to see whose ladder was longest / tallest.  Mine missed by 1/4"...

Bolt is attached to the ladder pivot, the nut is attached to the base, allowing the ladder to swivel and raise.








Time to clean up the cab!







Paint and assembly.  Should have used some better paint, but this deeper red made me feel more "vintage" so I went with it.






Custom skirts made with chrome pin stripping tape.



Test fitting.



Details.

Ladder tilt.



Hose reel.







Cab detailing. Windshield wipers were a booger to do.





Single stack.


Ladder assembly.







Stock vs. Lowered.


Decals and more assembly.










Few more pics of it, then we can move on to the next project.









And there you have it, "ENGINE" 7.