I've spent the last week going through the Martin Parry truck replacing worn parts, while preserving the original patina, grease and rust. A daunting task when you have to rebuilt the front axle. In any event, it was required. The front end has so much slop that it had to be a shimmy-wagon anywhere above 10 mph. When I pulled the left front spindle off, I found that there wasn't a lick of threads left in the axle to hold the kingpin firm.
A few months ago, I stumbled onto a Stevens Axle Reaming Tool that was complete and in the box. It appeared to have never been used and still had 10 bushings and 10 thread inserts. I was listed cheap so I bought it figuring I'd never use it, but I'd put it in the collection. So much for thinking I'd never use it. I put that thing to work today and it did an AWESOME job. It will give you a work out though but it gets the job done nevertheless.
The axle is back together and everything is tight now. It was a good weekend.
Neat! like the shop photo as well!
Thank you Frank. I took the shop photo last night and then realized if I converted it to black and white, it was similar to what you would have seen if you passed by an old Ford garage of the 20's!
How does one convert a photo to black and white?
See if your picture editor has a "greyscale" option, that will convert it to black & white. Some of the fancier programs also have a "sepia" option.
Thanks, it took me a while to find the "picture editor" and then muddle through it. Good trick to know, I always liked B&W photos.
Jim, great garage! If you need more inserts, Dan Hatch has them.
Thanks Larry... Yes, I saw that Dan has them and also some of the tools I think. I have enough inserts to do 6 complete axles so I should be good for a while. Using the Stevens tool was tiring to do with the axle still on the car. Would have been much easier on the bench. Either way, it worked like a charm.
You showed a modern photo in "black and white"? (I had to scroll back up and look!)
I guess I look at so many old photos, I just don't notice the difference sometimes? I was admiring what a great shop photo that it was!
Thanks for sharing!
Drive carefully, and enjoy! (I love the new truck!) W2
Wayne,
Thanks! Yes, that is the inside of my shop, taken using the black and white setting on my smart phone. I also converted that same picture using the "sepia" feature with gives it the vintage "brown and white" type photo. It looks really cool.
Jim, your Service Station Equipment Company's Hand Crank Coil Tester on the right is fairly rare too.
I have only seen and restored one of them.
Jim, I got that a while back from Brent Mize. He did the restoration and it is a beautiful thing. It works great. I though it was a good fit sitting on top of the 1919 Snap-on tool box cabinet.