Ron J

Bob, I haven't checked my latest Brownells cat, but I thought those Mauser taps and dies were kinda pricey. For that kind of money and depending on where your located, Z could put that barrel in his lathe, pick up the existing thread and fit the recvr to it. You'll have a better thread than a tap/die fit. Someones gonna have to put that barrel in a lathe eventually to set the head space, no?

Will do, LC.

I wish you lived closer, you could shoot my .375 all you want. Trust me, build it on a bolt action. You'll appreciate the weight and having that muzzle farther away!!

Thanks AZ. It very well may not be a home garage type job. The fronts are coming along. Reasonably normal to old style non-floating caliper disc brakes. The fronts have regular spindles with inner + outer tapered bearings. I do have the original Chevrolet shop manual. It appears the spindle on the rears is a short axle that is pressed into something that is tied to the half shaft with a U-joint. This arrangement is all shimmed together to end up with .001" - .008" end play in the bearings. I'm hoping to have the fronts done this week depending on my hours at work. I'll start disassembling one rear and see if I can make heads or tails out of it. People on the Corvette forums advise against it. They take everything off including the trailing arms and send out for rebuild as a unit. $800.00 per side with your parts. Powder coating extra. I see why these cars have such a high retail. They cost 10 grand a year to keep 'em running! I'm pretty sure this car has an old style master cyl. One line coming out. Was brought to me with zero pedal and an empty cylinder. Maybe I'll look into the upgrade. Wow the Avanti. I remember those. Cool looking, but like you say...

Well it's my first. Started out as helping a friend. Master cyl, all 4 calipers, rotors, lines and new emergency brake parts. I'm just about done with the fronts. Did the bearings on the first and the rotor is running out .0025". Not bad, the manual says .002". I'll buy it. Hope the other side does as well. But, what I'm hearing and reading, the rears shouldn't be done by someone not familiar with them. Looks like alot has to come apart. The car is a 1966 convertible. So, has anyone here tore into rear brakes on one of these? Ron

Looks cool, Brenden. Nice work. That stock with the cheekpiece is sharp. So dark yet shows alot of figure. That's a poly finish?

Both of the above responses make my point exactly. One guy cuts a tree down and turns it into a riflestock. Full length yet. Although it looks great, he wears his heart on his sleeve and asks questions about the last sliver of wood that has to come off. Throws his confusion out there for the world to see. The responses run from full page explanations of minute stock details to a bunch of pictures of originals that few of us would have access to. And Tinker, whose motto is "I hope not to screw this up beyond repair" shows me a stock that was given to him in 6 separate pcs. Then has to show me the joints. In the sun could hardly see them. All while getting ready to eat Tanglewoods tasty pig. Tinker, the friends project is kinda like chamber pressure concerns. It's a complete brake overhaul on his really neat 66 vette. I've never opened the hood on one and they are really different. I just may question the crew here - I should have thought of that. Straight Shooter has probably done them.

I've been thinking about this forum alot lately. Thinking how cool it is, how great the members are, how well Tony built it and how lucky I am to have found it. This is because last week I started a project to help out a friend with a screwed up back. A non-firearm project. A day into it I realized there was more to it than I really understood. I want the result to be correct. This guy has done tons for me in the past 25 yrs. So I joined a board dedicated to the stuff this project is made of. I asked 2 questions. The post got 70+ views and 2 answers. Very short answers. On this board I've asked simple questions and more complicated ones. Each time I was flooded with responses on how to or "where to have it done" answers. Prices, books to reference and warnings about some not so good ideas. Answers from basement do-it-yourselfers to those that build and sell all out customs. No embarassments, no pride issues, no bulls&^%. Just solid answers. I'll always be thankful to this crew for having me as a guest. You guys are more than you think, trust me. Ron

Nice job. I like when that little curve of wood is left in front of the bolt release. And the way it sits like on a shelf of wood. Clean little details that resulted from careful handwork - neat stuff.

Cool. The least they can do is give him 4 or 5 tries.

Wow. Thanks for the link Don. I never looked them up on the net figuring they were a mom & pop shop working on old receivers. Wasn't too far off. LOL. I wish they were closer - our company would use quite a few of their services.

You have a couple avenues. One place is Blanchards. 1115 So. Pioneer Road Salt Lake City, Utah 84125. I think the cost is around 80.00. However, being based on furnace time, they will do more than one and the second one is less expensive. Assuming you can gang up with someone. Z1R also has another source. The source does not advertise. Maybe if you contact Z and he has others ready for HT, he can put yours in the mix. I don't know who his source is, but if they're good enough for Mike, I know I'd trust them.

Tasteless? Hardly. If anything, a taste of things that could come.

This may sound stupid, but what keeps them from separating in the barrel? I would guess the pressure moves it out even if they come off? Not being critical here, I have no clue - I've never made bullets of any kind. This all sounds interesting except getting the lead with scrap costs up like they are.

I'm cleaning up an old Rem .22 for a friend. A couple pcs need bluing. I've done spots like corners of revolver cylinders etc, but not a whole pc like a sight for ex. What brands have you guys had luck with? Thanks in advance, Ron.

I was told by a friend that firearms w/o #'s were grandfathered ie: the Higgins 50. He's not an expert but claims to keep up with this type of stuff. FWIW. I would think Z would have crossed this bridge at some point.

I've only done raceways on one 98. The lugs were not tight in the raceways so lapping them with the bolt would have only made things worse. (sloppier) My understanding for lapping raceways is for smoothing them up and somewhat for appearance. It's not hard and special tools are not needed. I had some 400 grit stones that are very soft. Using some modeling clay, I was able to make an impression of the raceway radius. IIRC it was about 7/16. I ground a radius on the face of the stone to approx 7/16 and devconed it to a long 5/16 rod. I honed the rails by hand using ATF for lube. The soft stone took the shape of the raceway well before removing any serious amount of metal. Easy and worked fine - for me anyhow-LOL. And ditto to what Tinker said about leaning on those lugs. Good luck, go slow.

If you look at how Ginsburg, Souter, Breyer and Stevens view things, 5-4 is exactly what I expected. I was worried about Kennedy, but since Scalia wrote the opinion, Kennedy was on board all along. The reason it took so long is that they hold highly controversial rulings until right before they leave for recess. Yes, new laws that micro-manage and creep right up to this new ruling will be written, but this decision delivered a blow to laws forbidding ownership. Plus it directly focused on the wording of the second amendment. The first step to precedence is one ruling.

A very important decision and the right one. Thank God. For all of us, including me, who are sick of the NRA constantly asking for money, I'm sure they were busy with this one. I'm glad they are there and feel 35.00 a year is chickens&?t compared to what could have happened today. I'm also greatful for Bush's 2 court picks. Both were in the majority.

"Older generation"??? Why you little... All kidding aside Brendon, thanks for the great news. I'm sure I speak for many when I say how glad I am things turned out well. Now then, go take your girly friend out for some ice cream or something. I'd join ya, but I gotta polish my cane and get some sleep.

Will do. Keep us posted.

My boss, the owner of the company, has one. It's a 4dr with an inline engine I think 8 cylinders. We took it to the Humvee plant in Indiana and he tells me, you drive. I said cool and was having a ball. About half way there, I'm pulling out of a toll booth and decide to let this thing breathe a little. So I'm bringing up each gear, but not beating it. It just keeps pulling like I'm in first. Somewhere around 4th gear the thing shuts down. It had a rev limiter at the redline. He goes "don't blow my f*%^#@g car up!" I says "hell it won't blow. It's pullin hard as hell. You need to have that limiter removed!" He didn't talk for a while, but he's okay. I don't know if there good to own, but they're a ball to drive.

Thanks for the great pictorial. Especially with quite a few new members this year. It's not trivial when it's done well.

Never tried, but it don't look kosher to me. The Brownell's tools have a pilot thus ensuring the edge of the crown is square to the axis of the bore. The carriage bolt head will polish the dish left by the stone, but what keeps the centerline of the radius on the stone concentric to the bore? Luck? I guess it depends on what the expectations are of the finished product. My brother once cut 2" off a Ruger 44 mag barrel. He used a hacksaw and a mill file to square it back up. Before he did this that gun would shoot 2 cylinders of 1500 fps 225 gr bullets into a 1-1/4" group at 50 ft all day long. I know because I sold him the gun. Afterwards...it shot the same way. Some are real good with their hands - me I would never have tried that. Just my opinion FWIW.

LC, isn't that stock the one you made from a blank of cherry? IIRC it was wood from you or your dad's property. That really looks good. The full length stock on a small ring, especially a Swede, is what my daydreams are all about. It's gonna be a ball to finish.