01 Mar 11 07:09, Mark Hofmann wrote to Roy Witt:   
      
      
      
    >> Yes I did. I was a tadge younger then, 65yo and just recently retired.   
    >> So I had plenty of time on my hands. When I was a Tool & Die   
    >> Apprentice, I worked part time in my dad's garage and learned quite a   
    >> bit about cars. I kept my hand in it over the years and only had to   
    >> rely on garage mechanics for a few jobs I didn't have the time or   
    >> tools for.   
      
    MH> That is very impressive.  I never had the opportunity to learn from   
    MH> anyone that had those skills, but would have really liked to.   
      
   I should have mentioned that I began to lean over fenders when I was 13.   
   Watching master mechanics gives you confidence to do that kind of work   
   when it comes to your turn.   
      
    MH> Similar to technology and tinkering, I have always had a mind and   
    MH> interest in fixing, modifying, restoring, etc just about anything.   
    MH> What I do know about cars is from AllData, searching the   
    MH> Internet/forums, or just trial and error on my own part.   
      
   That works too.   
      
    >> If I can ever get a website going to show the photos, I made the 56   
    >> Chevy steering column into a modern day column by machining some   
    >> bushings and shortening it so that I could use a jointed shaft to meet   
    >> the R&P steering connection. And unlike the original AC in these cars,   
    >> I ran the compressor lines thru the core support, rather than over the   
    >> top.   
      
    MH> Sounds good to me.  Would love to see the pictures..   
      
   Did I mention that I had to rebuild the gear box on my friend's lathe   
   before I could make those parts? Somebody had jammed the gear box by   
   getting something caught in the 3 jaw chuck and locking it up, stripping   
   the gears in the box. I found bearings, shafts and some gears online, but   
   not everything. So, it doesn't have two ranges of feed/threading speeds,   
   but it does have an automatic carriage feed that it didn't have before.   
   There's a shear pin in the shaft that drives the carriage, but it was too   
   strong for the spindle lockup and is why the box was broken.   
      
                   R\%/itt   
      
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