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Post by Ruppsforever on Apr 3, 2009 20:29:59 GMT -6
Hey Joe... from the looks of that close up of the hex it looks like the face is cracked. Does anyone else see this ?? I hate to see someone get hurt !!
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Post by Joe Marshall on Apr 3, 2009 20:58:50 GMT -6
I belive that its a manufacturing blemish but I will Have Pops look at it closely.
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Post by rupprally on Apr 4, 2009 11:43:16 GMT -6
nice photos,nice story, thanks for sharing.
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Post by Joe Marshall on Apr 9, 2009 20:03:21 GMT -6
OK the ship came in with some parts we were waiting on. Pops has moved on to the glass work. The lower front of the glass looked like it was following a snow plow for a few hundred miles while it was spreading rock. The nose tip of the hood was also damaged when I dropped it while unloading it from the trailer. The front tip caught the end of the trailer and it wasn't pretty. The spindle holes in the lower side panels were pretty rough and cracked. The tie rod end was hitting on the inside of the side panel and spider-ed the glass on both sides. Besides the tip of the hood it was in good shape. No real damage or cracks. One item that Pops was insistent on was the red gas line. They came with red gas line from Rupp and that was what was going back on it. He even dug around for the original gas line clamps. He had ordered some from a supply place in town. The guy told him oh ya its red. It was back ordered for 3 weeks and when it came in Pops went down to pick it up. PINK, yup, it was as pink as pink is. Needless to say Pops wasn't to happy. So I saw that Bill Stull had red gas line listed on his web site so I gave Mr. Bill a call. "Is it red and not pink," is what I asked and Bill assured me that it was rupp red. Well as you can see it is red. Thanks Bill. another shot Looking down the barrel of a 440. I have to ask, "Do you feel lucky punk?" Now that the gas line is installed Pops was able to put the air box and council back on. I did point out that those throttle cables needed to be turned 90 deg. if they are going to fit through the hood. This one makes me feel like I am back standing in the showroom looking down at a new sled. Notice the prop in the upper right. Liquid encouragement!
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Post by Ruppsforever on Apr 16, 2009 16:46:42 GMT -6
LOOKING GREAT YOU GUYS !!!!!!!
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Post by Joe Marshall on Apr 27, 2009 7:14:42 GMT -6
UPDATE! We are getting closer. Pops missed a few days to go fishing! Really, fishing. I mean what can you do with workers like this. Back when I was a kid we worked from dark to dark with no breaks. These kids these days! Just kidding you Pops, I have a cold Schlitz in the cooler for you. So we went forward with installing the decals on the chassis. At this point we are down to glass work. The cans and pipes went on along with the seat and side pad I think Pops is up to 4 rounds of sanding and painting. I think he likes the primer grey. He wants to leave it primer grey and put the decals on and be done. Ain't goina happen! This week we will see the rupp red paint start to go on. So as long as we don't have any major mishaps with the red/black paint or decals this project will be complete in the next few weeks. At least the sled portion. I need to start putting together the display of images, history and memorabilia to display at Rupp Fest 09! We are at this point planning on making Rupp Fest this year. We will not be bringing the 75 F/A but we will probably bring the 76 and 73 Nitro sleds. We hope to have time to throw in some parts to sell as well. What they are? You will have to be at Rupp Fest!
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Post by snikr on Apr 27, 2009 10:53:08 GMT -6
Very nice job Joe! I should send you my panels from my 72 Nitro "project".
Tom
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Post by Joe Marshall on Apr 30, 2009 7:27:24 GMT -6
Thanks Tom,
The only issue is that the 72 panels are plastic not fiberglass. We may see some rupp red parts this week!
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Post by snikr on Apr 30, 2009 10:26:50 GMT -6
The panels I have are fiberglass. I think they are some you could get from the factory after they found out the plastic ones broke in the cold ALOT!
Tom
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Post by Ruppsforever on Apr 30, 2009 23:15:02 GMT -6
Joe !!! Tell your Dad to knock it off !!! He's going to Add 10 pounds to that sled !! Its going to slow it down !!
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Post by Joe Marshall on May 1, 2009 8:54:50 GMT -6
HAHAHA,
Well seeing I put on 20 lbs. since we last raced it 10 lbs. in paint isn't going to hurt.
I talking about weight Pops really wanted to get a bulk head made out of aluminum back when we did the original restoration in the 80's. We just didn't have the means back then to do it.
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Post by Joe Marshall on May 31, 2009 7:55:10 GMT -6
First off I must say that I am sorry for the lull in posting updates. The economy forced us to cut staff at the office so the few that are left are buried. I got to look through the site and it seems to have slowed down due to this thing called spring. So lets see if I can help pick it up. Well it seems that Pops has been sniffing the paint fumes and is off fishing yet again! He did make some progress although the GM paint code really has him wound up! After much counseling I told him that we have to do it for the children, we must us the GM paint code for the children. That seemed to hit his soft spot and he agreed to paint it, but only for the children. After much debate he, (we) went with the clear coat process. I don't know automotive paint so I had to take his word for this. Here is the hood out of the paint booth. It still need to be rubbed out. Here is the hood with a color swatch of the black that still needs to go on. The side panels and nose piece came out really good! Although I told Pops that I wasn't sure how well those would hold up after a season of ditch riding though the 6' cattails. He didn't laugh. The inside of the panels were sprayed with a watered down paint mixture to try and give it more of the factory look. Now we are on to the time consuming part of fitting the panels. Getting the panels to go back on and align with the bulk head, front nose and aluminum trim. The only issue we came upon was the nose cone. Now this is how it was as far as we can remember. The left side, when standing in front of the sled, is pushed up. So Pops and I had a brain storming session on this. Brain storming usually involves sitting in the garage, looking at the issue not really saying much while sipping on a cold beverage, while the brain spins around and around. Note, you are not to slam the cold beverage during a brain storming session as this will undoubtedly alter any solution. So our thesis is this. The left side aluminum bracket was bent out or up that the nose cone attaches to. Why? We believe that this may be a Rupp engineering solution to allow clearance between the hood and the exhaust pipe on the left side, when standing in front of the sled. We all know Rupp's solution on the drive side was to take a 3.475lb hammer and pound the hell out of the expansion chamber on the pipe not only to clear the drive clutch but also to clear the hood. Now don't any of you kids at home try this because this was a precise and controlled manufacturing process. So back to our issue. If the bracket was pushed down to give the nose cone a symmetrical look then there is only 1/8" clearance between the hood and the exhaust pipe. The drive side pipe has 3/4" clearance. Ok, you Rupp heads out there. So were the F/A's nose cones symmetrical or was the non-drive side pushed up to get the clearance between the hood and the pipe? Here are a few more pics, Enjoy!
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Post by daren007 on May 31, 2009 8:10:44 GMT -6
After doing a bunch of there sleds i do not recall the clerance issues discussed here. If the hood clears the pipe without the clutch installed then that should answer the question. If the pipe had to be raised for clutch clerance then it is your baby. Remember this sled began life with the Rupp Clutch. dc
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Post by nitrofa340 on May 31, 2009 9:57:47 GMT -6
.......not to mention most Rupp bulkheads are at the very least slightly bent/tweaked.
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Post by daren007 on May 31, 2009 10:49:20 GMT -6
Almost all have been bent. dc
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Post by rupprally on Jun 4, 2009 20:19:50 GMT -6
if the pipe is too close to the plastic wrap the pipe with insulation so it dont melt it.
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Post by Joe Marshall on Jun 5, 2009 18:09:52 GMT -6
Ok so Pops sent me photos today of the completed sled. All I can say is HOLY S*#T! That is one shweeeeet lookin sled! I will have photos posted soon!
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Post by Joe Marshall on Jun 6, 2009 13:37:12 GMT -6
So almost exactly 4 months after we started this project we have reached the end. It has been exciting to see the resurrection of this old gridiron beast be brought back from it's sleepy tomb. Going through the pieces and trying to find replacement parts as needed has been a real thrill for me. It took me back to things that I haven't thought about for over 25 years. The greatest part of this journey has been the time I got to spend with Pops. Racing every weekend was a always a blast but to be able to come back 25 years later and sit and talk about what we were able to accomplish out of Pops little shop. I mean we are talking Sampson and Goliath here. So the sled may not win a best of show but this project wasn't about making a show winning sled it was about getting to spend some time with Pops and too share our story about what it was like 25 years ago as an independent taking on the factories. I hope everyone has enjoyed this project as much as I have. I have to give some major props to Pops for doing all of the dirty work and putting the time into this to make it what we see before us and what you will all see at Rupp Fest. I also what to thank Intech Graphics, Bill Stull and Snowsnake for helping out with parts that were needed. So lets get on with it. This is what you will see if you don't hang on tight enough and punch the throttle. I almost did this on the first run of the winter back in the 80's. My legs shot out from under me and I was only hanging on to the handlebars looking off to the sides to stay on track because I couldn't see over the dashboard. If you are seeing this you have much bigger problems than you do in the first photo. Pops came up with this one. Ya he still has a few things laying around. And no we never ran Rupp oil in this sled only Klotz The underside of the glass came out great. The top side was ok as well. As you can see we left the slide rail lube system in tack. The light doesn't do the finish justice so you will all just have to see it live at Rupp Fest 09. See you there! In closing I did have a dream last night about this sled. Rick Cramer and I were out riding in the late winter the snow was melting and it was sloppy out. Anyway I was laying into the throttle standing it up on its end and then letting it come back down over and over. Rick was on a 76 liquid and we ran them a few time but I always had it up on its end. At the end of it I turned it over and saw that I threw 8 cleats and it had sliced the tunnel up and the snow flap and there were weeds and mud into everything. I turned to Rick and said Pops is going to be pissed! thank God for dreams!!!!!!! Joe Marshall
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Post by motoclimber on Jun 6, 2009 18:00:44 GMT -6
The F/A turned out great. The whole story is great to read. To bad I won't be at ruppfest to see it. Great Job that thing is sweat
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Post by snikr on Jun 7, 2009 18:20:07 GMT -6
I wish I could go to RuppFest as well just to see this sled. Very nice job and I'm glad you got to spend time with your Dad. And I think it is a show winner!
Tom
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