Cuban Chrome, sent in by reader Pat…

Homies had to make their bolts – seriously. Dude needed a 4mm bolt. They can’t find one. Their machinist friend makes it for them.

These dudes are hardcore, and where Cousin Phil will be after the end times.

No CNC. No Home Depot, Lowes, Ace. Dude with a machine lathe making what they need, and helping them rebuilt their hoopties. Like the old days here.

Phil should bend a knee he doesn’t have to make bolts and body parts for his sprite.

21 thoughts on “Cuban Chrome, sent in by reader Pat…

  1. Wouldn’t you think if they were such mechanical geniuses, they would produce their own cars, airliners, airconditioners, boats…

    Instead of sewage?

    • Yes he could, I want to know if he scored with Ginger or Mary Ann… His brain must have been attractive to one of them.

    • That radio was on script.

      Fix a two foot hole in a ship’s hull… that’s off the reservation.
      Can’t have that.

  2. I smell propaganda. Discovery Channel ? pfffffft. Tales of guys doing what they need to do with what little they have, meanwhile showing life is “not so bad” in communist Cuba.

      • Several of the car magazines have visited there and documented the Hot Rod culture in Cuba. *IF* you have money, anything can be had. But the Average Jose makes do with what he has available, and does an amazing job. Putting a diesel from a forklift into your ’52 Chevy makes sense if it keeps the car running, and usable.

  3. My guess is the Sprite uses Whitworth bolts. Those are 55 degree threads not 60 like the current standard. Make sure you have the proper angles when you single point the thread. I have a Stahlwillie measuring gauge for Whitworth. I hear whispers of Rammstein when I open that drawer on the tool box. I almost got to make some bolts for a Rolls a few years ago. But my shop tuxedo was at the dry cleaners.

  4. When you watch it, don’t focus on the why. We know why.

    Focus on the what.

    Then think, given the gubermint heres antipathy to the auto industry, how long before we get there and are combing junkyards for a stupid ECM for your F-150.

  5. I watched a show on NPR about 10 years back called, IIRC, American Cars in Cuba. These guys are hard core. They love American cars, but have no source of parts. So they improvise. Some specialize in paint, some trannys, one guy even does windshields. Amazing work.

  6. When I was a kid we lived near a cool junkyard. Copters, aircraft, cars and trucks – you name it. The old guy who ran the place taught me a lot of shit. The most important: One day he handed me a 10-inch mill bastard file, and said “with this, you can make nearly any tool to make any tool to make nearly anything. Keep it clean, don’t bear down, and never backdraw.” He then showed me how to use it properly.

    • So true. I have two drawer fulls of files. I can sharpen drill bits too. By hand. Smaller than a one eighth inch is hard, tho.

    • yup, had a old time machinist give me one and asked me to make a
      perfect square steel cube. it is a hell of lot harder than you think it would be to do. but I did learn a lot from doing it.
      like how to use a file and a square the right way.
      also explains why I have close to 40 different shapes of files downstairs today.

  7. I have driven cars from the 30s and 50s ONLY for 53 years. (No modern cars)
    OK, I do have a modern car, Its a 1966 Chrysler Convertible thats been in my family for 50 years but I dont drive it often. Too new

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