Awesome! You are THE man!
So far I haven't been able to contact the CohlineUSA rep. Keep missing him or getting the busy signal & voicemail. Still hoping to find out if it made the shipment that went out this AM.
The insertion tools are well underway. I'm assuming that the people who already have the fuel line kits want their insertion tools ASAP, & the ones who have ordered a kit + tool want them shipped together. If this is NOT correct, pls send me eMAIL.
Verell, If people are beatting you up, I can wait awhile for my insertion tool. My car is still in many pieces and will likely remain so for awhile. So you are free to send "mine" to someone REALLY needing one and I'll wait a bit for a later model.... Verell FI Line Insertion Tool I.P. (Improved Product.... ) Mark
Mark, So far it doesn't look like there's a problem. Per you're request, I'll put you last on the list of kits to be shipped to people who already have received their kits. Should know Monday if the Cohline made that air shipment, or if we're going to have to wait for the May container. I'll also see if I can get it on a 'waiting list' in case someone else requests an air shipment before the May container.
Just got off the phone w/CohlineUSA. The special parts that were coming by air haven't shipped yet, they're in mfg, should ship tomorrow or the next day. They don't have confirmation back from Germany yet, but the only reason our line wouldn't be in the air shipment would be if the factory was having to run some off. They will notify me as soon as they find out. BTW, I still have 2 April kits if anyone's been waiting to find out.
Good News: Rcv'd confirmation that our line is in stock in Germany. Less Good: "The special order parts are still holding up the air shipment, hopefully tomorrow." is what I got. INSERTION TOOL PROGRESS: I'm still making them, They're about 50% done. Will ship late this week. You will get eMAIL from USPS when it's shipped. Sorry, didn't get much done yesterday, checking & finalizing fed tax return took all weekend + yesterday & half this AM. Figured I'd get it done Saturday AM as it usually just takes half a day to check & fix a couple of things. Would have been a real disaster if I'd had to go back & forth with an accountant. Tis done, but what a PITA!!! Was incredably complex this time due to my forced early retirement last year, just couldn't believe the stack of forms I had to check, then fight with TurboTax about. Had to call all over the country yesterday & this AM to get missing 1099 info that was never sent to us. Gotta give Cindy credit, she had just about everything figured out & entered correctly, including stuff I'd forgotten about. Mostly it was the missing 1099s & some stuff that she hadn't known about & I had to dig it up. Good news is I think it's all there, complete & hopefully accurate.
I've got 10 tools underway. All the top & bottom half sections have the alignment post grooves precision machined. The halves are also drilled & pinned together. Let's see, that was 20 precision width alignment post grooves precision (+/- 0.005") cut, 60 guide post holes drilled, then 30 of the holes were drilled 0.0015" oversize for a sliding fit. Still need to drill 40 more holes + 40 clearance bores, + milling 20 clearance bores for the banjo fittings. I'm going to err on haveing the alignment posts fit a little tight. You can always run a couple of passes with a file if you want it to slide more freely. Have to go back to the HW store sometime as I bought 5mm cap screws, when should have got 4mm.
re: another run? At some time yes. Right now, It's getting into driving season & I'm not seeing a lot of people coming forward & asking for kits or tools, so my suspicion is that I won't do another run until after the holidays next year when more people will be getting their cars ready for driving season. However, based on the time required for this run, I've got to see at least 4 or 5 requests before I'll start another one. BTW, unless I mess up & ruin some of the tools, there are 3 unsold ones in this run. I've learned the hard way to start with some extras, otherwise one ruined piece & you may have to spend several hours replacing it. The cost for a small run is in the many tool changes, part positioning/clamping setups. For example, I spent 15 minuites each for the 3 table saw setups to cut the 0.255" wide slot for the alignment posts. By cutting the parts for 10 tools with each setup, the setup time/tool for the alignment groove in all 4 parts was 4 to 5 minuites. Yet it would take me 45 - 50 minuites to go back & make the alignment groove in ONE replacement part for a tool! I havent done a full count(should have) but I it will take around 14 - 16 different setups/tool changes at roughly 5 to 15 minuites each to make N tools, whether N is 1, 10, or 100. Classic example of 'economies of scale' & 'mass production'.
Made reasonable progress today. I'd thought there was a chance that I'd finish, but as with Ferris, everything takes longer... All 10 bottom halves are completely finshed!!! The top halves are now drilled & pinned. The alignment posts have been cut to length. I still need to drill the tops & alignment posts for the set screw, tap the setscrew hole into the alignment post, mill the banjo recess, drill the banjo barb hole, & double drill the stepped size hole for the injector line. Based on today's progress, I expect to finish up around 9:00 tomorrow evening. Definitely will ship the orders for tools w/o kits Friday even if I don't quite finish tomorrow night. Now if that Cohline will just show up: No news from CohlineUSA today, didn't get a chance to call them. Will ping them tomorrow AM.
BAD NEWS: Received another update from CohlineUSA: "It will ship tomorrow." Getting it shipped next week is looking really iffy. I need a full day to measure & cut to length, sort into kits, box them up & get shipping labels on them. Next Tuesday afternoon (both FedEx & UPS deliveries come mid afternoon) is the latest it can arrive here as I'll have all of Wednesday get the kits out. However, by the time they unpack & reship to me, odds are it's going to get here either Wednesday or Thursday of next week. Wednesday afternoon is too late as Thursday I'm committed to help Cindy get ready for our early Friday AM departure. GOOD NEWS: The tools are almost done! I just need to tap threads into the alignment post holes & assemble them. Probably another 2 hours will see them done! Will pack up & ship to those who already have kits tomorrow AM.
Broke the tap on the 2nd alignment post! I just can't believe it, I even drilled the holes slightly oversize so they'd tap easy! I friggin never break taps, so didn't even think of needing a spare. I've had that tap since 1988, a Craftsman Kromedge. Haven't used it a lot until recently, but that Kromedge set was made back when they used real chrome-vanadium tool steel. I've used other taps in that set a lot, & they're still as sharp as the day they were made. In the 45 years I've had this set, I've only broken one other tap, & I knew I was taking a risk when I broke it. Since this is the last step prior to assembly, I'm stuck till I get a replacement tap. Luckily my local HW store now carries metric taps, so I'll take a drive 1st thing tomorrow AM & pick up a couple of whatever kind they stock. Hopefully they'll get me thru this project. Chrome-Vanadium taps are still being made, just hard as heck to find.
Buy taps from Mcmaster or MSC or Rutlands . .. they carry professional grade machine tools . .. compare prices . .. you get what you pay for.
Sean, that's so true, Craftsman tools ain't what they used to be, haven't been since the late '80s. Back when I bought that set, Craftsman tools were as good as any commercial supplier's. Now they're better than HF & NorthernTool, but not commercial grade by any means. Anyway, Just finshed tapping the last hole! Local HW had Vermont American M4x.7 taps for a whopping $4 each. Only HSS, but it did the job after I drilled the holes another 4 thou oversize. That's some hard key stock!!!, even tho McMaster claims it to be annealed for machinability!
I wasn't happy with the way the alignment posts were fitting in the bottom pieces. Just sticking too much, & would sometimes rub when clamped in a vise. So I pulled the bottoms apart & ran a milling cutter thru them to open up the slot & deepen it slightly. Big improvement. DMaury, mwr4440,gt500blue, & DiscoInferno: Your tools are all but on their way. They're packed, have prepaid labels on them, but the local post office closed before I could get there. Will go out tomorrow AM fer shure.
Thanks Verell. No hurry here, I barely have any time to work on the car as it is, so getting it running with the new fuel lines is a ways away yet.
Lou,et al, Your tools are all built, the holdup is that I haven't received the Cohline for your kits yet, it's still enroute from Germany. I couldn't reach my CohlineUSA contact yesterday to get the shipment's status. Must get it Monday or Tuesday to ship it before I leave for 2 wks travel. See post #64.
EXPECTED KIT SHIP DATE: Tuesday, 13 May Called CohlineUSA yesterday. The air shipment hasn't left Germany. The special mfg. run of parts that's been holding up the air shipment didn't meet QA standards & has been delayed again. Target airship date from Germany is later this week(sigh). I'm sorry, but there's no way it can get here, get kitted & shipped before I leave for my 2 week trip this Friday AM. In fact, it's unlikely that it will get here before I leave. The Cohline should arrive while I'm traveling & be here when I return. I'll be back sometime Friday, 9th. My plan is to make the kits on Monday, 12th, & ship Tuesday the 13th. I'm sorry about all this, If I'd had an inkling that it was going to go down this way, I'd have passed the hat for another $10-$15/kit & had them do a special air shipment for us.