Midlana: First "Book" Build

I finally got back to work and made most of the suspension pick-up points for the right rear. I got 3 of the 6 tacked in place before I ran out of shielding gas. The upper rear nut is tight, but should fit!

I cannot recall, is that nut staying put and the bolt threading into it?

If so, you may want to consider fabricating a locking ring to attach to the nut, making your own flag nut specific for that application. I know if will work as you have it, but you're asking that nut to hold itself against a round shaft, which is a bit weird, or you're holding an open end wrench on there, which is just inconvenient.

You've already demonstrated yourself a skilled fabricator. Just make one of these guys that fits perfectly.

Yes, the bolt will thread in from below. It will probably be some sort of lock nut when it is finish assembled. I like the flag nut idea.

All of the right rear suspension points are welded on, and the jig has been removed. I need to add some gussets and then move on to the other side.

Good to see progress!

I got the brackets gusseted yesterday. I'm debating if I need to add more to the upper mounts.

I finished boxing in the suspension mounts last night, and started fully welding them. It appears my harbor fright auto-dimming mask has finally given up the ghost. It kept flash burning me...I think the internal battery is dead.

I've been slacking on my updates.

I fixed my quality Chinese welding helmet today following this guide: http://www.pskl.us/wp/?p=648

I then got to work finishing welding the right rear suspension mounts. I then re-assembled the jig backwards for the left side and found....

....because of warping or lack of careful construction the upper left part of the subframe is forward of where it should be by about 3/16. Not the end of the world, but disappointing.

I've been moping for a few days, but should get back to work tonight.

So quit moping and get back to it!

I've been working on the suspension brackets. They are time consuming! I got about 1/4 of the way through them last night, then ran out of the washers that I am welding to them to reinforce the holes.

Any updates with this?

Splendid waste of 2 hours at work on a Friday. Would read again!

Awesome work man.

Thanks. Back to it this week!

Finally back at it. It felt good to be back out in the garage! I got the second lower suspension bracket made and mounted.

I've been working on the car, but not posting updates. The rear pick-up points are almost all done.

I found a typo in the plans that caused me to locate the forward lower points 1/2" farther forward than they should be, causing those rod ends to hit the main hoop. Of course I test fit the rod end AFTER laying down some nice, thick welds in areas that I can't get a grinder in to cut them out. A little creative clearancing with MAP gas and a hammer and my rod ends fit.

Stupid question: how much clearance do you have? Any chance of binding issues when the rod ends get play in them?

Right now I have about 1/16" on one side, and about 0 on the other. I need to work on it a bit more. Good point about binding.

Great build thread, hope you finish it!

Glad to see this back on top.

We will have to get together for a little "behind the seat" fun when both our cars are done.

this is definetley getting me excited for my build!(you posted your link in my thread) the only issue i saw with your early welds is in one picture i saw that your dime stacks were a little far apart(i did the same thing when i was learning that technique) causing some porosity. just be careful not to let the weld pool cool before you loop back. other that that they look gorgeous!get a wire wheel for your grinder and they will look GORGEOUS. I dont mean to sound attacking or anything, just observations. Honestly i find when most people try the mig like tig look they often cold weld, which is much weaker. but, your fabrication skills have me insanely impressed, so im not telling you how to do anything!

as for your harbor freight auto darkening hood, Id invest in a speedglas one, I have one and absolutely love it to pieces. but they are spendy... i got mine for 500ish on amazon. super durable, comfortable, and has changeable batteries!!(im sure you realized those would be nice) but i think its only worth it of you will be welding A LOT. since youre nearly done, i dont really see it being worth it.(but they do look pretty bad ass i think)

Thanks. Yes, my welds have become noticeably better as construction has progressed. Before I started I hadn't done much welding in several Years (and that was on a stick welder and a crummy flux core mig). Some day I want to get a nice welding setup, but for now my swap meet special "power mig" and el cheapo HF helmet work OK.

Been working almost every night, but not updating the thread. Not sure if the progress is interesting enough for you all to read.

Yesterday I started work on the rack/radiator support. The plans have this piece welded to the front of the chassis. I am changing the design slightly and using a piece of 1.5" angle (from an old bed frame) to bolt this assembly to the front of the chassis. In the event of a fender bender this piece will be likely to be damaged, and in theory I can make a new one and bolt it on if the worst happens.

Because the passenger side rack mount can float on the rack I have have it mocked up with the mount and its tube shifted towards the center 1-inch putting it right against one of the old hydraulic fittings. This will give me a bit more room for the bolt to attach this assembly to the chassis.

Im watching closely. I want to build one of these.

I spent an hour and a half in the garage last night drilling two holes.

It's a big pain to drill a perfect perpendicular hole through a tube once it's attached to the chassis. I came up with a crazy combination of levels and squares and did it though. I still have to drill two more though...

The radiator/steering rack mount is pretty much done.

I still need to drill 2 more holes to mount it to the front of the chassis, and finalize how I'm going to mount the bottom of the radiator.