Project : X-BOMB

How do you do the offset/indent pattern in the flat sheet panels? A tool I can get from Harbor Freight ?

DeadSkunk said:

How do you do the offset/indent pattern in the flat sheet panels? A tool I can get from Harbor Freight ?

Harbor freight bead roller with reinforcement to keep it from deflecting. 

Andy Neuman said:

Posting every day makes it seem like it comes together so fast when we aren't waiting a week for an update like the timeline shows. 

 The days in between are often filled with the other projects that we're working on. In the past  two weeks, we have pulled the engine out of Corvette, installed the new carburetor on Bugzilla,  replaced the rear gears in the Pontiac, replaced the inner cooler on the Pontiac, built an adapter plate for a non-standard GM bellhousing to a standard Chevy Bell housing, continued gutting the basement in the blue house  and went to two significant flea markets.   So, when you see the updates for yesterday's work  on the Nova  in eight weeks, you will think that we only got off the couch three days. But we actually did get some other work done.  

Day 53 - January 8, 2017

Installed cross member. Made and installed trans tunnel.

I love that your welds look like mine, versus the perfection we sometimes see.  Thanks for the photos.  I'm saving quite a few for future reference.  (For when eventually Tod finally retires, and we can try a more adventurous build.)

java230 said:

Thanks for putting in all the updates, fun to see it come together so fast, when in reality it takes soooo long.

Hopefully we can keep the daily updates going all the way to the end. Glad you are enjoying it.

spin_out said:

I love that your welds look like mine, versus the perfection we sometimes see.  Thanks for the photos.  I'm saving quite a few for future reference.  (For when eventually Tod finally retires, and we can try a more adventurous build.)

That's the key. Sweat is free. Glad that you are enjoying it.

Day 54 - January 10, 2017

Made template for drivers side footwell.

Day 55 - January 14, 2017

Made and installed 7 pieces. Cut out the last of the original crossmember. 8+ more pounds gone.

Your tin work is much cleaner than I'm used to seeing in build threads. Not that the welding is better, but the layout and simplicity makes the process seem simple compared to what I see reading threads on Yellowbullet or Pirste 4x4. Do you have some sort of "universal theory of tin work" or have you just done it enough that you've sorted out most of the bad ways and are left with the good ones?  

I’m really interested to see how you make or where you guys get driveshafts. That is my largest concern $$$ wise to my budget on my LS RX7 project. 

Yes, Driveshafts.

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

I think we have done it enough times to know how to do it. It never hurts to make the piece a little long and trim it once it is welded in. Making good templates is helpful. Good old Cardboard Aided Design.

Blowing the welds cool with the air compressor to keep from warping is another trick.

For really complex pieces, we get Cameron involved for some real CAD.

Andy Neuman said:

I’m really interested to see how you make or where you guys get driveshafts. That is my largest concern $$$ wise to my budget on my LS RX7 project. 

In past we have cut and rewelded on the big lathe. I bought it (the lathe) from a junk yard that was closing. We use a dial indicator to get tube less then 0.010" run out and shoot for zero. Two weeks ago we junked 23 driveshafts and still have over 20 long and 7 short driveshafts in the pile(s). Occasionally (25% of the time) we have one in the pile.  The LSR and Drag Week cars get new Strange driveshafts.  One came from a flee market and was the perfect size.  

Recently sold the big lathe to a buddy.  We are looking for a replacement.  

mazdeuce - Seth said:

Your tin work is much cleaner than I'm used to seeing in build threads. Not that the welding is better, but the layout and simplicity makes the process seem simple compared to what I see reading threads on Yellowbullet or Pirste 4x4. Do you have some sort of "universal theory of tin work" or have you just done it enough that you've sorted out most of the bad ways and are left with the good ones?  

 

There has been a couple comments on the welding. The starts and stops overlap and that makes and ugly cap when using a Mig. Many of the TV welds are TiG and done on a clock. Ours are in evening and production volume on tin work is more important than hourly profits. The frequent small segments are done to minimize the warping. Irregardless the bead will look agricultural until the grinder smoothed it down. It's one of those choices.....4 hours to weld OR 1 hour to weld 5 minutes to grind ... move on. 

In reply to wheels777 :

I hope I didn't come across wrong. I have a friend who operates a sheet metal/industrial equipment shop that specializes in materials handling for food plants, though they do a wide range of stuff. Your welding, and fabrication in general reminds me of what he does, whereas I look at builds online and very often get a picture of four inches of beautiful weld on work that utterly confuses me as to why it was done how it was. 

I think a lot of us get to the end of the project and wonder about how we ended up where we did. I'm always interested in the thoughts and planning that go into a build and how those change as a build progresses. 

So I don't have a problem with your welding at all. It's what I see in a shop that builds things instead of a shop that sends things to SEMA and I hope you don't take that negatively in any way. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

I weld in an industrial food processing setting. Many of the welds we do are on or near food contact surfaces, so precise, clean welds are favored over the weld/grind approach; this is to lessen the risk of foreign materials finding their way into the product. The other benefit to a clean TIG weld is that the finished bead has no pockets or spots for bacteria to hide in and grow. The downside, of course, is time... TIG takes time. In our setting, the trade-off of time vs food safety is acceptable, because food safety is our highest priority. 

For something like bodywork, you could use TIG, but you’d be wasting time. The prep work and time required for a good weld without warping is ridiculous. I’ve built machinery guards out of 16g stainless steel, and even for the small ones it’s 2-4 hours of making the pieces and prepping them, followed by 6-8 hours of welding. 

MIG is better for lots of tin work...

Andy Neuman said:

I’m really interested to see how you make or where you guys get driveshafts. That is my largest concern $$$ wise to my budget on my LS RX7 project. 

What year RX7?  I have a driveshaft I cut down 7 years ago for a RX7/SBC/T350 in the bed of the truck. The car it was in ran 11s.  You can have it if it will work. Also have a posi 3.90:1 rear (solid 1st Gen).  I sold all the TT (2nd Gen) independent stuff to DHerr.  

Day 56 - January 16, 2017

Began cleaning up rearend underneath the car. Made and welded in passengers side footwell panel.

In reply to wheels777 :

My RX7 is a 1987. The common transmission to use is the T56 or 4l60e but I believe the van I’m purchasing as an engine/transmission doner has a 4l80e.

wheels777 said:

Andy Neuman said:

I’m really interested to see how you make or where you guys get driveshafts. That is my largest concern $$$ wise to my budget on my LS RX7 project. 

What year RX7?  I have a driveshaft I cut down 7 years ago for a RX7/SBC/T350 in the bed of the truck. The car it was in ran 11s.  You can have it if it will work. Also have a posi 3.90:1 rear (solid 1st Gen).  I sold all the TT (2nd Gen) independent stuff to DHerr.  

If this is a 2nd gen RX7, you can use a stock aluminum C4 corvette driveshaft with the "small" dodge truck yoke bolted on with a conversion U joint.  If also depends if this is the small rear diff or big rear diff (Turbo or not).

wheels777 said:

Andy Neuman said:

I’m really interested to see how you make or where you guys get driveshafts. That is my largest concern $$$ wise to my budget on my LS RX7 project. 

In past we have cut and rewelded on the big lathe. I bought it (the lathe) from a junk yard that was closing. We use a dial indicator to get tube less then 0.010" run out and shoot for zero. Two weeks ago we junked 23 driveshafts and still have over 20 long and 7 short driveshafts in the pile(s). Occasionally (25% of the time) we have one in the pile.  The LSR and Drag Week cars get new Strange driveshafts.  One came from a flee market and was the perfect size.  

Recently sold the big lathe to a buddy.  We are looking for a replacement.  

Define long please.  I want to put a one piece shaft in my truck vs the 2 piece with carrier bearing in my truck, but get mind blown every time I see 1k price tags for a 1 piece aluminum shaft for a non lifted ex-cab long bed truck that see's zero mud/wheeling time. Still get's drafted for farm duty occasionally at mom and dads.

Mr. Lee said:

wheels777 said:

Andy Neuman said:

I’m really interested to see how you make or where you guys get driveshafts. That is my largest concern $$$ wise to my budget on my LS RX7 project. 

In past we have cut and rewelded on the big lathe. I bought it (the lathe) from a junk yard that was closing. We use a dial indicator to get tube less then 0.010" run out and shoot for zero. Two weeks ago we junked 23 driveshafts and still have over 20 long and 7 short driveshafts in the pile(s). Occasionally (25% of the time) we have one in the pile.  The LSR and Drag Week cars get new Strange driveshafts.  One came from a flee market and was the perfect size.  

Recently sold the big lathe to a buddy.  We are looking for a replacement.  

Define long please.  I want to put a one piece shaft in my truck vs the 2 piece with carrier bearing in my truck, but get mind blown every time I see 1k price tags for a 1 piece aluminum shaft for a non lifted ex-cab long bed truck that see's zero mud/wheeling time. Still get's drafted for farm duty occasionally at mom and dads.

That is usually because the longer the driveshaft, the lower its max rotational speed can be.  If you want a long stock type driveshaft, it may only allow that truck to go 55 mph before assploding.  That's where lowering the weight and increasing the diameter of the shaft can allow higher rotational speeds.  Hence, the extra expense.

wvumtnbkr said:

Mr. Lee said:

wheels777 said:

Andy Neuman said:

I’m really interested to see how you make or where you guys get driveshafts. That is my largest concern $$$ wise to my budget on my LS RX7 project. 

In past we have cut and rewelded on the big lathe. I bought it (the lathe) from a junk yard that was closing. We use a dial indicator to get tube less then 0.010" run out and shoot for zero. Two weeks ago we junked 23 driveshafts and still have over 20 long and 7 short driveshafts in the pile(s). Occasionally (25% of the time) we have one in the pile.  The LSR and Drag Week cars get new Strange driveshafts.  One came from a flee market and was the perfect size.  

Recently sold the big lathe to a buddy.  We are looking for a replacement.  

Define long please.  I want to put a one piece shaft in my truck vs the 2 piece with carrier bearing in my truck, but get mind blown every time I see 1k price tags for a 1 piece aluminum shaft for a non lifted ex-cab long bed truck that see's zero mud/wheeling time. Still get's drafted for farm duty occasionally at mom and dads.

That is usually because the longer the driveshaft, the lower its max rotational speed can be.  If you want a long stock type driveshaft, it may only allow that truck to go 55 mph before assploding.  That's where lowering the weight and increasing the diameter of the shaft can allow higher rotational speeds.  Hence, the extra expense.

Oh I get that, I'm just on the lookout for a less spendy option. Spending half the purchase price of the vehicle for an upgrade that you will never use the full potential of, just seems.. Wrong. I've got a few days off coming later this month, I'm going to take it down to the driveshaft shop that's a hour away and see if they can at least balance my current shaft. I'm getting sick of chasing a highway speed vibration.

Day 57 - January 22, 2017

Worked on tin around rear shock towers.