MONZORA redux: ‘65 Corvair + ‘94 Corvette mashup for 2019 Challenge

Spark it up, baby!

With CAD template in hand, I searched high and low for the 1/4-sheet of 16ga I bought last Fall. Didn't find it. So I got to thinking about the chunks of C5 rear crash beam and how I might repurpose bits of them:

yep, that'll work. A little death wheel, a little flap disc, a little bench vise, a big hammer, et voila:

a step bit, a big C-clamp, and a little (because old tip is too small for new wire) flux core later:

then I marked and trimmed the excess:

and got my CAD happening again:

I don't have an easy way to bend 16ga in this shape so I'll probably make this in 2 pieces. Tomorrow I'll pick up a 0.035" tip and keep the ball rolling.

While at HF, the smart part of my brain said "hey, just in case these don't fit, I should buy a spool of .030 flux core."  Got home with the .035 tips and they don't fit the Hobart torch.

thanks, smart part of my brain!

AngryCorvair said:

While at HF, the smart part of my brain said "hey, just in case these don't fit, I should buy a spool of .030 flux core."  Got home with the .035 tips and they don't fit the Hobart torch.

thanks, smart part of my brain!

Drill one out! Loving the Fe origami

In reply to wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) :

I only have one .030 tip and it's a borrowed welder.  So I removed the .035 wire and installed the .030

I decided that the lack of proper metal forming tools shouldn't stop me from trying to make that latest CAD from a single piece of 16ga CRS. Wasted two hours tweaking and re-tweaking it before I cut it in two and installed each piece separately. My folds were off by about the thickness of the death wheel. So here's the first piece tacked in place:

followed by the second:

then I added a third piece to provide a better path for the fore-aft forces:

I decided to not use any more bits of the C5 crash beam as I construct the same connections on the LH side, for a few reasons: it is pitted with rust in several areas; it is galvanized: and it is difficult to weld even when properly clean. Someone suggested that automotive steels are "tuned" for the factory welding process, and that tuning makes them difficult to weld with other processes. Maybe he just didn't want to call me a E36 M3ty welder.

With the RH outboard side tied together so sturdily, I was able to remove one brace that I thought was going to become permanent. Before:

and after:

Ditching that brace will make packaging the exhaust a lot easier.

I will start on the LH outboard side tomorrow. With what I learned the last couple days, and using only the 14ga CR (I have 2x3 tube as well as sheet), I think the LH will go a lot faster. Then I will still have a bit of work to finish up the inboard connections before I can put the suspension together and (gasp) roll it outside for the first time since 1/5/2019.

My original plan looked something like this:

but I chose to go with a different config, using 2x3x12ga (0.082") instead. Marked on Corvair rail:

laid out in high-dollar fab shop:

first piece partly burned in:

and that's about all I got done yesterday.

took a break for a 90-minute road ride with my 14-year-old.  Unlike her older sister, this one said "can we take (this other road)? It's got more hills." 

Today's list was short.  Mark and cut another section of 2x3 and weld it in place:

then start CAD for the outboard connectors:

I should have done more today. I spent a lot of time staring and thinking. It's supposed to get cold again tomorrow so I'm not sure what I'll get done.

Inspired by Robbie today, had to keep the ball rolling even if it didn't roll far. Turned a CAD template into another piece of C5 crash beam (because budget) and got it burned in:

then another:

and that's where I left off for the night. My welds looked like dog E36 M3 tonight, I couldn't find a comfortable working position and it shows. 
Over the next few evenings I'll get all these gaps closed up in all 3 dimensions. Then I'll throw the suspension together and set it down on all fours for the first time with the C5 rear leaf I narrowed. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I hope it works.

Looking forward to seeing it with the suspension mounted as a roller!

Thursday 4/23:  made 3 CAD templates, cut 1 of 3 and welded it in place.

tomorrow we will have warmer weather. I plan to cut and weld the other 2, which will complete the LH outboard. Then I can move back to finishing the inboard attachments.

Say, Angry. I have a request. Once you roll this outside would you mind giving us some wide shots of your modded areas? This is an inspired, ambitious build.

wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) said:

Say, Angry. I have a request. Once you roll this outside would you mind giving us some wide shots of your modded areas? This is an inspired, ambitious build.

you didn't have to ask, but i'm glad you're interested.  in the grand scheme of things, it's probably only a little more ambitious than your X1/9.

Fri 4/24 goals:

1. turn yesterday's CAD into today's patches, and 2. weld them in.  Done.

3. make at least 2 CAD templates for finishing up the inboard frame attachments.  Done.

tomorrow I will lament not having a sheet metal brake at my disposal. And I will continue moving the ball forward.

This is great.  Please more sir with the CAD and the welding and the grindings.

nocones said:

This is great.  Please more sir with the CAD and the welding and the grindings.

Especially the grindings.  That's what my welding needs most!

AngryCorvair said:

nocones said:

This is great.  Please more sir with the CAD and the welding and the grindings.

Especially the grindings.  That's what my welding needs most!

Leave them unground if you can.  They're stronger that way.  Work hard to make welds worth admiring.

TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) said:

Work hard to make welds worth admiring.

Words to live by!

Gonna skin this cat a little differently. Unfortunately this requires using even more of the C5 crash beam.  Teaser pic:

I was almost out of 16ga sheet and I don't have a way to accurately bend 14ga, so I went to a friend's house to dig through his scrap pile. He only had 18ga which is too thin for this job. Knowing I'd have to use parts of the C5 crash beam, I had a vision as I was laying out last night's templates, I was thinking it would be better for me to do lap joints, since getting tight gaps isn't one of my strengths. So I was looking for a way to get overlapping material and realized I could get what I needed from the remnants of the C5 crash beam. So I set up my layout and cut area:

and made some on-the-fly adjustments to the design:

then I spent too much time fretting over whether I should make the sides of top and bottom pieces line up to get rid of the diagonal fold. If I thought about this sooner, the parts would have been cut differently. Oh well, time to tack a few pieces together:

and this is where I had to quit because tonight is family board game night.

Second & third pix-

Didn't we discuss slicing fingers off a couple days ago?  :)

Like the example of the advice you gave on straight line

twentyover said:

Didn't we discuss slicing finger off a couple days ago?  :)

 

Not shown: me wearing air filter mask, eye protection, and ear muffs.  I will fess up that I am not 100% on glove usage.

AngryCorvair said:

twentyover said:

Didn't we discuss slicing finger off a couple days ago?  :)

 

 

Hey, I resemble that remark.

In reply to AngryCorvair :

Do not gloves with spinny tools

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to AngryCorvair :

Do not gloves with spinny tools

Yeah what he said.