MadScientistMatt said:I've used similar bend lines in thinner metal. Were those just bent with a vice and a hammer, or something more sophisticated?
That's 3/16ths steel and if the outer bends had a little more meat to them maybe the bends would have worked. I ended up cutting them and welding them back together.
Remember a few posts ago when I said I could get 16 gallons of fuel in the car? Well nothing works better than getting an actual item in your hands. A friend of mine (Jeff Pritchard) answered my Facebook question about a fuel cell and said he had one at the “friends and family” discount. Strangely enough this was one day after driving down that way to pick up the wheel tubs. Oh well it’s a nice drive with the classic rock station playing “Fat Bottomed Girls”. Turns out that I can get a more useable 22 gallon fuel cell in the car.
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The unicorn truck needs to become a lot less of a truck and more of a Cougar. We will strip it down and retrieve what we need and sell as much off as we can. I recouped way more than I originally paid for the truck anyways. Despite all that was removed today it still drives around the yard.
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Even though I already MIG welded the car, I felt that for a better looking cage I would have my friend Brent Johnston over to TIG weld all the visible welds. We ended up grinding a lot out so they wouldn’t be all lumpy. Brent worked for a local chassis welder for several years and welded aerospace for 18 years. I hounded him to join the union and he now is one of our best stainless welders. He also is now the shortest welder in our hall, a title formerly held by my other friend Dwayne Rudkavitch.
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Nice work. Those welds remind me of the welds of a guy I used to work with that was a certified high pressure welder.
DrMikeCSI said:Nice work. Those welds remind me of the welds of a guy I used to work with that was a certified high pressure welder.
Thank you.
Just a start on doing the wheel tubs. I bought some weld through primer from the local auto body supply place. WHAT JUNK! That crap went everywhere. I looked like the tin man when I was using that E36 M3. Don’t worry in a future episode I find a much better product. I have some pictures here but it’s not that detailed as I needed both hands many times when a good picture could have been taken.
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I ordered the Ride-tech R-joints along with my suspension links and the coil-overs and it finally got here. Well most of it got here. They didn’t ship the suspension links. SIGH!
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Some more FOMOCO goodness is coming below. Just thought you should be warned, LOL!
Today we decided to put that money we spent “on the car”. In other words those coil-overs will look better on the car than sitting in the wheelbarrow in the sea can. Some of this will work out just fine and some will apparently not.
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Earlier in my build thread I stated that the guy I ordered my Vette parts from was a flake. Although none of the big stuff was missing a lot of the little bits didn’t make it here. Today I had to make something simple that was supposed to come with the deal. As long as the initial stuff took, I decided that it would be easier for me to just manufacture it.
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I needed to remove the U-bolts that were holding the rear end in place. They were interfering in the placement of the coil-overs. Because of this I had to make some fake radius rods and install the links for the watts linkage so it all stays in place.
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Today’s project was to do the driver’s side wheel tub. We can see if I learned anything from that one?______
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Anybody who has ever tubbed a car knows that the trunk hinges become a problem after tubs are added.
We figured a solution and put that idea to the test.
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Today’s project was to create an upper shock mount cross-member. The original brackets that you saw before were never going to work. I don’t feel bad about that as they were specifically designed for the front coil-overs. I had just assumed that they could work at the back also. HMMMM.
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We decided that the rear coil-overs finally needed to have their mounting points finalized. We started with a gusseted and double bolted bottom mount and then moved to the upper cross-member mounting. This is another place where using clamps, taking accurate measurements and double checking are the order of the day.
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Those fancy Ride-tech R-Joints are just sitting there and they needed to be put on the car. Besides this would make the car easier to roll around on its own springs. That would not happen till much later, but that was the thought on that particular day. Let’s get the suspension links in!
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This project was for the upper 3rd link mount that attaches to the chassis. It was freaking hot and I got as much done as I could but the day was short.
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The other day we were working on that 3rd link mount and had to stop because it was too hot. Surprise, it’s still too hot, and we are going to finish it if it kills us…….. One of these days that may come true.
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We are going to break something today. Sorry we are going to “brake” something today. The project for the day is to mount all the calipers on the car. The longer stuff lays around and doesn’t get bolted on the better chance you are going to lose something.
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We are nothing if we are not creative. I needed a stiffer sway bar and when mine was interfering with the coil springs, I brained! Shorten the one you have and you gain stiffness. BRILLIANT! Necessity is the mother of invention and I didn’t want to have a custom bar made until I have time to setup the car.
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You are doing some very cool work here. And kudos for being disciplined enough to take so many pics as you go.
love to see it all coming together
l don't comment much on your thread, but you're doing awesome work and I look forward to seeing how everything turns out. Wish I had your fabrication skills for my own MN12 project(s).
Dropped by the Union Hall, Local 254 Plumbers and Pipefitters. Talked Mark Olson into welding up the ends of the sway bar. Thank you brother!
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ou may remember that I had taken a hydro-boost assembly from my nephew’s old Astro-van. You may also remember that I said I wasn’t going to use it. My mid-engine project from several years ago donated its braking pedal assembly. It was almost brand new and I figured with the amount of brakes this car was going to have it would stop just fine. And we are off to install that dual master assembly!
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