The Car Thread

[Janowski710]

Thanks! Still has a long way to go before it's show worthy. We redid the whole backhalf of the frame. Built it on a table and then squared and welded it. It has a triangulated four link.

Next we had to tub the firewall so the tires would clear.

I'll put some more up later this week of the bed floor and the drive shaft tunnel.

[Elliot]

Looks fun.
May I suggest covering all glass when grinding and welding. Sparks WILL melt into glass, forming "sandpaper". Ask me how I know.

[Joeln]

Looks fun.
May I suggest covering all glass when grinding and welding. Sparks WILL melt into glass, forming "sandpaper". Ask me how I know.

My (nearly) new safety glasses are a real treat for exactly this reason...

[some seeing eye]

This is not my project - it's a gentleman from the Netherlands. It's not a car, but still might be worth the inspiration...

The best thing about this project of building your own RV is that it has a modern interior, not a Hollywood-Trumpian-rocker baroque interior.



More: https://sites.google.com/site/bigbuszz/

It has much more advanced mechanicals than US RVs and a "mechanical room" in the back above the engine and over the wheels. Central vacuum too.

Build your bern

[Janowski710]

Looks fun.
May I suggest covering all glass when grinding and welding. Sparks WILL melt into glass, forming "sandpaper". Ask me how I know.

Yea, it had a big crack across it and had to be replaced so we didn't worry to much about it. Nothing like rusting glass lol

[Elliot]

What is the Stuff engine restorers/builders sometimes use to secure ill-fitting bearing shells, and also to ensure heat transfer out of the shell? I was thinking it might be a Loctite product, but apparently not. Nor Gasgacinch.

[EGAZ]

I have used J-B Weld before, but I don't think that is what you have in mind.....

[Elliot]

JB Weld is good stuff, and it might very well serve this purpose. But I vaguely remember there was something else... maybe even specifically intended for the purpose. Heat transfer would be important.

[Skuzzy61]

Fun catching up. Elliot, love the plane bus. That is going to be a hoot.

I am still busy with the Cobra and am rebuilding a 64 Ranchero also. The Ranchero is not going to resemble what Ford built when I am done. I'll use it to tow my Cobra to shows/events.

Took a lot of time, but I managed to build the entire Ranchero in my finite element analysis tools so I can properly add support and strength where I need it. Right now the truck is gutted down to the welded structure.

[ranger magnum]

I am back working on the 65 convertible. It's been 2.5 years since I started, and usually a resto takes me about a year. But in my defense, I finished the bel air, and also rebuilt the engine in my rv.

The goal is to have it done by July 13, which is the date I tore it apart in 2015

[FIGJAM]

att: Captain Godamnit, Dodge recall on steering nut for all trucks up to 2018!!!

[Elliot]

As Ygmir might say... sooo many possibilities -- where do I begin?

[Skuzzy61]

I find a plasma cutter is a good place to start.

[Canoe]

I find a plasma cutter is a good place to start.

It can certainly create a place to end.

Faster than sawsall, safer than chainsaw...

(Pre-cnc, I had one in a shop that followed an optic path template on another table. An early model, it wasn't exact to the template path. But it was very consistent, so the template could be reliably modified for a consistent final cut.)

[Skuzzy61]

I find a plasma cutter is a good place to start.

It can certainly create a place to end.

Faster than sawsall, safer than chainsaw...

(Pre-cnc, I had one in a shop that followed an optic path template on another table. An early model, it wasn't exact to the template path. But it was very consistent, so the template could be reliably modified for a consistent final cut.)

The only time I hand cut, today, is for things that cannot fit on the plasma table.

I finally added training wheels to my hand held cutter. Hands are not as steady as they were when I was a kid. For the new stuff, I have an 8'x8' plasma table outfitted with a Hypertherm 45 torch.

The only issue I ever had with the table was venting the smoke. It can generate a lot of it, fast (slicing and dicing 1/4" aluminum generates the most smoke). Finally built a hood, on top of the table, with a 4500 cfm blower venting outside. That manages to keep up with it.

[Skuzzy61]

WOOHOO! Got my new 60 gallon air compressor in (https://www.rolair.com/products/air-com ... industrial)!

That is going to make life so much easier. Now off to get a sand blasting hopper and cabinet! WOOT!

[tatonka]

transmission went out on my 66 Plymouth . The motor had rust in all the water paths , so I had a old 75 ply, with slant 6, and trans So I pulled that motor , and will put the whole works in the valient. Have so many other projects tho , don't know when I will get to it

[Skuzzy61]

I can relate. Got two active car projects, at the moment (65 Cobra and 64 Ranchero) and got a wild hair this weekend thinking about stuffing a 289 I have laying around into a 2007 Mini Cooper and convert it to rear wheel drive.

Sometimes I have to slap myself to get back to reality.

[burner von braun]

[Miura-7]

Got my Phatmoto the other day, motor came 2 days later. It looked like it fell off the truck a couple of times. Doesn't matter, my plan was to trash all the crap parts anyway. Had a bad experience with a 65 fastback, decided to keep my projects inside the margins of my qualifications. Spent some time, and money researching, how to keep 425 ponies planted on a slalom course. Got all the parts I needed. Didn't have the skills or tools to put it together. "Long story short." The only thing the body shop stripped, was all my parts, and a $2500 deposit check from my bank account. Meanwhile at another ranch, the mechanic was swapping my premium parts out, for whatever was laying around the shop. Got the motor re-rebuilt at a professional machine shop. Got the body repainted for $1300 at Maaco. Then my BFF, got the crazy idea, she could sue me for palimony. Sold my condo, sold the engine to a friend who had a TR4 hot rod project. I then took the Toploader, threw it in the painted shell, and sold it for next to nothing, the next day. Stayed friends with my BFF, till she, and her daughter got happily married. They were always out of my league anyways. I'm glad they found their way. Moral of the story: Keep It Simple Stoopid! Still I got 1 classic in a bubble, 4 project vehicles, 1 project boat, a storage unit full of stuff, and a dually itching to go west. OCD, ADD, if it ends in disorder, it's probably me. When I discovered Burning Man, my first plan, was to trek 1000 miles to the other side of Missouri. Pick up a pair of 1943 P23 Fairchild skeletons I found on EBay. Turn one into a giant motorized, glo-in-the-dark joint, while the other one was yet-to-be-determined? I scrapped that idea when I determined, I have to much stuff already. My new goal is to get a visible tattoo, that says "K.I.S.S." Gotta get small, get organized, and get the hell out of Dodge! I've never been a big Chrysler fan. Even the GLH Omni, always felt like it was gonna lose parts, when it was flogged. See how I get! This was supposed to be short. OK! Phatmoto gas bike project! Comer K-80 go kart motor, longer PTO jackshaft to spin a 48V wind alternator, lead acid battery charge only. A 48V 50AH Chevy volt battery on a bicycle trailer, 3500W power inverter, an HPC Thunderbolt front hub wheel with clutch, and a 3000W mid-drive motor, because? Why not! Maybe I'll ride that westward...... "Nah!" ....Oh! A nuvinci n380 read hub.

[Skuzzy61]

And so it goes,.....

Add a 62 Corvette to the project list now.... Wife wants her own classic.

[Miura-7]

I drew a picture of the 62 and the 63 split window. First and second generation. I wouldn't be brave enough to drive an expensive work of art. My latest interest is the 3d printed Divergent. Of course 700hp is a bit of overkill. Drop a 300hp turbo Hyabusa motor, with an airshifter, and I'd be threading the needle to work, in bullet proof fashion.

[Skuzzy61]

There is no way I would put her into a restored 62 Vette. Too dangerous. The shabby brakes (by today's standards) alone are cause enough for me to not do that.

I'll stuff a C5 underpinnings wrapped in a 62 Vette body. That will be much safer and more reliable than the original.

[Miura-7]

Look up 3d printed Divergent. Yeah, I would definitely keep all parts in the Corvette family. The Divergent was my thought for Hyabusa power. I always put suspension & brakes first. Overall balance a close second. Too little, is better then too much, when you are sorting things out.

[Miura-7]

Imagine using a 3d printer to recreate 62 Covette, on a cnc machine. Then be able to set it up for a C5 drivetrain, in this universe.