Gauge Cluster

picked up this used cluster for $150.

quite a bit smaller than i thought...

cool nonetheless.

How much does it weigh?

i keep getting asked this.

i also get people saying "oh thats gonna be heavy" when i tell them im making it out of mild steel instead of some ultra low weight carbon fiber kevlar nonsense that they think it should be made out of.

well..maybe this pic helps:
weigh so far-191 lbs.
fab time so far-31.5 hours

(my shirts not tucked in...just small)

Welding

even with a crappy welder at the shop (still trying to find a better one) i was able to get out a few good looking welds. here are some of the better ones.

Milestone #1--a completed chassis

Well today was a big day for me. I spent another three hours at the shop. first item of business: welding and grinding down the faces of the firewall and the front bulkhead that the beam rails would be welded too.

next up i coped (or "fishmouthed") the ends of lower center rails that go through the firewall so they could be welded to the lower rear crossmember. this was a little tricky, and i got it wrong three times and and grind it down farther each time. i wasnt using the right tools, which would have helped.




once all of that was properly aligned, and the frame was aligned against a wall, i set the lower side rails (complete with unwelded crossmembers) on the ground against each subframe. the lower rails were tacked, then the crossmembers. next i positioned clams to hold the upper rails and dash crossmember up while i tacked it in place. all in all, after my three hours of work, this is what i have:

while it's still not 100% complete (i still need to add all the 1" pipe triangular bracing, and gusset plates), it is everything i could do with my initial shipment of metal. so everything that was once just a pallet of rough cut steel, is now a part of this chassis somewhere. next up is triangular bracing and suspension wishbones.

total fab time to date:
25 hours

-gecko

back on track.

got down to the shop today after work. i told myself as i got there that i wasnt going to leave until the compound angles were cut. after a little bit of tricky math and some creative thinking, i had two upper beam rails mounted on magnets on the frame.

i also re-blasted my gloss black cv axle and hub and sprayed it flat black. i got high temp semi gloss black on the header, and orange on the front hubs (the rear hubs will recieve then same treatment once i get the axles off).

i also got the frame in perfect alignment using a wall, and a stress line on the floor. i was very pleased to discover that every measurement on the car was within 1/8" of actual blueprints. everything was level and true. pretty amazing considering i built it on a shop floor with a tape measure and a square. i did a little happy dance. (no one was watching).

i cut the holes cut in the upper beams for the dashboard rail and called it a night.

i was a happy camper.

total fab time to date:
22 hours

i slowed down a little bit

so i was just killing it once i got the keys to the shop. well i've slowed down a little bit since last weekend. went to see the girl, and worked on CAD drawings of the suspension wishbones instead of manual labor.

got back to actual work today and cut and filed the holes for the lower crossmembers of the passenger compartment. four holes total were cut out of the two side beams that are the main rails on the lower sides of the pass. compartment.

next will be the compound cuts for the upper rails, and coping the ends of the engine cradle beams that stick out under where the seats will eventually sit.

i made one of the lower side rails too long by about 1/4" so that will be corrected as well.

total fab time to date:

18 hours

day eight

headed to the shop last night to blast and paint my hubs/spindles. spent about an hour down there cleaning them all up. i painted one gloss black and hated it, so that one will be reblasted and repainted.