Thread: Project Sebring GT Spyder

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Very nice pre planing and work. I also found that pre planing future removal of things pays off well when the time comes.

Definitely a lot of thought and planning. Built very well too! Where will you locate the new filler cap?

Thanks guys. I've made my share of down the road service blunders. I now try to really think about how something would be fixed if I was on the road somewhere with just the tools I can carry. I can't always pull that off, but it's my goal.

Steve, I'll be using an expansion or surge tank. That's a small tank with a radiator cap plumbed into the return heater hose connection on the water pump. The LS steam lines plumb into this tank also. Many of the LS powered cars had this type of system from the factory. I'm pretty sure the C3 Vettes were plumbed this way too.

Ah that I believe is the same sort of setup on my Toyota MR2 Spyder. Drove me nuts trying to find radiator fill cap, radiator is buried under front trunk(spare tire holder, and there is a Plastic reservoir in the rear engine compartment that has a pressurized cap on it. Really a bugger to burp air out of the system when fluid level drops in the plastic tank! Once you figure it out, you get more careful about opening the tank when warm!
Nice progress!

Nice work getting your radiator mounted and cool tip on the plug for the radiator. Your aluminum welds don't look bad at all. I've paid to have worse ones put on before.....

The fan shroud was next on the list. I used two 10" Spal fans. I tried 11" parts first, but that was just a little too optimistic. They almost fit, but in the end, there just wasn't enough room. That's too bad, because the 11 inchers pulled quite a bit more air than the 10" parts. The fans I used together are rated at over 2200 CFM in free air. Hopefully, it will be enough with the restrictions of the radiator and AC condenser.
I started on the shroud by making a test part out of card board. I have a few large pieces of this stuff and it's a lot cheaper than aluminum (free). I found out that I needed a notch to clear one of the connections on the power rack. I probably won't need it, but it's there.



The shroud is made from .060 aluminum. I welded the seams. I hate to use my tools as an excuse for poor work, but I think my ancient TIG machine is about to play out. At least for welding aluminum. The welds looked terrible. I was struggling to keep a good arc and the puddle just wouldn't flow out like it should. The machine is approaching 40 years old and I think the capacitors in the high freq unit are getting old. It welds steel nice, but aluminum gives real problems. The corner welds look OK, but the weld on the notch filler had to be ground down and finished. I pride myself on making decent looking welds and almost never grind a weld, but this job got the better of me. It might be time to bite the bullet and replace the machine. The new generation of welders are so much more sophisticated than mine that there really isn't any comparison.
I riveted a piece of hardware store aluminum channel to the inside of the shroud to stiffen it. With the fan cut outs, there wasn't much metal left for strength. The channel took out the flex. These are the first aircraft rivets I've ever done. They were pretty easy and I'll definitely be using more of them. About half-way through the welding, I was wishing that I had riveted the rest of the shroud together!





I used rivet nuts in the shroud to hold the fans. That way I can change a fan without having to pull the shroud. I also, used rivet nuts in the lower radiator mount to hold the shroud on. I just bought a tool to set rivet nuts and I'm finding that I should have bought one years ago. Way quicker and easier than welding nuts on.

Well, after I wrote this up, I did decide to get another welding machine. I have a good bit of welding to do on the car and figured I would make it easier on myself.

I spent several days shopping before making a decision. I went with an HTP Invertig 221. I looked at what Lincoln and Miller had, but their really good machines carry prices are geared more for an industrial customer. The home shop machines they offer have very little "duty cycle". That's the percentage of time out of 10 minutes that they can actually be welding as opposed to cooling.

There are some cheaper machines out of China, but they all looked like disposable units. The heavier duty machines were still way to expensive to just throw away if they failed and repair parts looked iffy.

The HTP machines have a ton of features, good duty cycle, and they are reported to have excellent customer service. They have spare parts, but rarely seem to fail. I actually had a hard time finding one bad review from someone that had actually owned and used one. They are built in Europe.

I went ahead and got the water cooled torch. It's smaller and lighter than my old air cooled and won't heat up during long welding sessions.

It did put quite a big dent in my car finances though. I hope it doesn't cause a money delay in the finishing. The old machine has been sold to help offset the cost, but being as it was so old, it wasn't worth much. I sold it cheap to a friend that really needed a machine for stick welding in his workshop, since his old gas powered welder had died and he had no way to weld anything.



The old machine is in the background. Sad to see it go. My dad bought that machine for our welding and machine shop back around 1980. It was the first piece of equipment we bought for that shop. Been a good one, though.

Nice work on the shroud! Riv nuts can sure save ya in a pinch too. So many uses for them. Sorry to hear about your welder. I've been considering selling my other mig machine that has a spool gun so I can put that towards a new miller 215 that does tig, stick, and mig. The duty cycle is what has me hesitant. I'm not in a hurry and don't want to purchase another pos welder.

Times 10 on the RivNuts, a great way to add a fastener when it's hard (impossible) to reach the other side.
I should've bought a set 10 years ago!

After a while, let us know what you think of your purchase. I've seen the HTP units, but have been hesitant to pay for one without knowing anything about them.

Thanks guys. So far, I'm pleased with the machine, but then again, it's brand new.

This new machine is inverter based and it seems tiny compared to the old transformer machines I'm used to.

My biggest problem isn't with the machine, it's with me. I taught myself to tig weld on the old machine that I sold. It used a button on the torch that had to be held down the whole time you were welding. I had no amperage control other than the knob on the machine. This new machine has a foot pedal for remote amp control and it's taking some getting used to. I totally get the advantages of the local amp control, but it's a new set of motor skills to learn. The new machine can be set up to work just like my old one, but I want to get used to the pedal.

The new machine also has settings that I'm not used to. I'm having to learn what they do and how they affect the welding. When set right, they make the job easier, but get them out of adjustment and they can really screw things up. For instance, I was practicing on some aluminum scraps and messing with the settings. I managed to completely melt the tungsten in the torch. It's a learning process. Luckily, I don't mind learning new things.

What model of "tool to set rivet nuts" did you get? Always helpful! I have a plate to install in my floor boards to access the master cylinder fluid chamber, this would seem the best easiest way to go about it

One thing you can try for your new tig:

Set your amps to what you will need, no more.

Then, you can just run the pedal wide open, release at the end of your weld. That will povide function similar to what you're accustomed.

Use the pedal like driving your car--right foot------want more heat, push the pedal down-less heat let up some----after gas welding for a long time , I found that tig welding was just like moving from a tractor to a car/truck--------

And remember that the pedal full down will only do as many amps as you have set on the dials--------

I love the new pulse machines
they are great for setting timing dabs

Steve, the rivnut tool is an Astro Pneumatic AO1442. Here's an EBAY link to the place I bought mine:

ASTRO PNEUMATIC Metric and SAE 13"Thread Setting Hand Riveter kit AO1442 | eBay

There are a bunch of tools out there pretty much just like this one. I bought this kit because of a review I found on YouTube from The Fab Forums. For all I know, he got his for free from someone who sells them, but he seemed to be happy with it. Probably not the best way to make a decision, but they're all from China and without them on front of you to compare, you don't have many options.

I've set all the inch sizes it will do and it works fine. I did buy a 3/8-16 mandrel since it didn't come with one. After a little depth adjustment on the mandrel, which is easy, it set the 3/8 nuts with little effort. As with anything from China, no way to tell how long it will last.

Thanks for the advice Firebird and Jerry.

I started out setting the max amps at the machine and holding the pedal wide open, but lately I've been easing into setting a little higher and feathering the pedal to get the heat I think I need.

Jerry, you're right that the pedal felt natural under my right foot. I also learned to gas weld many years ago when I was a teen. Making the jump to TIG wasn't too bad. It's still about making a puddle and nursing it along to make a bead.

I had to do a minor mod on the exhaust the other day and I was amazed at how easy it was to ease into the amperage and get tiny little fusion tacks on the 16 gauge tubing. When I weld it out this weekend, I'm going to give the pulse a try.