Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Today I spent about 10 hours finishing up the darned driveshaft hoop assembly. In my wildest dreams I would never have thought something so simple could take so much time. What caused that amount of time was getting the parts ground and prepped for welding, and then welding it all up.

The 2 peices of 1 x 1 tubing that run fore and aft were obviously hollow, and I didn't want water getting inside, so I capped them with some pieces of small steel. Then I was able to finalize the position they will lay in on the two round crossmembers, and insert the three hoops. Once those were welded up I made four tabs that will be mounts for the center of the plywood floorboard.

All in all, there are fourteen bolts that will hold the body to the frame. My '27 only has 6 as do most T buckets and the like, but since I have to cut the floor in half after it is glassed, I didn't want any possibility of it sagging or being loose. By bolting it down in that many places it should never move or create any stress on the fiberglass body.

Here are some pictures of what I got done today. Now that this hurdle is done I can do the fiberglassing this weekend like I hoped.

Picture one shows the hollow tube I wanted to cap

Picture two is the cap in place and clamped for welding

Picture three is the welded and ground cap

Picture four are the two tubes with the hoops welded on

Picture five are the four tabs I made to mount the inside of the floorboard to the hoops

After all that was welded up, here is the finished assembly mocked up in place. I won't weld it to the frame until the interior is totally glassed up so I can safely cut out the center of the floor to fit over this assembly.


Now it's time for a shower and some late night dinner.

Don

Don those little pieces get the fingers warmed up. Some nice fab work keep it up im still learning here.

Its always the little things that eat up the time, but those are the things that show craftsmanship Looking good Don

Thanks Bob and Charlie. I feel lots better since I have that part of the build out of the way. What a pain, but it had to be right to really support the center of the body.

Well, after 6 hours sleep I am back on the job. Today my project is FIBERGLASSING. My first stop will be to pick up a paper suit so I can seal myself up and hopefully avoid the itches tonight.

Might have some pictures of a semi-completed interior to post when I get home tonight.


Don

You going to have the Michlin Man over doing your work???

Don---Here's a tip---If you shower in hot water, it opens the pores in your skin up, and the glass particles can get deep into your pores, and not wash off. The obvious solution to that is to shower in cold water immediately after finishing your fiberglass work. Now, thats really good advice, but your a better man than me if you can bear to shower in ice cold water. I always found that full coveralls and disposeable rubber gloves did it for me.---and a good 'blow-off" with the airhose just before I took off the coveralls.---Brian

Try duct tape. Take a roll and pull off enough to wrap back onto the roll so the sticky side is on the outside. Roll it on your skin, the adhesive will pull most of the fibers. This may be hazardous to you hairy guys and gals.

Good ol fiberglass ...you aint living till you have done the backstroke in fiberglass particles.
I know very little about fiberglass and I may have not done the right things ,....but the last time I did some glass,I used a paint brush to make sure I had a couple of thick coats of resin on top of the glass to keep the fibre burried deep down under the sanding/ grinding surface.It seemed to help with the itchy /scratchy deal...but it just may have been myself telling myself that it helped to keep a good mental attitude going

I may be a little bit twisted, but the fact is, I have always enjoyed working with fiberglass. the itch factor never really bothered me all that much, and I was always impressed at the results that you can achieve with it. And its one of those things where the more you work with it, the more you realize the potential of the stuff. I scored a whole box full of latex rubber medical gloves, and they certainly cut down on the mess you have to contend with when "wash-up" time comes. I like the smell of the resin. As long as you can get your peices outside for the initial "clean-up" grinding, then it doesn't even make that big a mess inside your garage.

I guess it's time to dredge up my old tip on removing glass "slivers" since we have a bunch of CRS afflicted folks around here. Wipe down any "infected" area with wadded up panty hose, the fine mesh snags the little buggars quick and easy.

How you acquire the panty hose is your business. In Don's case I'm sure it would be harmless.

Bob---Its a lot more fun if someone is wearing the pantyhose as you do the wiping----

Originally Posted by brianrupnow

Bob---Its a lot more fun if someone is wearing the pantyhose as you do the wiping----

You forgotten what Don's girlfriend looks like?

What would be real fun is use them to remove the fiber glass then return them to where you got them,and sit back and laugh. I know theres a mean strek in me somwhere. In Don's girl friends case I dout shed notice

Originally Posted by brianrupnow

Bob---Its a lot more fun if someone is wearing the pantyhose as you do the wiping----

Ya mean there's another way to do it!!!!???????