Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Maybe I'll buy one of those blow up dolls to ride shotgun. I hear they don't complain a whole lot.


Don


Side note: When I lived in California I remember people using these blow up dolls to pose as passengers so they could use the carpool lanes and get to work quicker. The cops were arresting people all the time for that little trick.

I needed a couple of small pieces of 3/8 inch thick plate, big enough to make 2 brackets to mount the rear of my wishbone to the rear axle, so Thursday I went to the local steel supply shop and looked for some "drops" as they call them. These are pieces they have left over from a job they have done, and they put them in a holding area when you can pick through. Unfortunately, there were no small pieces there, but I did find a large piece, measuring 28 x 56 inches. It was way more than I needed (and it weighed a ton) so I had them cut it in half for me. Total cost was $ 80.00, but it will last me for quite awhile, and I won't have to dig through the "drop" stack the next time I need some of this size.

Trouble was, it still weighs like 80-100 lbs, so I had to cut it into a more managable size to shape it on the bandsaw. What I did was mark off a piece 7 inches wide, and I clamped a piece of angle iron across it to use as a straight edge. I put a couple of pieces of shim stock under the angle iron so it was not touching the plate. Then I slipped a large nut over the tip of my cutting torch so that I could slide the torch along the angle iron and get a reasonably straight cut. Sort of a poor mans flame cutter.

It actually worked pretty well, and now I had a smaller piece that I could handle. I thought this idea might come in handy for any of you that need to cut a straight cut with your torch. I also remembered that you have to put a flat piece of steel on the concrete under the plate because the torch keeps exploding the concrete.

Oh, I also put a couple of long pieces of 2 x 2 box tubing under the plate to elevate it away from laying directly on the floor.

The pictures below will show the angle iron clamped to the sheet, and the nut slipped over the tip of the torch. The nut keeps the torch tip exactly the same distance from the plate you are cutting. All you have to do is slide the torch along as it cuts through the plate.

Once I had the plate cut into a size I could handle, I made up a cardboard template of the shape I needed the mount to be. Well, actually I made up about 6 templates, because I could not get it right the first 5 times. Good thing cardboard boxes are free. Once I had the shape and size worked out in cardboard, I transferred it to the 3/8 thick plate, and cut out that shape on the bandsaw. I'm glad I don't use 3/8 a whole lot, this stuff is hard to work with.

I finally got two plates cut and ground, and they are going to work fine. I was a little worried because I can't mount the wishbone up against the rear axle housing because the frame is so low. I needed to drop the rear down about 5 inches to get the wishbone to sit level. I hate seeing rear radius rods that are pointing downward in the front. It ended up ok, though, and I made up 2 gussets to go on the side of the plate to give it some lateral support.

We also rethought something we had previously done. We were going to use a 5/8" grade 8 bolt sticking out from the inside of the frame to mount the front of the wishbone. But we looked at it tonight, and were afraid it might not be strong enough, so we have decided to use a bung instead, welded into a 3/8 plate that is also welded to the frame. The bung has 5/8 fine threads (female) so we can simply screw a bolt into the bung and safety wire it for additional insurance. We are going to do the same on the front wishbone mounts.

The first couple of pictures show the rear wishbone mount being made, and the last picture shows the bungs we are going to fully weld to the frame and 3/8 plate.

The plan is for the car to be up on wheels by Sunday PM.

Thanks for looking.


Don

looking good, you're working so hard i had to turn my oxygen intake reg. up from 2 to 3 just reading about it.

Thanks. I may have to borrow that oxygen from you. I'm one beat puppy right now. I keep telling myself this is fun, this is fun, this is.................

Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Thanks. I may have to borrow that oxygen from you. I'm one beat puppy right now. I keep telling myself this is fun, this is fun, this is.................

Don

let me know, i probably could find some extra.

What is it they say about "the best laid plans of mice and men" ? I thought by tonight the final welding would be done on all the frame brackets, and it would be sitting up on wheels, unsupported. Well, I blew the car apart, back down to a bare frame and did all the grinding so we could finish welding it all, an we got started on the first plate and bung, and the mig tank ran out of gas. Dan just had it filled last Friday, so they evidently gave us an empty bottle. He noticed as soon as he put the new bottle on that the gauge was registering zero, but he thought we had another bad regulator. No such luck.

Not only did it screw up my day, it messed up his too, as he was planning to hit it real hard on his '29 and try to get some key stuff welded. Now he won't get another chance until next week. Anyway, here are some shots of the way we are going to do the wishbone mounts. The last picture is of the only one we got welded before the gas ran out. He was wondering why the bead didn't lay down as nice as he wanted, now we know........migs don't work real well without gas.


Don