Projects Haulin' ass in fiberglass

I gotta keep it down about Corvettes. The wife has a C3 and happy wife, happy life ya know......

 

Slicks are due in today. I'm all giddy n shit

 

Pretty sure I've eliminated one cause of traction loss. Next......

 

**** PURISTS LOOK AWAY IMMEDIATELY! ***
Was going back and forth for a couple months (since nothing else is happening with it) about how to secure the radiator to the firewall. I set the firewall back 4-1/2" so the stock support rods were too short. I was considering welding a 4-1/2" extension on the radiator bracket, or trying to make rods that much longer, but came up with this low budget fix. Made a couple SS bushings 1" long and threaded 5/16"-24 to match the existing rods. Got a couple 5/16-24 SS bolts and cut the hexes off of them. Threaded the shoulders for the nuts and voilla! Not as clean as making new 1 piece rods, but "functional".

 

Good thinking.

 

A few pages ago I mentioned the moron I bought the project from had modified the steering arms. Instead of just clearancing the caliper brackets, he hacked the arms. Sure glad I found and replaced (today) his handiwork before it killed me. Don't take anything for granted when you buy a car from somebody.....

 

Ouch
Good catch.

 

Good catch.

 

Wheel porn Wednesday! 4.5 x 15 American Rebel Starburst with 175/65-15's (24" dia) got here today. It's got all new shoes now, so at least it'll roll again.

 

I was looking at those wheels for my 41 in the bolt on variety, any better photos of them ?

 

Looking great!!

 

They take "tuner" lug nuts (and I won't get them until today), so what you're seeing is the front on jackstands with the wheels just sitting on the studs. It'll be on the ground Saturday and I'll be pulling it out for better shots of the wheels and stance.
It was a toss up between these and the American style spokes but since I'll actually be racing this I thought these would be stronger. Definitely nails that altered look though.

 

I need to find something to match these Team lll's, which also take the conical seat lug nut.

 

I would call American Rebel and see if they can drill Sprints with conical seats (their wheels are drilled to order, so shouldn't be a big deal). Difference is the Sprints have a smooth face at the bead.
What you have looks identical to the old Rodmaster wheels, but they're hard to find nowadays.

 

Lug nuts came and couldn't wait until the weekend. Just the look I wanted though I'm researching lug nuts I'm more comfortable with.

 

Man, those look nice hhmmm
I matched my rears up with a couple different skinnies I have in ford pattern, one set being Gyros which would be similar to the Sprints.

 

Can't go wrong either way. Spoke or kidney bean style are both classic. Looks good. What to do, what to do.....

 

Looks great, when you going to the track

 

Unfortunately, this project will stall again for a few months as the new garage is built.

 

Well, since the last post I've been working from home. This has been a curse and blessing project-wise. The curse is walking into teh garage and just staring at it trying to find something constructive to do on it with as little space as I have available. The blessing is I have the time to DO something if I find it.
No pics ('cuz who really wants to see it), but I'm back on pre-wiring the dash panel. Had to go back to square one on what I was thinking when I first started it, but after that decided to make a few changes. Switches are the same, but instead of them triggering the relays by grounding them, I'll need to do it on the + side so the switches illuminate properly. No big deal, the relay won't know the difference.
Pics of traditional tie wraps later....

 

As promised..... thoroughly thrilling wiring pic. This does make laying out the dash harness and testing WAY easier.

 

Solder, test, solder, test, repeat. Only circuits left to add to the dash harness are the toggle functions to the relay block. Sounds more impressive than it is.... 4 more wires then I'm out of "stay home" make work.

 

I like the lighted switches, will you be able to see the lights in the daylight to know whats on?

 

The interior will be rather dark with as little window as there is with the chop. The reason for the lighted toggles isn't so much for being able to see the switches themselves, but the color they cast on the face of the dash. The switches are arranged so the starting sequence goes from left to right. Shutdown is the opposite, even if they aren't bright on the dash, moving your hand under them will show if they're on.

 

Not much progress on the build, but made a decision on how to get around a nagging issue I've been fighting. Not having a TIG welder has limited what I can do as a MIG isn't always the answer. Farming welding out to my neighbor or a shop creates big delays, makes planning nearly impossible and everything snowballs if something unexpected happens.
A few things to know upfront..... I have no real training on TIG (hell, MIG for that matter) so this is a big learning experience. Fortunately, I bought a bunch of chromemoly tubing cheap so I can practice on the same material I'll be using on the roll cage. Read tons of posts and reviews on different TIGs and ordered a Primeweld TIG225X last night to move things forward. For what I'll be doing it's a great value for a hobby machine since I won't be needing a real commercial TIG. It might take me longer to finish the car going this route, but being able to ultimately do most of my own welding should pay off in the long run.
With the new garage hopefully done by next Spring, it should open up all sorts of possibilities.....

 

So...... you know you're bored when you get as little done as I have. Good news is we've hired a contractor to build the garage so in a few months I'll have 3 times the space I do now and will be able to get going on the '32 again.
Until then the '32 really won't have any progress. I've been buying tools and equipment to get ready for the new shop. I bought a new TIG and cart but started looking it over. There was no bracket to hold the Argon bottle (I haven't bought yet) in place or any convenient way to store TIG rod, so SOMETHING had to be done.
I made a copyof the bottle bracket on the Miller mig and came up with some rod storage tubes and mounted them on the cart. Yes, I know.... pathetic.

 

Fiberglass works for me... It has it’s good points.

 

So life is moving slowly but surely forward, though sometimes you'd be hard pressed to prove it. Bought the tig some time ago and there is sat. Been trying to find an argon bottle in my budget and finally found one today. The plug isn't the same as my mig, but figured I'd light it off on 110v and see how bad my first ever tig beads are.
I've watched a lot on Youtube to get some basics, but it's gonna take a LOT of gas, scrap metal and practice to teach myself. Grabbed some scrap steel and started by just creating a pool, then watching it as I moved the torch. Once that made some sense I figured I'd grab a welding rod and see how ugly a bead I could make. I succeeded at creating some truly hideous beads (the big beads were from me getting the mig dialed in) and only dipped the tip once!
I'm anxious to see what it'll do on 220v, but more importantly, I can now start building what I've not been able to my whole life. As retirement gets really close and the shop is moving forward, I'm really looking forward to taking things to the next level FULL TIME. "Puttering" will take on new meaning.
Ugly now, but can only get better......

 

You might want to be cautious , trying to operate 220 volt equipment on 110 isn't usually a good idea , unless its wired internally for either/ or...

 

It's 110/220