Ive been waiting all weekend for the weather to break so i can get back out in the garage. Last night was like Christmas eve to me. So i decided to wake up with the puppy this morning and get the wood stove started in the garage.While im waiting for it to get warm in there i figure i would make a little post. Im going to try to cover my whole days events in the garage today. I dont have to much to to get done but it will be fun never the less. Todays goals are to get all my suspension brackets cut and drilled and drill my motor mounts to make them look a little better. while still waiting to get my welder some time this week i have to get done with what i can now. My goal is to have a axle in before the new year. So im going to slowley bore u all to death with my slow yet steady progress to the autorama! The doggys ready are you Bryan
Have fun in this cold @ss weather! I changed the oil in the spare stude motor I have sitting on a make-shift stand over this past weekend... the oil dribbled out like honey it was so damn cold. That combined with the fact that I spilled about 4 qts of it all over the stand and floor made for some REAL freezing garage fun. If you need a hand with anything to get your ride done b4 Autorama, lemme know. I have a wire-feed welder if you need something asap...
thanks for the offer phatpat. hopefully i get my welder soon enough! well the garage is slowley getting warmer and so is out side. were up to 31 now!!! Came in to get another cup of coffee and put a new pot on for when the ole lady rolls outa bed here soon. Heres some pics of what im starting with.. 48"x3"x3/16"
i still dont know why i put a pic of my dog up? Im a little to excited to have this new digi cam! heres the tractor bars im using there big!!
Tell me about it I just got back from Missouri where it was a low of 8 and a high of 20. Damn that was cold. Left MIsoouri when it was 20 Arrived in Dallas yesterday and it was 72.
And here u am laying out the larger bar. I decided to keep 1.25" on either side of the hole. for a over all width of 3.25" This should give me plenty of room for it to travel and keep it strong by not having the hole 4 inches from the weld. Less flex is your friend!
heres the first cut of the day @ 8:15 this morning. good thing the attached garage is far enough from the bedroom. I did not want to deal with a angry stripper this morning! and i allmost cut my leg off trying to cut and take a pic of sparks at the same time
[ QUOTE ] ...and i allmost cut my leg off trying to cut and take a pic of sparks at the same time [/ QUOTE ] HA!! Sounds like something I'd hear Mikey say on American Chopper, lol...
well now that i have the shakes from drinking a pot of coffee, its time for some pancakes! i got all my cutting done just in time here are the larger brackets all cut out and ready for grinding and drilling.
Here are the smaller ones all done. and on my last cutting disk on the last cut i had one explode! not to bad at least it onley hit my pant leg. And talk about a good guess on how much material i needed, this little sliver is all i had left
shoot donzie, I got just a t-shirt on now in the garage. this wood stove i got heats her up real good. Feet are a little cold but thats ok. Well i have some more progress to show here. figure i would post now since i stopped for a bit to watch the next door neighbor get evicted and all there cars and stuff get pushed to the side street. To bad there was nothing worth getting. first off is a pic of cleaning up my cuts. I had a metal shop teacher in high school that would freek out if he ran his finger across your cuts and felt a burr. So from that i have allways liked to grind them real nice. No action shot here sorry,sparks aint worth loosing a finger for
Here is a shot of working on the 3/4" hole for the bolt to go thru. I changed my plan a bit from when i layed them out this morning. I offset the hole a bit from what i had planned. I just got to thinking about it and figured this would work better. Seems to be more room for the link to swing.I started off with a center punch then the smallest drill bit i had laying around i dont even know what size it is. Then i moved to a 7/16 bit. then to a 5/8. Next i went to a 1/2 then finaly to the 3/4. I just shot it with some pb blaster here and there to cool it and let it drill smoother. It would be best to use a drill press but all i have is my 3/8 chuck hand drill.It works ok but heats up preety fast. On the next bracket i decided to omet the 7/16 and the 1/2 bit from the equation. And it ended up giving me a nicer end result with less time spent drilling.
Here is a shot of the first set just about done.They will need some final grinding to get them to be perfectly even so when i weld them to the frame the link wont be twisted slighty and bind up.You can allso see how much adjustment i will have with these links.There is still about 3" of the shank left threaded in.
[ QUOTE ] It would be best to use a drill press but all i have is my 3/8 chuck hand drill.It works ok but heats up preety fast. [/ QUOTE ] I recently picked up an 8" no name brand drill press for 40.00 canadian brand new at canadian tire, would be the perfect tool for your garage after the welder of course
Hey Bryan- did you say (in your other older post) that you were replacing those air bags w/ springs? What's your plan for those old bags? Did you have a complete system?
yea drill press is on my x-mas list and at the moment i think i may be using the airbags still. they were rear onley,and i got to thinking about michigan roads and me wanting to be able to drive my car. So i will Prob end up keeping the bags. It will be very easy to set up with what im doing. Well i got all th 4 link brackets drilled out. What a boring job that was So i started to fancy up my motor mounts a bit.Here is a pic of the first one i did.Im not sure if i like how it turned out i may grind on it some more once i get all the plates welded together,and put it in place.Next up for the day im going to look at some front bumper options.After seeing the post that kustom777 had with all those great sleds from the drag-n shop ive been rethinking my use of the 57 chevy front bumper.Ill post on what new ideas i have instore for the front end later tonight. well back to warm garage Bryan
I'm sitting here at work. It's 23 degrees and snowing outside. Keep going, I'm living thru you today!
[ QUOTE ] and at the moment i think i may be using the airbags still. they were rear onley,and i got to thinking about michigan roads and me wanting to be able to drive my car. So i will Prob end up keeping the bags. It will be very easy to set up with what im doing. [/ QUOTE ] No problemo-- just thought I'd ask. You're right... bags would be easy to use w/ that set up! Progress is looking good!
Great job Bryan, keep up the motivation. I still have your tools that you left in the SUV, they are on my back porch. Come get'um when you get a chance. Oh, and you mentioned something earlier about a bumper that your going to let me borrow to see how it looks on Big Olds. Since your coming by, can you drop it off??? Happy Holidays bud!
[ QUOTE ] good thing the attached garage is far enough from the bedroom. I did not want to deal with a angry stripper this morning! well now that i have the shakes from drinking a pot of coffee, its time for some pancakes! [/ QUOTE ] if i had a stripper who'd cook me pancakes, i'd never get anything done on the car. good thing i don't have THAT problem!
Thanks every one who replied...and Darby Trust me i have no problems im spoiled more then any one man should be Well i got back out to the garage and started messing with bumpers and such. tried the stock one flipped upside down tucked closer to the car. that looked awfull! so i put the 57 bumper back on real fast. I wanted to see what it would look like with the engine weight on the suspension. i tell you what I think im diggin the look alot more with it lower to the ground. So the 57 chevy bumper stays! now i just have cut the hell out of it.That will be another day.Im all done in the garage for the day.I really need my welder now to go any farther. But i hope a few of my things helped some people even though its not much but its a start i guess. Thanks Bryan
i told ya 1 weekend tops id have your car all done for ya. better get that axle soon after the new year u can rbing it over. well when ever my car is back on 4 wheels again
Great post DirtyT. Reminded me of when my garage wasn't so well equiped as it is now. It's amazing what one can get done with just the basics. Geoff akaWhoday
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