My "Build that thing and get it out of my spot!" Shoebox build

I am digging this build. More-Doors Unite! and what-not. It is going to look cool purple and low and creepy-crawling about.

 

Thanks for the kinds words, guys.

Finally dragged my lazy, procrastinating *** out to the garage the last 2 nights and finished fabbing the p***enger-side floorboard and welded it in. Still need to do some grinding. The new welder is working out great. Much faster arc starts, and the technique the chop guy showed me works pretty well. Very little blow-through.



My spiffy metal-working station. I use the bender as a base for everything, anvil, you name it.



Gonna finish my hokey-*** air compressor dryer setup today. Doubt it's gonna do much, but it's worth a shot because my tools are blasting water all over everything.

 

The air up there is pretty dry, so if you're getting a lot of water I'm betting there's a lot in your compressor tank. Drain it thoroughly including any hard lines and hoses.

Some water is inevitable. Getting rid of it is key to the longevity of the equipment and everything you use it on.

 

I agree with Eric, also I will be doing something similar to this, except adding TWO more runs of the up and down risers before the drain. A buddy did his in PVC schedule 80 and 40.. and NO water build up.

 

Nice work on the floor piece, and I am digging your work center !!

 

Floor pan looks good. As for the dry air set up you want to get the air coming out of your compressor as far away as you can before you add your dryer set up. I have ming going from my compressor to the furthest wall in my shop at an up hill slope then a riser and back to near the compressor again going up wart at a slight slope then I have my drop with a t off to my dryer and the t off has a drain. I just plumbed my new big *** compressor and so far no water at all. I used to have a set up like the previous one and I always had water in the lines. I can post a pic or PM if you want to see my set up.

Looks killer keep going!!

 

It's weird, I get a lot of water from the tools, but when I drain the compressor there is little to none inside. My setup is almost done, missing a couple of fittings to connect the compressor to the dryer. Its gonna be mounted on the wall behind the compressor. I'll post a pic tonight. If it doesn't do the job I'll have to add on to it. If I decide to do any primer/paint with it, I'm going to add a Devilbiss QC-3.

I'd like to see your pics, post em up!

 

I chopped my 4 dr 6" at every post. It too was my first chop, I moved the roof forward instead of making a patch panel. As you can see I eliminated the panel just before the rain guard. I've been leading my sons Cub Scout Pack for the past 4years, but now I'm getting ready to dig back in.

 

Nice! I'm thinking 3" chop. It's cool that it gets rid of that panel at the rain gutter.

 

I like it a lot.

 

Here's my feeble attempt at an air dryer.



The compressor will feed it through a 1/2" hose with connects on each end. The hose connects and barbed fittings are what I still need to pick up tomorrow.

 

It looks really cool; whether it works, or not! I need to do something like this, myself.
Loving this thread!!
Davo.

 

It's a miracle! I got it hooked up and it doesn't leak. I think I'm going to move the regulator and filter after the dryer. I ran my angle die grinder (seems to use the most air) for a few minutes set at 95 psi, and has just a tiny, tiny bit of water coming out of just one of the rear ports. MUCH improved, though I'd like to get rid of that little bit of water too. I think I'll add one more filter before the regulator (that's the example in the instruction booklet with the regulator) and see if that does anything.

 

Starting to think about a color change. I was searching for a complementary color to paint the engine, and came across this. This is pretty bad***, I'm seriously considering changing to this color. 1965 Chevy Evening Orchid.

 

You need to get the air in the line to drop in temperature so it condenses in the line and your filter can capture it. If your trying to filter straight out of your tank its just gonna go through your filter as hot air and your filter is not going to work properly. You should have better results if you move your filter after your dryer for sure. Copper and black pipe work well because they don't insulate the air and allow for the temperature change....

Either purple is cool but you know that someone has the a light purple shoebox already...you have a pic of it.

 

Yep I'm going to move it after the dryer. Thanks for the input.

Too true. It's just such a beautiful color on a shoebox. It's very close in color to 40StudeDude's '55 Caddy, which I love - it looks like silk. One reason I've considered it is my daughter loves pink and purple, and it's kinda halfway between those. And I'm sensitive enough to pull it off.

I'll most likely stick with the Plum Crazy though. It's more of a hot rod color to me.

 

I've always liked that Shoebox.. Very cl***y color !!

 

Well here's the final (for now, anyway) compressor setup. I hung it with zip ties on the side of my storage shelves to the side of the compressor. Easy access, out of the way, and very easy to take down to work on it if/when I have to. I also changed the cheesy, rusted, leaky drain valve on the bottom to a ball valve with easy access.

 

Damn! Pulled out the air saw tonight, and it's still spitting water out the front. I guess i need to invest another $50 in pipe and **** to see if I can get more water out.

Finished welding in the floor patch and grinding the welds. Had to go underneath and touch up a few spots that didn't get good penetration.

 

I had a similar type issue at home in the work shop. I have been advised that you need at least 10 meters (~33ft) of line to let the compressed air cool enough to allow the water vapor to condensate out of the air, then you need a water trap to remove that water. I've setup my compressor and solid air lines in this fashion. It does make sense but I don't know if it is true, I do collect the most water through the moisture trap just off the compressor. I suppose it depends on the climate and weather too.

can't say I've tried a dryer setup like yours. More food for thought, I'm interested to see if this helps the problem.

 

tomkelly88 is correct. I used 40ft before I put in my filter. Would hate to buy that much copper..Ouch.

-Dane

 

It may not look like it but there's almost 20 ft of line in that setup. I guess I'll head to HD tomorrow and pick up some pipe and put a few turns on the wall behind the compressor. The copper pipe isn't really the expensive part, it's all the damned br*** fittings. Reducers, adapters, valves, and air fittings. At least $100 in the setup the way it sits. I may also put spacers in where it attaches to the board to allow air to flow around it.

 

My air set up. Works for me and is basic. Yes its PVS and if it ever explodes ill let everyone know.

 

2 major differences - 1) real compressor, and 2) real air filter. What filter do you use?

I would think that 15-20 feet of copper is more effective than 40 feet of PVC at cooling and condensing the air. Plus it's usually between 40-50* in my garage most of the time when I'm working in there, which should help.

 

Your rite on the copper being better. The filter is just a HF filter regulator for like 30 bucks. The regulator portion went bad so I took it off and run a seprate regulator where I plug the hose in. Yeah I just got my big compressor and it runs a lot less wich also helps. My old one was a 60 gal.

 

I'm thinking about grabbing a tank off an old, junk compressor to use as extra air storage, and also will help condense the air. The rapid expansion out of the tool makes the most cooling, which is one reason I'm still getting water. The expansion into a second tank should help that. I've also seen a write-up somewhere where a guy plumbed in a car air conditioning condenser. That's a cheap option I may have to try.

 

A condenser.... And run an ac fan on the fins to cool it! I bet that would be slick!

 

One of my favorite cars ever. I would say this over plum crazy purple any day! So it gets my vote. Digging the compressor plan too I need to put mine behind or in garage so it's going to have to have something done.

 

Do you know if there's a build thread on that car? I'm not sure I want to french my headlights, but I'd love to do something like what he did ('55 Olds headlights?).

 

Hit the garage for a couple hours tonight.

Put in some more bracing.


Then cut out the bottom of the outer rocker on the driver side. Got some work to do on the bottom of that B-pillar and inner rocker there.


Some of the ugliness I have to deal with.


I'm going to try to put in 2 hours a night after my daughter goes to bed. Any more and i end up not getting any sleep. If I can actually get my *** out there and do something, I'll finally start making some progress.