Projects My GN Cycle Car tribute build

Joy! Joy! Working outside as it was snowing. Not sure what I’m really doing working on a piece of wood that sits on a stand that is on a compound angle trying to keep things square/parallel. Noice…

 

Been waiting for this day a long time when I wouldn’t need all those wooden blocks to support the exhaust collector. Could not use a 45 degree joint at the collector like I had thought, so just went with 90 degrees. Still have some tweaking to do, then I’ll bring down my MIG welder into the workshop to weld those plates to the frame. Then onto welding up the tubes to the exh manifold plate, not sure yet how to keep that from warping. Broke one of the bronze bushings trying to slide it onto the tube. Some went on nicely others not so much.

 

Got the exh collector frame support plates tacked to the frame. Can’t see $hit through the helmet. Surprised it was all square to the frame. Next is tacking in the battery support plate, and rad support C-channel to the frame. Will also fab up a trans support bracket and tack into position so engine/trans are fully supported. Issue is that the trans rubber mount is right against the crossmember. The engine/trans should be shifted forwards 1/8”.

 

Cleaned up the drill holes and some rust and it’s now tacked into place. Next is the rad support. Getting the mill scale off of the plate steel is a bugger. Using my cutting disc to do it as nothing else seens to works that well.

 

Going to see if I can use a piece from this angle iron to support the trans rubber mount.

 

Rad support is tacked in. The angle iron is a no go for the trans support. It's not wide enough. Have larger pieces that are also thicker. Would be overkill, but don't feel like buying a piece just for this. Will have to see tomorrow.

 

Unfortunately, no time to work on it today, but did have a look at the trans support mount. Was thinking of moving the engine forward a bit, but now after tacking in the exh support plates, it could have a ripple affect, meaning longer flex tube pipes. It would only move 1/8”, but you never know how that would affect those flex pipes. Might also affect coolant pipes and their alignment with the hoses going to the rear. So, instead, I think I will lower the trans rubber support by 1” which will allow me to add some space between it and the cross member, and the body of the trans tail hsg. This then would allow me to just weld a flat plate to the bottom of the crossmember. Think it would look cleaner as well. Would add some gussets as well to the crossmember to stiffen it. Will get started on all that tomorrow. Big snow storm supposedly coming tonight/tomorrow morning and Sunday also. So tired of winter…

 

Made this spacer from a scrap piece lying around. Found some longer head bolts I was thinking of using that were the correct thread size/pitch. Why are these mounting holes Imperial and other fasteners are Metric?Installed it with the mount, and noticed it brought the bottom of the rubber mount too low (below the bottom of the crossmember). However, then noticed one side was higher than the other. Then started wondering WTF!? Is the trans/engine cocked to one side. Trans shifter plate looked level. Remove spacer and rubber mount, then notice the mating surface on the tail housing is on an angle. Oh vey! Why Ford?
Added a couple of washers so rubber mount clears tail hsg. It will unfortunately be up against the crossmember. It is what it is. Hopefully it’s fine. Now onto to making a mounting plate and gussets. That was a couple hrs wasted…

 

Oh yeh, welcome to my winter wonder hell. More snow supposedly, then freezing rain, then rain. Will be back to to 13C on Monday.

 

Got the plate installed, but then realized once welded in, there is no why to remove the rubber support unless the trans is first removed. Not ideal, but cobbing up a brkt now out of multiple pieces that could be removed doesn’t seem worth it. Will still make some gussets to support the plate.

 

Think of going with this style gusset. Just got to make sure it clears a deep socket for the 3/4” hex head bolt.

 

Two gussets 1.5 hrs later. Fingers & toes frozen, but then I was wearing my crocs. lol!

 

All tacked up. Added some speed holes to the gussets on the other side. lol! Freezing rain out. Now to re-install everything. Also checked the angle on the engine. Thought it was more, but heard folks say flatheads like the carb at zero degrees, so should be good. This of course, should put the trans rubber mount on the same angle.

 

She’s sitting on her own! Made a spacer to go between the rubber mount and tail hsg. Found a scrap piece of 3/16” that was the correct length and width (or close enough). lol! Had forgotten that I only had two bolts holding the tail hsg to the main case. Had to hunt the rest down, and noticed some were “larger”. One of the larger ones did not sit flush against the tail hsg because of the size of the flanged washer head. Strange. Tout the angle finder on top if the trans and shows 0.4 degrees. Next will be finally starting on the exh collector on the PS.

 

Kiddo said I had a package from Amazon. I said no. Didn’t order anything. Went there last night and opened the package. Forgot I ordered these buggers. lol!



Ordered and picked up some 3/16” and 1/4” steel plate for suspension brkts.

 

Purchased this yesterday. Was at Home Drpot prior and was looking at the Milwaukee hole saw Kit (bi-metal). Was CAN$70, so I figured I would give this one on Amazon a try. I have a Milwaukee kit, and it has served me well over the years, but it was pretty much finished with missing/broken and worn out bits. Will see soon how this works, as I was to start next on the suspension brkts. Will get back on the PS exh collector today.

 

A windy and balmy 2C. One down and three more to go. Not looking forward to all the welding and grinding to put these buggers back on. Really damp out. Not sure how long I can stay out. Tomorrow is supposed to be 18C (64F).

 

Finished up just as it started snowing. Used the grinder to cut into the metal, then used the pneumatic recip saw to finish the cuts. Then ground out the rest with the die grinder. Got a coarser bit, and it cut the time in half, but that air compressor was working hard. lol!
Was a lot quicker than the first one. Hopefully, my welding will be a bit better this time around. Haha!
Noticed a few months back that the local welding supply shop closed down. Will have to see if they moved or actually closed shop.

 

Hole cutter kit arrived yesterday, so went to the kiddo’s place to pick it up. Of course going there, we had a blizzard. Just absolutely crazy weather. Today is supposed to be 17C, but only 2C out now and it’s raining. Won’t be able to get at it until rain stops. Been charging the one Odyssey battery connected in parallel to another for a few days now to see if it works.

 

Speaking of drilling, this came up in my YT feed last night. Stayed up way too late to watch the full vid. Very useful for me since I’m an idiot. I have a decent vice like the one he mentions, but never actually clamped the vice to the table in the correct manner. I just use C-clamps which are really not the best, so next task (among the dozens already in queue), is to get some t-nuts, etc. Back in the day, I severely cut my left hand holding onto a piece of metal while drilling a hole into it. Long story, but ended up cutting two ligaments, which pulled back under the skin/flesh, which in turn required more cutting to get at. To this day (it happened over 25 yrs ago), I have no feeling on the inside of my two fingers. Lesson learned. Never ever hold the piece being drilled by hand.

 

What was the final cost of the hole saws, if you don't mind telling?

 

CAN$80. We’ll soon see how well they work. lol!

 

Should also mention that I ordered this for the hole cutters.

 

Thanks, that sounds too cheap. I hope they work for you, slow and steady wins the race.

 

Yeah. I was looking at some professional brand stuff last year, and IIRC, prices were more like CAN$200 - $300. At least with Amazon, returns are easy peasy. Haha!

 

Got sidetracked yesterday and this morning with a little side project. Neighbour suggested getting one as they were “only” CAN$115 at Costco. Then asked the kiddo if she wanted one. Yes. So picked them up yesterday and assembled them this morning. Wasn’t having a good time assembling the POSs’. Washers are paper thin. Stripped the threads on a bunch of fasteners after putting in a fresh battery on my Makita cordless ratchet. Will be good enough I suppose, but quality cannot diminish anymore, otherwise there would be nothing left to sell. Now back to my speedster…

 

Couldn’t wait any longer. Had to try the hole cutter. Pretend you didn’t see the clamp. Pilot drill cut easily into the 1/8” plate. The hole cutter went down smoothly as well with a couple of “stops”, but my spindle also has a wobble. The real test will be longevity/sharpness of the carbide bits. Produced nice chips. Slowed it down to as low as it could spin - 280 rpm.

 

Decided to pressure test the first copper coolant pipe. Small leak.




Good news is that the plugs seems to be holding on the expanded diameter with the bead. I realized a few weeks back, that I need to order a third plug for the “Y” coming off of the heads.

 

Fixed that leak (rad inlet), then found another leak in the other coolant pipe (rad outlet). Think I fixed that as well (last pic after repair). Only testing at 24 psi. Hard to get the one plug with all the fittings to stay put. Really need another set of hands since pulling/holding onto the inflator causes the plug to move. Was worried a couple times it might pop out. The other plug stays put. Also, took about 1/4” off of the elbow going into the rad outlet as it was rubbing on the frame crossmember gusset a bit.

 

Kiddo just texted me. Found these under her wheel barrel. D’oh! I checked everything twice. WTH!?