I decided to start a new thread for this one......
Dan brought the shell up to me (on the only rainy day we had this weekend!) and it did wash off a little bit of the "barn find" that was all over it from sitting in his shed for several years.....but it still needs a lot of cleanup and smells horribly! I have no idea what it is that reeks so badly, it does not smell like cat or mouse pee but rather more like mold or something.
There's no front subframe in it although the back is on wheels, I need to figure out how to get it mobile so I can get it out in the front drive and see if I can wash it down some more. If that doesn't do it I'm going to look into one of those mobile blasting outfits and have them strip the shell. I'll need that done anyway, so why not get it done up front?
So, that's where I'm at right now, the engine is here and running, preliminary measurements show that it will fit, next I need to strip it down to a bare shell and see if I can borrow a rotisserie so I can work on the bottom - my scissor lift is not conducive to bottom work.
I'm also having a 10X16 shed built in the backyard for storage of all my yard equipment and the extra parts I won't be working with for a good while....that will help me get some more working space in my tiny garage.
I believe it's a racoon and opossum medley of odors.
Whatever it is, I don't like it!
I've contacted a couple of places to see what it would cost to get it blasted here in my driveway......and I'll also ask what it costs if I trailer it over to them, just for comparison.
Anyone have any idea what this will cost?
$1200
No one has asked how I got a pic of Dan towing this car up to me in the rain?
Quote from: MiniDave on May 21, 2023, 05:18:38 PMNo one has asked how I got a pic of Dan towing this car up to me in the rain?
That is a good question.
NO guesses?
One of the local MINI club members saw him and posted the pic on the club's Facebook page.....
So, I found out what the horrible smell was - I guessed it was something like this, but not to this extent! Turns out here were large mounds of poop, and driving up in a rainstorm got them "activated" again.....I spent all of today so far removing, cleaning, drying, vacuuming and so on.....it's still a mess but once I have everything stripped out I can go after it with the pressure washer - I just have to figure out how to roll it outside. Getting it back in again is less a problem cause I can just hook the winch to it and drag it back onto the lift.
I can't do a whole lot of work to it yet as I just don't have anywhere to put the stuff I remove from it. Once I get the shed built then I'll have a little more room to work, so the next two weeks will be doing site prep for the shed - they say two weeks, but I'll be very surprised to see it that quickly.
There's also a lot more rust and holes than expected, but some of it will be removed anyway to make room for the motor - I do have to replace the right sill and do plenty of patchwork on the floor corners and such. My plan is to do all the metal work so when it goes to Dan he just needs to sand, prime and paint it. I'm sure there will be some filler work needed too, but hopefully it will be minimal. I def need a rotisserie!
Rose has renamed it from the Hotrod to the "Poop car". <sighs>
What were the blasting quotes?
Didn't get any replies....
You're a brave man to tackle that POS.
Thanks Larry.....it will be a challenge, no doubt - but I've seen worse - and fixed worse! My 69 E-Type coupe was way, way worse and it turned out nicely.
Well any rot on the rear end is basically non issue as Dave will be cutting it all apart for custom framing and the engine install. The front end is all new including inner wings if Dave decides to keep the wings depending on some ideas he has. Things yet to do would be outter cills and I'm going to assume some inner cill repairs here and there, front pan sections, and some door skins on at least one door. Really not much in the bigger scheme of the project.
Mobile sandblasting - 1st place.....$2,000 -2,400, 15-18 if I took it to them
You could have used my wet blasting kit down at my place in the yard for the cost of a 3000lb pallet of fine sand! About $250 and the worst time you can spend in a day lol.
I have a sand blaster - I did my entire Jag with it but I had the perfect place to do it - a dirt lot with all the clean dry air I could use. I think I only used about 10 bags of sand total. I'll just go ahead and repair all the rust and holes, then figure out what to do about the rest, I can always chemical strip it too.
Made the first parts order of many with MiniSpares.....this one is mostly just sheet metal parts to fix all the rust holes.
Still working on coming up with a rotisserie.....may wind up making one tho I really don't want to do that.
At this point I have the body mostly stripped out, all the poop and the hundreds of mud daubber nests cleaned out.....I'd really like to get it outside and use the pressure washer on it but I may just go ahead and remove the rear subframe and go on with the welding, then clean it all once that's done.......dunno.
If you build a rotisserie what avenue were you going to take, an skmini version or a pipe through the middle version?
I was going to build one like skmini, just have not had time to do it yet. Maybe I could split costs and come help you build it and then once you are done with it I could use it.
Or if you end up building one I could buy it from you when you are done with it. I don't foresee me having time to start on mine any time soon.
We could probably come to some sort of terms one way or another so you aren't stuck with it once your done with it.
OK.
Not sure of the style yet, considering the old 2 HF engine stand style......I was hoping to just borrow/rent one long enough to do this job, but I'm not finding anything remotely local.
Funny thing - I found one for $500 in (nope, not kidding) Harrison Arkansas - right where we were the last week!
All the pre-built ones such as from Eastwood are fairly spendy.....most are closer to $2K and still would need modified to work on the Mini
That was basically my experience when looking for one and why I decided I would just build on instead.
It was actually cheaper at the time to order the one from the uk specific for the mini like the one skmini built than it was to buy a universal version like from Eastwood that you still had to modify to work.
Too bad the one you found is so far away. I found one a while back within 100 miles but it was sold by the time I saw it and asked about it.
Not a lot to report on this build so far, I have the car completely stripped down to a bare shell, and I have been measuring and figuring for various parts - I reinstalled the bare front subframe for example, so I could figure out the fuel tank and radiator and A/C condenser locations and size.
I ordered a fuel tank, and the first order of panels to repair the rust in the front of the car/sills should arrive by the end of the week, according to DHL.
Just in time for typical Kansas summer weather to arrive - hot and oh so muggy! Time to switch the shop unit over from heat to A/C!
I got a small bench top media blaster at a garage sale and decided to try it out on an upper control arm - it did great, but I made the mistake of leaving the air plugged in. I was upstairs having lunch and I heard the air compressor kick on - usually it takes about a minute to recharge the tank but it seemed to go on and on, so I headed down to see why it was still running. When I opened the door to the shop the air was full of dust - the hose inside the unit had popped off and it was blowing the media around inside - forcing the dust out around the seal for the window! I popped the air off the connector and gave it an hour for the dust to settle so I could see again.....not a lot of media got out, mostly just the dust but I think in the future I will roll this thing out on my hydraulic table and use it outside!
Do you have a vacuum cleaner hooked up to pull the dust out? Does make a difference with the dust level. It is always nice to have clean parts.
Yes, just a shop vac....it would be better if it were a Hepa filter vac but I don't have one of those.
Get yourself one of these. I have used similar ones for years on my blast cabinet and wood tools. Home depot started carrying this ones that just snaps onto a bucket and it is a lot lower profile and cheaper. I have one rigged up to my big shop vac I take places. These will even keep sheet rock dust from clogging your filter up. If you have ever done any sheet rock work you know you can completely plug a shop vac filter in about 15 minutes. With one of these I have had the same filter in my vac using it on sheet rock dust, table saw dust, chop saw dust, etc.. for over a year now and I have filled countless 5 gallon buckets with dust.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Dustopper-High-Efficiency-Cyclonic-Dust-Separator-12-in-Dia-with-2-5-in-hose-36-in-long-with-2-Sweep-Elbows-HD12A/315749552
Buncha stuff showed up yesterday, a box full of panels and later my gas tank.
I got new front floor pans, door step, both sills, all the repair panels across the back including a new valance and a set of louvers to help vent the front compartment. The radiator and A/C condenser will be in the front, so I wanted plenty of openings to get the hot air out of the front compartment.
The gas tank came in and I'm really impressed with the quality - especially for the price I paid for it. The welds look almost machine done rather than hand done, and it came with three -8 fittings on top - one is the fuel pickup, one is the vent and one is the return line. It also has the sending unit and of course the cap. Too bad I'm going to have to shorten it to fit in the space in the front, but I know a guy who's a wiz with a TiG - we'll see how he does in comparison. It's 17 gallons now and it'll be 10 when I cut it down. $125 and free shipping!
I've been working on the fuel tank, first I cut the end off so I could figure out how to mount the pump and pick up. I'm also going to have to relocate the fuel sender so I'll need to drill some holes in the top. Once I have all that done I may engineer some baffles - one around the pump pickup to act as a surge bowl, then another somewhere about half way to keep the fuel from slopping around as I drive.
Once I had it cut down to size, I could look at how to mount it in the front and how I'm going to strap it down, or maybe just make some angle iron holders for the top and bottom to locate it. Dunno, still working that out. I also have to find a gasoline proof bulkhead fitting so I can bring the wires out of the tank for the fuel pump.
Because the bulkhead bends in a bit in the center, I'll have room to run hoses down between the tank and the bulkhead - I plan to run all the brake and water pipes and tubes in the center tunnel, since there won't be an exhaust system in there anymore.
Wow, not only has shipping gone way up, I got hit with customs on my last order for another $60. So shipping cost a total of about $250! This order is brake parts and Sprite gearsets, nothing big but I know when you get close to $2K in value you always get hit with customs.
Since the big shed got finished I spent a day moving stuff into it from the small old shed, and then spent a couple of hours cleaning the mouse poop and other schmutz out of it so I could start moving car parts into it.
I still have a ways to go on that but today I wanted to get the modifications done to the gas tank. I had the end I cut off before and used it to make two panels, one to go on the end once it's all done and another to fit in the middle as a baffle.
I also had to bore a new hole for the sending unit and cut a slot in the baffle to allow the arm of the sender to swing all the way. With all that done the only thing left is to attach the pump to the pick up pipe - but to do that I had to order a couple of things.
The pipe is 1/2" OD and the nipple on the pump is a little under 3/8" I don't know of a hose that will stretch that far, so I ordered a 3/8-1/2 hose barb and a section of 1/2 fuel hose. Once those are here Sat I can shorten the pick up tube and install the fuel pump.
Once I'm done with all my mods I'll take it all over to the welder guy and he'll weld in the baffle, close off the old hole for the sending unit and weld the end cover on...that will do it for the tank and I can start figuring out how to mount it to the car/subframe.
I know you've already done all that work to fit your fuel sender, but a simpler solution if you have any issues with that setup would be to use a floatless sender. Like this: Tanks Inc. (https://www.tanksinc.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=346/mode=prod/prd346.htm) You can specify the length and the gauge resistance, and it just drops straight down into the tank.
HI Red, thanks for the input......I'm aware of those tube style senders, but I decided to go with this one for now as it came with the tank.
If it has issues I can always easily update it to one of those.
The tank is over at the welders and may even be done today as we finally got some cooler weather so he can work in his non-A/C shop. Nothing hotter than trying to do fine TiG welding when it's 100+ in your shop!
Next up for me is to start repairing the rust. I have a bunch of new panels to weld in and as I don't have Dan's expertise or experience (tho I did a shit ton of welding new panels on my old Jag, but that was 30 years ago now!) I'll be going at it slowly, so as to not make it worse!
Is that an RCI tank? Looks similar to mine.
(https://i.imgur.com/D9qZZCI.jpg)
I have no idea, I just found it on Ebay, and the price and design were right for my application. It does look similar to yours, doesn't it?
For my car I needed one that was tall and thin rather than the usual wide and flat type. How many gallons is yours?
This one will be right at 10 gallons by my math, which is fine......if it even does 30 mpg that will be more than enough miles before I need to get out and stretch. Plus Don usually has to fill up his Pup about every 150-175 miles.
The welder says he'll be done with it today, then the next step is to figure out how to mount it securely.
How did you vent yours? I'm thinking a hose into the fender well then either one of those little air filters or maybe even into a charcoal cannister.
It's a 15 gallon tank, which is way overkill, but it fit into the space I had. I'm inspired by what you are doing and I might cut some of the height out of it if I get bored and want a new project. I'm using a the VSR vent canister from here: II Much (https://www.iimuch.com/collections/fuel-differential-vents/products/fuelvent2dm) It was a bit tricky finding a spot higher than the top of the tank to mount it, but I got it done. I ran the vent from the canister down to the original vent hole in the floor through a bulkhead fitting into a sintered brass filter. I was getting a lot of fuel smell and this fixed it. I cut down and extended the floor around the spare tire well and battery box to get the tank down as far as I could. So I needed to relocate the battery as well. I started out with a Braille racing battery but now I'm running an Odyssey Extreme battery for a Harley Davidson. Works just fine for my D16 VTEC.
I like your battery hold-down, I'm thinking of using a smallish battery too and locating it in the right side companion bin, that way I don't have to run cable from the front to the back of the car.
Good find on the fuel vent - spendy, but if it does the job.....
My next project is to find the right radiator that will cool this motor.....I'm looking at a Scirocco 3 core, dual pass aluminum.....I need to double check the measurments, but I think it will fit and give the maximum cooling I'll need. I'm also looking at A/C systems.....
Had a scare a few days ago, the engine wouldn't start on the pallet - it's always fired right up in the past - turns out I had run it out of gas! Put a couple of gallons in the gas can I had the pump in and cycled the key a few times to prime the system and it fired right up and ran perfectly again. Whew!
Ain't got no gas
um-hmmmm......
OK, so the tank is back and looks great, he did a super job. 1st pic shows the fuel pump mounted and a small zip tie to keep it from swinging about....which it may not have done anyway but I had him weld a small tab on so I could put the zip tie on it.
You can also see the float on the end of the sending unit's arm, it moves freely so it should work just fine, once I get the appropriate gauge. No firm ideas on what gauges I'm going to use at this point but I'm leaning towards something more modern than traditional Mini gauges. We'll see.
The tabs on the ends of the tank are for mounting brackets, tho I probably will work out some straps ala Binky too.
The round can on top is the fuel filter/pressure regulator, which has a return hose to goes back to a one way valve on the tank. The middle fitting will be for the tank vent.
Has it been leak tested after the modifications?
Yes, he sealed it up, put a small amount of air pressure to it and sprayed all his welds with soapy water....no bubbles!
Next up I need to build a mount....I'll probably just weld up some angle iron for the bottom to hold it in place, then figure out how to mount the top.
Never fails......after assembling the tank yesterday I realize I forgot to make one more hole - for the bulkhead fitting for the wires to go thru to power the pump! :embarrassed: First I guess I'll need to find a fitting, the ones I've seen at places like Summit Racing are stupid expensive for what they are - $35 plus shipping is $50 to me - for one plastic fitting!
Red Riley, how is your tank mounted and tied down?
I'm still cleaning up storm damage in the back yard, and in between rain storms trying to get all the seams caulked on the shed so we can get it painted. Because of all the rain we've been getting the grass had gotten really tall, so I got the ZTR out and did a quick mow too - in between rain showers! Nice to be able to just drive it back into the shed - I used to have to let it cool for about a half hour, then cover it with a tarp and tie that down with bungy cords.
I see a couple of fuel cell bulkhead electrical fittings on Amazon Prime with free shipping for about 20 bucks. Is there enough empty space on the sender base that you could put it through there instead of drilling another hole in the tank?
My tank just has some tabs welded on to bolt it to the floor. It's not going anywhere.
I probably could, but the sender is on the other side of the baffle, and while there's a big enough gap at the top to feed the wires thru it would be difficult to tie them down. I figure I can remove the big black filler and stick a small cup directly under where I'm drilling to catch all the bits, then vacuum out anything that I miss....so drilling a hole directly above the pump is no biggy.
I'll go check on Amazon.....I mostly found them on summit and such...... all the ones I've found for $10-20 have holes for 10ga wires, these are more like 16 ga. I suppose I could just silicone them in the bigger holes but I'd really prefer to find one that's sized correctly.
Tank fits the subframe perfectly! Next I need to build some brackets for the bottom to make sure it can't move, then set the subframe back into the car and reinstall the tank to figure out the upper mounting.
Next project is to get a radiator and decide on an A/C unit so I can figure out those mountings. That will complete the initial design work on the front end. I think once that's done I really need to start cutting out rusty metal and welding in new stuff. Probably need to go buy some cutoffs so I'll have material to make patches with for those areas that I don't have panels already.
The tank is not sitting at an angle in the subframe in the second pic, it's just the angle of the camera
Are you going to put some kind of insulation on the front of it? Being behind the radiator.
Yes, I've also been toying with the idea of a shield of sheet metal to direct the air out the sides
I mounted the front subframe back in the car and cut a piece of 1 1/2 angle to act as the bottom mount, then set the tank back in. Fits perfectly and it's exactly the way I hoped it would fit, low enough for plenty of room to mount the filter/regulator and the tabs to mount it to the bulkhead. I also ordered the radiator today, and tomorrow I'm talking to a shop that sells vintage car A/C kits to get some measurements for their "mini" evaporator, if it fits I'll order a kit, that will get me the right sized condenser core and I can do the planning for those bits.
That will do it for the front end for now - that's the major part of the design/engineering for the front end. Next up - I'll brace the body so I can start cutting out the rust and welding in the new panels. Once I have that done and the body fairly solid, I'll pull the motor off the pallet and strip it so I can plan to cut the sheet metal out of the back and fit the motor into the shell. Then the real fun starts, engineering the rear subframe and suspension.
At least that's how I see it in my head!
Are you in need of any interior mini ac components?
Maybe, but most of the kits I've seen come with pretty much everything
What brand of vintage car a/c systems are you considering? If they are the Vintage-Air brand, the factory is local to me and I would be willing to drive my Mini Van over to them for checking the fitment of the in-cabin (evaporator?) unit.
Vintage Air is one of the ones I'm talking to. I appreciate your offer, but if I get the dimensions I can take it from there, I figure I'll need to cut out some of the firewall no matter what unit I get, but at this point I need the condenser so I can figure out the mount for it and the radiator/fan. Knowing which unit will fit the dash will probably dictate the size of the condenser.....I just need to call them and chat for a bit right now.
Radiator, A/C condenser and a mock up empty plastic evaporator casing on the way....so I should be able to finish the major front end brackets and mounts and stuff for the fuel tank, radiator, A/C condenser and fan and get an idea of what I need to do to fit the A/C evaporator in the dash.
I've started removing the extraneous wiring and components off the motor so I can lift it off the pallet. I won't be using their radiator, tho the 16" 2100cfm fan should do nicely and just fits. The pallet the motor sits on is huge, so getting it off there and onto my hydraulic table will make for a lot more room to move around.
I'm still working on the rear subframe and suspension ideas.....can't decide between a double
A-arm like the front or a trailing arm like BMWs......I'll probably need to make the hole in the back for the motor first, then lift it up in there and start measuring. I have some basic ideas from looking at MiniTec's stuff and some of the other rear Honda engine builds.
I'm also trying to decide on the instruments, I'll need to use modern instruments as the old Mini ones aren't compatible with a modern ECU.....trying to decide on style, faces etc. So many choices out there. Another alterative is a simple flat screen ala Tesla......
I wanted to keep my dash looking stock(ish), so I decided to go with Autometer electronic analog gauges. They have a custom shop online so you can get pretty much any combination of faces and trims. The programmable speedo is super easy to calibrate and just uses the VSS signal from the ECU, so no trying to figure out cables and adapters and stuff.
(https://i.imgur.com/nUSPZt2l.jpg)
Yes, Don has autometer gauges in his car too.....I've looked at all the major gauge mfrs and I've found one set that's fairly reminiscent of a Porsche 911 that I'm considering. All the gauges in one panel.....really spendy tho, plus I'd have to buy a couple of sending units....That purchase is still far off in the future tho
My goal with the A/C is to not have a big ol hunk of plastic hanging down under the dash......I'm sure part of it will but I'm hoping I can hide most of it. If necessary I'll make a panel - much like they did on Binky - to cover it.
Did they pull the tach, water temp and oil pressure signals out of the ECU too? I need to get a pin out diagram for this
ECU.....
Quote from: Red Riley on August 04, 2023, 06:58:11 AMI wanted to keep my dash looking stock(ish), so I decided to go with Autometer electronic analog gauges. They have a custom shop online so you can get pretty much any combination of faces and trims. The programmable speedo is super easy to calibrate and just uses the VSS signal from the ECU, so no trying to figure out cables and adapters and stuff.
(https://i.imgur.com/nUSPZt2l.jpg)
That's a good look.
To be honest, it's been so long since I put them in that I don't remember where the signal for the tach comes from. I think maybe there was an existing wire in the dash harness. The temp and pressure gauges need senders on the engine.
New radiator and A/C condenser appeared, so for the umpteenth time I bolted the front subframe in again and mocked up the locations. It looks like it's all going to fit well....I still need to fab up brackets and such but it all went together pretty much the way I saw it in my mind's eye.
So I'll make all the locations and build out the brackets and mount it up one last time for a final fit check, then that part is mostly done.
I also got the mock up A/C evaporator box, with a little bit of cutting of the sheet metal it looks like it's going to fit right in the dash too, so I won't have to Binky an air box together!
I've been mocking up other bits and bobs too, the accelerator is mounted to its own bracket and it looks like it will bolt right to the bulkhead and be placed perfectly. I love it when complicated things go together easily!
There will be challenges plenty yet to come!
The engine is now off the pallet, getting rid of that 4'X7' pallet really opened up some room in my tiny shop!
Now I can get to stripping off things I won't need and figuring out how to modify those I do need so they'll fit in the car.
Most of the things I imagined while laying in bed sleepless look like they will build out exactly as I imagined. Some not so much..... :grin:
One thing I am puzzling over. The shift linkage at the gearbox has a couple of fairly heavy weights attached, I know MINIs (which use a very similar Getrag gearbox) do not use these weights. I'm debating cutting them off, as it would simplify my shift linkage considerably. I can't fathom any real use for them unless it's for the general "feel" of the shift mechanism.
Those weights might be something to research before cutting them off. Unless of course they're easily put back on.
It's a cast part, so I don't think it would be easy to re-attach them...... :017:
Today's project was to get the engine settled on the hydraulic table and remove the engine electrical harness......which was a total PITA! But I didn't want to have it in the way when lifting the engine in and out of the car to mock up the subframe and suspension.
With that done I'll probably move back to the front subframe and build and weld in all the brackets needed to mount the fuel tank, A/C condenser and radiator. With that in place I can start thinking about how to run the pipes from the front to the back, I have some basic ideas already but I'll need to refine them as I go along. Looks like the two big hoses will be in the right place to hook them to the pipes, and I'd like to put some elbows in the front part to match up to the radiator, so all I'll need are a couple of short elbows to connect them. However, there are a couple of small bleed pipes that were attached between the coolant recovery tank and the thermostat housing, that used proprietary fittings. I'm not sure how I'm going to make those work, or even plug them off if I can't make them work as intended. Challenges....
By the way, each one of those little blue tape markers are for a sensor or control........there are a bunch of them!
Dave .... in case you've not seen this, I thought I'd send a little motivation your way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8O6l2gzh2w
I had not seen that one, very interesting! I also got sent a link to a FB group devoted to people who put other engines in classic Minis, and one fellow has done exactly what I'm doing. I messaged him about whether he has a build somewhere that I can see. No point in reinventing the wheel if someone else has already done it successfully!
Today I'm making brackets and such to weld in to mount all the stuff in front.....to that end I got to use a new tool today! I needed to remove the big heavy bracket that the clutch hose attaches to, so I got out my spot weld cutter kit. I bought it about 30 years ago and never had used it before, so there was a learning curve as I broke one fairly quickly - but, once I got the hang of it, it worked really well, even in this thick metal. Should make separating some of these other panels easier that just ripping them apart with an air chisel.
I was concerned that if I just chiseled it off it would tear the underlying metal and I would have to weld in a patch.
I had to pause my bracket making when I realized that if I set the tank all the way down in the subframe, the pipes for the coolant wouldn't clear and would hang down below the subframe......so.......
I decided I was tired of working in filth and I need to get the shell outside where I can go after the mud and mud dauber's nests with my pressure washer. To do that I needed to make some sort of dolly. I dug around an found these 5" casters, I bolted them to a 2X6 and bolted that to the subframe. I figure if I can get a couple of my young, strong neighbors to help, we can "wheelbarrow" it out onto the driveway. Getting back in might be a trick, but we'll figure it out. I had to make it wide enough that the casters would ride on the boards beside the lift....
I had a problem with the front panel not being square to the subframe, so Don brought his porta power over and we moved it out enough to get the spacer in place. Things lined up pretty well except for the gap that opened up at the outer corner between the fender and the valance. Dan thinks it will pull together with a judicious application of clamps and welds.
I still haven't gotten the car out of the garage as I'm having trouble co-ordinating with strong/younger neighbors to give me a hand (one's wife had a baby this weekend so he's excused), and since a car ran over my foot at the car show last Sunday I'm not really in any shape to lift it, so I decided to get started on cutting out the old rusty floor panels and welding in new shiny ones.
I started by removing this crossmember - I noticed after drilling out a few spot welds that a LOT of big rust chunks were falling at my feet.
When I got the crossmember out, this is what I found - yes the blue paper towel was in there too - it looked like someone had closed up a hole by shoving that paper towel in there and gobbing a bunch of bathroom silicone over it.
You'll also notice there is a fairly thick sound deadening applied to these panels which I have to remove in order to get at the spot welds, and it is a royal PITA to get off of there. Sometimes if I can catch an edge I can drive a scraper under it and lift off a section, but usually I have to take my heat gun to it to get it soft enough to scrape off. PITA!
With that out of the way I dropped the new panel into place so I can start figuring out where exactly to cut out the old one and start welding in the new. I'm a little undecided about the sequence of what to cut and weld first as I'll be rebuilding the entire lower side of the car. On Binky they welded in the door step area first and I need to do that as well, so I may do that before cutting out the floor. It's a mess, no question!
That sound deadening comes up lickity split with an air chisel fyi.
I figure since I'm removing the whole panel, I don't need to remove all of it......I only need to remove the areas where I'm going to drill the spotwelds out and reweld it.
But I do have an air chisel, so I'll try that......
Finally got the hot rod off the rack and out into the driveway for a bath! It only took me and one other guy to do that but I'll have a spare helper to get it back in - over the lip into the shop and up the ramps onto the rack again. It's a nice, warm, dry day so once it's baked a while we'll roll it back in again.....with so many holes in the floors and sheet metal, it drained easily! :rolleyes:
Did you put the air chisel to work yet?
No, the Inno is back on the rack so I can drain the gas and put fresh in and button up the last bits, then I'll get the hot rod moved over and bring the Inno down when I come down for the races first week of Oct.
Then while I have an empty garage I can get to grinding and welding without worrying about splatter hitting another car.
It was surprisingly easy to roll it back into the shop.....
Also the front coilovers came in today. Once I get a few more suspension bits in I can build the front end up and roll it around on actual wheels!
If you build a dolly with those bigger inflatable rubber wheels that thing will move nicely over all those cracks and lips in the concrete.
What's happened with this project in the last seven (7) months?
I've been acquiring parts, finishing up other projects to clear the shop out and looking at whether I need to build a rotisserie or maybe acquire some other specialized equipment.
I've also been working on engineering the rear subframe and suspension. I currently have two different designs on the drawing boards, one with long/short arms and one with trailing arms ala MiniTec's version.
Once the shop is clear, I'll be back on it "full time" - in quotes because I can only work in the shop for a few hours at a time.