Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT My Mini Garagemahal

[fouckhest]

Hope everyone had a good weekend, I didn't get as much shop time as I wanted this weekend, but still got a little work done.

Pulled the fuel cell cage back out to start prepping for permanent install, first step was to weld a plate on the bottom so once it is permanently installed it will be able to be sealed from the outside. Then I wanted to drill all the holes for the lid to attached, there is no way I wanted to deal with that in the car! LOL

Marked out the bottom plate for some plug and stitch welds
by fouckhest, on Flickr

All burned in and smoothed out, I'll seam seal the edges once paint/undercoating time comes around
by fouckhest, on Flickr

Next up was laying out for the lid holes, I have to admit, this little tool is worth every penny!
by fouckhest, on Flickr

Mark, punch, drill, then more drilling....in a holding pattern now until nutserts arrive along with the final size drill bit
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Wrapped up the weekend by welding up the turns for the back of the z-pipe so the straight sections will fit nicely into the rear subframe.
by fouckhest, on Flickr

Hopefully keep plugging away this week.

 

[fouckhest]

Been chipping away at some less than glamorous work the past couple days, but its all good progress towards starting on the floor, tunnel and floor panels.

Yesterday my nutsert order showed up from mcmaster, I wanted to ensure these are good quality, so it was worth the wait. First I got out one of my favorite tools in the quiver

Astro pneumatic nutsert tool
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Ran a couple tests to make sure settings were dialed
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Check that off the list, my fasteners show up today, so other than paint and cutting the lid for the fill plate, its basically done
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr


For the less than glamourous work, I finally decided to cut the old rear flat floor pan/plate out, this was welded in years ago to cover the old spare tire well, the shop that did the work years ago did an "okay" job, but it was full of bondo, it had holes from the old fuel cell and other things, so trying to fix that around bondo made the decision to cut it out simple....i hate bondo lol

So much room for activities!
by fouckhest, on Flickr

This also gives me the opportunity to access all the subframe mounting points, which means now I can tie those into the cage, which will be both functional and much better looking in my opinion
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Also spent some time cleaning up this area, which had some different shapes in it as it was the edge of where the rear seats would be, so it needed cleaned up so when the cell cage is mounted it will make building the floor much easier and cleaner
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Hope to start making some templates tonight, maybe start working on the subframe mounts, will see how I am feeling after work.

 

[fouckhest]

Hope everyone had a good 4th, rather busy in our world, but managed to find some shop time here and there.

After cutting out the rear floor, I opened pandoras box and decided to tackle building a new mount for the rear subframe, which well, took WAY longer than I intended, but I decided to TIG it since it will be very visible in the back of the car.

Started off by making the attachment point(s)

Beefy washer and M14x 1.5 nut w/1-3/4 0.090 wall tubing to match the cage
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

secured for welding
by fouckhest, on Flickr

Burned together
by fouckhest, on Flickr

Repeat that 3x more times, then start cutting/fitting
by fouckhest, on Flickr

Made a couple tubes a few too many times, but I wanted good fit and welds
by fouckhest, on Flickr

Got a little time in before work and just got it finished up, its currently cooling so I can working on getting it final welded into the car, debating a removable panel over the diff using some push button quick disconnects, but still TBD on that.
by fouckhest, on Flickr
by fouckhest, on Flickr

 

[fourmotioneer]

Curious why the subframe is necessary. Sure there is a reason, but what stands out is that you could mount diff directly to chassis and eliminate subframe, which is a design for manufacturing concession

 

[fouckhest]

Curious why the subframe is necessary. Sure there is a reason, but what stands out is that you could mount diff directly to chassis and eliminate subframe, which is a design for manufacturing concession

I assume you mean the "black subframe," that is where the control arms (upper & lower) connect, so in theory, that entire unit, the piece I just made and the black subframe, certainly could have been merged into one larger unit.
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

That was more of an undertaking than I was willing to do for right now. This was a way to upgrade/update the black subframe mounting points b/c the way it was attached previously was not my favorite, but it was a way to do the all wheel drive swap years ago, plus now I can tie the new piece into the cage.

A big part of this was to make a better mounting point and redo the floor in the back, not the best photo, but previously the fuel cell was mounted on top of the hatch floor, along with the air tanks. So there were lots of holes and that panel was full of bondo, so it was just easier to start over (in my mind lol).

 

[fourmotioneer]

Didn’t see the suspension mounting points! Makes sense

 

[fouckhest]

Hope everyone had a good weekend, after being out of town for work last week, mine was filled with catching up on house chores and trying to find some shop time.

The wife got the accent panels stained for the gate, since they were done I got those installed followed by yard work in between rain, womp womp, but hurray!
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

The rain is doing the lawn some good, and this was from Friday and its rained on/off every day since, so might get into the twice a week mowing sooner than later, womp.
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Been plugging away at the project car. I wanted to try and get the new rear subframe mount mocked up/get the old mount bar out of the way b/c it makes working in the back area of the car difficult while it "tidy" everything back up.

Started by lopping off the center section, leaving only these little ears and marked them up to noodle on how to cut them out...hole saw or grinder/flap wheel....
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Decided to try to hole saw them, so whipped up a makeshift drill bushing out of some scraps I had laying around
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Melted together and drilled for pilot hole bit size that is on the arbor
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Success!
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Then went to fit the subframe mount and it was a touch narrow, so put that aside to keep focus on other tasks that are more important to drive to tunnel/floor fab. These areas on the side I noted on a couple posts above, make some tape templates, transferred them to metal, then used some wood blocks and clamps, with my knee to form them into shape
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Tacked in place
by fouckhest, on Flickr

Then burned them in and metal worked the edges/seams
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr
by fouckhest, on Flickr

Next steps will be to plate off the area at the base of the main hoop for the cage, then move on to the hatch area to continue clean up on where I cut out the floor pan to make sure its ready for the subframe mount to get welded in and then start driving towards some sheet metal work.