single car start from scratch :D down under...

[jinjaninja]

Again due to the modifying a front wheel drive engine I have had to change the sump. These engines, 3sge beams, came in fwd format until being released in rwd in the altezza rs200. Rated for 210hp from stock they are a really nice advanced and capable engine. Long story short, I ended up with a gen 4 front wheel drive version when expecting a gen 5 rwd. So set about making the most of it and converting it

The engines sit on a significant slant in fwd. When stood up with a rwd sump the oil pic up is in useless spot. With no money to buy replacements, I set about making it fit.

I wasn't sure how a pickup was meant to sit. So I pointed it at the centre and set it 10mm up from the floor of the sump. I'll add some baffles and trap doors when I remake the lower part of the sump.

Only spot welded the top point. The material was very thin and brazed initially. The spots are strong, there are plenty and they draw the join together to seal quite well (well enough for a pickup lol ) as the material shrinks from welding.

I cleaned the living bejesus out of this before welding and it was still filthy to weld lol. I guess you get that after 15 years sitting in oil...

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[Terrick down Under]

J, do you have a 250 or 500 watt outdoor light? if so set it up under the block so that it will heat the entire block thru over night, I usually put an old leather welding apron over the top to help keep the heat in as much as possible. (DO NOT SET FIRE TO THE GARAGE!!!!!!) Then about 2 hours before you are up for some more welding turn the block up the other way and start heating directly to the area you want to weld. This will give a good heat storage in the block itself and you should be able to slowly do it. If you can set it properly leave the light going at the away section of the block while you are welding.
Have fun.

 

[jinjaninja]

Yeah, I eventually plan on replacing the engine with a proper rwd gen 5 with some beadwork and stuff. So this is a temporary solution. The join holds the torque of the bolt fine. But it makes a bit of noise. So it's not perfect. But for it to fail all 3 other bolts have to fail alongside...

My old boss has offered me his gas set from when he did his apprenticeship. It's old but should be perfectly suitable for what I need in the future (mainly building bike frames ) and with a decent heating torch getting heat into the block won't be a problem if I ever need to do this again.

It was fun learning a new trick. Since the strokes I find it hard to grasp new things without doing it with my hands. So this was the first time I had used a silicone bronze. It flowed really nicely and the puddle was easy to follow from the nut. I think it would be hard to tig graze small parts on a bike frame, but for other work I think it would be handy. Especially doing extractors at the flange to limit heat input and stop warping...

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[1/2 Cup]

jinjaninja, I have used silicon bronze before but never with a TIG only brazing.

What settings are you running??

Regards

 

[jinjaninja]

Well it worked much better on the test piece I did. That was old 10mm angle iron and a old mild nut. That was set at 55 amps and no preheat. I also dont use pulse. With that I could flow the rod and it didn't seem to dribble at all, just pooled and flowed nicely.

I use large Pyrex cups with diffusers and about 20lpm argon.

The only brazing I ever planned on doing was the small bits on bike frames (bottle cage boss, rear stay bridge, gear boss etc) but I think if you had enough material for practice you could effectively tig graze the joins also, but it is hard with such thin materials I think... Most brazing tubes are .7mm at the join end...

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[1/2 Cup]

jinjaninja, thank you for the info I should have a crack at it. I do have a couple of rods here..

Regards

 

[jinjaninja]

It's fun. Very different puddle to a traditional tig setup.

I've been very lucky. All my apprenticeship was done in a fabrication shop for chemical and food and beverage places. So everything was stainless steel. I was the cleanest apprentice you ever saw lol.

But it's a very different thing using the silicone bronze to braze. Like you don't have the puddle to poor into it more dollops on top lol... And you can see the puddle wicking along th e two surfaces... Where as the tig sort of just is ...there?... Lol terrible explanation.

I was talking to a friend who uses brazing a lot for manifold work on cars as it puts a lot let heat into them.

And it's starting to prove popular in roll cage work as it is much easier to cut a tube out for repair or replacement if brazed in..

I was just really happy to learn a new trick even if I didn't exactly do it perfectly...

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[jinjaninja]

So managed to get out into the shed today. Well got started yesterday but Anna took of with little Leo for a craft day, leaving me free to get stuck in for a few hours on a project she has wanted done for month.

We have a tiny house. And finding a good sized dining table has proven tough. So I set about making one to the dimensions her ladyship decided were proper.

I have had the steel for this table for like 6months, I just havnt been able to pull it all together.

Proved very rusty on the welder :/ it really is true what they say. Weld every dam day. If you don't you start getting rusty fast. Oh well. All the dodgy was hidden quite nicely with the paint lol.

I decided to paint the table top and the legs separately just so it was easier. Then I'll weld the legs on and only need a little touch up with the paint.

I also have a little plan to fit adjustable feet, but I need to go "borrow" some bits from work.

And the top is going to be some pine from bunnings that is on special at the moment lol.

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[1/2 Cup]

If they are rusty type welds I take my hat off to you, they are just awesome..

The tops from Bunnings will work just fine..

Cheers

 

[jinjaninja]

I've always had problems with frame welding for some reason. Some guys have the knack but I always managed to get the torch angle wrong so the puddle tends to drop away and act as if it's all too hot. I was just getting my head around it when I got sick. This is probably the first time I have done a proper series of join welds like this in 2 years.

Don't get me wrong lol they are strong and I'd happily stake my rep (what rep i have lol ) on them being structurally spot on. They just lack a bit of shine to impress the internet weld inspectors lol

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[1/2 Cup]

I've always had problems with frame welding for some reason. Some guys have the knack but I always managed to get the torch angle wrong so the puddle tends to drop away and act as if it's all too hot. I was just getting my head around it when I got sick. This is probably the first time I have done a proper series of join welds like this in 2 years.

Don't get me wrong lol they are strong and I'd happily stake my rep (what rep i have lol ) on them being structurally spot on. They just lack a bit of shine to impress the internet weld inspectors lol

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Your welds are just fine and would tick the boxes here as well let me tell you..

Welding box section is an art all on its own, tack in the right sequence to stop the distortion then never ever weld across the face of box section as it bends like hell. Just weld the edges where the strength is..

View media item 34474
Not a patch on your welds ( MIG tack ) but you should get the picture..

Regards

 

[spudmab]

Hey mate well done for not giving up and plodding on. My wife have an illness that kicks her **** and with 4 kids it gets hard to get my workshop organised. I love your car looks like a right toy, should be loads of fun when done. All i can say is keep heading forward try and complete 1 job at a time, dont get bogged down with to much as that seems to make little jobs harder if you know what i mean.

 

[jinjaninja]

Yeah very much the one foot in front of the other approach

Sorry to hear about the wife mate.

I often forget how lucky I have been in total throughout this journey.

The side effects I have are manageable, the people i have met are amazing, and i have time to plan and leave a legacy for my boy. Not many people can say the same.

All the best with your journey mate. And thanks for commenting

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[jinjaninja]

Legs on and all finished. Needed a smaller 20mm rhs down the bottom and need to sort out the adjusting legs ... But happy.

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[jinjaninja]

Just so no one can acuse me of selective showing off. They don't always work perfectly lol. Mainly as I was struggling to find a comfy position with my belly ... The race paint covered it all nicely in the end lol

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[1/2 Cup]

Selective showing off, no way.

If I could weld like that I would be a happy chappy..

Well done..

 

[Terrick down Under]

My usually best welds are usually spoilt by the usual hot spark in the ear! Don't worry about the weld, you forgot to put all the seams on the bottom!! Do it over!! LOL

 

[jinjaninja]

My usually best welds are usually spoilt by the usual hot spark in the ear! Don't worry about the weld, you forgot to put all the seams on the bottom!! Do it over!! LOL

**** you are right. I totally didn't think of that lol. If I tell the Mrs I am remaking it I think she will have a right Barney lol

To be fair I recon the seams should go on the top as the wood lid will hide them all

I did do a proper horrible weld ok the small 20mm rhs ... I tried to do an overhead rather than flip the table as the paint was still soft.... And I was too lazy to clean enough of the paint away. As usual I had to grind it back out anyways and start again cos the weld went **** lol.

Do it right Do it once...

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[Terrick down Under]

J, can you see Glebe Hill above Howrah from your place? That house on the top was where we lived for about 18 months. It was 6 weeks before the bridge went down.

 

[jinjaninja]

I'm going with no....

I'm also going with wrong thread

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[Terrick down Under]

Sorry, I thought you were on the Hobarts east shore near Southarm/ Rokeby area. My mistake.

 

[jinjaninja]

Lol all good. Nah we are Longford, 20km outside Launceston.



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[jinjaninja]

Your welds are just fine and would tick the boxes here as well let me tell you..

Welding box section is an art all on its own, tack in the right sequence to stop the distortion then never ever weld across the face of box section as it bends like hell. Just weld the edges where the strength is..

View media item 34474
Not a patch on your welds ( MIG tack ) but you should get the picture..

Regards

Your comment about never welding across the face just reminded me about one of my real problems with this stuff.

As my old work specialised in stainless steel work for chemical and foodnbeverage we have to do sanitary welds. So all joins must be completely sealed to stop collection of beasties... And of course stainless moves sooo much anyways, add in the welding across the face and yeah. It's a recipe for pain lol

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[Terrick down Under]

Hey, try this little tip that my old boss taught me. We were doing stainless handrails in 30mm square, so after tacking all the fixings, I had to weld one across the face for each piece and let it cool completely, then go back and do the opposite face and let it cool completely. ten start on the sides repeating the process. It takes way longer but it does reduce the pulling by more than 75%. I still do it today when putting in the cross members on trailers. Works for me.

 

[jinjaninja]

Yeah spacing out works really well.

Probably one of the things I struggle with now in terms of remembering all the little important tricks. Especially when to don't get torch time everyday ... I try, but sometimes I go a few weeks without the energy or wellness to get out and play.

So where are you now terrick ?

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[Terrick down Under]

Just outside of Canberra, on the way up to the snow. We can see the Canberra night glow from our place, but don't have much of the noise. Its a nice place to be, 12 acres in a little valley. About 2k's in a straight line from the ACT/NSW border.

This is my place from the plane flying into Canberra Airport.

Hey, BTW, keep at it. I love reading your thread.

 

[jinjaninja]

Nice places around Canberra... Only been there once for some bike racing about 15 years ago lol but some beautificul country

Thanks for the encouragement :ad

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[jinjaninja]

Well that escalated quickly...








Not really. I have been planning this little adventure for a few months. Snatched a bunch of scrap steel from work ages ago. But have just not been feeling up to getting it all sorted.

Rear will probably take me another few months lol.


Was the first time I have used my gas setup on the mig. Goes good bit dirty with straight argon but all in all a happy thing.


The rotisserie is needed for me to be able to do any work on the rear end. While it's upside down I'll also do some stitch welding. What's people's opinions on spot weld vs inch on inch off welding ?

Thought I'd check. The car is 1600 at the widest (a touch under but I figured a round number was a good start lol ) so I will set the swivel at 850. The ******* on the car is close to centreline height wise and hopefully everything should be reasonably reachable without running out of turning over room lol.

If anyone has built one of these before and has any free advice or tips, feel free

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[HOTFR8]

Nothing like a good car project for motivation.

 

[jinjaninja]

Yeap. The amount of times my gorgeous wife fended of my family during my sickness when thy planned to sell it. bless her. It has provided a huge amount of therapy ..

One day I hope the lad gets a blast out of it

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[1/2 Cup]

jinjaninja I can't help you on what's the best height for a rotisserie, I have never used one. Just make sure the 850 mm is measured from the centre line of the rotisserie otherwise it will hit the ground at some point..

As for the you spot v inch on inch off welds, I find spots are not too bad in sheet metal I just crank up the amps a little to what you would normally have it set at because the can be a bit too cold. Its a matter of horses for courses and depends largely on what you need to achieve.

Let us know how you get on..

Regards

 

[jinjaninja]

Made the twirly wirly bit for the front.

Copped some **** from the haters saying it was too narrow and too short lol.

So caved to peer pressure and added some bits...

Now to get cracking on the bum.. happy days.

I have had a lot of skin issues recently with heat and light. Looks like a medication has started a nasty reaction in me...whodathunkit right ?

So I'm looking at replacing my abrasive blades on the drop saw with the metal cutting diamond blades designed to work at chop saw speed. I can't afford a cold cut saw right now. Does anyone have any personal experience with these ?

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[1/2 Cup]

jinjaninja, I haven't had ant experience with these blades. I am in the same boat would love a cold saw but cant afford one.

Let us know how you get on..

Your stand Is looking good..

Regards

 

[jinjaninja]

And here we have it folks. The 2yearold party bigger n Ben hur lol

In spite of a small miscalculation on my part (turns out 4.5m3 is too much sand for a sand pit lol) we managed to get the sand pit sorted, a bunch of little add ons like th binoculars and a cool letter box for letters from Santa lol (yeah I'm going to lie to my kid [emoji14] ). And we got the cobra skid machine on charge.

The 2nd generation drift gazebo is up and seems to be much more sturdy and willing to last than the previous one. A bunch of party food is being made and it's all looking pretty ship shape.

Leo has seen the cubby, and played with the slide a bit yesterday. But since we put the sand and the toys in we have kept him out of the yard. So hopefully he has a great morning tomorrow discovering a bunch of cool ****.

Am planning a swing and firemans pole as add ons down the track. Little home improvement projects lol

Once again guys I can't thank you enough. It a one thing to go th rough this myself. It a another to know that my **** means I can't provide a little joy for my baby boy. You guys have given me and Anna such an amazing gift by helping us provide a happy birthday for Leo.

We even managed, fingers crossed, to invite a few children to this party his first birthday was a disaster of no children lol. We set ourselves a goal of having SOME children at his next birthday. At this stage it's only 3 other kids. But it's something.


Much love to all and thanks from the bottom of my heart.

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[1/2 Cup]

jinjaninja, just awesome..

 

[jinjaninja]

So we succeeded in one major goal this birthday. At Leo's first party, there were no other children. At all. Due to my condition the doctors heavily request we don't interact Leo with children to much in case we all get sick. But this year we decided it was simply to hard on Leo. So we have been taking him to an hour playgroup once a week to help with his social development. And it meant he had some friends to invite to his party. This little fella seems to be concerned about Leo's steering lol. And his other party guest was a bit younger and REALLY didn't trust Leo's intentions in the car lol. But it really was a great feeling seeing your kid happy and playing.

Now I have to clean the shed (again) as all th flat pack rubbish etc from the cubby and the party in general are strategically stashed in the shed. It looks like **** again.

We have had some good news. For those playing in Australia, we have compulsory superannuation scheme. Designed to reduce the burden of retirement on the government pension. In certain cases you can apply for early release. Well we gave it a stab. After 12 months of arguing and constant ******** from centrelink (the government social welfare decision) in regards to my disability claims, we didn't have much hope.

However, much to my dad dismay, the private sector is incredibly more efficient and emotionally understanding than the government system. We had an answer in under 3 weeks. They approved the early release. The money will be available before Christmas. It's not "change your life " money. And there won't be any Porsches lol but it means the immediate threat of losing our home (mortgage insurance runs out in March) is put off. The superannuation also has a permanent disability insurance plan. We applied for that as well. Now that the company has agreed to release the super, it makes it very hard for the insurance side of the equation to say " no, wait a minute, we think you can still do this..." Not impossible mind you lol but very difficult. So it also means we expect to hear an answer from the insurance claim sometime in January. Again not " baller rich money" but enough to pay the house outright and give us some options in terms of making the most of the life we have left together.

Just wanted to share some good news with you guys who have had to put up with me and my misery for so long 'lol

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[jsherid1]

That is great news, congrats on that win. Have been enjoying your thread and really admire your attitude in a tough situation. Keep at it!

 

[1/2 Cup]

jinjaninja, thank you for sharing the good news..

 

[HOTFR8]

Sounds like you will be more relaxed for Christmas.

 

[jinjaninja]

So very little in the way real achievements. But having a 5minute break while we madly prepare for Christmas tomorrow.

Finished the table for the lady of the house. All set up for its first outing tomorrow

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