Midlana: First "Book" Build

Cool!

Got the nose today!

A member on the Midlana forum saw that I didn't have one yet and offered me a deal on one that he had sitting in his garage for the past several years.

I've made a few more front tubes over the past few days. You can see a few of the diagonals behind the noise. I am almost done with the front, then on to the back!

The front is complete except for the radiator mount. I need the radiator to arrive to finish.

In the meantime I got the engine situated in its new home.

Awesome. Can't wait to see it out in the world. That will be a lot of fun when you're finished!

You know, you could build one yourself! Midlana book.

kb58 wrote: You know, you could build one yourself! Midlana book.

Yes, I might just do that since I have spare Chrysler turbo drivetrains that I know quite well and probably scrounge up some other parts to hold the wheels in place, etc.

turboswede wrote: ...Yes, I have spare Chrysler turbo drivetrains that I know quite well...

You, sir, are exactly who Midlana was designed for, someone who already has a FWD engine on-hand, and has extensive knowlege about it. No need to learn an unfamiliar drivetrain that you neither have nor want to use.

I'll sit down now.

kb58 wrote:

turboswede wrote: ...Yes, I have spare Chrysler turbo drivetrains that I know quite well...

You, sir, are exactly who Midlana was designed for, someone who already has a FWD engine on-hand, and has extensive knowlege about it. No need to learn an unfamiliar drivetrain that you neither have nor want to use. I'll sit down now.

Stop that! You unbearable man! I spent all damned day re-reading the build diary. I need to finish the other cars first before thinking further on this. Damnit. Damnit. Damnit.

More progress...I took yesterday off and worked on the car most of the day. The radiator arrived yesterday and looks great!

I spent most of the day making a model of the rear end of the USS Enterprise.

Unfortunately it wanted to occupy the same space as the alternator. Good bye alternator!

Now it fits (mostly... still close by the differential housing. I need to shift the engine forward an inch or so).

I also made a few of the rear side tubes:

Even more progress on the chassis over the weekend, although not as much as I was hoping due to family visits and helping my buddy put a transmission in his Dodge Diesel Truck.

I finished up the rear sides of the car, Including the rear hoop braces:

It really looks like a car now!

I also scooted the engine forward an inch. It will now clear the rear suspension sub frame, but the differential housing is still close to the forward diagonal tube and may hit when the engine moves on its mounts. I am planning to do something like this to get around the bulge of the diff and gain a bit more clearance.

I got a nasty cold and haven't been able to work on the car much this week. I was feeling better today and made some progress on the rear suspension subframe. I got artsy to get around the differential.

So have you actually gotten the book at this point?

Yes, it came at the beginning of December.

Looks great!

moparman76_69 wrote: So have you actually gotten the book at this point?

Here's a link to the Midlana book

I finished and fully welded the subframe tonight. It's now ready to be perminatly welded into the car.

So I -did- get you out into the garage! Hurray!

Still a bit sad that you did so much more work than I did.

I cheated and welded most of it on Sunday. I mostly just made the X yesterday.

Also work goes faster when not dealing with rust!

bgkast wrote: I cheated and welded most of it on Sunday. I mostly just made the X yesterday. Also work goes faster when not dealing with rust!

True! Good to hear you cheated. I was beginning to feel awfully incompetent. Also, you have a nicely lit, open shop, and you don't have to dance around kids toys.

Can we switch projects? And garages?

The sharp metal shavings on the floor keeps the kids away. I'm just working in one of the bays of the garage. As for lights: $12x3 made a WORLD of difference: Lights

Awesome framework. I found welding and fab the fun part. Looking forward to your progress.

Thank you!

More progress on the suspension sub frame support...almost there!

I also added the vertical piece between the rear floor and diagonals. After I tacked it in place I noticed that it may conflict with the rear upper A arm.

I will leave the piece there for now, that corner of the floor had warped up 1/8" or so and the vertical piece is forcing it back to flat.

You could use a curved piece there, or a curved upright (Edit: D'oh I mean A-arm!) in a worst-case scenario.

This is probably the fastest-moving build on the board right now! And it'll be among the fastest when done too!

There are tubes that form the diffuser going behind the flat floor. The book shows the tube that I have installed vertically running back and tying into these diffuser tubes. The angle back would have it clearing the suspension with no problem. I was trying to be clever and make the diffuser and rear bodywork support tubes a lighter weight, bolt on assembly and have all of the structural tubes terminate at the rear-most floor tube.

GameboyRMH wrote: This is probably the fastest-moving build on the board right now!

Seriously! A little over two months from "Hey, I have some donor parts lying around" to "Here are some more pics that look suspiciously like a car"...