In reply to Stampie :
You’d look better in a babushka.
In reply to Stampie :
You’d look better in a babushka.
In reply to AngryCorvair :
I look good in anything or nothing. It's hard carrying this burden in life.
Garage is as straightened as it’s gonna get, so I cleared most of the stuff off the Corvair and moved her closer to center stage. My goal for this evening was simply to get the gas tank out of the car, and to deal with whatever environmental / carcinogenic disaster may ensue. So I put a 5-gal bucket under the tank outlet hose and sliced it open.
And nothing came out.
so I removed one strap bolt and broke the other, and dropped the tank as far as I could before the filler neck became a droop limiter.
Then i reefed on the filler neck until the coupling hoses tore in half, and dropped the tank the rest of the way.
I could feel liquid moving around in the tank, so I dumped what would come out into a bucket.
Damn, 1982 gas didn’t age well. I’m going to call local salvage yards tomorrow and see if I can grease somebody’s palm to recycle it for me. For the time being, the gas is in an unneeded can with the lid tightly sealed. That’s it for tonight. I’m high AF from the fumes. All that crap is in the back of my truck in the driveway. Couldn’t keep it in the attached garage. Tomorrow I will endeavor to remove the steering box, column, and linkage, then start cutting the trunk floor to make way for C4 front suspension crossmember.
Nothing smells worse than bad gas unless it's gear lube. In my town, I can bring a load like this to our hazmat station two days a week. They'll even give me the can back if I ask them.
Looking good. Except for the gas!
In reply to Jerry From LA :
Nice! Wayne County MI does a roving hazmat day once per month. Looks like I have to hold it until next Saturday.
Jerry From LA said:Nothing smells worse than bad gas unless it's gear lube. In my town, I can bring a load like this to our hazmat station two days a week. They'll even give me the can back if I ask them.
Sorry, used supercharger oil is the worst.
Sat 6/22 Lunch break update:
so far I’ve pulled the steering wheel, pitman / drag link / idler arm assembly, and dropped the steering box and shaft. Now, this car pre-dates the FMVSS mandate for collapsible steering columns, three-point belts, and even dual-circuit brake systems. The steering shaft is one straight harpoon-like steel rod, 1/2” diameter and about 5 feet long, from the steering box mounted just behind the decorative front bumper, all the way to the hub of the steering wheel. And much like a bad clown, it can really berkeley you up.
Then I reset the jackstands to lower the front end and opened the frunk for the first time since I’ve owned it. Nothing in there but the AM radio and an old flashlight. Removed the single-circuit brake MC and the windshield wiper and washer system. Currently plotting on how to remove frunk floor so I can start measuring and cutting for scabbing in the C4 frame section.
What was for lunch, you ask? Tuna salad with extra mayo and Colby jack, on toasted multigrain, with a couple watermelon sticks. Srsly, learning to cut a watermelon into sticks instead of slices was a life changer.
In reply to AngryCorvair :
Also, That's a good look for you.
AngryCorvair said:Sat 6/22 Lunch break update:
so far I’ve pulled the steering wheel, pitman / drag link / idler arm assembly, and dropped the steering box and shaft. Now, this car pre-dates the FMVSS mandate for collapsible steering columns, three-point belts, and even dual-circuit brake systems. The steering shaft is one straight harpoon-like steel rod, 1/2” diameter and about 5 feet long, from the steering box mounted just behind the decorative front bumper, all the way to the hub of the steering wheel. And much like a bad clown, it can really berkeley you up.
Then I reset the jackstands to lower the front end and opened the frunk for the first time since I’ve owned it. Nothing in there but the AM radio and an old flashlight. Removed the single-circuit brake MC and the windshield wiper and washer system. Currently plotting on how to remove frunk floor so I can start measuring and cutting for scabbing in the C4 frame section.
What was for lunch, you ask? Tuna salad with extra mayo and Colby jack, on toasted multigrain, with a couple watermelon sticks. Srsly, learning to cut a watermelon into sticks instead of slices was a life changer.
This is what you’re going to look like in october in Florida?
In reply to Patrick :
With a better tan, perhaps.
Sunday 6/23 dinner break:
today I played a little game of “connect the dots with a jigsaw”:
Which eventually yielded a pretty decent weight save, and gave me better access for visualizing and mocking up the front suspension swap:
And the solid trunk floor will provide additional trade fodder for a few Corvair bits I might need:
I’m starting to play with ideas for how to align everything. Got some square tubing and a sweet digital level:
Gonna get a few lengths of 3/8” all-thread and a mess of washers and nuts. Yes, I said “washers and nuts.” Here’s where the quick-witted among you make a comment about my love of clean nuts. Settle down, Beavises, you’re not as funny as you think.
“Don’t peek! I’m changing!”
Another bite of elephant today. Got the mock-up tires mounted, and grabbed some hardware that will keep everything aligned for tacking.
Also came up with a rear suspension subframe design that’s gonna work out nicely and be a little lighter than originally thought.
Got some all-thread and made some mock-up rods to hold control arms at desired ride height:
Then bolted the suspension together and threw the front wheels and tires on:
so I could play with wheel location in the fender openings. But I couldn’t get the subframe close enough to the body and I wasn’t just going to start cutting away at either one without a plan. Here’s as close as they got:
I took a bunch of measurements to identify center line of body and subframe:
Painter’s tape notes (above) are for dimensions between features on subframe.
I took a step back and realized I needed a different way to locate things. Broke out a couple of homer buckets and:
I don’t think the camera does justice to the visual impact of 275/40 tires on 17x9.5 rims. OD is not that much larger than stock, but it’s a plus-four on rim diameter and 90mm more section width.
Today I went to the future hammer store for some welding magnets and some flappy discs, then stopped by my buddy’s place and picked up the welder. Tomorrow the CAD begins.
That is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!
i love almost everything in this post. Old chevy, sawblades, 275/40/17, stuffed wheelwells.
The only thing i don't like is that you are actually making progress. Because if this shows up along with Patricks gasser, my concourse placement is screwed.
From what I can see in pictures the amount of patina on that car is perfect. Please do whatever you can to retain it.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
it sat in a garage since 1982 before being in moved to the backyard for a year or so, and i haven't washed it yet. Jay says "don't wash it. just clean the drivers side of the windshield." perhaps this year will be "barn find" and next year will be "restored to former glory"
I decided to skip CAD tonight and start melting C4 frame scraps together. So far, I kinda suck at this game. But this is the first time I’ve made slag in 30 years, and I’m just playing around. Machine is Hobart Handler 135 with a spool of flux core wire. Material is 0.065” steel.
First effort: trying the “count to 2” tack method. Looks like too much wire, and all of it is sitting on the surface.
Next, I figured I’d just try to lay a bead. Again, looks like too much wire and not enough heat.
So I turned the speed way down (about 35/100) and left the heat on 2/4. Only the two beads at the top of this pic were done at those settings:
Top one looks ok to me, didn’t pile up a bunch of slag on the working side, and got good penetration:
I’ve got a long way to go before I can call myself an adequate welder, but I’m excited about taking this step, and I’m gonna practice a bunch. CL has a mess of free filing cabinets, and I have a truck!
More heat
Echo what Patrick Said
you're not penetrating because you're not using enough voltage.
eastwood quick tip video with an ad in it.
Heh. Not penetrating. He’s getting old enough that it might not just be a problem while trying to weld.
Patrick said:Heh. Not penetrating. He’s getting old enough that it might not just be a problem while trying to weld.
I wondered how long before a joke along those lines was made.
*golf clap*
well done
It's always been my experience that the top 2 settings on a 125V welder are the only ones that are of any use. Any setting lower than that only serves to leave a sloppy pile of wire on the surface of whatever you are trying to weld.
Just to verify here, is the welder set up Positive Ground or Negative Ground? Negative ground means the heat will go into the work. I've never got a cheap MIG to work on Positive ground, though they usually list that as the correct configuration for thin work. I use Negative and turn the heat down.
Also, I'm not fond of the spot-spot-spot method on anything that's not super thin. Your 0.060" material isn't super thin. You should be able to hold the trigger down and run a real bead. I like to use a zig zag pattern, or a series of crescents walking down the weld seam. Really hard to type this kind of description...
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