Dusterbd13 wrote: I strongly dislike the diamond plate you currently have there, so my vote is naked.
Well I'm going with NoHome's idea to mount it underneath so the plate is gone. The more I looked at it I disliked it too, it was a quick piece and looked unfinished and crap.
Thanks NoHome, your idea was spot on. I moved the tank to the underside of the supports, looks much better here. I need to get some proper hardware to bolt it in but this will do nicely.
Had a few vacation days I needed to burn so I made myself a long weekend. I ran to the hardware store and got better hardware for the fuel tank mounting.
And I mounted the morse cable for the throttle. Somewhere along the line the adapter that moves the cable away from the pedal got lost, its probably somewhere in all the parts boxes that came with the Wartburg, so I welded 2 bolts to the ends of some bar stock to make my own.
I also got the proper hardware to mount the coil overs so that's complete as well. I'll be working on the rest of the fuel system, pump, pressure regulator, gauge, for the rest of the day then I really need to get the engine installed. After that its wiring, exhaust and....well we're getting close I guess.
Are you sure you won't have any fuel starvation with that fuel tank setup? If there could be, I'm thinking mounting it vertically and half-filling it would make a nice quick fix.
In reply to GameboyRMH:
Dual pickups?
GameboyRMH wrote: Are you sure you won't have any fuel starvation with that fuel tank setup? If there could be, I'm thinking mounting it vertically and half-filling it would make a nice quick fix.
I would have to run the fuel level pretty low for it to be an issue, since I wont burn through a lot of fuel in 60 second runs it shouldn't be an issue. I would have preferred an actual fuel cell with foam and all but there were budgetary compromises to be made. I'm already WAAAY overbudget on this one.
And the rest of the fuel system plumbed. The fitting at the end is for a pressure gauge which hasn't arrived yet, once the engine is mounted that will then be plumbed to the carburetors. The zip ties are temporary, I will get proper hose clamps next time I got to the hardware store.
Almost forgot, wheel update. I received a pair of 15x8s from VWGuyBruce here on the forums so we're halfway there! But supplier no 4 came through with a square set of 15x10s as well, I got tracking numbers today so I should have wheels next week.
For the skidpad I'm going to mount the huge slicks on the 15x10s but for autox I probably want to size down a bit so the 15x8s will get a more reasonable tire installed.
Started the day by filling in a major part of the puzzle if I plan to make it to the Skidpad challenge. I had no truck and no trailer :( A truck isn't in the cards right now but as shown during retrieval the Marauder makes a fine vehicle to tow a tow dolly. So this morning I picked up a new to me tow dolly. I'm sure this will be the start of more misadventures.
Actual rail work happened too, update forthcoming.
Ok, today we bent some aluminum. Here's my ghetto metal brake.
After bending I drilled it out. Here's mission control. Master power, starter button, fuel pump switch, ignition power switch. That'll do.
Bolted in a battery box and ran some cable
Bolted in the control panel
And ran all the wiring. I'm kinda proud of myself, this isnt my usual half assed work. Everything is properly heat shrunk and all the lines have quick disconnects for troubleshooting.
I was even good and put grommets in the firewall, I learn from my mistakes. Ok so I didnt have a large grommet for the main power but a piece of hose works good.
Excellent work!
Time to make an exhaust for this thing. First I cut the bolt on end off of a stock u bend, I know originally I had planned to reverse the exhaust manifolds to do away with these but it was not to be.
Next I bolted it up do the header
Then a nice long runner is welded on
We turn the bend and....look zero emissions exhaust. Ok. This is where I got stuck. I had an idea of what I wanted to do but knew it needed a little more finesse than I was giving it. A call was made to the master of all things exhaust (and all automotive) Andy Nelson who walked me through what I needed to do to make a collector. My work thus far was so appauling that Andy actually offered to just make it for me but this is a teach a man to fish moment so he taught. He has a great deal of patience to use my mishaps as teachable moments rather than just sit back and laugh.
Ok so I got some more exhaust pipe. These cuts should be done with fancy jigs and band saws Im sure but I dont have any of that so I put the pipe in my vice at an angle and hit it with a sawzall.
In the end you get 2 pieces that look like this
Weld them together with a stub piece on the single end.
Then I welded that to two 90 degree bends.
Tacked it all together and bolted a Supertrapp to the end of it. That should work quite well. I have to finish weld it but household chores were calling my name.
Knowledge gained. Your vice does everything. 
I have so many more ideas now.
Your exhaust tubing had a coating on it that makes welding a bitch. Not good to breath either.
NOHOME wrote: Your exhaust tubing had a coating on it that makes welding a bitch. Not good to breath either.
I ground it off the areas that were being welded and I wore a respirator because I'm aware of the danger. But good to point it out for those who may try this without knowing otherwise.
In an effort to reduce pucker factor when towing with the marauder, consider some drag bags for teh springs in the rear. inflate to 30/40 psi when towing. you'll drastically feel safer and be able to carry more weight...
Dad used his Chevy Caprice to pull our 1991 Supra Combrio in/out of the water in such a mannor...
Mad_Ratel wrote: In an effort to reduce pucker factor when towing with the marauder, consider some drag bags for teh springs in the rear. inflate to 30/40 psi when towing. you'll drastically feel safer and be able to carry more weight... Dad used his Chevy Caprice to pull our 1991 Supra Combrio in/out of the water in such a mannor...
Its got air springs from the factory. I towed the rail home 2 hours with it through the hills, never a moment of pucker factor, its more than capable.
So the motor was missing its timing marks, its just a plastic bit that bolts on the front but the nice folks at The Bus Depot make a really nice aluminum replacement
New front seal before the flywheel goes in. You can see the remnants of the old pilot bearing in there, I pulled that out, it was destroyed. Because I'm using a bug transmission the pilot bearing goes in the flywheel now.
And flywheel installed. Another tool you accumulate working on VWs, flywheel holder, can be seen in the upper right. Seems like an easy enough job but the crank shaft play gets set with shims behind the flywheel so its off and on a few times to get it right. Luckily I needed to remove shims not add them because the shims are hard to come by.
Is it bad that this has me searching CL for be buggy frames? I can't wait to see it done!!
Five and a half months to get mostly done. I feel glacial by comparison with respect to my projects.
Remind me... When is this skid-pad event happening?
java230 wrote: Is it bad that this has me searching CL for be buggy frames? I can't wait to see it done!!
Or you can wait until after the skidpad event and buy this one off me ;) I built this for a single purpose and I like building more than driving so it will be for sale after an autox or two locally.
NOHOME wrote: Five and a half months to get mostly done. I feel glacial by comparison with respect to my projects. Remind me... When is this skid-pad event happening?
Skid pad event is the 26th. Most of my projects drag on for years, Only 2 have ever been finished in speed rounds like this. The first iteration of the Wartburg (9 months) and this car. I was actually discussing it with another GRMer to try and find some insight into my own mind and work habits to help speed up other projects. Here's some tips I've gleaned that work for me, YMMV
1) Have a deadline. I hate deadlines, and setting artificial ones doesn't help either. With this car and the Wartburg I had events I wanted them to be in so those were real, hard deadlines. Promise yourself you are taking your car to the 20XX challenge and make that your goal. Even if you are going to be over budget just go as a spectator/exhibition class.
2) Publish that deadline so you've made that promise to more than just yourself.
3) Build Thread! Knowing other people are watching can be motivational and it gives you a place to publish that deadline and get people to urge you on for motivation
4) This one is huge for me: SPEND MONEY! Don't wait until you need something to buy it, buy as much as you can as soon as you can and put it on a shelf. This helps in 2 ways. First I look at that pile of parts and think of the money invested and realized its all wasted if I don't make my deadline. Second when you hit a "stuck" point on an item you can step back and work on something else for awhile. Waiting on parts can be very de-motivational. This co-incides well with:
5) Force yourself to do something every day. Last night I spent maybe all of an hour installing the timing marker and flywheel, it wasn't a huge night. But I did something. Every night I try to do something. If I go a week without doing something I feel my motivation drop off drastically. To the note on number 4 if you have piles of parts waiting its always easy to find something small to do.
6) Optional - involve others. With the Wartburg I had my whole team involved so there were other dedicated people to keep me motivated and to put their own effort into the task. The rail has been mostly a solo build but TB here has come by to have joint work days where we both work on our cars to prepare and just having another person out there motivates you to keep working rather than packing it in early and going to veg on the sofa.
7) Take time off between builds. Assuming you have an SO don't forget you've just invested more time in this than you have in your own family life, be sure to give back :)
JThw8 wrote: Or you can wait until after the skidpad event and buy this one off me ;) I built this for a single purpose and I like building more than driving so it will be for sale after an autox or two locally. /snip
Why do you have to say that?! You're on the wrong side of the country....
NOHOME wrote: Five and a half months to get mostly done.
Oh...and its only 4 and a half months ;)
In other news, re-sprained my ankle which has been messed up off and on for a year now. It was bad enough I didn't want to be walking around the office so I worked from home today. Bonus for that is I can fire up the vinyl cutter and let it run while I work so all the vinyl I had designed for the rail is cut now and I have the side panels sanded out to a nice brushed finish. No photos yet, I want to save that for a fully assembled photo shoot :)
I guess one preview is ok. Made the car official today
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