It is looking so good. Love the tailights and license setup.
It is looking so good. Love the tailights and license setup.
jeebus, this just keeps getting better. Bravo. In my brain, this is the perfect blend of show-quality, but with the proper amount of fabricobble and 'make stuff work' in a project...
maschinenbau said:I signed up for a local car show this Saturday. I decided that will be the hot rod's true maiden voyage, even though it's still not finished enough to properly show. It's barely finished enough to drive on the street, but at least it's only 3 miles away in case anything goes wrong.
What car show, where, and what time? I might be able to slip away for a bit Saturday and I would love to see this in person.
Dang, I have not kept up with this one. Looks really good!
In reply to tomtomgt356 (Tommy) :
2nd Saturdays in Hapeville near the airport. Free chic-fil-a!
http://www.coffeeandchrome.com/
I appreciate all the comments everyone! I know it's not a traditional "Good Guys" or Riddler quality street rod, being built on a very low budget and with grassroots methods in a single-car garage, but that's kind of the point of it. I'm basically going for "very nice tractor" quality. Something that looks at home at a car show, but won't lose value and make me mad if it gets scratched up from street driving and possibly drift and autocross events.
First real drive was a success! I got the turn signals working, installed the cowl and wooden bed, and this morning I drove it 10 miles round trip a small local cars & coffee. I learned how awkward it is to refuel with the bed installed. The hot rod was a big hit at the show! Lots of people really seemed to like it. Got a few old-timer jabs about the "four-banger" and "at least it gets good gas mileage!" but they were in good humor and they really appreciated seeing what a younger generation could turn out. My girlfriend was a good sport about it too. Overall I'm really happy with how today went. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I think I nailed the stance perfectly. It sits exactly how I wanted.
Driving impressions: brakes are still a little spongy but they are definitely grabbing hard at all four corners. All rotors are getting warm. Steering seems pretty easy and light, though it's pulling hard right due to the visibly extra camber on the left front. I didn't really get on the power much because it was so damn loud with open headers, but it didn't feel that fast. Engine was acting funny at idle, but I haven't touched the set screw so it might be idly too low. Honestly it acts like it has a vacuum leak. Clutch is "grabby" on account of it being a six-puck (carried over from previous owner of the Lexus). It was fun watching the front suspension do its thing. It is very close to bottoming out on the bump stops when cornering or hitting bumps. The shocks are adjustable, but I think they are already set on pretty high damping. Rear rides a little stiff I think, but hard to tell on such a short drive. And of course, pedals are still awkward but I could get used to it. Looking forward to sorting it out and taking longer trips.
Parked next to the cleanest X1/9 I've ever seen in person
looks so cool
Love when it finally comes together. What does the girlfriend think of it?
In reply to maschinenbau :
"Got a few old-timer jabs about the "four-banger" and "at least it gets good gas mileage!" "
And that sort of moronic commentary is one of the many reasons I stopped going to shows frequented by boomers. Even stock the 2JZ probably has more power than a "built" flathead V8.
The rod looks amazing. Bravo and congratulations.
In reply to 84FSP :
She is totally into it. To her, dressing up in a 50s Grease theme is worth waking up early.
Don't let the "boomer" comments keep you from enjoying car shows. It was all in good humor, kind of like the way baseball players touch each other's butts. Honestly they were impressed someone my age was able to do all this work and glad that the hobby isn't dead.
A funny thing about cars and people - if you show up in something that triggers a memorable story in someone, they may feel compelled to tell you that entire story as if you had something to do with it by virtue of owning a similar car. I listened to a lot of great stories yesterday.
Congrats on getting her on the road and to the show! Interacting with others at shows can be good or bad but who cares. You built your car your way to your vision.
That last pic down low taken from 10 o'clock is just... yes. Such a beautiful stance. I've said it a million times already, but I'm very envious not only for your skills as a fabricator/builder, but also your ability to turn an idea into such a translatable reality. You should be super proud.
Like... I can't comprehend how you went from 'oh look, this cool rusted out Ford pickup cab and frame' to this... but damnit if I'm not happy you can, haha.
maschinenbau said:In reply to 84FSP :
Don't let the "boomer" comments keep you from enjoying car shows. It was all in good humor, kind of like the way baseball players touch each other's butts. Honestly they were impressed someone my age was able to do all this work and glad that the hobby isn't dead.
I couldn't agree more.
It would also be wonderful if the anti-boomer "hate" didn't have to show up on my favorite car forum.
I enjoy people who enjoy cars. Even if their particular car isn't something I am into.
In reply to maschinenbau :
As soon as you are ready, I'll bring my all original '31 Model A Tudor to ATL, and we can take them to the car show together.
Mine has a 4 cylinder too! 
Exhaust fab has begun. First I turned a 3" tube into a 3" x 1.5" x 28"L cone. This was a challenging and not very fun way to ruin literally every hose clamp I owned over the course of an afternoon.
Once I got it tacked together enough, I tried back-purging using a dual regulator. I'm not good enough yet to tell a difference, so I need more practice. These are getting ground smooth anyway so I can cut holes for the runners.
I designed these flanges and had them laser cut from 5/16" stainless.
The 6 runners are made from 3 1.5" mandrel u-bends. The first runner is different from the rest, in that it connects parallel to the cone.
Coping the remaining runners using a transferrable pattern. Unfortunately it doesn't work perfectly, because each runner connects to the cone at a different diameter, due to the continuously variable diametric nature of cones.
Now I have a set of wind chimes and the cone looks like a musical instrument. Ready to make some noise.
Man that exhaust is going to look good when it's all finished.
I wonder if having a bit of an angle on them, similar to how the first port went into the cone, would help flow?
Cutting one hole at a time would allow for easier backpurging as well, but what has been done is done.
In reply to Mr_Asa :
Each runner is actually swept rearward about 10 degrees, parallel with the first runner tube, though there is no curve where the other 5 runners will meet the cone. I left 10 degrees of mandrel bend where the runner meets the flange. For back-purging, I figure I can just tape up any gaps and holes.
sweet tromboom! can't wait to hear the symphony 
I was struggling pretty bad with TIG, even just tacking tubes together. It was very frustrating. Then I realized my machine was set to AC! Things got much better after that lol. Since the header has two flanges, I was worried about warpage, so I clamped everything to a thick piece of angle iron. The flanges still pulled a little together, but stayed flat, so I just had to ovalize the holes a bit. I did not use any back purge, but still blew through about 1/3 of a bottle.
And there you have it, the world's first lake-style hot rod header for a 2JZ, possibly the first for any foreign engine, and one of the very few on an inline six.
Still need to add O2 bungs and source proper hardware for the cap, which will be capped about 99% of the time and route exhaust around to the firewall and under the cab. But wait, there's more...
In reply to maschinenbau :
Badass!
Damn nice trumpet
Love it!
Thats beautiful
Yesssss
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