Frame Rail

 

Just happened to look out the back window yesterday morning and saw a flock of turkeys on the other side of the back fence. There were at least a dozen of them, with a couple of them perched in one of my oak trees. When they decided it was time to leave, some of them flew and some of them walked, like the two in the photo. While I enjoy the wildlife, I just wish the raccoons, squirrels and ground hogs would leave me alone.

I got one of the rear frame rails tacked together. The plan calls for a crossmember about where the bend is so I welded in a couple of spacers to stiffen that area. I'm planning on running a roll cage and there will be a tube that will extend vertically from that same point, bend 90 degrees towards the front of the cab and then down at about a 45 deg angle to a point about mid-way between the firewall and radiator. There will be a couple of cross tubes tying both outside rails together with the rear one incorporating a provision for a headrest. That will stiffen up the frame considerably and make it safe for the driver - which initially, of course will be yours truly. 

I've been giving some thought to the seat. I haven't decided on an actual seat or forming something up as part of the cab. If I put an actual seat, should I make a bomber style or buy a fiberglass one or something similar. It might be nice to have something that's adjustable. Regardless of what I come up with, I'll need to make provisions for fastening a harness. Lots to do yet but making progress. 

Wildcat

 

When you want to make some fast progress, you break out the big guns. The old 9" Black and Decker Wildcat. It'll make quick work of anything that needs grinding but it'll give you a workout in the process. I used to use one of these all the time at the high school and when I was doing a lot of outside work for people. I used to have forearms like Popeye as a result. Now, it doesn't take long and I've got arm pump and a sore wrist. However, I got my parts ground down nice and smooth.

The side rails for the rear frame rails are ready to weld. I clamped them together and ground them all at the same time so they'd all be exactly alike. With the big grinding wheel it's easier to get straight surfaces than when using a 4-1/2" grinder. After grinding, I ran a flap wheel over them to give them a smoother surface and to remove any burrs left from the grinder. I cut a couple of pieces to make the top of the rails but I don't have quite enough material to make the bottom plates. I'll have to run over to the steel supply and have him shear me a strip next week. I dug out a piece of round tubing for the back cross piece. I might make a couple of pieces to stiffen up the tube and then weld on a couple of push bars.

While I was cutting and grinding, I made the plates for the engine stand for the SR500. I'll look and see if I've got some bolts to fit and depending, I'll either make a trip to the hardware store or grab what I've got here and then head to the storage space and make sure the plates will fit. I get that done I'll make the rest of it.

They're forecasting a serious snowfall this weekend. I got the tractor started, so I'm ready for the snow. Since I don't have enough material to finish the frame rails, I'll tack together what I've got and start on the pieces for the side hustle.  

Rear Frame Rails

 

Pieces layed out for the rear frame rails. 

My piece of sheet wasn't big enough to get all four pieces out of it. I could only get 3-1/2. I cut the other piece out of a drop that I had from another job. I'll weld the pieces together and put an extra piece across the joint on the inside before I weld everything together to reinforce the joint.

It's supposed to be cold today - they're forecasting a high of 22 is all. I'll see if I can screw up my courage enough to go out to the shop and get these ground off and cut the tops and bottoms. I'm planning on welding in a couple of cross pieces inside the rails to give them a bit more strength where the cross member for the rear spring mount will go. 

The bifocal safety glasses worked well under my cutting shield. So I'm still real happy with the cataract surgery and for the most part have gotten comfortable with the new vision. I also had a brain storm while lining up my cuts with the plasma cutter. I use the straight-edge that you can see in the photos whenever possible. I have to move it off the cutting line about 5/8" to get the plasma torch lined up with the cut line. I'm going to make a hinged spacer bar that will  give me the proper offset and once I have the straight edge in place I can flip the spacer out of the way and begin cutting. If I bolt it on to the ends I could also make another spacer for the cutting torch. Pretty simple and efficient I would think.

TIG Job

 

We didn't get all that much snow Monday night/Tuesday morning - maybe 1-1/2" to 2". The wind died down down over night and it was right at 32 degrees so the snow was heavy and wet. I shoveled the porch and walk and didn't have to fire up the tractor. It made for a lovely winter scene around the farm.

I got a call from my neighbor yesterday morning. He dropped the winch he was mounting on his trailer and broke the end bell. And he did a right fine job of it, I might add. The view from the inside only tells part of the story. There were a bunch of spider cracks visible from the outside.

He had sorta prepped it for me by sand blasting and grinding some of the cracks but he made the vee groove wider than it needed to be. The casting had a lot of zinc in it, some remaining oil and sand in the cracks along with oil that seeped out of the casting. It was an absolute bitch to weld. The zinc bubbles up out of the weld puddle and creates a lot of porosity. You have to run the arc along the crack, watch it turn all black, clean it, then attempt to weld it, grind it a little with the die grinder, and then run another bead over the top of it at a slow pace allowing the zinc to bubble out and be replaced by the aluminum filler, and maybe repeat the process once more. And when you get all done it still looks crappy.

On a good grade of aluminum, as long as it's clean and your amperage is correct, the weld bead will look nice and shiny. With the stuff laden with zinc, as you move along, the edge of the puddle will melt the base metal and cause more zinc to bubble out and leave a hole next to the edge of the bead. Not fun at all. However, this was the first time I tried welding with the new bionic eyes. I wore my new reading glasses under my helmet and at least I could see what I was doing. Quite clearly in fact.

I was on my way to drop it off at the neighbors and I stopped to get the mail. He was just heading home and stopped at the end of the lane and we made the exchange and then shot the bull for a while - long enough that my feet got cold so I didn't go back into the shop and work on the jitney. I made a big pot of minestrone soup instead. Definitely soup weather.  

Whip It - Whip It Good!

 

Whip it - into shape! And that's exactly what I've been doing the last few days. This is the kind of progress I really like to see. Not too much time, but yet, big results. Exhibit A:

Rolled up the second sheet for the jitney cab. Went pretty much lickety-split. The new roller I made works well but I get a bit of deflection of the rolls, so the middle of the sheet doesn't roll quite the same radius as the ends. The cab sheets were full width and the aluminum is pretty springy but overall I'm quite pleased with how it works. If the pipe rollers were a true schedule 40 instead of whatever odd ball size I ended up with, that would have been better but for working on cars and bikes it should serve me well.

I dug out the print for the jitney so I could see what I need for the rear of the frame. It's been a while since I did the frame layout and I thought I remembered the rear of the frame being longer. The pattern is only 23 inches long so I don't need to buy any tubing. I've got material on hand to make both of the rails by cutting out the side plates and bending up the top and bottom strips. I've already got those cut to width, I'll just have to cut them to length, bend them and then weld every thing together. The rear of the pattern is 1-1/2" in diameter. I'll weld a piece of roll bar tube between the two rails as a stretcher. Eventually, I'll make the boat tail and then cover the open area around the tail with a sheet that comes to the edge of the frame rails.

Don't know what I'll get done today. We've got snow and wind, so I might have to get the old Allis out. I put it on the charger the other day so it should fire up, but if not, I'll have some fiddlin' to do along with some shoveling. I would like to get some more done on the car - have to see how the old back holds up from shoveling. 

Cab Sheet

 

I got the second half of the dash hood made up on Saturday. I need to tweak the fit just a bit and then I can trim the pieces where they overlap and weld up the seam.

I made the first half of the back of the cab yesterday. That was pretty straight forward since I had the pattern made up already. I'll see about making the other half today. I'm planning on fastening the back cab to the dash hood using Dzus fasteners - three on a side should do it. I'll put a joggle in the cab sheet so the outer surface is smooth. I'm planning on joining the cab halves with rivets. I've got "real" aluminum rivets rather than pop rivets to use. 

The plan then is to roll a bead along the outer edge of the cab and part way up the side of the dash hood. I'll then bend up a piece of aluminum round bar to fit inside the bead and then hammer over a bit of the side sheets to hold the bar in place. That will stiffen up the edge of the sheets and give me a nice round edge rather than one that's likely to slice me open in the event of an accident. Fitting the bar to the sheet is going to be rather time consuming but I've done tougher. The biggest problem is the bender is in the back half of the shop that isn't heated but if I get the two halves of the cab riveted together, I can set the cab on some horses and work on it a little while I'm waiting on the front part of the shop to warm up after I turn on the heater for my daily jitney session.

I can't go any farther back on the car since I've run out of frame. I've got plenty of work left up front yet, so it's not like I'll have to stop work. I can get started hanging the front suspension or get some more tubing and start making the rear frame. I'm thinking get a little closer to having the cab and dash hood finished and then decide what I want to tackle next. 

Takin' Shape

 

I got the first half of the dash hood fit-up yesterday. It actually looks better than what it looks like in the photo but I wanted a shot of the whole car, at least what I've got done so far. I cut out the piece for the other side and annealed it like I did for this piece. I'll see about getting that one fit up today depending on how much it warms up. I did pick up my material for the side hustle and a piece of stock to make the side plates for the SR500 engine stand head. Next time I get the plasma cutter out I'll get those cutout. It won't take much to make the head other wise I wouldn't even fiddle with it. I do want to get things sorted at the storage space - get the engine stand set up and maybe get some shelves to get the cardboard boxes off the floor. 

Felt good to get back in the shop yesterday. The bionic eyes are working out real well.