OT plastic kit car

[kencombs]

That flat floor is the reason for bead rollers existing.    A few beads properly placed will improve the looks and remove the flexing and popping. 
 

Do you have an access to one?  Maybe a friend or a local fab shop?

[Ulu]

I’m having some other issues as well.

 

I was measuring to order a fuel tank.

 

You can’t buy a racing style tank in California. At least not from the vendors on Amazon. Even Speedway!

 

The laws affecting power lawn equipment somehow cover this too.

 

I didn’t want to make a fuel tank, but it seems maybe I will.

[Ulu]

9 hours ago, kencombs said:

That flat floor is the reason for bead rollers existing.    A few beads properly placed will improve the looks and remove the flexing and popping. 
 

Do you have an access to one?  Maybe a friend or a local fab shop?

This floor has already been trimmed so it’s too late bead roll it, unless I trim the flanges off all the way around and mount the floor on ledgers.

 

because of my fuel tank issue and one other consideration, I’m probably going to change my design a little bit.

 

I’m looking at making a steel fuel tank here, from a cylinder I already have, and it’s maybe gonna want some sort of a skid plate under it.

[Dave72dt]

i just watched a couple days ago a Y-tube video (Make it Custom) where he made a 3 piece steel  hammerform that could be bolted to a panel and with an airhammer formed crisp beads.  He experimented with a simple x pattern and then made a specific hammerform for the firewall of a car.   He also said he may be selling the x pattern hammerforms for interested customers.

Edited November 9 by Dave72dt

[Ulu]

I have finally come to grips with a situation I was fighting, and it is really a big relief.

 

I was set on making the front compartment (“frunk”) watertight, but it just cannot be airtight. Not unless I seal around the batteries and gas tank, and vent them outside. 
 

Also, working on the master cylinder or fuel filter will be much easier if at least part of the floor panel is removable.

 

I decided the battery area will have a solid structural floor, the floor under the master cylinder and fuel filter should be removable, and the fuel tank doesn’t need a floor.

 

I might use this thick 5gal pressure tank. That’s enough fuel for this kart.

lf you look closely you’ll see I did cut the two little rails, but the frame only popped back 3/16” Not the 3/8 to 1/2” I foolishly expected. The weld draw is 90% from the long seams. I will live with it.

 

I had to get the steel lines out of my way. I cut the fuel line, installed the master cylinder and pedal assembly, and bent the rear brake line to fit.

 

I cleaned up the pedal assembly 95% then had to fuss with cable ducts and control cables, and bend the tunnel out a bit with a slide hammer, to get it all working smoothly and without anything rubbing.

 

The brake push rod is 2” too short, so I must make a longer one.

Also I stuffed an aluminum shim in the pedal stop for temporary alignment. (See the red arrow?) It still needs a bit of welding.

 

 

Edited November 10 by Ulu

[Ulu]

I set this up with some “gage blocks” and I find both rails sucked in by over 1/4” each in 6 feet.

 

At least the body won’t rub there.

[Plymouthy Adams]

for sure...hard to prevent heat creep......

[Ulu]

It’s a flaw in my design, but I will live with it.

 

Today I started to bend the front brake lines (before I install any more obstructions) and realized that I didn’t have any brackets worth using. Just these, which I cut off & cleaned up.

Then I cut up some scrap parts for the straps, and re-made them.

 

Now I have to locate the brackets.

 

 

Edited November 11 by Ulu

[Plymouthy Adams]

hey that is easy, I have located them for you, they are on your bench.......it's the details that eat your time and your brain...but stuff like this is easier on your wallet when fabricating your own stuff....if you don't believe me, get out there and so some of the stuff Ulu (& others) are doing.  

[Ulu]

If you wanna go down a rabbit hole about location, there’s a lot of philosophy to cover there. 😉

 

When I went to put these on, I realized I had no dimensions written down anywhere in my sketches. All I had was a photograph to go by and I had to find it.
 

Here it is and you can see by the arrow where the little bracket and the brake line will be mounted.

 

There is however now, a big steel box over that area, because I have boxed this entire section of the frame from approximately that bracket rearwards.

 

There may be dimensions or a template in the construction manual.

 

Time to go look.

 

You can also see in my photograph that the brake line just kind of snuck out from the gap between the body and the frame. There was no grommet or any provisions for retention in that area.

 

 

Edited November 11 by Ulu

[Ulu]

 

 

I located those brackets and installed some brake lines. One turned out too short, so it’s off to the buggy shop for parts.

[Ulu]

This week was kind of a bust. We had a storm that messed up the boatyard. I spent some time cleaning up, then I caught some stomach bug that spoiled my week.

I did make an extension for my brake pushrod. I also made a floor for the battery tray, some small frame reinforcements, and a pedal stop, but none of that is welded yet.

I got some better brake lines flared up. I still have to bend and install them.

 

I won’t install the brake lines yet. I want to install the front axle at the same time, but there is bottom welding yet to do on the frame. I should paint the bottom first too.

I took off the forward pivot clamp business for access to the brake lines, but it will be reinstalled soon.

[Ulu]

It’s been rather windy and uncomfortably cold outdoors, but I still managed to go out and form up another sheet metal floor pan.

 

 

This is heavier than the metal I was going to use but I decided that I wanted the ability to carry one more battery.

 

I was going to use this metal as part of the boxed cross member assembly but decided against it. It originally came from the pedestal base of a $5000 ENCAD pen plotter.

 

Which was recycled long ago, as it was 30 years obsolete now. But I wasn’t going to throw away all of that nice 18 ga. sheet-metal.

 

 

 

 

[Ulu]

I need to trim flanges and corners, but there it is.

 

 

[oldodge41]

I really enjoy following your progress. Keep it up, and thanks.

[Ulu]

I had a major failure when I tried to apply some black rust etching enamel over a test sample of this beige paint.

 

I had feathered it out with the DA sander and all the edges lifted immediately. It was a lumpy mess and so in the end I took off every molecule of existing paint.

 

 

 

This first panel got a flange on it, but I was originally going to make it into a hem. I changed my mind and left it as a flange for stiffness; but then I changed my mind again, when I tried to fit the gas tank in there, and realized I need another quarter of an inch. 

So I need to hem that panel and clean up a little rust and a couple of lumpy welds. Then I can start welding these in.

 

[Ulu]

Today I managed to get the floor panels tacked in. The truth is that each one got about 50 small TIG welds. 


Now I need to flip it over and weld them on the other side. 

I also welded in the pedal stop which I didn’t photograph, & I fixed the brake cylinder pushrod. 

This is a stock pushrod that I extended by cutting it and welding it into a long 3/8”chrome vanadium socket from SK Wayne. 


This Just Happened to be exactly the size I needed, and some contractor had left it laying in my yard, so it didn’t match any of my tools. 

I also welded in these little corner brackets which help tie together the rear of the frame. 

Anyhow it turns out I made 136 welds today, but over half of my time was actually spent cleaning the things that I needed to weld.

[Ulu]

 I got the boatyard 99% dried up. It was over 65°F today.

I did Not do any welding, but I did start to cut and fit the new seat frame supports. 

[Ulu]

I believe it was Lord Admiral Nelson, who said to forget about tactics and just go straight at the enemy with everything you can muster.

In direct opposition to this theory I am always trying to think outside the box. But sometimes I should just go directly at a problem and solve in the most obvious way.

I wanted to reinforce this chassis a little bit and build some new and improved seat risers at the same time.

When I originally got this car the seats were kind of off location, because somehow the original kit had included four right seat risers and no lefts. They just buggered up the hole locations and made it work (sort of.)

In order to correct the seat locations (in a hurry) I had to “reverse” two of the seat risers. I reversed them with a large hammer, over my homemade anvil.

The first one turned out so ugly that I decided to do the second one by cutting it with a saw and welding it back together the opposite way. I did this with an oxy/ acetylene torch. It looks pretty crude, because it was one of the first things I torch welded in many years. I put those in the photographs for comparison.

Anyhow, here you can see me hammer new seat risers from some nice old 14 gauge steel.

 

 

 

 

I spent some time making them as accurately as I could, considering that I don’t have a press, and had to use angle irons and a vice, and a bunch of clamps.

 

So now I have two proper pairs, but I don’t have the bolts to mount them yet. Off to the hardware store again…

[Ulu]

I clamped those 4 risers up in pairs to match drill them, which I did, but I didn’t get them set up for welding, as I was short 3 bolts.

Thus I didn’t weld them down while the boatyard was 99% dry, and now it’s 107% wet again. Must have blown in from Siberia.

We’ve had 8+ hours of rain, & it stops sometime today. Theoretically. Then Tule Fog on Wednesday. Partly sunny predicted for Thanksgiving.

Then it should dry up again, and get continually warmer until it (supposedly) hits 63°F in 8 days.

I should be able to shoot some paint then, or thereabouts.

Meanwhile, things are mainly on hold.

[Ulu]

On 11/8/2024 at 6:38 AM, kencombs said:

That flat floor is the reason for bead rollers existing. . . .

One of my flat panels only has one flange. It oil-canned. I will add a stiffener or maybe stamp it to add a modest crease or bead.

 

Now, air hammer or sledge hammer?

Hmmmmm….

[kencombs]

5 hours ago, Ulu said:

One of my flat panels only has one flange. It oil-canned. I will add a stiffener or maybe stamp it to add a modest crease or bead.

 

Now, air hammer or sledge hammer?

Hmmmmm….

I have klugged some stiffening beads with a piece of plywood with a groove in it, some clamps and a air hammer chisel with a tip ground to a blunt/rounded end.   Not the prettiest, but stopped the oil canning.

[Ulu]

Right now, my plan is to flip the chassis over and finish welding those panels on the bottom side because they are only welded on top.

 

I suspect that the oil canning will change when I weld on the bottom, but it may get worse or it may go away.

 

In the worst case, I will put some dimples or ribs in it, or I will weld a stiffner to the panel.

 

But before I do that, my plan is to get the paint off of my new seat risers, and set up all four of them on some kind of a plate or board that will let me normalize the alignment.

 

I will jig that off of the frame rails because the floor is not really stable enough to locate these things without that step.

 

Meanwhile I am still recovering from a case of excessive Thanksgiving goodies. I’ll be back on the case tomorrow.

Edited December 1 by Ulu

[Ulu]

My wife had me weld her Bissel sweeper today. The modern ones have a segmented handle that (almost) screws together. That thin tubing needed about 18 amps, and is probably the thinnest thing I have ever welded successfully.

 

I had parts to clean but ran out of sandpaper, and my big wire wheel on the Baldor was shot.

 

So I quit cleaning parts, and I got my seats about half-way set up, then I ran out of argon & couldn’t weld.

 

My wife decided she needed me to buy her a dowel for some decoration.

 

Then my garage door opener crapped out again. It usually works, but randomly it has a seizure.

 

So today was spent shopping for argon, hardware, dowel, wire wheel, etc, and a new opener.

 

I bought a 1 hp Craftsman belt drive with wi-fi and backup battery. I chose that one partly because I have installed a pre-wi-fi version.

 

I inspected all the parts and read the manual.  By then I was done for today.

 

 

[Ulu]

Well I wasn't quite done....I did some more work on the seats, getting them set up to weld in the seat bases. There is an issue with fitment, as the floor pan rises at the rear inner corner of the seats. I must modify two of the rails as necessary to fit the floor.

 

Today it's the dreaded Tule Fog. Highway visibility is naught. It might be damp all day. There may be some welding but no sanding or painting. Everything is going to rust fast.

According to the forecast, Thursday should be the day to paint.