Breaking Wind

javajoe79 · April 18, 2014, 07:07:37 AM

More progress yesterday. I cut out the windshield, trimmed back the cowl and A pillars to the plane of the firewall, then I fitted the main frame/floor section to the shell and finalized the position of the car on the jig, then I bent and notched the first of 2 main hoops.

javajoe79 · April 18, 2014, 07:09:34 AM

tauruck · April 18, 2014, 07:15:58 AM

Joe, You really do nice work.

It's so well planned.

I like the notches on the hoop.

Excellent.

javajoe79 · April 18, 2014, 07:26:04 AM

Thanks man. I have been going slow on this build because I take days in between to think about it. Also because I am busy setting up my new shop space, working on customer cars and because bonneville build

javajoe79 · April 19, 2014, 06:45:06 PM

Here are a few more of fitting the firewall and a little interior sheet metal to close off some empty spaces. The firewall is .125" plate. The plan is to sandwich it in between the Lenco and the bellhousing. I am going to build a removable section that will also incorporate the scatter shield. That way we can pull the trans and bellhousing and service the clutch and still leave the engine mounted to the mid plate. Later I plan on having the nose of the car "pin" into the excess firewall that sticks out past the A pillar. That way we can take the nose off of the car in one piece.

javajoe79 · April 19, 2014, 06:45:59 PM

tauruck · April 19, 2014, 08:46:33 PM

Most guys I know that are your age have other people build stuff FOR them.

The two Joes I know that I've never met in person are not average by any means!.

Peter Jack · April 20, 2014, 06:26:26 AM

That is going to be a really nice solid car.

Thinking long and hard before fabricating results in an excellent product.

Pete

lsrjunkie · April 20, 2014, 07:36:07 AM

Very well Thought out. I like the firewall/midplate idea a lot. I can only speculate who Mikey may or may not be talking about. If my hunch is correct, Thanks Mikey! And Joe, I can't wait to see where this build is going. Keep up the hard work man! Joe

javajoe79 · April 21, 2014, 07:52:31 AM

Thanks guys the encouragement means alot.

Here is a brief spilling of my thoughts on how the next few steps will go...

The engine will be mounted on a front and mid plate. Then the firewall will be sandwiched in between the trans and the bellhousing, essentially a third plate. The middle of the firewall will be a removable piece, properly angled to allow for the engine to be angled down a couple degrees. The removable firewall section will also incorporate a shaped piece of 1/4" plate that will cover the bellhousing as a scatter shield. So if we need to we can pull the trans from the inside and or underneath, pull the rear plate and access the bellhousing and clutch without disturbing the engine. The firewall itself will be braced by tubing in several spots for rigidity.

If you look at the pics, I will be building the dash bar as one straight piece between the two plates that I welded in up near the top of the firewall. From that straight bar I will extend legs down to the bar at the base of the firewall and up along the A pillars to connect to the halo bar or all the way to the main hoops if that ends up working/packaging better.

All of the work that I am currently doing is being done in such a way so as to allow the body and frame to separate later so that I can finish welding the hard to reach parts.

The step pan that we made from 1/4" plate will eventually be cut into at least 3 pieces once we have the floor structure laid out. Probably one piece under the driver, one under the trans and driveshaft and one under the passenger floor.

Pretty soon we will need some beefy 4 link brackets, rod ends etc... so we can start laying out the rear suspension and frame section.

krusty · April 21, 2014, 03:14:38 PM

Joe, tread carefully on the bellhousing and separate scattershield idea. The rules are quite specific about what is acceptable. I would make sure that the bellhousing is SFI approved and that the sticker is visible for the tech inspector (without too much contortion); then your 1/4" plate is additional to the required safety minimum and isn't really part of the inspection (except for being safely mounted). This is if you are building with an eye toward Bonneville; for ECTA, I'd run my idea(s) past Joe T. or Keith.

vic

javajoe79 · April 21, 2014, 04:21:59 PM

We have an SFI bell but it's old and has no sticker..... I thought that the added 1/4" plate was acceptable regardless of what bell you ran?

Stan Back · April 21, 2014, 04:55:10 PM

PM sent.

wheelrdealer · April 21, 2014, 06:53:45 PM

Joe:

I bought a new Lakewood bell housing when I was going to run the Tex 101 trans. The funny thing is Lakewood stuck the SFI sticker right on the face of the housing where the transmission mounts instead of on the circumference of the bell. Once the tranny is bolted up there is no way to read the SFI sticker. I ended up not using that housing and using my original with the 5 speed. So even with a new bell housing the SFI sticker could be an issue.

Love the build, next time I drive to Centerville I will stop by.

BR

javajoe79 · April 22, 2014, 07:14:57 AM

Quote from: wheelrdealer on April 21, 2014, 06:53:45 PM
Joe:

I bought a new Lakewood bell housing when I was going to run the Tex 101 trans. The funny thing is Lakewood stuck the SFI sticker right on the face of the housing where the transmission mounts instead of on the circumference of the bell. Once the tranny is bolted up there is no way to read the SFI sticker. I ended up not using that housing and using my original with the 5 speed. So even with a new bell housing the SFI sticker could be an issue.

Love the build, next time I drive to Centerville I will stop by.

BR

Come on by any time. You still have my number right?

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Breaking Wind

wheelrdealer