D105-106: Gas Tank D5-6

A couple more days working on the gas tank and it's finally to a "finished" state. The first pic is the top upside down with the pumps installed. The left is just a pickup to pump fuel into the can where the right side pump actually pushes fuel to the engine.

Here is my "catch can" which the pump will pull from. The plastic one is the original one from the BMW.

Below is the can installed. Two plug welds hold it in place.

To attach the top, I first tacked it on all the way around. I also added "wings" inside the tank to plug weld the center of the top to the baffle in the tank. I figured this would help minimize warping.

... and the fully welded finished product with pumps installed. I welded the top about six inches at a time and then let the tank cool before continuing. It took a while to finish it off and the top did warp, but not too badly. Everything still fits without issue. At this point I put some water in the tank to make sure there were no major leaks in the top. A couple of extra welds, and it seems water tight.

I plan on using POR-15 tank sealer on the inside and POR-15 on the outside. That should fill any tiny holes that would cause slow leaks.

This last pic is of the plate that will hold each pump in tank. I plan on attaching this to the tank with three bolts.

Oh, and the one thing I forgot to add... a drain plug. I'm going to try to add one to make emptying easier as well as sealing the inside.

D102-104: Gas Tank D2-4

This past weekend I had a few good days in the garage... ending in one bad afternoon. I got the bottom of the tank welded and cleaned up. Took several fills to get all the pin holes filled. But, not it holds a little over 13 gallons without dripping. I also added a center baffle to help minimize sloshing.

With the bottom almost done, I started working on the top. I started by cutting the holes for the two pumps. Then made the metal rings that will hold the pumps. I didn't have a great template for a 4-3/4" hole + a jig saw to cut the holes... you can probably see where this is going.

I had to "patch" around the ring off one because the hole wasn't round. Figured I could weld it and clean it up with a grinder later.

Then the bad afternoon. I started welding the rings and the patches on the bottom (inside) first. Then realized... a lot of heat + 18 gauge sheet equals the pic below.

This afternoon, I started the top over. Starting with a compass to stencil out the holes and make them a little rounder. I also added the holes for the fill spout and the vent hose. My plan this time for welding is two big changes. First, attach the top to the tank first to keep it from warping too badly. Second, take the welding slow and allow everything to cool between passes.

D101: Gas Tank D1

I finally got around to starting the gas tank. I picked up a nice piece of cold rolled 18ga sheet the other day. The cold rolled looks oh so clean compared to hot rolled sheet.

I designed the tank to be as wide as possible with clearance for the shocks. It ended up being about 31x15x8 in. The height should be perfect to reuse the stock fuel pumps and sending unit. The front side has a slope of 20 deg to butt up against the back of passenger compartment. Both sides on the bottom also slope up at 20 deg to give the upper suspension arm mount extra clearance.

Step 1: Stencil out all the sides + bottom

Step 2: Cut out the stencil

Step 3: Fold. Started with the 2 part sides, then front, then back. Folding was done quite crudely by clamping a bar on the seem, heating and manually folding by hand. I then hammered out the bends to make them a little tighter.

Step 4: Tack everything in place

Here is the tank in the trunk butted up against the rear of the passenger compartment.

Lastly, the clearance between the upper suspension arm and the tank. There are still some pieces that are "overlapping" the edges that need to be trimmed off. As well as final welding the tank both inside and outside. I'm also working on the top and how to mount the factory pumps.

D100: ROLLER!!!

Fitting that this post comes on the 100th day of working on this build. I finally have a rolling chassis!

I finished the upper a-arm and shock mounts on the driver side and installed the rear end. I don't have shock mounts on the rear yet, but a couple of well placed pieces of wood took care of that. Once I got the front suspension together, I just had to get the wheels on and roll the thing out of the garage. Definitely an exciting day for me.

Now I'm just trying not to think of everything that's left...

D99: Scuttel & Upper A-Arm

I've been dying to get an idea of what this car will eventually look like, so I threw some spare wood together to build a scuttle mock up. I'm still deciding what I'm going to build the scuttle out of in the end, but for now, at least I can picture it.

I also rebuilt the upper a-arms. I had to do this to mount them to the new geometry created by rebuilding the front end. Below is the new design built out. It's not as easy to adjust, but it gives more space for the shock and of course, works with the frame redesign.

Oh, and I built some shock mounts. I'm not finalized on the placement of the upper mount yet, but it'll do for now.

D98: Shifter & Engine Bay Bracing

I finally got around to working on the shift linkage. I've been wanting to get this done for while, or at least try it out to see if the design would work. I realized after the first engine fit that the shift linkage was too short and needed to be moved further back. Here is what I've got so far. I cut the original linkage and extended it by about 4 inches. The new shift lever uses a couple pieces of 3/4" .120 wall DOM tubing with a 1/2" bolt to hold them together. The pivot is a 3/4" heim joint.

One thing I like about this design is that I can adjust how short the "throw" is by unscrewing the bolt to change the motion ration.

I also got around to adding some extra bracing to the engine bay. The top pic is a removable brace that goes over the transmission tunnel. This makes it much easier to get the engine in and out. The bottom pic is the brace on the drivers side of the engine bay. I also added one to the passenger side as well.

D96-97: Front End Rebuild + Radiator Mounts

I've never been happy with the front uprights I had, so I decided to rebuild these. Below is the new set. Now, both uprights are 1 1/2" square 1/8" tube instead of the normal 1" 16awg. This should provide plenty of strength to the upper a-arm mounts. If (big if) I keep the upper mounts in single shear, these will provide a much stronger mounting point and should hold up better to the torsional load created.

I haven't added the 3/4" DOM tube yet, but the front and back will now be in-line. I haven't figured out how to modify the upper a-arm yet. With the two mounts being in-line, I need to figure out the best way of using the heim joints without maxing out their travel. With the old design they were already close to being maxed out. I might just have to settle for less points of adjustment.

I've also got the radiator mounted to the new uprights. I'm still using the factory BMW radiator and mount points. However, I'm mounting from the rear instead of the front of the radiator.

The last piece of progress was finally adding some supports to top level of the frame in the engine bay. This is also a better view of the radiator upper mounts.

D93-95: Floor + Welding + Update

I'm back! After 3 months of training, Ride the Rockies has come and gone. Turned into a shorter week than planned because of a knee injury, but still had 4 good days and 300 miles on the bike.

Here's a pic of my brother and I at the top of Independence Pass. This was after 6000 ft of climbing, most in the last 15 mi. I've been wanting to climb this pass for years and was excited to finally get the chance.

On to the build progress. I've spent a little time over the past few days getting the floor finished and working on finish welding the frame. I'd say I'm 95% complete on welding... but I keep finding more that needs to be finished.

I'm also working on the upper a-arm support to eliminate the "single shear" in the current design and figuring out where the shocks are going to mount.

D91-92: Floor

I know I haven't been posting much recently, but training has been taking over my time. I've also been working on a new bike rack for my daily driver. Maybe I can post on that later.

Here's a quick update on the the last couple days of work. I've been collecting 16 awg sheet for a while now every time I go to the yard for scrap. I miscalculated a little and ended up with enough for 3/4 of a floor. I know it's likely overkill, but I'll feel comfortable knowing nothing is going to pop through while driving. Plus, if you are going to add extra weight, might as well be as low as possible. I've fully welded one side, and will weld 1" sections on the top side as well. I'm still trying to figure out how to best eliminate the "bong".

With the frame upside down, I've taken the opportunity to continue finish welding the frame. It always surprises me how much time it takes to finish weld everything.

On a random note, I found out that a guy I work with used to run a fiberglass shop in another life and offered to help whenever I get to the body work.

D88-90: Firewall v2 + Unpowered Brakes

I haven't had a chance to post from the last few days in the garage, so here's a quick update. I've wanted to redo the upper firewall for the driver side since the first one went in. Here is my second go around. I think it turned out much cleaner. I also moved the mount for the steering shaft up a little bit to simplify the final weld and move the steering u-joint away from the engine mount.

After removing the brake booster, the master cylinder sat a little close to the firewall. I build a "shim" to move it out by about 3/8".

Here is the new firewall with everything attached. I'm so much happier with the way this version turned out.

With the brake booster removed, I had to shorten the push rod from the pedal to the master cylinder. Here is the shortened version.

Below is the brake pedal with the new push rod installed. Now I just need to figure out how to make sure that the brake pedal doesn't swing back and the push rod come out. This was all held in place by brake booster before. Oh, and I hope that I don't need that booster. Ha.

D87: Steering Column + Mount

Today I spent some time working on my new steering column. I wasn't thrilled with the first attempt, and kept thinking it was too weak. The drilled out 3/4" tube seemed too thin.

Here is my second attempt. I cut the end off the donor column which happened to be .47" on the inside which is close to the size needed for a 1/2"-20 thread. I threaded the end of a 3" grade 8 1/2"-20 bolt into this end. The smooth end would slide nicely into the 3/4"x.120 DOM that I'm using for the column. The smooth end had a little bit of slop, so I used a piece of paper to ship the bolt to keep everything tight and straight for welding.
Below are the two pieces assembled and then welded and ground. With both pieces .120 wall, and the joint being supported by a 1/2 bolt, I feel MUCH better about the strength of this design. I also plan on drilling a couple of holes on either side of the weld and then welding them up. I'm hoping this will add some torsional strength by transferring some of the load onto the bolt.
With the new column together, I need to check the clearance with the engine mounts. I got the engine back in and THANKFULLY everything fit just fine. It's definitely close, but I don't think the engine is going to shift side to side. In theory it'll more rotate which shouldn't interfere with the steering linkage.

Knowing the new column would fit around the engine mounts, it was time to get the drivers end mount built. I'm using a 3/4" steering shaft heim joint to attach the column to the mount. Below is the mounting hole for that heim. I cut a 1" hole in the 2"x1" tubing and used some of the 1" DOM from the a-arms inside.

I plan on adding at least one more piece to reinforce the mount.

I also played around with placement of the turn signals and ignition switch. I haven't settled on anything that I like yet.

D85-86: Frame Supports & Ride the Rockies

It's been a while since I've posted, mostly because it's been a while since I've worked on the car. Partly the weather and partly because I got into Ride the Rockies.

Ride the Rockies is a Colorado bike (bicycle) ride through the Rocky Mountains. The route changes every year, but this year it's 6 days, 442 miles, from Gunnison, CO to Ft. Collins, CO. What does this have to do with building a locost? Well, riding 442 miles takes some serious training which means I have and will be spending an increasingly greater amount of my free time on my bike instead of in the garage. I still plan on continuing the build, but it'll likely be at a slower pace than usual.

This weekend, I found myself motivated to get this frame finished. I've past my one year anniversary and I'm still working on the frame. I know everyone says it takes the majority of the build time, but I had NO idea it would take this long. With a few free hours I got almost all of the remainder frame supports cut and tacked into place. The two picks are the rear bulkhead behind the seats and the side of the frame (both sides are finished).

D83-84: Upper A-Arm Mounts

I got a little time tonight and a last weekend in the garage working on the upper a-arm mounts and here is (hopefully) the final product.

I replaced the rear vertical tube with 1 1/2" square tube. This should allow for a stronger support of the upper mount. I'm mounting the upper a-arm to a piece of 3/4" DOM (.120 wall) tubing. This mount allows me to use a 1/2" bolt.

The front mount is 3/4" DOM through a piece of 1"x2" tubing. I tried to align the mount so that the tubing was horizontal, but more importantly that the mount is 9" above the lower control arm. I'm still trying to figure out how to add sufficient support to this mount.

Here is the finished product with the upper a-arm "installed". One thing I like about this design is there is plenty of space to fit a coilover shock and spring.

The last part of the front suspension is modifying the driver side steering rod end. Then it is on to final welding the frame and building the cage.