FOR SALE - SOLD!!!

SOLD!

I want to say thanks for all the interest and support I've received up to this point on the project. It was a great help in getting me as far as I did.

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.