D21:Reconstruction Day 3

I finally had a decent block of time to get some work done last night. I managed to get the rest of the rear end of the cockpit tacked together. The rear transmission tunnel opening is also in. If you take a look back a few days, you can see the height improvement over the old design. I'm still not sure what I was thinking with the old logic. I've also got the trailing arm mounts back on. Looking forward to getting the diff positioned and actually getting the rear end built.

D20:Reconstruction Day 2

Day 2 of reconstruction and the rear end corners are in place. I'm really hoping all this rework pays off and the wheelbase actually ends up being short enough.

D19:Reconstruction Begins

I've finished cutting up the rear end of the passenger cabin and redesigning it. The new design should cut about three inches off the wheelbase and also lower the frame by about three inches once it becomes a roller. I've also angled the top "arm rest" tube downward in the new design to more closely resemble the 7 design, but more importantly, because I've read it's more comfortable.

Also, a few more changes to the blog. A completely different challenge.

D18:Frame (De)construction D2

Yesterday I realized my wheelbase was going to be longer than desired so I figured I would reposition the front sub frame. After some extensive thought and finally reading a forum post about spending extra time if it's needed, I've decided to redesign some things. I'm going to move the rear end closer to the front by slightly modifying the back of the cockpit. This will allow me a little more flexibility with the positioning of the front wheels and keep the rear end from looking over weight. I've also figured out how to mount both the front and rear a little higher on the frame so the car won't look as much like a dune buggy when I'm done as it would have originally. I'm not excited about having to cut apart hard days of work, but I'm excited about the new plans. New details to come... and probably some new design pics too.

D17:Rear Sub Frame Mounting D3

Today I worked on getting the rear sub frame mounted... again. This is promising to be more challenging than I had thought it would be. Finally got it positioned where I wanted and had a decent idea of how to weld everything together. One problem tho... I measured the wheelbase and it came out to be 109 inches. That's 3 inches longer than the original 318. Not going to happen! So, it's time for deconstruction. I've cut the front sub frame out and plan on moving it further back in the frame. You can see it removed in the pics above along with the start to the repair of the frame.

D16:Rear Sub Frame Mounting D2

Another day working on the rear sub frame mounting. I spent most of my time measuring, thinking, measuring, thinking, looking at my CAD drawings, measuring, and thinking some more. Not sure I really made much progress, but I've got a good idea of how everything will fit together in the end. I've also added the rear transmission tunnel opening. Yes, it looks low... it is. I wanted to line up my rear end with my front end to make sure my frame actually sits level. I'm realizing it's going to sit pretty high. If I ever build a second one... this will be a lesson learned.

D15:Rear Sub Frame Mounts D1

It's been pretty slow progress lately, mostly because work has been crazy. It has given me a little time to play with my blog a little tho. As you'll notice, I've got a new "photo gallery" method... clicking the thumbnail photo swaps it into the main image at the top and selecting the main image takes you to a full screen version. Let me know if you have any comments. It's been fun learning more HTML to make this blog a little more enjoyable.

Today I spent some time on the rear sub frame mounts. I'm really trying to get this to the "roller" status so it's about time the rear end was finally added. You can see the 4 mounts to the diff housing in the pics above. Next up is finishing the mounts and getting them attached to the frame.

D14:Trailing Arm Mounts: Day 3

After finishing the caps on the first mount, I started on the second. Same process one more time. After the jump are pictures of the final product along with a picture of them mocked up on the frame. With the mounts finished, it's time to start mounting the rear sub-frame (sitting behind the frame in the daily status pic).

D13:Trailing Arm Mounts: Day 2

Today I continued work on the trailing arm mounts. I've posted a bunch of pictures of the process after the jump. Once these are done I'll start work on mounting the rear sub frame. I always forget that the amount of time to finish a part isn't really dependent on size, but number of pieces involved. These seem to be taking forever to complete.

D12:Trailing Arm Mounts

As you've probably noticed, it's been a SLOW past week. We've been getting a bathroom remodel done and that has taken over the garage. With the remodel finished yesterday, it was time to get back to work. First up is getting the rear end built, so I'm putting together some mounts for the rear trailing arms. Picture after the jump. It's definitely not the prettiest option, but it allows me to use the stock rear end without having to do any modifications. I'm planning on building the rear fender over this mount, so it's not visible at the end.

D11:Transmission tunnel and disassembly

The bottom portion of the transmission tunnel has been completed. I've also disassembled the rear sub frame. I'm ready to get the rear end attached at this point... just a little CAD is needed to figure out the placement of the diff housing and the rear trailing arm mounts. Again, trying to figure out how to reuse the stock donor parts here. I've got a picture of the diff housing after the jump. I'll also post some pics of the design once I've got it finished.

D10:Transmission tunnel and frame finishing

Not a ton of progress today. Worked on finishing off some of the openings again... talk about tedious. I also started on the transmission tunnel.

A couple of random thoughts... I've decided to continue to post once per day of work even if I've only put in 30 mins that day. A couple of reasons, first, I've found posting gives me additional motivation to work on this project. Second, looking back, every detail will be documented for anyone with questions. So... I apologize in advance for all the boring posts to come :-).

D9: Just a little welding...

Today was another welding day. With the transmission tunnel opening verified during yesterday's fit, it was time to get that finished along with a couple of other pieces that were added. I've also started covering the numerous open tube ends... a little tedious but definitely helping my welding skills. I've posted a couple of pretty boring before/after shots after the jump of the end of the front sub frame to show how much cleaner it looks with a "cover"... just in case people were bored and needed a few more seconds of distraction.