D33:Engine Mount Mods D1

With the rear end being moved up a few inches, I needed to raise the engine up as well. This should keep the engine and the rear end in better alignment. The holes are there to weld the middle of the add on plates to the original mount. This way it's not only welded around the edges but in the middle as well. Again... hopefully a little over design.

D32:Spindle Adapter #2

I was finally home for a weekend this month and got some time in the garage. I was able to fabricate some side supports for the ball joint mounting plate to the vertical bar. I'm sure this is now WAY over designed but figure that's the safer side to be on. I was also able to fab the second adapter as well. With these done, it's time to get some a-arms built and I'll be getting oh so close to having a rolling chassis.

Grand Gultch, UT

So, you've probably realized that I haven't posted in quite a while. Other than work being crazy busy, I've been out of town on the weekends for a couple of trips. Vegas with my wife and backpacking with some friends. I figured since there hasn't been any changes with the car, I'd post some pics of the Utah desert. These are all from Grand Gulch just south of Moab, UT. The area is filled with ancient Anasazi ruins and paintings.

D31:Spindle Adapter D5

Today, I decided to stop trying to re-invent the wheel. Why am I trying to bend 1/8" plate when someone has already done this? I picked up a piece of 1 1/2" square 1/8" tube to use for the lower bracket. With this, I could just cut the tube to the shape I needed and not have to worry about the bends. I think the final result looks much cleaner than the original attempt. I also picked up a piece of 1/2" x 3/4" rod to replace the pieces of 3/4" plate I had cut. It's much easier to just cut this new rod to length instead of trying to cut off pieces of that plate. I've also got photos of the upper mounts pictured. My only concern now is that my welder only handles a max of about 3/16" - 1/4" max penetration. I'm not that confident that it's enough (with my skills) to hold the upper ball joint mount to the rest of the adapter. So, I'm planning on adding some additional supports from the vertical bar to the top mount. I'll post a pic when it's done to show what I'm actually doing here. But... 1 down, 1 more to go, then it's a-arm time.

D30:Spindle Adapter D4

Started working on the first lower bracket for the spindle adapters today. The first part was easy... design, print, trace, cut, drill. The last part, fold, was not so easy. I can't seem to find a decent way to bend sides up and keep the part with the holes flat. It's 1/8" plate that is actually a little thicker than the stock mounts. Might need to do some googling before trying it again.

D29:Spindle Adapter D3

A little more time spent cutting pieces of that 3/4" steel plate. I'm really starting to hate this thing. I've also put together a jig to help assemble these adapters. Next up is building the brackets to attach the bars that I've cut to the spindle.

D28:Spindle Adapter D2

Today I started working on the new upper a-arm mount. I'm planning on fabricating an adapter that bolts to the spindles that I can bolt an upper ball joint to. I picked up a new 'milling' vice for my drill press along with a 1/2" end mill. I figured this would be helpful for this project. I also picked up a piece of scrap 3/4" steel plate to cut all the necessary pieces. This is the same thickness as most of the mounts on the original spindle.

I learned a few things today. I do not have the best tools to cut 3/4" steel plate. Drop saw doesn't work. Sawzall doesn't work. Hacksaw works, but is WAY TOO SLOW (and too much work). So... it was about 15mins per cut with a cutting wheel on a grinder. Not the prettiest cuts... but it worked. I burned through a 4 1/2" disc PER 7" cut. I used the end mill to try to clean up the cut edge. Turns out an end mill in a drill press doesn't work that great. The table is not sturdy enough. So, lots of learning experiences today... but making progress.