completed the main structure of the chassis today and all that is left to make for that is the transmission tunnel - then the fun starts

off to strip a sierra for free on saturday - only want the gearbox, but everything is for the price of a crate of beer so will he havin front hubs, rack, steerin lower shaft, prop, fuse box, relays, fuses switches and other goodies hehe

just gotta fully weld it up using a decent mig welder, dont wanna do it with the gasless, it's alrite for tacking and getting a couple of good runs in for strength and rigidity, but not ideal.

not bad for 3 days work, back to work next week tho mind you, only a 5 day week and split shifts so thats plenty of time for the car to be worked on - yum

paul

fcuk me. so its SVA time next week then?!?

lol, i wish, am in a bit of a dilemma tho.

mig weld the chassis using an argon/co2 mix,

or

oxy aceteline weld he chassis complete - neater looking and less chance of air bubbles getting trapped in a weld making it weak........

what you reccomend?

MIG or TIG if you have the gear....
GAS weld it if you have the nerve....
good luck...

i've got the nerve for gas welding and much prefer this over mig welding - mig is ok, but i can get a hell of a neater and stronger weld using gas

well go for it, but me thinks that the chassis will twist with the heat...try a tig and it will convert you...
Hey as for neatness and strength, practice at it and/or go to a class, I am not questioning your ability or skills but someone may just show you a different technique...

heh cant see it twisting with heat from one spot at a time tho? by the time you've moved onto the next weld, the previous one will have cooled enough

i done C&G welding course when i did my apprenticeship, just prefer gas welding to mig as used to use gas welding everyday as a psv mechanic

Suggest as you are building your own chassis that you check out the area for your feet and pedals before you start to build the transmission tunnel. This especially applies if the Gearbox is an MT75 and you want the engine as far back as possible.

I'd advise you to get the engine gearbox combo bolted together and blocked up in place, its easier then to tailor the transmission tunnel to leave maximum room for your feet & pedals

The speed you're going, this thought is probably already too late??

ATB

John

John - alredy thought about that as the mt75 is slightly wider than the T9, hence not building the frontmost section of tunnel untill after the weekend as i'm picking up the gearbox this weekend

paul

I used to use oxy acetylene all the time, I still have a portapak but it's been stood with empty cylinders for years now. I started with a sip 130 and moved on to an erfi 170 about 6 years ago. It's easier and cooler than oxy, just remember you will be welding 16g not a bus chassis. I mostly had problems with oxy when patching panels, on reflection I think the metal expands more in a sheet form.

yours, Pete

After looking at your website Paul youve done really well in the time its taken but using a wood mitre saw to cut steel you must be barking,no wonder it threw a wheel its lucky your still with us.
Cheers,
Bob

my thoughts too! I considered using a wood mitre saw but with a metal cutting blade, which I was unable to find. Any one know where one is available?

In the end I bought a compound mitre hand saw from machine fart,
and a steel cutting blade for a nobex mitre saw from axminster. You have to modify one of the mounting points on the blade, I used a dremel and a grinding stone

[Edited on 16/1/04 by liam.mccaffrey]

I bought one of those stand thingies Liam that fits a 10 inch angle grinder and converts it into a chop saw.Ive gotta say one of my better investments saves so much time and you get accurate cuts every time.
Cheers,
Bob

[Edited on 16/1/04 by splitrivet]

Impressive work dude. We've so far spent about 5 months titting about. We're pretty close to getting a chassis design complete though (the joys of deviating from book).
First task is getting the engine we bought running though!

as a matter of interest splitrivet where did you get said stand thingy, might be a better option considering I have suitable grinder to hand

Paul as you are around buses could you find the sp on those sexy LED rear lights and also have seen some spot light stylie head lights that would look good on these cars

Got mine in France Liam,which aint much help to you I'm afraid but I'm sure someone on here must know where you can get one.Or even build your own it aint rocket science.
Cheers,
Bob

cheers for all the good comments and the wood mitre saw spat a disk - was amusing, umm, went bang and bits all over - its been relegated to the depths of the shed now tho where it aint gonna cause any more damage hehe

been all round hire centers today trying to find oxy kit - like rocking horse poo to hire, found one - 100 a week inc gas, bit pricy that so think i'll borrow a mig and get some argon/co2 mix bottles - cheeper in the long run and use the gasless for smaller jobs

the led rear lights on the back of buses, and now wagon trailers are 24v, not really much use and even tho they look the danglies, cost an absolute fortune and arn't very relaible we found

and if you are lookin at the older style buses for the headlights (nationals, Mk1/2 olympians, mk 1/2/3 mcw, atlanteans and fleetliners) then these headlight units are the same as fitted to landy's and rangeys but think that they are 7.5" and therefore a bit big for use

OR if you talkin about the lil hella items that take a single H1 bulb, then you'll need 4 - as they are 1 bulb only and one unit for dip and one unit for high. poo.

paul

thanks splitrivit,

If i hadn't have bought the mitre saw I would built a jig or somthing. I will see how it goes, it will work well (the hand mitre saw) but I think it might be time consuming.

Will post with the results of the chassis cutting

[Edited on 16/1/04 by liam.mccaffrey]

do you mean one of these


http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?ts=59104&id=18985

Thats the thing Tim but its for a 4 1/2 grinder the 10 incher is the baby,but thats another story...
Bob

i got a band saw from machine mart. Have to say, though it is quiet and good for angles, i would rather have a grinder type one cos i suspect that some can do compound angles, which would've been useful at times. Still on its first band blade though. costs about £200 IIRC.

I suspect that Screwfix do one for the larger grinder as well, I believe Mr Gusterson has one. I use a modified Screwfix steel cutter, the one with the 14" blade, but it doesn't cut the compound angles. It's noisy but it's fast and it's accurate once you get the hang of it. A blade lasts ages as well, I've just changed one that's done 2 chassis and lots of bits in between.

yours, Pete.

chrisw has 1,good for doing a manicure

Liam just put an order thru to screwfix for something else and asked the sales guy apparently they do do one,the part number is 14674 for a 7 to 9 inch grinder £19.99.Cant find it on thier website tho.
Cheers,
Bob

cheers splitriv,
many thanks

quote:

---

Originally posted by Peteff
I use a modified Screwfix steel cutter, the one with the 14" blade, but it doesn't cut the compound angles. It's noisy but it's fast and it's accurate once you get the hang of it.

---

Test the cut with a square, then slacken the bolts that hold the cutter bit to the base and shim them where necessary to make it accurate. Once the blade is going through straight it doesn't tend to wander. File the slot in the moveable guide to get angles greater than 45 degrees. Don't force the blade through the flat top surface of the RHS too quick and don't cut too near the end of a tube. I also welded a piece of bar to the top of the bolt in the slot to make like a big wingnut. Makes it quicker to adjust.

yours, Pete.

I've got one of those Ferm thingys too, I put a big angle grinder on it, 10in blade.

(See archive basic_chassis_start2_.jpg)

Cuts through steel like the proverbial..............

But, I only use it to chop up lengths now, because it produces so much crap and dust when cutting.

I just use a hacksaw with a bit of WD40 on the blade, which is just as quick as using the saw, by the time you've farted about with clamps etc.