OK, well after months of debating, putting it off, money woes and various other things that impede builds, I finally broke through the "blocks" and got to making sparks!
I went out on last Saturday afternoon and cleared the space out and started cutting up sticks of steel. It went a lot easier this time around and I was much more confident on my directions. I had planned to build a new frame after my .120 mix-up, I just never thought it would be this way!
So, without a build table, I started laying all my sticks out and after about 2 hours I have the beginnings of a frame. I have to admit that one of my "blocks" was the TIG welding of the thinner wall steel. I'm used to Stainless (and it's ability to absorb heat), so I was very surprised to find that after only a second or two (after over a years break) I found no difficulty with blow throughs. Just like riding a bike, right? The .065 wall welded nicely and the biggest surprise... being able to manipulate the completed frame. You can just pick it up and almost toss it around! I'm going to go HOW fast in this thing??
Over the span of about 2 days total (finished up on this Sat at about 9pm), I now find myself in the garage staring at a slightly modified McSorley +442 frame. I decided to lower the N1/N2 bars in the rear (Little more elbow room) and change how they join the J/H section of the frame. Despite my "unorthodox" build methods, the frame checks square and has a 3/16 of a vertical "warp" which I want to compensate for sag when the motor and other equipment is loaded in.
I can now begin work on the Rorty rear and front suspension section patterning off my previous build (I have the complete front and rear clip still you can see in the pics) keeping "design" time to a min as it was already a rolling chassis. Should make it go together pretty dam fast!
It's incredible to see it come together so quickly, but maybe it's like a trip you've taken before.. the 1st time seems to take sooooooo long, but the 2nd time seems a lot shorter. Maybe the 3rd time, I'll build the WHOLE car in a weekend? Yeah, right!! I am an optimist, not a fool!!
I forgot to take pics the 2nd day (can you say excited?), but there still plenty of work to capture yet. Here's a couple of the first day. No making fun of the garage... still cleaning up after the move (last box is there in the pic) and haven't gotten to build a proper bench yet (rental!). I'm still trying to figure out how to run power to the place.. there are only 2 outlets in the whole garage (one in the shelves and one for the garage opener) and one single screw-in fixture for light in the WHOLE garage!! Can you say NO VISION!!!
Here's to being a builder again!!
KS
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Never become a pessimist. A pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun, and neither can stop the march of events.-Robert A. Heinlein