LocostUSA.com

Yep, I just can't help myself. I grew up about 20 miles south of Watkins Glen which explains most of my motorsport obsession. The NASCAR one comes from a different place, about 20 miles to the east. We had a little dirt track called the Chemung Speedrome owned by the Bodine family. While I never went there (hmmm, go to the Glen or Chemung???) the newspaper sports pages were always full of Geoff Bodine winning modified races all over the east. Once he broke into NASCAR I had to watch, or in the beginning listen on the radio. I usually have the races on the tv in the garage. I still remember back in'79 working on my FV while Indy was on the radio. Doesn't get much better than that.

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My car viewtopic.php?f=37&t=16434
1930s Style Sports Car viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16888

I finally made up my mind about a bead roller. I called Summit to order the Baileigh BR-18M-18 for $295, shown in the dinky picture.

The Summit site said they had one in stock and could ship the next day. The lady on the phone said that they were out of stock please wait while I call Baileigh. She came back a few minutes later to say that Baileigh was out of stock and it would be at least a month to get one. I said no thanks.

After thinking about it I decided that the stand would make it hard to store and I was already accumulating a bunch of metal working tools that took up space. I could make a bead roller from the Harbor Freight kit that bolted on to the stand that the stretcher/shrinker sat on. That way I could unbolt the bead roller when I wasn't using it and put it in the attic. Brilliant! One trip to Harbor Freight later I had a bead roller kit for half of the Baileigh. Yes, kit. I didn't expect this thing to be usable right out of the box and it even says kit on the instructions.

The plan is to reinforce the plate with 1 1/2" angle (an old bed frame), add feet for bolting to the stand, add zirks to the bearing blocks and basically go over all of the parts.

I think that there is some kind of garage law that says you will only have half as much gas for the MIG as you really need no matter what size the project is. Predictably, I got half way through welding on the angle when the gas ran out. At least I had just enough bed frame left to finish cutting the parts.

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My car viewtopic.php?f=37&t=16434
1930s Style Sports Car viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16888

Thanks to Robb for reminding me to go to the Antique Automobile museum in Hershey PA. I went last Friday. Unfortunately my wife decided to go at the last minute so instead of spending 4 hours there like last time I was lucky to get an hour. Still it was a good hour. Here is the Lotus VI.

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My car viewtopic.php?f=37&t=16434
1930s Style Sports Car viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16888

The Lotus 23 with bare chassis.

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My car viewtopic.php?f=37&t=16434
1930s Style Sports Car viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16888

More...




There were other cars besides Loti but this one reminded me of "Add lightness"

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My car viewtopic.php?f=37&t=16434
1930s Style Sports Car viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16888

I went to the weld supply store yesterday to swap my empty argon tank for a full one. When I was welding on my Locost frame it cost $19 for a full tank. Last year when I was building my gas tank it cost $29. Yesterday the guy tells me it is $50 with tax. I must have looked like that little smilie because he said "I get that reaction a lot, the price of argon has gone through the roof." Has anyone else run across this?

I also took my helmet in because I'm having trouble seeing anything other than the arc of the MIG. I'm pretty much steering blind so if I'm welding for more than an inch the weld ends up off course. I've got an auto darkening shield at level 10. I got a plain shield at 9 to see if that helped. It did a little, I can see that there might be something there but I still can't see the joint. My garage has plenty of lights, do I need one shining right on my work? The shop at work is dim and our welders do a great job.

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My car viewtopic.php?f=37&t=16434
1930s Style Sports Car viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16888

Have some helper lenses in that helmet?

I noticed that of all the Lotus cars in the exhibit, it is only the Seven that is on a pedestal. That is the way it should be It would be a nice exhibit to visit.

Having a focused light near your welding is good. However it should be from behind the helmet, either to the side or from above. I sometimes use this method and the light will trigger the auto shade in some instances. it might be because I use a 500W halogen worklight

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Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

I noticed that of all the Lotus cars in the exhibit, it is only the Seven that is on a pedestal. That is the way it should be It would be a nice exhibit to visit.

Having a focused light near your welding is good. However it should be from behind the helmet, either to the side or from above. I sometimes use this method and the light will trigger the auto shade in some instances. it might be because I use a 500W halogen worklight

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Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

I called Praxair in early January and the guy gave me a quote of $103.00 for my tank. I went in last week and she rang me up for $129.00. I just kind of stood there, and finally asked if that was really the price because I'd received a quote of $103.00 several weeks ago. She double checked and said it was. I wasn't really thrilled with a 25% increase. The amusing part of the story, when I first entered the store and engaged in small talk I asked if they were busy or feeling the price of oil and she said it was definitely noticeable and things were slow....

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Trochu Motor League

87k
How thick is the frame on that HF bead roller? I got mine from Woodward Fab ($160). I also got a set of tipping dies from Hoosier Profiles because they never provide enough dies with the unit. Except for the lack of a power drive the unit works great. I don't think I need to make reinforcing mods. I'm tipping and offsetting .06 3003H14.

I'll measure it when I get home. I think I read that it is 3/8". I layed it on the work bench with the split lined up with the edge of the bench. I could skew the ends by 1/4" just by leaning on the outside end. I don't think there is much change vertically but the skew is bad. I'll post pictures when I finish with the mods. I've already welded the angle to the plate, made a movable stop and put a T handle on the bolt that adjusts the pressure. I was going to buy the more expensive unit so I didn't have to rebuild the thing but it's turned out to be kind of fun.

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My car viewtopic.php?f=37&t=16434
1930s Style Sports Car viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16888

I measured the plate thickness at a bit under 3/8". Here is the plate with the reinforcing angle welded on. Reinforcing Angle sounds so much better than Old Bed Frame.

You can also see the adjustable stop. Yeah, I know some of the welds are awful. That is what happens when you can't see where you are going. The 9 shield is what I used when I welded the small mounting brac...I mean mounting thing. I can weld OK when I can see what I'm doing.

I also drilled and tapped the bearing blocks for zirc fittings.

I put it all together and bolted it to the shrinker/stretcher stand. I didn't try any test pieces because the stand was blocked into the corner and I was too tired to haul it out.

Now that this is finished I can go back to work on the body buck. I'm planning on taking the buck apart and modifying it to a bit more departure angle.

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My car viewtopic.php?f=37&t=16434
1930s Style Sports Car viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16888

I spent the weekend taking my buck apart and rebuilding it. Getting that 16 degree departure angle meant raising the tip of the tail 1 1/2". I had to undo a bunch of little screws in difficult places to get it apart. After that I rotated the center rib about the wheel center to get the 1 1/2" I was looking for. The fenders also got rotated about the center which means the front edge will need a trim.

After getting the center rib back in place, it was just a matter of putting the rest of the ribs back in raised to match the center.

I didn't get a picture with the fender back on but it looks better new way. Next I'll cover the buck with posterboard and start working on the roof.

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My car viewtopic.php?f=37&t=16434
1930s Style Sports Car viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16888

It's the AC power and the brightness. The light is actually blinking about 120 times per second, that triggers the helmet.

When I am having trouble with a weld bead my first thought is did I remember to put on my reading glasses. I don't actually use them for reading most of the time, but I use strong ones for welding and I can get a lot closer which helps me see it better.

Bright light on the work helps a lot too.

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Marcus Barrow - Car9 an open design community supported sports car for home builders!
SketchUp collection for LocostUSA: "Dream it, Build it, Drive it!"
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