Today I started cutting my plates to box in the frame. I won't be doing the entire frame, stopping just behind the rear axle, and in front of the where the fuel tank will mount. If you ever weld using hot rolled plate steel, remember to grind away the scale well away from the HAZ (heat affected zone). Always clean BOTH sides of your base materials and the parts you are joining to them. I see so many "garage welders" welding dirty and or rusty parts together with zero prep. Rust is iron oxide! The key being oxide (contains oxygen), and it will contaminate your welds. It may appear smooth on the outside, but it will Swiss cheese inside and very weak. The rusty areas on the frame will be wire wheeled clean after the final test fit of these panels. Okay, stepping off my soapbox on welding prep! Here are the first two plates ready to test fit, and the first one clamped in place. Some trimming will be needed before I can start to tack them in place. The frame has been leveled in both axis, and there are two cross stock cross members that bolt in that will be put back in before tacking as well. I am not looking forward to welding on my back!

 

You have any plans for rust protection?

 

I have some epoxy primer on the way to coat the inside of the frame and the plates prior to welding. The complicated plates are next, with a lot of trimming/fitting. I think the paint will arrive tomorrow. So, yes. Not leaving it bare metal on the interior of the rails.

 

Wont the epoxy burn off when you weld though?

Some company or other makes a 'rust proofing kit', that has a spray bottle, with a long wand, that you insert in there, and then spray as you pull it back out. Covers pretty good, and then you can just put some plastic plugs in the holes you drill for access. (if there aren't some there already.) My boss at work uses something of that nature, I'll ask him what it is. (he was a body man for a couple decades before he started the computer business. )

 

More cutting cardboard, grinding, and fitting today. The curved plates need more fitting before I am happy with them.



This transition is a bit funky. This is where some grinding/fitting will be needed. That whoopsie with the cut off wheel will get ground out and welded in.


These curved sections will need some rubbing before the fit meets my expectations. There is always some fit issues transferring cardboard to steel. The steel plate is just resting there, it is not home yet.

 

So I got the epoxy primer today, but the directions say to use at 50 degrees or above. I have to plan out some long term heating options to pull that off. Highs over the next week are barely above 40. I will be masking off the areas near the HAZ (heat affected zone) and proceed from there. I won't get 100% coverage, but it will be close enough for me. Keeping the shop warm enough will be a challenge. We will hit the teens overnight in a couple days.

 

I used one of the jet-engine style heaters in my garage. Kerosene fired. It would run about 8 hours on a full tank. However, if your garage is insulated even slightly, the heater will deplete the oxygen in there pretty quick. That one came to my attention when I was working out in my own garage, and started wondering why I was so tired, and had such a bad headache..... figgered I would take a break, go inside for a while.... and within a minute or two of leaving the garage, I felt better..... The light bulb came on then.... I just cracked on of the garage doors a few inches, and that was enough airflow to allow me to breath reliably, but still get the garage above 50 degrees.

 

You have to be careful with space heaters. Most are not for indoor use. My shop is 25' x 40' with 12' a ceiling. It's not a huge space, but big enough for me. I was experimenting using three or four electric space heaters. With the computer and stereo on (I listen to music when I am in the shop), as soon as I hit the button to open one of the roll up doors I popped a breaker. Another issue with keeping heat in the shop will be the accumulation of paint fumes. Come on, Spring! It was 23 degrees this morning...

 

Feeling a little bored today. I can't do much with the temps this cold, so I decided to see how well I measured when buying my new fuel tank. It looks like it will squeeze in there just fine! This is from Tanksinc.com, and it is meant for a '70 Mustang or Cougar, but has an increased capacity due to more depth. It holds 22 gallons. I will use some flat bar welded to the bottom horizontal of the frame rails. Install some nutserts, and bolt it in from the bottom (allowing the tank to be removed by lowering out the bottom). That's the current plan, anyway! I am thinking the formed upper shock mount brace may need to be relocated farther forward, but that will be determined once the four link suspension and rear end are in.

 

Wow, that hangs down pretty low...... Don't want that feller hitting the ground over bumps....