'66 Sunbeam Minx Project - F20C/6sp/4-link/Discs...

[Britain Smith]

I like the grill on that Blue one.

-Britain

[Mullet '72]

*** super subscribed to this one***

[lofly'a]

just read this entire thread, and again i tip my hat to your mad skills.
any post with your name, LFD, or Portbuilt attached i read like a bible. not always the direction that i'm going but the thought process and problem solving is near genious.(there are others too), it's just that these 3 names come to mind first. keep it up guys.

[Frizzle Fry]

Thank you sir. Don't read it like a Bible because I do make mistakes as I'm about to show

Here's a long overdue update:

Because of the fact that the front clip on these things is welded on, none of the front sheet metal is easily removable including the inner fenders. It may be hard to see in the pics but the outer wall of the frame rail was left longer than the inner wall so that I will have access to weld the S2000 section on in front of the inner fender.

In order to place the S2000 section where it needs to go I had to remove the outer wall of the S2000 rail in the same area (was considering a lap). When put together they form a completed box all the way around. And of course I will be adding plate over that.






Mocking up the rest:




I put the wheel on the check centering in the wheel well and DOH!!! How the heck... too far forward


While the wheel was on I checked how much I'll need to shorten the arms by. Looks like about 3" minimum. I may just pickup two more wheels with more backspacing so that the new arms can be a little longer. Luckily these are still in production.

[*Dylan]

So what needs to be done now for the wheel to be moved backwards?

[Frizzle Fry]

I considered building the wheel centering offset into the arms by moving the balljoints back the required amount, but I really want to maintain as much of the S2000 geometry as possible. So I took the route of moving the the rail section back 3/4".

Yep, 3/4" is all it needs... (camera lens not centered on string)


But that's a long 3/4 of an inch considering what's required ...expanding the notch




I didn't take pics of the completed notch expansion but that section id just plated in with flat stock.

3/4" off here:


...and here:


That took it from here:


...to here:


Now that notch is really earning its keep:

[Frizzle Fry]

In the end it was worth the effort:





Next up: make/update templates of everything I've done on the PS and start welding it in The DS should be much faster after working everything out on the PS (in theory)

[Britain Smith]

Man, those Plywood wheels look fantastic!

Nice work man. You made the right choice in fixing the positioning and keeping the S2000 geometry.

Gonna need your mad fab skillz later this week to mock-up my thottle cable bracket/conversion on my car.

-Britain

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Bad azzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Jvsapp]

awesome work FF keep it up

[ERASER5]

Of course they still make those wheels. They are at Lowe's, Menard's, or any other lumber yard!

Or did you buy Kevin's?

[Frizzle Fry]

Those are the new MDF series that you can't get just anywhere

[Frizzle Fry]

How 'bout two updates in one day to make up for lost time

Here's the notch dressed up and ready for a night on the town:




Reworked inner fender next to the notch cleaned up (was split/torn before):




Now is where some more fun begins. I had been on the fence about making more room up front to accommodate the ride height/stance I have planned. This pics shows about ride height for the front (maybe a little lower )


Well, there wasn't much room left in the wheel housing at that height-maybe just over and inch.


Without knowing how compliant the S2000 suspension will be and therefore how much travel I'll need I decided better safe than sorry...

[Frizzle Fry]

I gain over 1.5" by sectioning/stretching the inner fender. This is some of the removed area (over 1.5" including the two 1/16" slices):


Prep'ing for welding, the angle grinder/wire-wheel got away from me and took a little bite


Here's the tire bottomed out at full tuck. Obviously it won't ride this low but it's nice to know I have the room:






Diggin this

[GRIMSS]

You've been busy, looking good.

[OLDIRON69]

Now you have me looking for a Sunbeam..course I couldn't do the swap!

[6772owner]

Ouch sorry about the wire wheel rash, those things get crazy sometimes, build is looking amazing as usual!

[ERASER5]

So, pain hurts, but did the chick dig it? Ya gotta get some sympathy somewhere. Now, back to work!

[joe231]

Mike,
you never fail to impress me

you need to add a PhD to your sig.....how about MwD (Doctor of Metalwork)?

[Britain Smith]

Awesome...that will provide good clearance when were drifting!

Looks like you got branded from the grinder possi. Here is mine from a couple of years ago...I still have a scar.

-Britain

[BlueJeep]

Are you using the orbital sander to finish the metal?

[Frizzle Fry]

Originally Posted by GRIMSS

You've been busy, looking good.

Thanks man

Originally Posted by OLDIRON69

Now you have me looking for a Sunbeam..course I couldn't do the swap!

You'd be more likely to find one under the Hillman Marque (Hillman Minx).

Originally Posted by 6772owner

Ouch sorry about the wire wheel rash, those things get crazy sometimes, build is looking amazing as usual!

Yes they do. It caught an edge and jumped out of my hand. That's when the trigger lock is not a good thing...

Originally Posted by joe231

Mike,
you never fail to impress me

you need to add a PhD to your sig.....how about MwD (Doctor of Metalwork)?

Hah, working on a masters maybe Lots more to learn.

Originally Posted by ERASER5

So, pain hurts, but did the chick dig it? Ya gotta get some sympathy somewhere. Now, back to work!

She was all sympathetic when the bandage was on, but when I took it off she said "that's all? I was expecting some chunks missing..."

Originally Posted by Britain Smith

Awesome...that will provide good clearance when were drifting!

Looks like you got branded from the grinder possi. Here is mine from a couple of years ago...I still have a scar.

-Britain

This is def not my first encounter with a rouge grinder and I'm sure it's not the last... Hopefully while drifting the car will stay fairly flat, but now we can do it from less altitude.

Originally Posted by BlueJeep

Are you using the orbital sander to finish the metal?

Yes I do. As a last step to get a nice uniform surface that's ready for paint. You can see that the sander won't reach all areas. For that I'll hit it by hand.

[dammitmitchell]

what grit do you use ont he sander to "finish it off"?
im tired of messing my welds up with the highspeed when i try to "get close" and clean up my edges.. i'd send u pictures.. but i weld liek crap..! it'll hold but it'll be a turd i have to just polish up

[Frizzle Fry]

Number one rule: Clean Clean CLEAN! Always wirewheel (or whatever you can reach it with) clean your metal before welding. I use as hot a setting as possible without burning holes so that the bead will be as flat as possible.

Butt welding sheet can be tricky. For 18ga and thinner I use 0.024" wire. The thinner wire seems to be more sensitive to wire speed. Too slow and it will ball up on the wire - too fast and it will pile up like bird turds on your work. I like to go along and tack the entire edge straight so I end up with tacs about every inch or so. During this process I am lining up the edges as I go by using a jewelers (tiny) flathead and/or hammer/dolly. Then I connect between the tacs with a pulsed pattern zap-move-zap-move... with each tac right next to the previous and only about 0.5 sec wait time between them. Even then I get some not-so-pretty results on sheet sometimes. Tipping away from the weld (dragging) seems to help.

Next I grind with a standard grinding disc on the 4.5" angle grinder down to a few thou above the surface. Then I hit it with a flap disc to take it down flat with the surface. I'll go back and zap any pits as needed and finish them the same way. My last step is to hit it with the DA. I use anything from 60-120, heavier being preferred, but generally whatever happens to be on the DA

[dammitmitchell]

sweet! im unfortunatley using flux core...
i could easily be eeping up (nto with you ut my own expectations) with gas.. BUT.. this is TX.. and there's wind.. so no gas.. dang..

thanks for the inputs i have wht i need to know to do better now!
maby even alot less turd polishin!