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The "What Did You Work On Today" thread

3M views 36K replies 388 participants last post by  cerial 
#1 ·
4 hour work day for me at the shop. Used the time to do a valve body swap on a '01 Jetta 1.8t auto .... I successfully installed a transbrake on the car .... that however wasn't my intention.

Its in 2 gears at once in park, all other gears (R/N/D/2/1) are forward gears.... they all seam to be first gear.

I have it torn back down most of the way. Tuesday I'll actually get the VB back out and see whats up.... but part of me wants to take it out for a test drive the way it is just for the fun of it.
 
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#3,962 ·
My plasm cutter came today. Would you believe theY ship it without a plug? I knew it was 110/220 volt but I did not realize it had to have a plug installed for which ever power supply you are going to use it with.

Today was spent roughing in a body mount for old Rusty. Third try and I got one that is going to work. Lots of finish work on it yet.

John

did you shrink/stretch the top sections too?
 
#3,963 ·
Wow. I have a build scrapbook but that was pre-digital days. I would have to copy them. Give me a few days and maybe I could put some in a build forum.

Here is the finished car.


I love those cars! I remember the first rod run I ever went to in 1977 and didn't even enter it. I drove all the way to Lodi (about 70 miles from here) in my chopped top, red lacquer primer pickup with no door glass, no carpet, no hood in about 110 degree weather to look at the cars and saw one of my favorite cars in all time, a Merc like yours built by Richard Zoccki. It was in two tone primer at the time! I have pictures from that day.



Fond memories of that day, with my toes wrapped around the clutch and brake pedals because I had to take my shoes off being my feet were FRYING! LOL

Brian
 
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#3,964 ·
did you shrink/stretch the top sections too?
Correct Henry. Basically the top 1/2 is a 3/4X 3/4 channel that is shrunk to form the top flanges. The bottom 1/2 is a U-channel that is stretched into shape. Then the 2 are trimmed to mate in the middle. They are made out of 18 ga. They are quite strong but I will reinforce the mounting points with 16 ga to make sure they can't collapse when the body is tightened down.

John L
 
#3,965 · (Edited)
I love them , I open hood/deck and drill a hole (iirc 1/8" or a tad bigger) in the chrome rod, then I get a clip like the ones for trailer hitch pins ,those spring clips ,the name escapes me at the moment. and then drill the shock to make it dead.
add stud under hood somewhere with 2 holes and now I have a hood that not bonk me on the head and no prop rod to get in the way. when done put the clips on the stud for safe keeping..
You had all the right words in there to name them. "hitch pin clips" are what they are called. :D
 
#3,966 ·
I am such a dope. I put the new ignition sw. on the column today, and still wouldn't turn the starter. After pulling the old sw. apart to see how the contacts make up, I realised I had two wires trasposed when I pinned the new connector! Swapped the hot with one accessory wire and it worked fine.
Have just a few small things on my "to do" list and I can do the cam breakin!
Hope that you do a video with sound when you fire that thing up. :thumbup:
 
#3,968 ·
Assembled a Perkins diesel today. Second one in two weeks and one more to go... Gasket set cost $864.00 a bit pricey..Started to assemble a 14 hp. Kohler in the afternoon but the chinese replacement rod was too tight on the crank. Will have the rod re-sized and engine assembled tomorrow morning.
 
#3,969 ·
Spent almost the entire day trying to fab up a gas pedal and then figure out how to mount the cable entry on a angled wall! I finally used a holesaw to cut a hole in the angled sheetmetal, and then welded tubing into the hole, and a flat washer over the end to mount the cable nut to. Bent up some round rod and made a bolt on pivot with a semi bent spoon shape for the gas pedal. After hooking up the cable, and making a cable bracket for the carbs, it works smoothly. Had to change the pivot point on the carbs so it would be farther from the carb shaft, as the throttle travel was pretty short, and might have been a bit sensitive.
After that I bent up some sheetmetal to edge the hood opening, and made it overbent about 110 degrees to give the opening a raised lip. Tacked it in, and it gave the frontend and opening some stiffness it needed.
 
#3,970 ·
Picked up a plug for the plasma cutter on the way to the club meeting tonight. Wired it when I got home and cut a couple of test pieces. It works well and I am excited.

I have not experimented with it yet but I am wondering if it will cut 2 pieces that are overlapping.

If I could build my braces slide them over each other and trim them both at the same time with the plasma cutter, I would have a perfect fit ready to weld. :confused:

John
 
#3,971 ·
Spent almost the entire day trying to fab up a gas pedal and then figure out how to mount the cable entry on a angled wall! I finally used a holesaw to cut a hole in the angled sheetmetal, and then welded tubing into the hole, and a flat washer over the end to mount the cable nut to. Bent up some round rod and made a bolt on pivot with a semi bent spoon shape for the gas pedal. After hooking up the cable, and making a cable bracket for the carbs, it works smoothly. Had to change the pivot point on the carbs so it would be farther from the carb shaft, as the throttle travel was pretty short, and might have been a bit sensitive.
After that I bent up some sheetmetal to edge the hood opening, and made it overbent about 110 degrees to give the opening a raised lip. Tacked it in, and it gave the frontend and opening some stiffness it needed.

LOLOL, started reading your post and I am looking at this photo wondering what in the living hell am I looking at? A start of a fiberglass mould for a tranny tunnel or gas pedal mount? HUH? Then I realized what it was. :drunk:

Brian
 
#3,972 ·
Tonights project on the truck, start the sectioning of the passenger door. I am embarrassed that I didn't remove the primer and paint off it in the working area before I marked and cut it but I was so damn excited to get going on it I forget until after I cut it. In the big picture it really doesn't matter but it's a little easier to work with the bare metal. Anyway, the 2.5 inches is removed from the shell of the door and now I will roll the skin up to match the new shape and weld it all back together. The piece of aluminum with the 2 1/2" on it my template so I don't make a mistake with a ruler. I used this very one when I sectioned the cab and the other door so I know it's right. I got in a habit years ago after a major screw up of marking the tape with arrows so as to not cut on the wrong side. :pain: But things went pretty smooth, wham bam the door is in two pieces. I LOVE this stuff! WHOOO HOOOO

Brian









Worthless junk. :D

 
#3,973 ·
Picked up a plug for the plasma cutter on the way to the club meeting tonight. Wired it when I got home and cut a couple of test pieces. It works well and I am excited.

I have not experimented with it yet but I am wondering if it will cut 2 pieces that are overlapping.

If I could build my braces slide them over each other and trim them both at the same time with the plasma cutter, I would have a perfect fit ready to weld. :confused:

John
I have never used one and am dying to hear about it from your point of view.

Brian
 
#3,974 ·
LOLOL, started reading your post and I am looking at this photo wondering what in the living hell am I looking at? A start of a fiberglass mould for a tranny tunnel or gas pedal mount? HUH? Then I realized what it was. :drunk:

Brian
When I read your post I had to laugh, i saw the picture before I read the article I thought there was a go cart under a cover until I looked closer.
am I thinking right you are takin 2=1/2 in out of the centrt of door instead out of door post ,,or in addition to the post.

post is what I worked on today
my answer would be ,Nuthin, I just held up John from working on his car i went to John's home today to see his new project ,will make a nice Cruiser ,he is doing some excellent metal work ! He even bought my lunch:D what a friend.
 
#3,975 ·
Picked up a plug for the plasma cutter on the way to the club meeting tonight. Wired it when I got home and cut a couple of test pieces. It works well and I am excited.

I have not experimented with it yet but I am wondering if it will cut 2 pieces that are overlapping.

If I could build my braces slide them over each other and trim them both at the same time with the plasma cutter, I would have a perfect fit ready to weld. :confused:

John
You can cut two pieces at once, but you'll most likely have a little trouble separating them afterwards. It will fuse the edges as it cuts, and may be a hassle to separate.
 
#3,976 ·
When I read your post I had to laugh, i saw the picture before I read the article I thought there was a go cart under a cover until I looked closer.
am I thinking right you are takin 2=1/2 in out of the centrt of door instead out of door post ,,or in addition to the post.

post is what I worked on today
my answer would be ,Nuthin, I just held up John from working on his car i went to John's home today to see his new project ,will make a nice Cruiser ,he is doing some excellent metal work ! He even bought my lunch:D what a friend.
Good to see you David. Lunch was my pleasure....and my turn.:)

You can cut two pieces at once, but you'll most likely have a little trouble separating them afterwards. It will fuse the edges as it cuts, and may be a hassle to separate.
That makes sense. As narrow as it cuts, it would be great to be able to hold a patch up and trim them both together. I suspect you could use one patch for a guide to cut the panel by holding it down by 1/4 inch. That may be more trouble than it is worth. I know I am going to love having this thing.

Brian, Keep the pictures coming. We are going to enjoy your build.

John
 
#3,979 ·
would it help to lightly grind the edges with a die grinder to make it easier to separate panels after cutting , .cutting two at a time would save time and energy,
Cutting two at a time with the plasma will take longer as you will need to cut slower. Peeling pieces apart and having more clean up can only create more work and worse results.
 
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