Start of the DS engine mount

I was planning to post when this was done, but I lost a few days to doing actual work in the evening.  I also posted now since this is a pivotal day:  This is the first day where my effort takes me closer to a working car instead of further from a working car.  I always feel better after that key moment.

Here is the space to be filled with the mount:

 I had some 4 inch 3/16 thick box tube around so I decided to use that.  Since the plasma doesn't leave that nice of an edge, I started cutting with the cutoff machine, which was epic.

 I decided to try the plasma with a guide.  It doesn't do bad.  I just left it a little strong, scribed the line I really wanted then used the bench grinder to take it to the line.  MUCH quicker.  Abrasive cut off machine cut 5 inches in about 20 minutes.  Plasma cut 5 inches in about 10 seconds + 5 minutes on the grinder.  In the image below top edge was plasma (shown pre-grind), bottom edge was cut off.

 Plasma with a guide:

Here is the tube in the car.  Yes, there will be more bracing to be added to the mount, don't get excited.(even though a quick FEA indicates that this actually is enough...)

loading it all back in there

I loaded the engine and trans back in there, and put the subframe where it should be.  I also loaded the structure for the interior back in there to see what my options will be for the steering column.

Everything in there looking tidy.  I over exposed this to show some of the detail not normally visible.  My marker lines on the floor and the engine stand made it pretty easy to position the engine exactly where it was before.

Progress.  #4 should be "kill huge horse flies all over the place."  While I am on the subject at least one mouse has eaten the poison I put out.  Hopefully he hasn't chosen the Lotus as a quiet place for his dirt nap.

Here you can see the steering column hanging down inside the car.  The slot that it went through is pretty far to the right.  I am thinking that I could flop over and create up to that same angle to the left and a little higher up and have an easy time of making the angles I need down to the rack.

Suddenly lots of room in the shop with the engine, trans, subframes, and dash frame all in the car.  Must fight the urge to buy equipment! (JK)  

from here to there, funny things are everywhere

I had life shut out car work for about a week.  It was good to get a break, and I am glad I have gotten back to this without letting too much time slide by.  I mapped out the next few steps and they are pretty big ones:

For those of you not accustomed to the scrawls of a left handed person who writes with his right hand:

1) position subframe

2) engine in

3) confirm clearances (steering column!)

4) ?

5) motor mounts

6) wrap frame rail

7) hang motor

8) subframe stiffeners

9) tranny mount

10) close tranny hole

This is exciting because it will mark the end of the heavy industry that has been taking place at the front of the car.  I pretty much completed number 1 today by continuing to cut with the plasma and a cutting disk to whittle away at whatever was touching and then leave a little clearance everywhere:

welding rack

I ordered steel a few weeks back from metalsonline.com.  They are awesome by the way.  You can build an order online of whatever you want and even really small quantities.  The prices seem pretty good and it is here in a couple days.  Once it all showed up the steel and the plasma cutter with no home just sort of made moving around in the shop impossible.  In my steel order was a bunch of .065 wall 1.25 box tube to build a welding rack with to open up some space.

The old setup:

This was the first time for metal fab with tubing.  I learned a couple things.  If you leave a slight gap as some suggest then your initial tack welds will pull like crazy.  Since I was not leaving gaps,  I beveled the pieces fitting together to make sure I got penetration.  I learned it is easy to bevel it too much, which basically guarantees a burn through.  For joints as shown below, no bevel was needed since the curved edge of the tube essentially provides that.  For the mitered corners, a slight bevel helps.  After the first tack, I recheck square.  If it is off I use a block of wood and a hammer whack it back square.  By doing this, I was amazed how dimensionally stable, accurate, level and perpendicular everything turned out.  WAY better than making things with wood.

I also did most welds in this project by pushing whereas in the past I almost always pulled.  I had always been spooked out by pushing you can't see the puddle or your seam since the gun is in the way.  Pushing is the way to go.  You can see well enough, and it gives a much better looking weld.  It is amazing how something that seems so trivial makes such a huge difference.

I feel like welding is sort of like playing golf.  When you are a novice, you have a weird mix of amazingly good welds that occur with little warning sprinkled among awful to acceptable most of the time.  Prep is almost everything, and fortunately the learning curve is shorter than learning golf.

To close up the outside of the miter, I turned the heat down and slowed the wire speed.  Instead of zig zagging, I just pulled the weld straight and steady down the corner.  Then ground it down.  It worked really well.

I ordered some plastic caps from USplastics.com to close out the ends of the tube.  They are cheap and they sell small quantities. The caps really help clean up the look most importantly keeps the spiders mice and centipedes from having a safe place to live.

 3/4 MDF for the shelves.  I stood on the gas bottle shelf and jumped up and down.  Nothing moved.  Nevertheless I went ahead and added a couple gussets.  I did a quick FEA and it suggested that the stress may be almost half at the root when a gusset is used.

I just need to get some harbor freight straps and shorten the length to permanently attach the gas bottle.  I also need to add a few hooks to hang all the hoses and accessories.  Then I need to clean for a few more days before getting back to the car.