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. 

 

3 subframes in at once

I cut off the PS today which went pretty quickly.  Frame can be set into the right place now.  It is starting to look like something:

It didn't take long to get used to the plasma cutter and start to cut more steady and where I want to.  I won't however get used to molten blobs of steel falling down the cuff of my glove.  I also tried using my auto darkening welding helmet for when I was reaching in at a weird angle and could see the arc clearly.  For some reason the hood would not stay on and kept flicking back to its default #3 shade.

subframe fine tuning

Today I shimmed the subframe to the right height on top of a furniture dolly so I could check fit, pull it out cut, repeat.  It worked well.  It was also the right call to take the engine out again.  It made it easy to see how the two subframes will come together and gave me some ideas on how to connect them.

Yesterday when I got started I noticed that my plasma cutter didn't cut like Joe's.  Part of that is Miller >> junk.  But today, I turned the voltage way up, made sure I wouldn't run out of air pressure, and ground a really good ground to use. One or all of those made a huge difference.  I also noticed that my lungs hurt a little today when I woke up.  I normally don't suck much fumes up welding, but this seems to be a different animal.  I noticed today after cutting about 10 inches that the whole garage was filled with white smoke.  Probably need to do this with the windows open and a fan.

Here is the rack and subframe leveled and shimmed to the right height

Here is the initial fit.  I need the subframe to move to the left of this image about 4 more inches.

Zap!  Where have you been all my life, sweetheart?

plasma score

After so many hours of making an enormous mess with cutting discs, cutting in cramped spaces, having countless discs explode in my face, kickbacks, and having to nibble out curves, I saw the light yesterday (ridiculous pun intended).  I dropped by Eastwood today in Pottstown and snagged a plasma cutter since it was on sale (best wife ever BTW).

It is a very weird feeling to get no feedback at all while cutting.  When you cut things any other way you can feel cutters strain under load and use it to judge your speed.  It is really empowering and a bit spooky to make zero effort moving the cutter.

It seems that 45000°F plasma is not good for garage floor paint (who could have guessed that?) Not much I do out there is good for garage floor paint. (Honestly, is there a better way to move a transmission than dragging?)  I will have to make an effort though because this is a little over the top.