Sheets & Giggles

[sc5080]

Back home from arthroscopic surgery on my left knee. I checked into the clinic at 11:30 .. they had me done and on my home by 3:30. Amazing fast turn around in my opinion. No pain .... yet ... Hoping it stays that way but what are the odds? At least they gave me a prescription for T3's.

 

[forbigpicture]

Good news sc.... hope you have a speedy recovery..........

 

[05snopro440]

How's the knee? Hope it's better in the end!

 

[sc5080]

How's the knee? Hope it's better in the end!

Thanks for asking .. the knee seems to be healing very well. Overdid things a little bit yesterday and its telling me so today but that's to be expected. Saw the doctor a couple of days ago .. he has me down for 4 more weeks of doing nothing (not likely .. LOL) and then I see him again. But it gives me an excuse to stay home and get some things done on the car.

Got the throttle pedal, throttle cable and fuel shutoff cables mounted and ran this week. Have a few small things left to do and then it all comes apart for finishing and final assembly.

I have been accepted for the Meltdown Drags this year and am determined to go. Its time to make a little noise!

 

[smallfoot]

Good to hear on the healing...

 

[sc5080]

As the knee heals I find it now strong enough to work on the car. Sure fills up the time waiting for the doctor to say I'm healthy enough to work again.

I stripped the car down to the frame again and then decided to close up the back of the spring perch to make it stronger. I also decided to add a panhard bar to the front axle and welded on the tabs and made up the bar. Also on the list for little things to do were some brackets for mounting my water pump. I've also started to make the puke tank for the car. Tomorrow should see the last of the welding done and then I can paint the frame and get started on final assembly, plumbing and wiring.

 

[soltz]

Glad your doing better, work light, rest often

Can't wait to see the thing run [cl

 

[sc5080]

Got sidetracked today. Instead of finishing the frame welding I went ahead and built the breather tank which will double as a catch tank for coolant overflow. It mounts inside the grill shell behind the fuel tank and shares the mounting tabs with the radiator.

 

[sc5080]

Crossed another milestone today. Finished the welding and painted the frame and assorted brackets today. [ Getting closer!

 

[soltz]

[cl[cl
[P

 

[05snopro440]

Thanks for asking .. the knee seems to be healing very well. Overdid things a little bit yesterday and its telling me so today but that's to be expected. Saw the doctor a couple of days ago .. he has me down for 4 more weeks of doing nothing (not likely .. LOL) and then I see him again. But it gives me an excuse to stay home and get some things done on the car.

Got the throttle pedal, throttle cable and fuel shutoff cables mounted and ran this week. Have a few small things left to do and then it all comes apart for finishing and final assembly.

I have been accepted for the Meltdown Drags this year and am determined to go. Its time to make a little noise!

Glad to hear your recovery is going well! I bet you'll have a blast at meltdown!

Sounds like the car is really coming along. I'll have to make sure I get to see it in person one day!

 

[sc5080]

Continuing to plug away at it. Welded the paddles for the blower restraints to the header flanges and painted the headers. They will likely never look this good again.

Trying to show the panhard bar that I made for the front axle. Assembled the front and rear suspension bits. Changed out all the fasteners for Grade 8 fine thread and lock nuts. Don't want anything breaking or coming loose at an inopportune time.

The fitting on the front crossmember will be for the vent line from the fuel tank. This puts the vent well below the tank and fuel pump and will also serve as a rollover safety.

Finally, the racing associations mandate a switch that can be activated from the rear of the car to shut it off in the event of an emergency. But I didn't want to spend the huge money that they want for them so I made my own. The activation rod comes out the back of the turtle deck. Push it in to shut off the engine and all other systems. Made up a little bracket and put it on the handle of a locally sourced switch, threaded a piece of 1/4" rod, added a swivel that I had laying around and there it is. Saved myself about $150 and it works every bit as good as the fancy kits.

I bent up some brake lines and I'm just waiting for the flex lines to show up and then I can finish the brakes. The trans cooler is on order and will be added as soon as it shows up. All the safety shields, seat belts, etc. have been ordered. Still have to pick up fittings for the fuel system and the relays for the electrical. Install these items and wire the car and its time to fire it up. Getting pretty excited!!!

 

[smallfoot]

Betcha are gettin antsy! Digging the switchwork...[cl

 

[DozerII]

Great progress[P

 

[Skip]

Lookin' good. Still!

Thanks for sharing the switch set-up. [clA variation on the theme will solve my switch dilemma. I don't need one for public (official) access, but I do one for safety, security, and easy total shut down of the battery. I didn't want to run battery cables from the bed to an easily accessible switch location and then to the starter. Thinking push pull cable.

 

[Old Iron]

Simple and effective!!!!!

 

[sc5080]

Lookin' good. Still!

Thanks for sharing the switch set-up. [clA variation on the theme will solve my switch dilemma. I don't need one for public (official) access, but I do one for safety, security, and easy total shut down of the battery. I didn't want to run battery cables from the bed to an easily accessible switch location and then to the starter. Thinking push pull cable.

If you put the switch in you must remember to wire the alternator into the battery side of the switch. Otherwise, the alternator will keep the car running even if the switch is shut off. A morse push pull cable will work the switch fine. I made my handle bracket from a piece of 3/4" angle iron - just cut off everything that didn't look like the bracket I wanted.

 

[soltz]

One of my favorite things about this bunch is, we don't want to buy we just make it from junk laying around [[cl

I'm almost as excited to see it run as your are, almost

 

[bob w]

Your chassis looks very safe and your attention to detail is going to make it one impressive rig when done. Hope I get to see it this summer.

 

[Skip]

If you put the switch in you must remember to wire the alternator into the battery side of the switch. Otherwise, the alternator will keep the car running even if the switch is shut off. A morse push pull cable will work the switch fine. I made my handle bracket from a piece of 3/4" angle iron - just cut off everything that didn't look like the bracket I wanted.

Thank you, Sir. I did pony up the extra cash for the new race legal model switch with the alternator cutout posts on it.