Mechie3's 818S

[Mechie3]

This is a (designed by me) Boyd tank. Filler is at the top and higher than everything else. I'm guessing it's that way because they took the '33 tank and made it work for the 818. Frame openings dictated the location on the existing tank vs adding a new top piece.

[Hindsight]

But if the boyd tank and the FFR tank both fit without frame mods - that doesn't explain why FFR put their filler so low, no?

[Mechie3]

The boyd tank builds up above the stock height. It requires a separate piece to be fabricated and welded to the top of the tank. The new piece is square so has more bends and welds vs just moving the location of a round filler. The round piece doesn't need any bending or shaping, just cut some tube and roll a bead. Likely a cost measure. Mfg can make two tanks 95% the same and jsut weld the fill next on in different places.

[Frank818]

Mister Craig, did you see that your front fender louvers, designed for the old nose, fit a little different on the new nose? I think it's ok but how should they fit best, do you know?

Like this:

2016-10-01 07.11.20_1.jpg



Or super close to the headlights?

Or should you design slightly different ones for the new nose?

[Blwalker105]

Is it possible to reverse them and carefully re-bend the slats? Looks like the contours would match well and you could move them much further rearward if you wished.

[RM1SepEx]

Mister Craig, did you see that your front fender louvers, designed for the old nose, fit a little different on the new nose? I think it's ok but how should they fit best, do you know?

Like this:

2016-10-01 07.11.20_1.jpg



Or super close to the headlights?

Or should you design slightly different ones for the new nose?

you have them backwards, wide edge forward will fit the space

[Frank818]

Yes it does fit better with wide edge forward. I'm testing which side up looks better, now.

[Mechie3]

What do you mean what side up looks better? Front and back should be identical (though one might have a nicer finish as when the other side is finished it tends to scratch the underside).

[Frank818]

No that's not what I meant, but it's ok I got responses on my build thread.

[Mechie3]

Been too busy working (real job, 0db, car, getting ready for baby) to post updates.

I..."massaged" the front end and got it to fit better. There's still areas that the meticulous engineer inside me dislikes, but it is what it is. The subframe rubs against the driver side fog light recess (for lack of a better term). I'll need to grind off the edge. The passenger side fits nicely ins the little pocket/rib next to the recess so clearly the body and/or the frame isn't straight. Can't quite get the leading edge of the hood straight. If you look at the FFR showcars, they're the same way. The passenger side fender doesn't line up right with the hood. It's certainly a manufacturing problem (I'm sure the design is fine in CAD, they just can't make real parts match the CAD).

Driver side hood/fender. Decent alignment:


Passenger side. Hood is pulled back (same as FFR showcars):


Driver side hood/fender/windshield. Note position of hood tip relative to triangle on the fender (also note the fender line actually bends inwards while the hood continues to bend outwards making for an odd mating of convex and concave edges):


Passenger side hood/fender/windshield. Confirms what we knew that body isn't symmetric.

[Mechie3]

Now, back to things I'm good at. Precision machining parts that fit together nicely. I don't like the plastic overflow tank and don't want to pay $70+ for one. Solution? Make my own. Machinist is out for a week so I took advantage of the open time on the CNC.

Top and bottom caps. The recess in the bottom cap reduces weight and makes it so if gunk builds up in the coolant tank that it settles in the recess and doesn't get pulled into the engine as easily.


Tapping top cap:


Test fit. Side bungs are for a sight level:


Welded together. Not award winning beads but not bad for an engineer teaching himself TIG through youtube and google. lol. I'm mostly happy it doesn't like complete garbage and I didn't burn up several hours worth of machining.

[Mechie3]

Another inside view of the bottom of the can:


Started making a cap for the coolant tank. Used titanium, of course. Cut the one side on a CNC lathe and threaded it. Chased the threads with a die to make sure they were good. The die holder is about 3' long end to end.


Took several chases with the die to get it to fit smoothly. Titanium likes to bend and not cut so tools like dies tend to temporarily deflect the material instead of cutting it.


Switch panel mounted:

[flynntuna]

Aren't you painting your car? The hood issue can be fixed if you're painting or even if your willing to color match the gel coat. It's a lot of work for sure but possible.

[Mechie3]

I will paint or something eventually. I know it can be fixed. It just adds time (I'm already three years into a 200 hour build ), I have another project showing up in late october/early november that needs to be ready for autocross season in late April. I've never done fiberglass so it'll take more time than the knowledgable person, or I could pay (which would be $$$). Originally these were "paint free", which I interpreted as "bolt on". It was certainly an appealing part of the puzzle as the metal work is something I can do.

[flynntuna]

Yeah I was hoping for "paint free" too. But at least that fix won't keep you from driving the car. Working with fiberglass isn't really that hard, just time consuming (sanding).

[Mechie3]

Did some lunchtime work. Cleaned up the backside of the cap and bored out the inside. 1/4lb is too much for a cap that is only titanium to be bling bling. Aluminum would have been so much easier and faster, but less colorful in the end. Gotta drop that weight!

[AZPete]

Incredible work. I sure wish you lived next door.

[Frank818]

I..."massaged" the front end and got it to fit better.

Yeah girls like that. I mean, your car is a girl, right.

Driver side hood/fender. Decent alignment:



Passenger side. Hood is pulled back (same as FFR showcars):

That's odd, I have the opposite situation, the driver's side is just a little longer, I can easily sand off the difference or add gel coat to the pass's side, but in your case the pass's side is longer. Have you tried centering the nose insert to the frame, then fitting the pass's fender right and then the driver's? Or maybe it's your frame, there are too many differences with my panels and other new nose's panels I've seen.

Driver side hood/fender/windshield. Note position of hood tip relative to triangle on the fender (also note the fender line actually bends inwards while the hood continues to bend outwards making for an odd mating of convex and concave edges):

Hum I think there is good stuff to do here, little adjustments to follow the lines and it should look good.

Passenger side hood/fender/windshield. Confirms what we knew that body isn't symmetric.

That's a lot. You could cut the hood but it's easy to see the change in angle. Maybe adding gel coat on the top of the fender to match the hood's edge but where's your door fitting?

[Mechie3]

Have you tried centering the nose insert to the frame, then fitting the pass's fender right and then the driver's?

That was the first approach I took and you saw how well that turned out.

Hum I think there is good stuff to do here, little adjustments to follow the lines and it should look good.

I put a straight edge on my fender and it clearly goes from a convex shape most of the way and then switches to concave right at the very end for the last couple inches.


Milled out a 5 lobe pattern on the CNC. First time milling titanium on the CNC so was a bit nervous:


Then hit it with a torch. Perfect color! Holding it with tweezers because at this point it was still hot enough to leave a permanent imprint on your hand.



After wasting time listening to two VP candidates talk over each other like middle schoolers I went in the garage and mounted it up:




Need to get fittings for it and polish it up and it'll be finished.

[tmoretta]

Hey Craig. I PM'd a question for you. Please reply. Thanks, Tom.

[svanlare]

That turned out awesome, well worth the effort!

[Frank818]

Aluminum can change color like this? I thought it was only titanium and maybe other rare metals.

[Mechie3]

Aluminum can change color like this? I thought it was only titanium and maybe other rare metals.

Well...that's because:

a cap that is only titanium to be bling bling

and

First time milling titanium on the CNC

It's titanium. lol. Just giving you a hard time. It's probalby about $200 worth of titanium. I couldn't cut it with the band saw so I used a 3/4" mill to cut a piece off the end. (that alone probalby wasted $30 worth of titanium). But, when you have almost 12 feet of 2"OD titanium you got for free, you don't really care.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

But, when you have almost 12 feet of 2"OD titanium you got for free, you don't really care.

That sounds like 3 set of axles to me.
Bob

[Frank818]

But, when you have almost 12 feet of 2"OD titanium you got for free, you don't really care.

You son of a... lolll Good thing you started on that, hopefully you'll come up with great products we can benefit like the alu ones you already did. Maybe a full titanium exhaust?

Sorry I missed it when you wrote "titanium" in your other posts, I guess I was too impressed by the pictures!

[Mechie3]

I'm (mentally) working on a simpler design for that overflow tank. I have a bunch of milled features, but I think it can be done with laser cut puts (much less costly in low volume).

[Frank818]

Hey man, have you tried fitting the old nose and see if it has the same issues as the new one? If yes then we could most probably think it's the frame.
But that is only if you still want to know whether it's the frame or panels...

[Mechie3]

I had the old front end on at one point. The fender to bumper was different at the hood junction and the hood had a similar issue with the one side being slightly off.

[Mechie3]

My latest masterpiece. Lol.

[Scargo]

Nice! Congratulations!

[DanielsDM]

Congrats!

[Canadian818]

Congrats! This is your second right? A lot more work for dad when there's two, ask me how I know, lol.

[wmaurojr]

Congratulations!!

[wleehendrick]

Congrats, Craig!

[AZPete]

Very cute, Craig. Congrats!

Did it come with just the one wrench?

[Hindsight]

Congrats Craig!!!

[305mouse]

is it a 10mm?

[Bob_n_Cincy]

is it a 10mm?

No Craftsman 14mm, He lost it last winter. Must have fallen out of his pocket.

[Mechie3]

Yes, second kid. Still on my first kitcar but managed to make 2 kids in that time. Lol.

Just the one wrench. Bob was close, 1/4" craftsman. Perfect size for the wilwood caliper bleeder screws on my Fmod.

[ben1272]

Nice job Craig! Some are born with a silver spoon....some with a chrome vanadium steel wrench! I hope mom and baby are resting comfortably.