The Fake Jaguar Thread

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Still just trimming and fitting, but I am down to the wire. I did get my wife out to help me with the trammel.

Some of my cleaned parts have started rusting again. I started to re-clean them and do some prelim painting, before I start tacking things up.

But I’m out of paint so that means I need to go to the hardware store.

No car pix today. This is my pet squirrel Charlie. He lives in my redwood tree and eats out of the bird feeder.

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Still no new pix.

After some more delays, I finally got back to the chassis. I stripped the rails down for paint inside, before boxing.

There was some rust and dirt collected since I welded these, so some effort with the wire wheels was needed.

I got one side clean and painted before I gave up for the day.

Again, I used a rust converting paint.
 
The other rail needed some body work with big hammers and an anvil. It took some effort to get it straight enough.

So all the rails are painted inside, and when the paint cures I can assemble them.
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In the meantime I am cleaning up the pan edge again. Once it all fits I might trim off another 1/8” when I decide whether the ledger angle goes leg-up or leg-down.
 
I’m still waiting for my frame paint to cure, but I got some more measurements made, and it’s all coming together pretty close.

I had planned for 1/8” clearance from the frame to the fiberglass body. If I can live with 3/16” I’ve got a good alignment.

To get the full 1/8” I need to shorten the tunnel and floor at least another 1/4”

I will possibly bite the bullet and do that. I would also have to trim off the fiberglass body flange a bit.
 
I had to change the rollers in my clothes dryer, which were starting to seize and squeak. I also changed the belt and idler. I had all these low-time parts saved from my previous machine, so I didn’t have to go buy parts. This is the 3rd nearly identical Maytag dryer I have had, and the spare parts all came in handy.

I trimmed a bit more on the car chassis and it is nearly acceptable. My paint is cured, so I can start tacking things.
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Unless some other appliance blows up.
 
Still trimming and aligning. It is really close now. I just have to tune up the weld gap at the tunnel a little more. The welding should start tomorrow.

The trammel is really working out well for such a collection of random junk. I’m very happy with the ease of measurement it allows.

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The welding magnets are just for extra weight actually & do not actually hold anything together.
 
Another time-out . . .

Here’s the parts from when I had to change the squeaky wheels in my Maytag dryer. These were nearly seized up tight.

The idler roller was tight too, and it was burning the belt.
9AC42069-8F4F-4656-8F15-FA17F47951D8.jpeg

She’s quiet as a mouse now.
 
Ulu said:
Another time-out . . .

Here’s the parts from when I had to change the squeaky wheels in my Maytag dryer. These were nearly seized up tight.

The idler roller was tight too, and it was burning the belt.
View attachment 278007
She’s quiet as a mouse now.
Click to expand...

I love the way your mind works my friend. The day we can't fix anything around the house is
the day they pitch the first shovel load of dirt on the box lid.
 
Well today is a special day in the boat yard and I’m having a special Shandy to celebrate.

I did a bunch of last-minute grinding and tuning and squaring up. Hours, truly. I cleaned up the pan edges and the flutes as nice as I could get them now.

It was 98°F in the boat yard when I finally put on my leather jacket and gauntlets. I fired up the Primeweld TIG225 and I got the crossmember assembly tacked on.

Here it is still clamped down to my jig with a temporary crossmember.

B3C8BAC3-85B6-4C7F-A193-6AD102483E02.jpeg


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I attached it to the tunnel and pan in six places before I stopped. I did not want to weld anything up solid until I was sure it was square.
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I stopped to check everything with the trammel and level: it came out beautifully. You can see that I took off the clamps and the crossmember and it’s really, finally attached to the tunnel.

Yippee!


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I think there will just be a little more pan trimming for me and I can start installing the frame rails.
 
This is a real milestone in the project. I went from cleaning, fixing and making parts, to the actual assembly work.

BUT… is it square? Is it level?

BF814B0D-AB4F-4952-9BD8-EF5AEAF62649.jpeg


Level is Not too shabby!

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The crossmember wants 0.9 deg counterclockwise rotation.

7750CE91-CDEF-4698-A89E-D9B38DEC3DB4.jpeg


The frame wants 1.2 deg counterclockwise, so she is square within 0.3 deg!

The tangent of 0.3 is 0.0052 and the crossmember is 13” tall, so it will lean forward about 1/16” at the top.

So far, that is. It is still just tack welded.

I haven’t warped it all up yet. Still, this deserves another shandy.
Cheers!
 
Ulu said:
This is a real milestone in the project. I went from cleaning, fixing and making parts, to the actual assembly work.

BUT… is it square? Is it level?

View attachment 278088

Level is Not too shabby!

View attachment 278089

The crossmember wants 0.9 deg counterclockwise rotation.

View attachment 278090

The frame wants 1.2 deg counterclockwise, so she is square within 0.3 deg!

The tangent of 0.3 is 0.0052 and the crossmember is 13” tall, so it will lean forward about 1/16” at the top.

So far, that is. It is still just tack welded.

I haven’t warped it all up yet. Still, this deserves another shandy.
Cheers!
Click to expand...


Your measurements are impeccable. I'm heading down to the beer distributor today to get a six
of our favorite for the weekend. I'll be toasting you and your project. "Hear hear! Mad welding
skill!" (face West and raise a bottle)

1724421471523.png
 
Oh, yes…..I did not have an official store-bought Shandy.

To me a Shandy is anything that a kid might drink but you put alcohol in it.
In this case it was some Jaritos Mexican soda pop & brandy. (Not quite as sweet as American soda pop.)

Anyhow, I am in the words of Alan Millyard, “well pleased.”

Now I have to get out there and build this thing before the rain starts coming down.

August here always ends in a deep heat wave, but then September tends to spring open like a trap. We will get some cool temperatures, some odd winds, and some insubstantial but welcome rain.

Actually it happened early and I can feel it starting already.
 
Ulu, I agree your project is coming out better than new. Gibson musical instruments had a motto, "When only a Gibson is good enough". Their competition seized upon that with this slogan, " When good enough, isn't good enough.". That could be your slogan.
 
I won’t need a slogan if I never get it finished though.

I expected to fit & tack up the side rails today, but some things hit me, that of course needed attention first.

I had to flap sand everywhere that I need to weld on the crossmembers and that that took a little while because I had put a considerable amount of paint there.
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I also figured out that once I attached the side rails, there was no way I could clean and paint the inside of these tubes. I had burnished the outside so nicely, but the insides were still really rusty.

Now they are painted inside for the first time since they were cut, about 1980.
8A839BC4-8A75-455C-BBD6-C5481FEEF17F.jpeg

Anyhow by the time I got done with all that plus my other chores, I decided it was over for today.
 
I did lots of grinding today, as I had to shorten my crossmember on both ends.

I coped everything together with the frame rails as neatly as possible. This is only half-coped in the photo.
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I was going to avoid this tedious coping by using clips and gussets. I just couldn’t get enough body clearance.

I took the frame rails on and off about 12 times, marking and trimming the crossmember and floor pan each time, until all 4 crossmembers and the pan were good enough.

On the passenger side. Tomorrow I get to do the driver side.

Then I’ll set the thing up and check it all for square and level again before I tack.

Well this could have been neater. There will be some filler….

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The coping on this irregular flange is difficult to show.
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The pics are from the last pan trim, with the nibbler, yesterday.
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I got out early this morning and cleaned up the boat yard I took apart my chassis set up & laid everything out. I blew out the tubes and cleaned it all off.

Then I reassembled the rails (for the last time!), clamped everything half-loose, and squared it all up with a rubber mallet.

When it was all square and leveled I realized, I didn’t have time to tack anything together. I got cleaned up and off to the dentist.

So I am truly ready. I will check the square snd level again tomorrow, and start welding.
 

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