The Fake Jaguar Thread

[Ulu]

After fighting the setup half a day, I finally realized a tiny bit of floor pan was hanging up one of the rails, pushing it out of position. This threw everything off 1/2” at the rear.

I stripped off the clamps and rails and trimmed.it.one.more.time. Yeeesh!

Finally, I was able to make everything come out straight and square. Enough.

But not before I re-rigged my trammel supports for more travel. I couldn’t quite get the long sides measured.

The frame measures square and straight now within 1/16” everywhere, by my measurements. Considering my equipment, that means it’s absolutely no worse off than 1/8” in 120” on the thrust vector. That’s about 1/960 or a thrust angle of no more 0.08° from center.

Plus the suspension is all adjustable for way more than that.

That final setup and adjustments took all of my remaining will to fight on, until tomorrow.

I’m praying for still air, because the welding starts then.

Also, be careful if you ship a Chinese car to America…

 

[Ulu]

I decided to use the programmable trigger weld setup rather than the pedal, since this welding will require me to move about. When I set it up I realized that one blob of hot steel or careless brush on a fresh bead would ruin the plastic insulation in the trigger wires.

I made this cover from a soft rubber hose and laced it with paracord. This took hours to make, but I like it better than the velcro and cloth sleeves sold at the welding shop. It also cost about $55 less!

I punched all the holes with a conductor’s punch.

Here you see how vulnerable the trigger wire is.

So I am ready to weld, except…
I decided the floor ledger angles should turn leg-up, which means I should fit them up first.

I don’t want to trim any more floor!

 

[Ulu]

I skipped the ledgers for today.

BUT Finally I got everything as square, straight, and level as possible and started tacking things up.

42 welds later I had a celebratory beverage & let things cool down.

Then, fortified by 5% ethanol, I felt comfortable enough to take off all the clamps & check it all again.

Things did change, but not much, and not in an unfortunate way. It’s just laying loose on the jig now, and it is all still level square & straight.

Overall twist is 0.2 degrees. Thrust angle is spot on. Wheelbase within 1/16” before removing the pipe, and within 1/16” across the corners.

Of course there's a lot more welding to do, so anything is still possible.