10/28/12 Phase II continues

This is the second time I've tried to post to this blog, today. I can assure you that my car building knowledge has to be better than my computer knowledge.

If you opened this blog prior to 1:00 pm you were able to see my post from early this morning, if you are opening after 1:00 you will be seeing only this post, since the first one was deleted. Musta been a gremlin.
I've made some progress in the past few days although hunting season has competed for some of my time.

This picture is one of the areas for deer hunting although the moose have invaded and there are very few deer.

A picture of our deer camp with the three tents and outdoor living area.



Mike L has great Internet service. Wow, only in America



Dinner is about to be served



Comfortable seating along with stainless steel wine goblet




We do allow some non hunters but they have to be experienced in splitting wood with an ax.




As I mentioned in my last post I still had to add the vent hose to the fuel system. This is the blue hose in this picture. The only part that still needs to be completed is the addition of fuel.

The red cable on the right side is connected to a charging lug which will be beneath the rear bumper. This will be used for charging the battery during the winter and for jump starting other peoples cars.




 Since the engine has been installed on the frame it is a lot more convenient to paint the firewall prior to installing  the body on the frame.




This picture shows the firewall prior to any paint. Take note of the two 3" welds on each side of the firewall.




The firewall has now been painted and clear coat added. Only problem is the waves in the clear coat. This can really be seen when looking at the reflection of the roof line of the house.




Here is the next picture after the painted firewall has been sanded with 2000 grit paper. Now look where the 3" welds were.



At this point half of the firewall has been buffed with a wool wheel and rubbing compound.



Rubbing compound complete, polishing and wax still to go.




Most of the waves have been removed but it looks like I may need to sand one more time and proceed with the rubbing and polishing compounds again. Not too bad for a firewall and this can be considered practice for the final body paint and polishing.




Here is that same square from the last post, although more parts have now been added. Any ideas what it is? It will be necessary to think out of the box to come up with the correct answer.



I not too sure about you but I'm ready for this political season to end.



10/2/12 Entering Phase II

I've finally graduated from the entry level work, fabrication, to what I call Phase II, start of the finishing. Not sure how I've gotten here but it must have something to do with my filing a grievance with the union boss. I simply felt they owed me something cuz I've been at it for over a year.

I've also added a test question this post.



How will this be used in the overall scheme of things?



This photo shows the seam sealer (the grey lines) that's been applied to the bottom of the body. Seam sealers are used by the car manufacturers to keep water, wind, dirt out of the interior of most cars.

Here is my frame after getting it back from the powder coater. Originally, I was going to use some type of paint on the frame but the local powder coater basically offered me a similar price as painting so I decided to go with the powder coat. The plus of powder coating is the almost complete seal over the metal. It is rather like a plastic coating over everything. The negative, is that it has to be ground away if you are going to weld tabs or make repairs.

Speaking of repairs, aircraft inspectors frown on the use of powder coating on a lot of parts. I can remember years ago when I wanted to powder coat some of my Mooney landing gear parts. I was told that should stress cracks develop in the base metal or welds, they can not be seen under powder coating but are visible under normal paint. Since powder coating is similar to a plastic finish the cracks would not become visible until they have propagated to a major problem.

Since I don't plan on having this car off the ground I'm not planning on the needing of a landing gear.

Rear suspension installed



Front suspension installed




More front suspension




Gas tank and filters installed. The vent line from the top of the tank to the rollover valve hasn't been installed but will eventually go from the large brass circle (brass fitting just above the blue fitting) to the small round silver fitting attached to the bar going from frame rail to frame rail.

This photo shows the fuel  regulator/filter right in the center, also attached to the black bar. The fuel pump has already been installed inside the fuel tank and will develop high pressure. In the neighborhood of 90psi. Since there is no return fuel line on the LS3 engines some say that a return line isn't even needed. But then again there are some experts who say the regulator/filter is needed. Therefore it's easier to install it now and remove later than the reverse.

This regulator will allow 58psi to reach the engine with the additional fuel returning to the tank, through the short braided stainless steel return line.




The orange cap is the top to another fuel filter which also has a low pressure disconnect switch for the fuel system. Should there ever be a catastrophe failure in the fuel line this valve senses low pressure and will turn off the power to the fuel pump.

The main battery cable (red) and the conduit for the electrical wires have also been installed.




This is the transmission cooler. I will have an override switch to turn the fan off during the winter.




This is a better picture of the fuel tank and plumbing. You can also see some of the wiring which will be used for charging the electrical system during the winter. I think I will run another battery cable back here (in place of the red wire) so I can use these connections for jump starting, if need be.



The stainless steel brake lines are now installed to the rear wheels



Here is a picture of the proportioning valve to the rear wheels and the master cylinder and booster. The proportioning valve allows the brake pressure to the rear wheels to be adjusted.




As I have been very busy with my hobby so has Lonna, Linda S and Judy R. I'll let you guess who the other two are.