I've joined the club !

[davidimurray]

Finally for around to starting on the chassis for the Roadster today. Made some fantastic progress, started at 10am and by 6pm I had all the bottom rails welded up, front frame made and fitted, top rails and uprights all in place as well. The armoto kit was great and with Chris advice on cutting the notches in the FF2 and 3 It didn't take long to get them sorted. I'd probably still be there now if I hadn't have run out of welding gas!

I've put some pics up on facebook - but everyone should be able to see it through this link -

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=130778&id=601005324&l=779053510f

Cheers

Dave

[HandyAndy]

:D :cool:
well done David, at this rate you,ll be finished in no time at all.

enjoy your build :)

andy
ps nice & tidy workshop area :eek:

[geeman]

Thats, some shockingly good progress, gues not having to cut the metal must really help. I sometimes wish id just bought the armoto chassis pack as it would have saved loads of hassle.

[deezee]

YAY someone else who is using a Tig set. Looks like excellent progress for a day. Keep up this pace and you'll be putting your wheels on before me !!

[Bonzo]

A very big well done David :cool:

That is a very good days work, brilliant progress :)

I hope you enjoy the rest of the build.

You have some nice photos in your facebook, a lot more than me that's for sure :o :o

[davidimurray]

Thanks for all your kind comments everyone. I must admit it did surprise me how quickly it went together.

The armoto kit makes an enormous difference to how quickly things go together - I can't imagine how long it would take to cut all your own steel! The armoto kit needs a little fettling where there are burrs etc as they come straight off the machine, I quickly run around the inside with a file, then across the end and round the outside with a sanding disc on the grinder.

I also found having lots of g-clamps, magnetic clamps etc made things a lot easier. For most parts I found the best way was to put a couple of small 'control' tack welds in to hold the pieces in the right place, then get the square out and check all the alignments, levels etc, before finsihing off with bigger tacks. This seems to have worked really well and got any distortion problems under control. Before I knew it I just fell into the rhythym!

Yup, i'm tigging the chassis together. To be honest the main reason behind this is because it is something that I had not really done before apart from the odd 'play' at work. I've done plenty of other types of welding/soldering/brazing so I thought why not! I must admit that I'm loving it - it's all very calm and relaxed and you have so much control over the weld.

Can't wait to get going again - will have to wait until next weekend though to get some welding gas - in the meantime must order some platework!

Cheers

Dave

[geeman]

Hi, are you planning on getting all the chassis plates made, as i would defineatly reccomend that, as for me cutting and finishing them has really been a real annoyance and has only caused me trouble, if i had to do my chassis plates again, id order every one of em from 3ge, and may still order the ones i havnt done from them, as it would have saved my a day or 2 of dull machineing plates:(

[davidimurray]

Hi Geeman

Yeah, I will be getting all the platework laser cut - I just need to finish the drawings first! Used a few laser cutters over the years in various jobs, and also for bits for my own steam engine. I'm going to make a couple of tweaks as well - like adding some gussets to the diff brackets

[Bonzo]

Hat off to you Dave :)

I have a nice tig welding set, it rarely comes out to play, just too impatient me, just reach for the mig set :o :o

look forward to following you progress on face book :)

[AshG]

what lmp are you running the gas at on the tig. i have found that you can get away with about 4-5lpm on a no5 or 6 ceramic welding the chassis. saves quite a bit of money on argon :D

i did tig quite a bit of mine. but like ronnie i get fedup and crack out the mig as its loads faster and easier to get into all the tight areas with a slightly crushed gas shield

[davidimurray]

That's a good point actually Ash - I've actually been running on 10lpm for all my practice runs as I wanted to ensure the gas was one less thing to go wrong. I meant to turn it down to about 7 this morning but actually forgot :o - will try it down as low as 4-5 now I'm confident my welds seem good. Had to grind a tack out today and it was a right pain of a job as the weld was far to good :p

[geeman]

i only have a tig so have been tigging everything so far. I am also only using about 4-5lpm for most bits, however in many t-joints, or where you have to weld upside down or in odd places, i stick the tungsten out a bit more and turn up the gas to around 10lpm, however, i am just shocked that my tank is already nearly half emty and its a boc size y pureshield argon

[davidimurray]

Added some more piccies of another day and an evenings wirth of work - seat back, ladder bracing and tunnel on the go

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3273864&l=ea99029b1f&id=601005324

[mr henderson]

Added some more piccies of another day and an evenings wirth of work - seat back, ladder bracing and tunnel on the go

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3273864&l=ea99029b1f&id=601005324

All I can see is a bare build table!

[RAYLEE29]

well done looking good.
Ray:)

[davidimurray]

Oops - sorry - should have been this link -

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=130778&id=601005324&l=779053510f

Just picked up the donor. 1987 1.8GL Sierra - Pinto engined. Genuine 44k miles from new - i got all the MOTs to prove it, original paperwork, owners manual etc. It's great driving such an old car as you get so used to modern stuff. Engine and gearbox are cracking - got a good turn of speed on the motorway as well ;) Brakes are phenomonal ...... ly bad - no materr how hard you press you don't decelerate any quicker - but I think that's an orginal feature. Has a tendency to pull left and between 62 and 70 the wheel wobble is unplesant. Interior is stunning. Radio is like listening through two bean cans under water, but it does have a joystick to fade the music around the car. Oh and the tape rack under the armrest is a nice feature.

Seems almost too good to scrap!!

[mark]

I felt the same about my sierra donor!

something strangely satisfying about an old rubbish car that drives well :D

I almost felt guilty butchering it up :rolleyes:

But i didnt let it stop me and my mates ripping it to bits :D

ps. build looking good, its a very satisfying time of the build seeing the chassis coming to life.

[davidimurray]

Got another afternoons worth of work in - diff box now on and the tunnel is finished and a few of the donor.. Need to get all my platework sorted now!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=130778&id=601005324&l=779053510f

[AshG]

strange about your brakes. mine were really good on my sierra

[davidimurray]

I wonder whether the pads have had it - after only 44k miles they could still be the originals. It was strange as they were not spongy, it's just that it slowed down at one rate, regardless of how hard you pressed the pedal!

[Bonzo]

Just as food for thought David

What you have described are classic symptoms of a seized/sticky, front brake caliper/s

With only 44k on the clock on a car this age, odds on it has had periods of not being used much.

If it is legal to drive & you would like to get to the bottom of the problem, why not pop the car down to your local garage to see if they will put it on the rolling road for you ;) this may highlight any potential problems with the brakes.

If that is not an option for you, just overhaul the front calipers when you are ready to use them. :)

I have driven a few Sierras in the past, never found the brakes lacking ;)


I wonder whether the pads have had it - after only 44k miles they could still be the originals. It was strange as they were not spongy, it's just that it slowed down at one rate, regardless of how hard you pressed the pedal!