volvo p1800 into ferrari 275gtb spyder: v12, 5spd, tube chassis

[275NART]

I like how you weld. Do you use a MIG welder? I want to learn how to weld like that. The past I weld it all come out chicken pox.

Thank you for the compliment! This is a TIG weld on the axle but I also mig weld. I am still a beginner but I learned quickly by spending a few days with a friend of mine who does it for a living. If you can take classes at community college or a weekend workshop I recommend doing that. There is a big learning curve for the technique and gaining coordination but the most important things for TIG welding are cleanliness, visibility, a proper fixture to hold parts, and being comfortable. The weld settings and torch setup can be figured out pretty easily. Generally I use an oversize #14 cup and gas lens when welding steel so I can have the electrode stick out 1" or more. With aluminum a #6 or #8 cup and gas lens. It "wastes" some gas but is worth it to get nice welds.

[Satant RaM]

Next I have started on the rear axle. As I may have mentioned earlier it is out of a late 90s ford explorer. Disk brake 3.73 gears, 31 spline axles. It was originally 59.5" but by cutting down the driver's side axle tube and using another passenger axle I could make it 56.5" to match the front axle width.



no turning back now...

Using a little angle iron on either side allowed me to keep everything true while I tacked it up. I used a straight edge on the axle tube all the way around the circumference to double check as well.




Now I can move on to fitting it up in the car with adjustable link bars and brackets.

I like how you weld. Do you use a MIG welder? I want to learn how to weld like that. The past I weld it all come out chicken pox.

[275NART]

Throwing this in here because I thought it was a neat photo.

[275NART]

Next I have started on the rear axle. As I may have mentioned earlier it is out of a late 90s ford explorer. Disk brake 3.73 gears, 31 spline axles. It was originally 59.5" but by cutting down the driver's side axle tube and using another passenger axle I could make it 56.5" to match the front axle width.



no turning back now...

Using a little angle iron on either side allowed me to keep everything true while I tacked it up. I used a straight edge on the axle tube all the way around the circumference to double check as well.




Now I can move on to fitting it up in the car with adjustable link bars and brackets.

[275NART]

The shaft already had a splined to 3/4"dd joint where it attached to the steering rack on the saturn. It was also the perfect length and that made it easy to connect to the stainless steering shaft material I purchased. I am going to anchor the section of steering shaft that runs parallel to the inside of the frame rail using a 3/4" heim joint. I will weld a threaded bung in the frame and the heim will thread in to that. It will also allow the steering shaft to be pushed off the frame rail a little bit as well. You can see there is some interference with the joint and the frame rail close to where it comes through the firewall.

[275NART]

I have some progress on getting the car steering again and I finally started on the rear axle upgrade as well.
The steering column and wheel are from a saturn vue with power assist (obviously). It was really straight forward to fit up. I forgot to document how I did the mounting brackets but it was very simple.







I was able to use the factory firewall grommit as luck would have it it

[275NART]

That was a really good idea to use a T shape dolly, I just saw in your thread Joel. Next time I will have to do that. I'm okay with this as of now. The whole interior will be sprayed with sound deadening and then have sound deadening (dynamat) applied over top. This should help with radiusing the carpet over the hump later on and add some rigidity.

String a bead roller is on my list soon! I definitely have to have it for creating flanges on the body parts.

[String]

In a bid to keep you rollin' and progress being made we can all follow ....and enjoy , a couple of thoughts before final welding would be to use a bead roller and roll a 'T' or 'X' shape across each of those panels ...similar to the panel just visible at the base of the 'A' pillar and possibly lining up with the floorpan pressings.This would greatly stiffen the panels and avoid any tension across the panels when they distort after welding.
To weld those panels , making a 3/4 inch folded angle strip to place along the joins would give you a greater surface to weld to ..or even spot weld.
Just some ideas incase you were having a dry spell, keep up the good work.

[C5GTO]

To finish the firewall I'm still unsure if I want to seam weld and dress all the welds or just tack it every inch or so and neatly mask and seam seal.

Looking NICE!

As to the welding/finish question, have you considered rounding off the edges? This would make butt welding the pieces together (welding on near flat instead of 90 degree joints) and finishing off the welds much easier. The edges can be easily rounded with a T dolly and hammer. I think a rounded edge will also provide a more aesthetic look on the interior tunnel. Probably easier to cover with carpet as well.

I'd certainly secure all seams with more than tack welds and seam sealer. It might be overkill but I'd weld all the firewall seams. Having hot air, fumes and noise leak into the interior isn't good.

I just made some T dollies for fabricating my GTO engine covers. Pics posted on that thread. They're easy to make and use.

[275NART]

tight fit






To finish the firewall I'm still unsure if I want to seam weld and dress all the welds or just tack it every inch or so and neatly mask and seam seal.

[275NART]

Thank you both Kevin and Flatfourfan!

I'm back from a hiatus with a much needed update. Firewall and tunnel construction



Wire wheeled the floor pans while I was in there




I made the tunnel area purposefully high to make the stabbing the engine in easier.

[flatfourfan]

Oh wow 275Nart,this is beautiful.........nice work.

[Petrolheadsa]

Hi 275Nart. I haven't been on the forum for a long time and just took a quick look and spotted your build. Wow. This is excellent. Your attention to detail and quality of work is really good. So looking forward to seeing future progress. Cheers Kevin

[275NART]

Must be a torque correction thing. The work looks great. Looking forward to more updates.

Cheers
Don

That's the only thing I can think of. Still it's a lot of angle!

[275NART]

275NART: I'm glad to see you're taking action on the metal shaping front! Before I built my Ewheel, I purchased an Ewheel that looked just like this. Not to be a downer, but I returned it prior to even using it. Maybe the one you purchased will be better but here's a tip. Check the runout (i.e. roundness) on the anvils. If they're not perfectly circular (they have .001 or more runout) then you most likely won't get acceptable results no matter what you do. The anvils on the Ewheel I returned weren't even close. Given you're new to metal shaping and if you're like me, you'll likely think it's you and not the equipment. With these cheap, Chinese made Ewheels, it's really a crap shoot.

The other thing you'll find from this Ewheel is the frame will flex in both vertical and horizontal directions. The tubing size is not large enough to prevent this. You can overcome this shortcoming by welding on support bracing. But if the anvils aren't round then strengthening the frame won't matter, it will actually make it worse because now the frame won't flex for the anvil high side and it will result in uneven thinning in the metal you're shaping. But if the anvils are round, you should be able to at least get feel for metal shaping, then you can elect to either invest in making this frame stronger or get a better Ewheel.

The other metal shaping tool you'll need to get started is a shrinker/stretcher. I'd suggest a "Lancaster" style because they do a good job and are inexpensive. https://www.tinmantech.com/html/lanc..._stretcher.php I'd also recommend the stipple finished jaws for aluminum but the standard ones are OK too. You can find less expensive sources for a Lancaster shrinker but TM Tech is my go to place for metal shaping tools. These only shrink on the edges but you'll find the majority of shrinking you'll do is on the edge.

I wish you the best on metal shaping!

Thanks for the Tips Joel

I ordered a rubber band last week and it has already arrived. The upper wheel is nice and true but a few of the lower anvils are noticeably out of round a few thousandths. I may have a machinist friend true them up for me. I bought a shrinker stretcher a while back because I knew I'd need them to build the door jambs. I have a bench top metal brake too.