I like it! Kinda what I had in mind for mine too. And why would you make it with steel when every ounce adds up for a race car.. .. not to mention the added weight is pretty high above the CG.. and especially when you're so close to being finished with that one? I'd just tig it(or have it tig'd).. grind it(or not.. if the job is done well enough).. sand it.. paint it.. and then install it. PS. Do you drop the exhaust for the race?.. or just opne up some cutouts?
yesterday with bryant's help started getting the T5 finished up.... our tranny building station .... started by taking the old rear retainer off to upgrade to a more solid unit looks like a billet piece with it's own bolts... I didn't take a pic but there is a shim in there and there is a process in measuring how much of a shim is needed...after putting the proper depth shim in there there was no endplay so that's good... we changed the 3-4 shift fork since there was some problems getting into 4th from 5th... here it is before and then after tapping a pin out replaced it with a new unit, put the pin back in... here is the new one ....
instead of cutting angle into the tubing lets try making the holes in the plate fit the tube at the angle. then it can be welded from the back side
we got some billet keys for 3-4 which are supposed to decrease deflection of the stock units.... http://www.thegearbox.org/catalog/item/3819132/3532450.htm here is the main shaft... this is the 3rd-4th synchronizer that's gonna have the keys sit inside it held in place by springs, spring comes out first.... inserted into the case.... 0.75 ratio 5th gear installed, these are G-force units...I think somewhere in the $400-500 range but if I remember correctly we got a set for free. looks like it's riding close but it clears just fine.. here is the shift fork for 5th, the driven 5th gear and 5th drive gear installed shift fork assembly installed, tail housing installed... used grey stuff...
was making great progress but I don't have all the right tools I need to make much progress on the dash/gauge assembly... started the outline
finished up the T5.... here is the end that goes to the engine... the input bearing retainer sits here... here is the retainer, smaller groove point up toward top of T5 when installed... in the bottom is where the shims go .... bearing and race.... time for measurements with micrometer.... depth gauge is on the other end of it... 2 measurements needed...from the highest point down to the case mating surface and one down to the edge that houses the shims and houses the race... 0.606 and 0.358... difference is 0.248... and then one more measurement from the top part of the race down to the surface of the case.... 0.214.... difference of the two numbers is 0.034... I only had a 0.033 which isn't ideal but it's all I had .... for daily driving it's supposed to be 0 backlash... for race supposed to have 1-2 thousands preload.... then I took some of the bolts out from the tail housing and cleaned them, some sealant on them and hope it won't leak... speed sensor in place....
yesterday bry helped me and we taped off the fender, another tape over to where we installed the studs for the hood latch, the fold tape back over the fender, close hood and from where the stud touched the tape made a mark onto the hood, drill and voila! mock up driver side passenger side tape over the stud place tape back over hood and drill where it touched the stud believe it or not I drilled this, I know it looks like I bit a piece out of it but ....yea, well. here it is sticking through the hood...the three smaller holes are for the riv nuts I'm going to be using... our helper.... he was motivated to help for a second then he decided it's too hot in the shop.... riv nuts installed how to modify this thing a little for things to fit....being aluminum helped a lot making it easy to sand...
our pieces were cut by water jet to help direct more air at the radiator....awesome design by our friend!! set in place
I got TERRIBLY frustrated with this....held me up most of the day but I persevered...the fiancee was nice to bring me some grub and I got enough energy to figure this out... I wasn't able to cut holes into the plate...tried the hole saw but it just wandered all over the place, metal was too thin...so then I drilled a bunch of holes and connected them with this crappy air saw but the thing kept breaking, it lost nuts and bolts and kept eating saw blades.... then I remembered I had a jig saw...but couldn't find it so went to home depot and bought one....WELL worth the $100.... it wasn't easy cutting the holes because the metal would rattle and bend but hey, got it done.... took my tubes and cut them at angles on our saw... basically it's one angled cut and one straight cut....used a table saw to cut the straight so I wouldn't have to keep setting up the saw again... hard to see but I cleaned them all up using he grinder... no that's not blood, it's the red paint from the muffler we used to get the large diameter for the tach and speedometer...
Those air deflectors are pretty cool! You could probably sell some. Next time, give the poor dog a lime with his Corona...
ahhhhh appreciating fatigue....you'll see what I'm talking about in a minute.... here we go all setup...
see anything wrong with that picture.... yes, the freaken pods are upside down... and of course the one time I'm hoping my welds are crap so I can just break the pods away, nope!! freaken structural strength welds for some @#$%^ reason...where are those welds when I need them?? ok, so....here we go.... by the way I died a little having to do this... got the sawzal and just cut them off at the bases, lengthy process but thankfully very doable.... yes, the larger gauges are correct....argh
