If it's not oil based it'll end up that way before long!
If it's not oil based it'll end up that way before long!
Worked on the front cross member today. The idea is to leave the front edge of the original in place and weld all that to the new one and leave some of the original to help transfer stress. It should be clear what's going down from these in-progress pictures. The new member is done. It's not the very best fit but there are no gaps I can't fill. I just have to cut out the back of the original beam now. The top cuts are easy but I'm not so sure about the bottom of the beam.
The car is looking a bit different up front after today. I really wish I was better at welding... I had it dialed in a few times but keeping it dialed in was just not happening apparently. Fortunately, I just got one of those bad dog lifetime cutting/grinding wheels. Pretty decent investment. The best part is you don't have hot pieces of composite flying back at you. Just some rather low temp sparks. It's quite pleasant to use. 
I reached the most exciting milestone of the project so far today. I tacked together the first lower control arm and was able to mount it up for a partial mock up of the new front suspension. I've been dreading doing the lowers for a long time expecting that they wouldn't go well. So far so good though. Lessons learned doing the uppers are serving me well here. 
Well shoot. I had it nicely tacked a couple days ago and fitting just right. I thought it was tacked thoroughly enough to be ready to weld up fully but I finished up the final welds today and the ends came in about 1/16th. So now the next step is to try to fix that...
Little update after a break due to getting frustrated and discouraged and also getting married.
Along with spending plenty of hours grinding out and filling body cracks, I mocked up the engine and transmission in the engine bay. It really does fit like this frame was designed for it. It's not so easy to weave it in there but once the oil pan clears the lower cross member it really looks great. A couple problems came to light once it was in there but none too difficult to fix. The manifolds I got won't work. I need to find some manifolds with the outlet pointing down so I can raise the engine from where it's sitting in this picture. These manifolds fit under the upper frame tube but don't allow the engine to come up enough for the oil pan to clear and not be sticking out below the front cross member. The shifter is roughly 6" back but that's easy to fix with the t5. The transmission mounting plates on the frame are about 6" behind the main mount for the t5. So I'll have to look at whether I want to move those mounting points on the frame or build an adapter to stretch the gap. Moving the mounting points sounds stronger. It also looks like a full size starter won't fit too nicely but that's easy to fix by throwing money at it. Very exciting milestone and new chapter in the project though. I feel a whole new energy for this project.
Very nice!
Glad to see progress again, keep it going!
About that "whole new energy."
Any updates?
I do indeed have an update. And it's not a good one. I am sorry it has taken so long.
In early October of 2024 I awoke to my wife telling me the garage was on fire. My first thought was that it's a metal building and that she must mean there is a fire in the garage. I opened the back door and did indeed see the entire garage fully engulfed. Flames were coming out of the gaps between the sheet metal walls. I grabbed a fire extinguisher from the house. I keep one centrally located. I ran outside in my birthday suit spraying white dust everywhere. Having just woken up I had not fully grasped the reality of the situation. I couldn't get close enough to reach the fire with the retardant. I threw the extinguisher down and decided that it was a good time to put on pants. I put on said pants and went for the hose at the back of the house. Still hanging on to the idea that this was just a bad dream, I aimed the hose at the garage and started spraying. It's amazing how little a garden hose does to a 20x20 building that is up in flames.
Being in a rural area, the first firefighter to show up was literally my next door neighbor. Within seconds of arriving he took the hose from me and started spraying it toward my house and wetting the roof down. This was about the moment that reality set in. Any hope I had of getting the fire subdued and not losing everything was lost. My garage was gone. Everything in it was ruined. There was no shortage of fuel in the building. The fire got very hot. I was only able to salvage 3 or 4 snap-on tools to attempt to get replaced under warranty.
My wife had been roused by sounds of pops and bangs as various aerosol cans and other vessels burst around 11:25p.m.. I guess I was sleeping heavily that night. Usually I wake up when the cat walks by.
To answer the questions that you have... No, I have no realistic idea how it happened. Firefighters offered no explanation and the insurance company said it was too far gone to investigate a cause. There wasn't much recognizeable after the fire was out. I hadn't been in the garage much lately. 2 or 3 days prior to the fire I went in to grab a razor, an adjustable wrench, and a screwdriver. I needed those things to put up a tree stand. Everything looked fine last time I was in there. 220 breaker was off. Compressor wasn't leaking. But I suppose it was a garage. Metal and cords and batteries everywhere. If you use your imagination there are any number of ways a fire could have started.
Alas, I have no idea what caused the fire. If I had to guess I think the most likely explanation is something to do with a battery. But who knows.
I never expected that a building made of metal would burn like that but here I am with a crumbled and naked concrete slab. My only advice is to keep flammables away from your electronics. I have always been paranoid about causing a fire but despite all the precautions I took it still happened.
Just a little PSA thrown in... Homeowners insurance does not cover vehicles. If you have a project car that is not insured because it is not driving, do consider the chance of losing it if a disaster occurs.
In conclusion, my TVR is gone. Loose glass fibers were everywhere. The frame was recognizable but not salvageable. I have nothing of the car left. I have not one tiny piece left. The fire got so hot that the valve covers on the 289 melted into the rocker arms.
Since I've told this story I do have to give a shout-out to my local fire department. The Waterview Volunteer Fire Department did an outstanding job. For being people who were in their beds sleeping when they got called, they got there unbelievably fast. They put the fire out and didn't make me feel bad for crying like a baby as I watched my garage, TVR, and all my tools disintegrate.
The next chapter of this story is that I spent the next month on the couch. I've never been so depressed in my life. For 3 weeks I didn't go further than the bathroom. My wife is a saint for dealing with it. She never stopped trying to get me looking toward the future. I happened to have some time off work scheduled already for archery season so that worked out. Archery season was wasted but I didn't have to struggle though work. In hindsight, laying around moping was not much a good idea. Too much laying around regretting the past ends up setting one back rather than forward. In the end, getting back up and going again was the catalyst necessary to carry on.
Last chapter: read your homeowners insurance policy. My insurance company ended up giving me a payout. All in, after the building and contents were considered, I ended up with about 60% the value of what I lost. Try to protect yourself as much as you can from the unexpected.
I truly thought I was careful about fire and other disasters before. Then I woke up and found half of my stuff on fire... I don't recommend that to anyone. I don't even like smoked meat anymore. Sorry I can't continue this thread.
Very sorry to hear this. Hope you recover fully and press on.
I'm sorry for your loss. That's a big hit to take. I'm finally setting up my new garage now, and am being a little paranoid because it's attached to the house.
In reply to CoolHandMoss :
That was quite the sobering post for first thing in the morning.
Pete
berkeley me. I did NOT expect to read that this morning.
Thank you for sharing. I need to reevaluate some of my practices and decisions. My basement shop is under my bedroom. I've never thought hard about fire safety.
DAMN, MOSS!
I'm SO sorry for your loss and for the emotional impact it caused.
As you didn't mention anything about injury, I'll allow myself to believe that no one was hurt.
I hope that you'll soon find another creative outlet that brings you this level of joy.
Bernard.
Everyone was okay, fortunately. My dog ran off when we left the door open which gave us a scare but he came back after the fire was out.
Question for the crowd: does anyone have any experience with patching/leveling concrete? I am left with shallow voids in the slab and I'm trying to fix them the best way that I can. 
Wow! I'm sorry for your loss, I can't imagine. My thoughts are with you today. I'll let more experienced members comment on the concrete.
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