Team Alavanche Project $2018. DARTH NADER

The corvair sills were taken up to the bottom of the door opening, so part of it is intact and that part sits directly on top of and is welded to the corvette frame rail.  Body is mated to chassis at entire sill as well as tied from corvair “framerails” to the vette chassis front and rear.  Everything about the front and rear connections is temporary and will be done neatly after things get farther along.  Then i can do tinwork.  I’ll have to fashion new rocker panels because the vette chassis kicks out where the rockers used to kick in, but i have several ideas there.  

The car is straight and square and the doors, trunk and hood(now reversed in duty) all close properly and line up better than they did when it was a corvair with a missing floor.  I used straps up to the ceiling to pull things into place before welding.  Door latches don’t even need adjusted.  Kinda proud of myself there getting it all straight working alone.  

Back to reality, bathtub trap is frozen.  Back to the crawlspace 

Patrick said:

I do have seats too.  Have some new buckets with tracks and adapters for a beretta that can be cut up into corvette adapters.  They cost me $50 10 years ago and have been in the basement since at my parents house.  I’m sure i can track down the kid I got them from to verify the price.  

 

Also found that summit racing can order me a weld in c5 roll bar kit for $199, so i’m hoping they mail out some $25 off $150 purchase coupons soon

I’m planning on hitting an indoor car show this weekend where they tend to hand out coupons.  If they are, I’ll grab one for you.

eastsideTim said:

Patrick said:

I do have seats too.  Have some new buckets with tracks and adapters for a beretta that can be cut up into corvette adapters.  They cost me $50 10 years ago and have been in the basement since at my parents house.  I’m sure i can track down the kid I got them from to verify the price.  

 

Also found that summit racing can order me a weld in c5 roll bar kit for $199, so i’m hoping they mail out some $25 off $150 purchase coupons soon

I’m planning on hitting an indoor car show this weekend where they tend to hand out coupons.  If they are, I’ll grab one for you.

That would be amazing.  PS thanks for the ride at the challenge 

Update:  it’s above 0, and supposed to hit 40’s this week.  Car going back into garage, and should start having actual build updates at that time.  First order will be working on plumbing and wiring of the engine.  This should all be straightforward but before I move forward with other things i would like to know it’s going to run.

 Currently also there is a shortage of $0 sheetmetal thin enough to start working on filling in the gaps so i think i may head out on garbage night and hope i can score a few appliances.  Got a microwave i can pull the sides from and will be picking up a stove shortly, but i’ll need a couple stoves or dryers to give me enough metal to comfortably go forward making panels to connect everything.  I picked up a free small paint booth  from a sign shop downsizing, but that stuff is too thick and heavy for body panels.  It barely cuts with my nibblers.  Will be good for some sturdy rocker panels.

FIL went to an auction and bought me 22 12’ long 2x5 rectangular tubes that look like they used to be some sort of pallet racks that appear perfect for all kinds of fabrication including frame rails.  The final bid was $1.  

FIL went to an auction and bought me 22 12’ long 2x5 rectangular tubes that look like they used to be some sort of pallet racks that appear perfect for all kinds of fabrication including frame rails.  The final bid was $1.  

What?! You suck, so hard.  

PM'd you a coupon code for Summit.  Let me know if it didn't make it.

eastsideTim said:

PM'd you a coupon code for Summit.  Let me know if it didn't make it.

Not showing up.  I can be texted at 330 two four two 0771

I've enlisted Nick and his band of miscreant trash-pickers to keep an eye out while crusing around doing teenage miscreant things...  They love having a mission

Well, so far no joy, but they have secured a mascot to aid them in their search:

Pink Flamingos in Medina Ohio on a wintery day......hmmmm me thinks photoshop  

Even if all he finds is a flamingo, Nick’s effort is not unnoticed.  I was going to go out tonight but was promised some things if i could get the kids  to bed early.  Alas Colin is sleeping but Abby just pounded a brownie and some chocolate milk and i’m looking at the forum hoping she crashes.  I’m debating cutting the pickup bed apart on the truck i’m scrapping, but not sure how to value that.  The bed is worthless as a bed, smashed from being t boned and rusted above wheels.  I bought it almost 20 years ago and it’s been on 3 trucks and was a trailer for 10+ years.  Now it’s destined for the scrap yard so i’m inclined to value it at whatever price per pound i get when i take the truck in

Any suitable panels for patching purposes??? versus old water heaters/frigitators???

Patrick said:

Even if all he finds is a flamingo, Nick’s effort is not unnoticed.  I was going to go out tonight but was promised some things if i could get the kids  to bed early.  Alas Colin is sleeping but Abby just pounded a brownie and some chocolate milk and i’m looking at the forum hoping she crashes.  I’m debating cutting the pickup bed apart on the truck i’m scrapping, but not sure how to value that.  The bed is worthless as a bed, smashed from being t boned and rusted above wheels.  I bought it almost 20 years ago and it’s been on 3 trucks and was a trailer for 10+ years.  Now it’s destined for the scrap yard so i’m inclined to value it at whatever price per pound i get when i take the truck in

$0.06/# for scrap.

When I need large panels I find Station wagons from the 60' 70s ....... Cut the roof off  at .o6 a pound that is perfect Material. I  just picked up an old Sign that was 4x10 for a 20.00  I paid too much But wanted it. I also Have a roof from a 64 Chevy II wagon that is the only part that wasn't rusted through. good stuff for Fab work,  Less han 3 years ago Scrap was 15.00 dollars a Hundred.

How thick are those frame rails? 2x5 is pretty beefy. Nice score on the metal. 

Look slightly under 1/8” to my eye without measuring.  They’re all stacked up at his house, need to grab them but until i make room and it gets warm he’s fine with me grabbing one at a time as needed.  They will help tie everything together for real at the front and rear very nicely.  Well, probably 1/3 of one will.  Same auction he got me an auto body panel paint rack for $1 and a 72 Cadillac sold for $50.  A vertical mill went for $50.  It was nuts what stuff was going for.

Aw yes lookin' good! You're gonna do box flares to cover the wheels right? Box flares are best flares 

pimpm3 said:

I will say my last build was a total failure, I ruined a perfectly good truck.  I succeeded  in making it slower, less useful  and harder to drive.  

I appreciate the compliments though...

Well look at it this way, most performance mods make a car less useful and some also make them harder to drive, so you could say you made it more like a race car and was it really slower in autocross and drags, or just not improved?

(I would seriously think the lower ground clearance made it quicker in drags, at least)

Plus it looked better afterwards, that's gotta count for something:

task: move car inside alone.  

step 1, formulate idea. 

step 2, visit harbor freight and spend $23

step 3, find junk laying around and build something.

the junk, cut and parts to be welded cleaned and/or beveled

the junk, welded together with my little flux core 20 year old century welder, because this crap is too dirty to bother pulling the lincoln mig out for

maybe at this point, you're thinking "wtf is this guy doing?" because i'm pretty sure that's what the bandsaw and bench grinder were thinking.  you may also ask yourself "where does harbor freight come into all this?" or tell yourself "this is not my beautiful wife" or ask "where is that large automobile?"

well, here is all that junk that i welded together, attached to the 4x6 post on the edge of the back garage door opening with structural screws.  yes, it is that awesome having a roll up door on the back of the garage especially for ventilation.

this is where harbor freight came into play.

ohhhhhh.  you mean i finally did that thing my wife has been telling me to do for years?  put a winch on the back wall of the garage?  yes, dear.  and the gear reduction of the worm drive makes it so easy even she can help now!  haha, evil genius strikes again.   but does it work?

started on blacktop

holy crap it works!  halfway onto concrete now.  it's slow going as the gearing makes for 7 cranks equal to one inch of pull, so i came in because my arms are tired.  i have some stuff left to move, mostly garbage for the dumpster, that i'm heading out now to load up to get rid of when i go pick up the kids.  our dumpster lives at my parents house, one of the perks of having a business.  

maschienbau i keep forgetting to get you pictures of the gantry.  i made it so i could pull the legs out and leave the top in place, will take some when i go outside to crank on the winch some more and sweep things.

Which HF winch is that? Installing that on my back wall would make life awesome.

Chuck an impact or strong drill to the winch handle....

Dude, impact with an extension on that nut for the winch handle.  No tired arms....

It’s the only worm gear one they have, and was $27 before the 20% off coupon.  I picked it because of how little room is needed to operate the handle mosty.  I can always put an electric one on the plate in the future.  

I didn’t want to chance exploding the harbor freight gears with the impact, and my big Milwaukee right angle drill is on a job site.  

Hey!!! I happen to like my  Century MIG very much thank you.......sometimes when I read this I have a hankerin' to be in NEOhio again.......not  

759NRNG said:

Pink Flamingos in Medina Ohio on a wintery day......hmmmm me thinks photoshop  

No it's real - intended to be a sled for small kids.  I'm not sure where it came from, but it's currently resting on top of one of my Saabs in the garage (too much risk of injury/theft at school ) 

I love how the outdoor pics only hint at the GRM glory of Pat's garage/yard complex. 

759NRNG said:

Hey!!! I happen to like my  Century MIG very much thank you.......sometimes when I read this I have a hankerin' to be in NEOhio again.......not  

Hey, it was ~45 today, and I had the garage up to 65 this evening!  What's not to like?