Wowza, Mad Skills!

Did I say "fiddly"? Man, this fire wall has turned into a really big time suck. Don't get me wrong, I like doing it but geez, this has been day after day after day...

So here it comes around the corner of the lower opening area.
I'm using that small square tube to set the plane for that section of the panel.

Oh, and again, it would have helped if I'd paid attention in geometry class:

When you are joining pieces that have a bead and the angle of the panel relative to the other one, isn't the same, the bead needs to be in a slightly different location (higher or lower) in order to line up with the bead on the other panel(s).

So, while each side piece can be cut from the same initial part that had been bent and had the bead added, each of the "middle" pieces required their own angle and bead location...

Did I say "fiddly"?

The frame is in plane but mostly it's a pain...

All the pieces are fabbed!

Some final trimming to tighten up the fit in a couple places and then trimming of the lip around all the openings and it's weld it up time!

Major milestone.

just...Mega!!!!!

Man is that looking sweet. I have firewall envy. Hehehehe

That looks really nice Chris! Good job!

Thanks for the compliments. It's nice to hear encouraging words...

Now, let's make sure the seat still fits/clears. Yep, all set. Cozy with clearance!

One of the upcoming sub-projects that I need to get figured out is where/how to fit the A/C unit. I don't like the traditional under dash units so I've rented a few different mock up units to see what might work. This one, from Old Air, seems to be the most suitable.

My initial plan is to section out above the passenger foot well and raise the unit up as high as I can. It should provide enough foot room while not hanging down so far as to be really obvious.

According to my "pre-cise calculations". I can raise it about 5 inches from where it sits in the pic. Farther if I can avoid fouling the wiper mechanism. Of course, a mono-wiper would make that a non-issue...
I'll also lose the glove box.

And no cutting will happen until I get more comfortable with overall fitment, hose and vent tube routing, etc.

But I need to get after this pretty soon.

And with the fire wall fab mostly done, I started on Version 3 of how to close off the lower sections. More fiddly fab as the lower wall isn't vertical. You may recall that while the wall isn't, the seat belt retractors require vertical mounting.
So that means these closure pieces have to have a wedge cut out of them to accommodate that seat belt retractor mounting tube.

It's true what they say: Nothing is easy.

Also playing around with beading design.

I may end up mounting these pieces on the inside of the lower section. Still not sure about that.

Chris, your level of engineering, detail, and execution continues to amaze me. Keep it coming!

I don't think there is enough room for that ac unit. I think the only way to fit it is to replace the fresh air box with an account unit and run hoses from there. Cut the front upper firewall out to make room for the unit and then box it in when done. That's my goal whenever I get back into the project. They make a universal unit that has 4 outlets and does ac and heat. No defrost or vents to open and close but that could be done with flapper boxes and solenoids.


My 2c.

Andrew - I may be misunderstanding something but this is an A/C, heat, defrost unit so the stock fresh air box and all the venting, etc. gets eliminated. We can talk in more detail when you're here June 2 for the fab day. I'm interested in hearing your opinion once you've seen this up close.
Talk soon.

Chris: Consider moving the fuel tank forward a hair, if necessary. Easy space to be had there! This would be minor fab with your skill and it would continue the theme of a "one off" teener. Besides, I like air conditioning!

T

I'm familiar with the unit. I considered it myself but decided it was simply to bulky to be hidden by any normal size dash without giving up legroom. I'll see if I can remember to bring my ac unit for comparison. I think you'll be surprised by the compact size.

For weight distribution or more room in the cabin?

I just like being cooool!

T

Oh, come on, Tony. We all know you're too cool already...

I'm putting up a few pictures here to help you think ahead to bodywork.
This is a widebody I did almost 20 years ago. The nose is one piece of aluminum which I shaped. I have bucks (somewhere) for the 5" wide rear flares.

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This is the carbon fiber 914 nose made by Prototype Composites I use on my race car and on a couple others. The aluminum center panel is a mod I needed for my car's oil cooler outlet hidden behind the airdam. The CF piece comes solid, and most people open it up for a GT cooler style installation.

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Thanks Mr. Foley!
I'm still at the head-scratching stage and in looking at the DP2 (it's the car pictured here), it's using a pretty shallow angle and what seems to be a relatively small scoop to successfully cool an LS3.

Granted, there's no sheet metal behind the DP2 rads but I figure I could loose most of the inner wheel house sheet (and if needed, add some louvers to the top of the flares) to get the needed air flow.

In the perfect world, I'm wondering if I could widen my steel GT flares enough to make this work..

As always, "We shall see..."

Did you say widen a set of GT flares? I did a set 2 years ago.

Welded on normal, then cut off on a strategically placed line.
Reshaped to set the opening at the same height. This was the hard part. It took a lot of work to "adjust" the part which remained on the car.
Then add the filler strip in 3 pieces for convenience.
Grind and hammer smooth.

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A front facing inlet doesn't have to be that large to let a lot of air in.
Even more important is pressure differential and the area of the exit from the rad.

Here's a pic of the semi-tube frame I installed in that white widebody.

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You'll need to pull the fenders, not just widen the flares. The GT flares dont add any area in front of the wheels unlike say my Bontempi flares. IF you removed the inner fender (structural) you can probably gain enough room to do something like this, but I would imagine you would need a radiator on both sides.

Yep, I wonder if there'd be enough room, even with the widened GT flare - that's why I started with the comments about going wide body.
And the plan would include a rad on each side. Here's another couple pics of the DP2 that shows the basic approach I'm looking at.
He's got a lot more freedom/room, given the clean sheet design but I'm encouraged by that low angle and small-ish scoop.
Wish me luck and I'll post updates as I make progress.

Chris: I am going to start keeping a list of "Cracker" inspired themes on your race-rod! You just take everything to new levels!

Tony

I finished the exhaust today.

But on the off chance that turns out to be too loud, I got a Magnaflow internal cross over muffler. Each header feeds in the uppers on each side and the exhaust tips both come off the lower tubes. The muffler will mount like this here, except I'll use metal and not just blue tape and bondo spreaders...

Weld porn...

Routing looks like this.

And like this. The pic makes the tube look close to the tire but it's well inboard of the inner fender line. The tire would have to be rubbing on the inner fender and it still wouldn't hit the exhaust tube.

One side from the header to the muffler was all but completed so it was time to play with exhaust tips.

Option 1 and option 2 use the same small piece of tube, just flipped around.
I'll decide soon.

Yes, the muffler looks low but it's well above the lowest point of the trans.

Um, that looks familiar...good job!

T

On to fabrication of a bracket to support the muffler.

Clearance, but not a lot. Good thing I moved the drive train forward 1.5"...!

Just know that first 90deg turn is going to be HOT. My stainless severely blued on that one spot and it's almost 3ft from the turbo!

It works...even on this same engine. The hottest area I have seen is at the collector...first day of fab years ago on the exhaust (below).

The bigger concern I would have is the exhaust muffler heats affect on the trunk area - I believe Chris is trying to fab a functional space above this area.

T



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A few things happened today. I was rummaging through the parts boxes and came across the "original" Renegade water connections. I thought:
- the outlets point straight forward...
- right at the opening in the firewall...
- if I made a full tunnel then removed the bottom of it, sorta like an traditional front engine car, I could run recessed hard water lines and other systems items...

So I think that's what I'll do. Console redo #3! But whatever, I think it'll be cool. I kinda wanted to do this in the first place so it's really just coming full circle.

And as long as the hood was up, so to speak, I went back to another idea: running the stacks open but building some sort of air box/filter set up. I have a few ideas so the first step was to see how close I could come to accurately measuring then fabbing up the piece that forms the bottom but allows the throttle bodies to poke through.

First time's the charm and I nailed it! (I'm still new enough at this fab stuff that I'm always amazed when what I plan actually works out.)

Now to work out the rest - like some creative shaping up near the firewall.

And I have a couple interesting design ideas that this air box approach will need to leverage. More as I get to it.

And not to be outdone by Brett and his critter pics, here's mine for today:

Even the local reptiles are "hanging on every step" of my build.

Chris, just wondering what the advantage is in having the bottom open in the center tunnel in your new/old design - is the purpose to make access to the coolant lines easier? I'm also running mine down a redesigned center tunnel because my floor and console were eaten and it will add to the stiffening structure. I know you don't need additional support because the design you've got going on... pretty impressive stuff!

It will bring heat into the cabin. Not that it's a problem depending on where you live, but just a thought. I've heard of oil cooler lines in the longs making a noticeable difference. Andy and Amoy can comment about that.

Keep up the great work! Stellar project.

Do not do anything with those nylon fittings...replace with aluminum. I believe I have mentioned this to you before - they will leak, eventually.

T

Hey Tony -
Yep, the plastic is on the way out. It'll all be an fittings, I'll weld bungs to the radiator, too. Then hard lines where it makes sense, flex line everywhere else.

Thanks! I want the bottom open to help reduce heat build up. As Rand pointed out, that's a concern. Having the bottom open will provide access to everything I run in the tunnel. I plan on ceramic heat coating and sound undercoat on the firewall and underside of the tunnel.

Assuming I actually go with this design, I'll also fab a removable brace structure that bolts to bosses in the underside of each side of the tunnel and runs the length of the floor. With what I have planned for the upper tunnel/console, it should be way stronger than the stock tunnel.

Hi Rand! Glad to hear from you - it's been a while...
I think I can manage the heat with what I have planned. There will certainly be development once it's running but that'll just be the next phase of the project.
Always more to do, eh?

Sweet! You are the Lizard King. You can do anything.

I have thought about the same tunnel design but also thought about adding a butterfly brace like the Miata boys and girls run. With your car you could just do it down the tunnel.

On the Miata it does make a huge difference. You would think that building a box section about 2" deep would not make one bit of difference, but it does.

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Look forward to seeing what you do with it.

Stephen -
That's the same sorta design I have in mind. I really appreciate the pic as it give some ideas that will improve what I was thinking I'd do!
Keep the cards and letters coming...

I spent (wasted?) more time screwing around with the air box idea. It really doesn't advance the build but it is fun doing the fab work.

I got the other side's base done and evened up both ends in prep for building the middle, ends and sides.

My buddy Martin has a vacu-former and we were talking about using this sheet metal version as a mold and making a clear air box! I think at the very least, I'll do a clear top so the stacks are always visible. That'd be pretty neat, too.

This is going to be interesting!

Fuel for your fire: something Lambo styled...
I know You could do a variation of...