Obviously stacks & trumpets are sexier than this, the bracing is cool though and of course a needed function.

To expand on my quick comment, I have a weird affinity for air boxes. Their ability to make a boring engine look sexy and a sexy engine look boring fascinates me. For some reason, I find the 914/6 air box downright sensuous. I can't wait to see what you do to make this dead sexy engine look

Hey Chris, I just bombed through this whole thread in the last 24 hours. Brilliant, creative work full stop. We seem to be a lot alike with respect to the bike and car building stuff. I only wandered over here from Chris H's EG33 build with welcoming comments by Mueller.

I am doing an EG33 into a Lancia Scorpion and am staring at the rusted out floor and the firewall I had to cut to get the engine/transaxle into position. Your solutions have given me some great insight and ideas. Many thanks and looking forward to what you share next!
-Christopher

Hi Christopher -
Thanks for the kind words. Maybe you've connected the dots but you'll see the car and meet me if you come to the June 2 fabrication day at my place!
My English wheel is reserved for you to take a swing at fabbing your roof panel.
Hope you can still make it...
Chris

I am shoving some stars into alignment so I can be present for introductions, pinching my fingertips in your English wheel would be gravy on the cake!

Just found this thread, it's great, lovely work , thanks.

Joey in Florida makes some cool carbon fiber rain hats, one with a clear insert that looks cool too. I like the Idea of being able to see inside, but a completely clear box may not turn out looking as "finished", if that makes sense

Took today off and got the passenger side firewall components welded up.
Tacked them while they were clamped and clecoed in the car, then removed to final weld on the bench.

And what was "they" are now an "it"... And it still fits!

Yesterday, the driver side fire wall pieces were also welded together. With that done, I turned to working on the tunnel and coolant line routing.

The Slippery Slope of Custom Stuff:
Given I've moved the drive train forward 1.5" and built the custom lower fire wall, if I want to run the coolant lines up in the tunnel, I don't have room/the same option of just dumping them right out the back of the stock tunnel location, like others who have gone this route.

So... Here's a pic of what seems about my only option. Some 1.5" PVC I had laying around. For you wise guys: Yes, it's for mock up, and yes, it'll be replaced with suitable material.

Still lots to work out and it may turn out to be more work than it's worth. We shall see...

Then, just for fun and practice, I started messing around with fabbing up a front tunnel section, just to get a feel for size and shape.

I do like the way the 1" radius corners match the shape of the longs. Gives things a sorta samey-same design vibe. I'm liking that, at least at this early stage.

That said, I think this it a bit too tall. Again, just an early prototype that I'll likely change up - as if this sub-project would be different from any of the others... (at myself)

Back to the fire wall. I sorta forgot I need to fab something to finish off the upper portion. I think I'll try and match the design I used everywhere else. Makes sense, no?

Just means more fiddly angles to figure, cut and fit... You'd think I'd be getting better at this. Or at least faster. But no. It takes me a LONG time to work out this sort of thing. It's all good, though. I find it therapeutic, if at times frustrating.

I suspect it's just another way the good Lord is helping me learn patience and perseverance. And that can't be a bad thing.

Geez, now what I'm I doing...?

Defrosting concrete?

Wow, that was fast - you've found me out! I'm going to use 914 defrost rear windows as heat in the floor of my shop!

Hey, is that my window?

Do you still want me to bring the spare windows I have for next Saturday? They are just taking up room right now.

It was an "exhausting" day...

But worth it! Almost completed the exhaust. A few more seams to close and O2 sensor bungs to add and it'll be done and ready to head to the engine dyno to get its base map set up. Can't hardly wait for that!

another. An no, it's not symmetrical side to side. I wanted the gaps between the outside edges of the floor and the exhaust to be the same, and that required slightly different angles where the tube drops 90 degrees coming out of the header. Plus, one collector sits farther back.

Tips, we have tips!

Yes, it is. You think I'd treat my own window like that?

Andrew - Yes, please! Thanks!

Initial rough fitting the passenger side fire wall main panel.
I'll need to do something to stiffen it and prevent oil canning. I'm thinking of using this side of the firewall to mount the engine computer and the rear slave Infinity Box unit in a recessed box.
As always, we'll see. But it's really gratifying to see that the panel fits well. And I'm happy with how the beading in the frame sets it off and gives the panel edges a nice finish.
And it always nice to see large sections of the car going together vs farther apart.

This next part of the build should be riveting...

Wha, wha wha...

T

Punny as it is, the work speaks. Loving it all on every front. Shop guys have to rib each other, that's part of the vibe. Tony just has one.

Jiggin' it and Tiggin' it.

But mostly I'm just diggin' it!

I liked the pipes going up better.

Do you have space to move that muffler up? Doesn't look that concealed unless it's just mock position. Love the firewall and the welds

That's its final position. I suppose it could have move up a bit but it's not the lowest part of the car. You can do a full review when you see it on Sat. I'm interested to hear what folks think once they see it in person.

Playing with tighter rivet spacing and adding more of the planned layout, just to get a better feel for how it'll look. Still working on how the two rivet lines will come together on the inside of that lowest piece...

And then it was back to the fiddly stuff. I think I've landed on how I want to finish off the upper section of the fire wall. Here's my current thinking for how to address the door bar.
I'll add a piece to the top of the main fire wall that has the same sort of bead detail that this upper section will rivet to. Pics as I get that fabbed.

Brent (bbrock) was in town from Montana and was able to swing by for a visit!
Proving yet again what great people we have participating on this board!

Brent, it was great to meet you!

(but in typical "we were all focused on car stuff", I didn't remember to get a pic...

As far as progress on the car, the driver side firewall frame got final welded. Time to make that side's panel and order up the rivets...!

Wow, this is looking great. Fantastic attention to detail !!!!!

Well, it seems a good time was had by all at yesterday's Fabrication day event. While I was hoping to get some time on my build today, it turned into a long tandem ride with my wife, a visit to see my buddy's plane that just got wrapped and some honey do items.

I did, however, accomplish this: my first rivet!
I'll use these for the fire wall and tunnel panels. CherryMax structural rivets, not regular ol' pop rivets. Different animal altogether.

Yes, it was just a test but also yes, this was all I did on the car today.

And people wonder why this is taking so long...

Chris,
Weren't you thinking along these lines?

Oh Rob...
I'm hurt that you haven't prioritized my build above all else in your life...
I all but finished that up back in Nov. of last year.

On my way home to Bozeman now. It was great meeting you last Friday Chris!!! Amazing work you are doing on that rocket ship. Sorry I missed meeting others at the fab party on Saturday. Looks like I missed a great time.

Ha!

Missed that!

Im curious about the cherry max rivets, what makes them so different?

Hope this isn't too much detail, and note that we're sorta moving into aircraft construction when talking about "strength" of rivets. For my purposes, I'm leveraging the aircraft guidelines, not following them to the letter. That said:

When you install a pop rivet, the steel core breaks off, leaving a hollow rivet. They aren't considered structural because small-ish forces can destroy the joint. They can fail due to forces in shear, tension and torsional directions. They generally get used to install a surface panel or decorative element and can easily be drilled out, replaced, etc.

A structural rivet retains the core when it's installed, making them far stronger. Also, a lot more fun to drill out.

Thanks for the additional information, I was wondering about your choice of using rivets for the firewall panels. Should be pretty structurally strong. Are you going to make the center panel bolt-on/off for service access?

Yes, that center section will be removable. I just need to finalize framing the entire opening, then I'll get going on the removable part.

very cool, thanks

I worked a bit more on the uppermost section of the firewall. After making some practice pieces to be sure I understood the necessary dimensions, I fabbed up what I hope is a final piece.

Mocked into position

Practice piece to work out where the edges and hole need to be...

Once I had the dimensions, I took a swing at the final part. Turned out pretty well. I still need to do final trimming and add a bend so the top portion tips back and can be riveted to the stock portion of the fire wall.
I'm thinking I'll add a bead or some sort of detail. That's still TBD.

Closing in on closing it in! A few more pieces to fab then it's time for riveting and welding.