It's not a big change, and it's probably going to be completely hidden once the build is done, but it's a cool little extra bit that I like.
I will have pics of the trick shift linkage later on, I am sure.
It's not a big change, and it's probably going to be completely hidden once the build is done, but it's a cool little extra bit that I like.
I will have pics of the trick shift linkage later on, I am sure.
This is a piece of angle iron, Clecoed to the frame. After I got this far, I reinstalled the aft firewall and transferred all the 1/8" holes to that, then enlarged all the holes in stages to 5/16" to take AN5 hardware.
I've also just realized that I goofed on the seat mount floor rails - I need to redo them to include an extension for the harness hip belts. And not a goof, I just haven't done it yet, but I need to fab up a mounting tab for the anti-submarine belt as well.
With the welding completed on the transmission subframe, I painted all the raw metal in there to protect against corrosion. Not that the car is going to see water, but it's a good idea anyway.
I changed the angle on the steering column to improve the position of the wheel.
I have the seat temporarily installed (it definitely has to come out again, because there is lots to do in the fuel tank and firewall areas). It looks like I have room to move it back about an inch without conflicting with anything. I've also started planning for bracketry to brace the back of the seat. I could probably get away without this on the street, but it's recommended by the seat manufacturer and required by a number of racing classes, so I may as well go ahead and do it now.
And I started fiddling with the position of the shifter on the console. I need to weld some steel to the edges of the shifter's baseplate, so I will have something to drill holes in for bolting to the frame of the tunnel.
There's a bunch of other wiring here I just won't be using at all - cruise control and airbag.
The issue here it the large connector block at lower left - it conflicts with the adapter that the new wheel bolts to. The yellow wiring is for the airbag, so I just cut that away entirely, and then I removed the plastic shroud around the four other pins - even though I only need two of them for the horn.
I'm going to keep a box of all the excess wiring I remove from the donor harnesses. This car is going so have so many fewer switches and buttons in it than the donor that I should be able to remove some real weight.
Welding overhead is always the hardest, because when you melt metal, it wants to run downhill, like any other liquid - so it becomes kind of a challenge to get your bead to stay where you put it. If you goof up, it wants to fall off - and being under that is a good way to get droplets of molten metal on you. Not fun.
This was mildly sketchy, but not too bad. I'd have loved a real rotisserie, but this worked pretty well.
And, let's face it, it's going to be only a few inches off the ground when all is said and done, so I doubt anyone will ever look at it again.
And thus my goal is met to drop the tail end of the transmission by about three inches. This should mean a much longer life.