1958 MGA Coupe

[MYBAD79]

wow

 

[bobs77vet]

well it finally had to happen......Construction is over and our belongings are now in the house, MGA and welding stuff is still in race car trailer at sons inlaws house and as soon as we get the moving overflow boxes and stuff out of the garage the MGA Coupe and welding stuff will come home....maybe 2-4 weeks away

 

[SRountree]

Nice home! Congratulations!

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

nice!

 

[bobs77vet]

well I am whole again, car got delivered yesterday now i just have to square away the garage. car started on fourth pull after being in trailer since last october.....i did not even charge the battery, i drove it around the block it felt good. man is my garage packed!!!!

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

the garage is never large enough... I have this dastardly plan, though, my wife wants a LR Defender 110. I haven't mentioned it won't fit in the garage :amused: I guess I'll just have to put one of my cars in her spot.... sorry honey

 

[bobs77vet]

4 post lift has been ordered a bendpak hd9 xw its a 9000 lb lift , extra tall and extra wide. so I can store the vette or mga up top and completely walk under it, it will rise to 6'10" under the ramps so with the 12' cieling, i shoud be able to get either of the two cars up there when its fully raised

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

nice!

 

[bobs77vet]

its like Christmas morning!!!!

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

pretty darn sweet.

 

[bobs77vet]

now to set up my small shop.....i need to do some thinking on this one.

as a reference that ladder is an 8' tall ladder, as it is now under the lowest part of the lift is 6' 3". If i go to the max height of 6' 10" I will have 7" between the cieling and the top of the car. i think the corvette is also the same height. its funny the MGA hits the narrowest part of the ramp, the corvette hits the maximum part of the ramp.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

nice

 

[bobs77vet]

my son and I bolted the 4post lift down last night, about 2 hrs worth of work, sixteen 4" deep 3/4 holes in the concrete floor. his big hammer drill was a spline drive and we couldn't find a 3/4 spline drive bit locally so we had to use a regular hammer drill with a carbide 3/4 bit. wasn't technically hard, just work, there is no movement in the posts.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

my son and I bolted the 4post lift down last night, about 2 hrs worth of work, sixteen 4" deep 3/4 holes in the concrete floor. his big hammer drill was a spline drive and we couldn't find a 3/4 spline drive bit locally so we had to use a regular hammer drill with a carbide 3/4 bit. wasn't technically hard, just work, there is no movement in the posts.

I rented to drill mine... 10 years later, I'm still not squished so it must be fine :rain:

 

[bobs77vet]

yeah, having a cars center of mass 8' up in the air makes you think twice about just having it sitting on the concrete floor.

 

[bobs77vet]

the Good , the bad and the ugly....

the good: I treated myself to a new Digital AC/DC welder form Eastwood, My Lincoln TIG was just a DC unit and I wanted to be able to weld aluminim

the bad: its not suppose to have this play in it and the door doesnt close any more and this looks like a PITA...so we are going to punt until february snows have me house bound...oh wait thats now with this COVID crap...anyway February sounds far enough away not to be so painful







The Ugly: you know what i have in common with those professional TIG welders you see on TV...NOTHING

I have been wanting to explore an idea for a while now so lets see what i can mock up for in front of my front grille...think 1950s lemans front end

really just an exercise of fabrication and welding to see what it will look like



lets make the drawing so i can work from it...think 9th grade drafting


cut and weld....think 9th grade shop




it fits so far


the concept, i am going through with the concept as an exercise then will right size everything when i can actually see it on the car







and no you cant see my ugly TIG welds, I do have some pride

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

those welds look awesome from here in Seattle.

 

[bobs77vet]

those welds look awesome from here in Seattle.

it takes 3000 miles for them to look good....or at night, in the driving rain at 60 mph

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

those welds look awesome from here in Seattle.

it takes 3000 miles for them to look good....or at night, in the driving rain at 60 mph

pisha.. trifling details.... barely worth even mentioning.:1st:

 

[bobs77vet]

lets keep moving the light bar/ front nerf bar grille forward, i think i need to make the end of the bracket that attaches to the front frame extensions be able to rotate so i can adjust it on the car for level, tighten it then remove it to weld the bracket in place.

 

[mfain]

Looking good! That should work.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

See, this is what I'm talking about - my lack of knowledge - you can get magnets to stick to cardboard, my dumb teachers said that wasn't possible... :sos:

 

[bobs77vet]

See, this is what I'm talking about - my lack of knowledge - you can get magnets to stick to cardboard, my dumb teachers said that wasn't possible... :sos:

sure with the help of a razor blade and you cut the card board out, if you look carefully you can see it



more work on the 1950s style lemans light bar

lets make these rotate for mounting and weld in some bolts inside the frame and grind off welds



make brackets for bar



extension and niuts and washers were to put in the tube for keeping the bolt up high to Weld

clean up threads with a thread cleaner this is not for cutting threads just cleaning them



weld to tube frame
and before you touch it shoot it first with a IR heat gun to see how hot it is










and test fit and call it quits for the day






[URL=https://app.photobucket.com/u/bobs77vet/a/b8ef1bd0-b9b3-4cbe-9a22-b197ad7bfc71/p/4304b3e4-71b5-4de4-a91c-f5d0f89ff97f]https
[ATTACH=full]50365[/ATTACH]

 

[BBShark]

I like that. It really adds a vintage race look.. Nice work

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I like that. It really adds a vintage race look.. Nice work

maybe next he can do a cattle catcher... that'd be cool. :3rd:

 

[bobs77vet]

I like that. It really adds a vintage race look.. Nice work

maybe next he can do a cattle catcher... that'd be cool. :3rd:

and this is where we get our crazy ideas.......not a cattle catcher, but instead a single bubble helicopter made out of tubing for the grand kids.....it would be all open, a pan for a seat.....tubes for the landing rails basically a big sphere defined by tubing with a tail coming off of it and plywood for a tail and rotary blades.
maybe 8'long x3' wide x 4'tall

I bet the tail could be thin walled conduit and the sphere and landing rails where they sit some real tubing.

stick and old lawn mower enging up top upside to rotate

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I like that. It really adds a vintage race look.. Nice work

maybe next he can do a cattle catcher... that'd be cool. :3rd:

and this is where we get our crazy ideas.......not a cattle catcher, but instead a single bubble helicopter made out of tubing for the grand kids.....it would be all open, a pan for a seat.....tubes for the landing rails basically a big sphere defined by tubing with a tail coming off of it and plywood for a tail and rotary blades.
maybe 8'long x3' wide x 4'tall

I bet the tail could be thin walled conduit and the sphere and landing rails where they sit some real tubing.

stick and old lawn mower enging up top upside to rotate

sounds like a great idea - and you're welcome, running threads off the rails is my specialty.

 

[bobs77vet]

the creative juices are flowing, I see my holiday project two of them for the two kids with kids



panels from Ebay just search marine instrument panels , tractor gauge panel, master switch panel and there is lots cool things that dont need to work

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

the creative juices are flowing, I see my holiday project two of them for the two kids with kids



panels from Ebay just search marine instrument panels , tractor gauge panel, master switch panel and there is lots cool things that dont need to work

my dad bought me a motorcycle and told me it couldn't be started... :drink:

 

[bobs77vet]

yes and my first car was a hand me down form my parents which didnt run.....sure you can drive it to high school if you can get it torun...