(This turned into a long ramble that I refuse to edit down into anything compelling)

Where we last left off the motor mounts had been rebuilt on the engine side but lacked the mounting plates on the chassis, sill panels were being formed and tacked into place, and a section of LH fender had been formed using a Chevy bedside.
Motor mounts are finished, just need to locate the transmission then they can be welded down. The part was simple to produce but I had a hard time getting the materials needed, eventually liberating some scraps from work. Left and Right hand sills are welded in, still more work to do making a third cell that'll extend down the weakest section of frame (between passenger compartment and front suspension). Also haven't welded the top surface and door jamb together, as I want more details ironed out before committing.

Met with @Rusty-Vandura a few weeks ago and bought a LSD equipped 8.8 axle destined for his Crown Vic, that was sadly stolen. We both traveled a ways to meet up, had a good conversation, and made the exchange.
As a direct result of that conversation I picked up a custom shift knob from @CobraJoe . Driven with it on the F250 for a week and love it, really nice fit and finish.

Formed the RH fender slab using a Tundra bedside, it was a good test of how easy will it be to maintain symmetry. So far so good.

Got to work on the top section of fender, normally you'd try and form the largest section possible but in this case it's a patchwork because I have to work around the metal I can find. In the long run the whole cars getting skim Coated in filler because I feel the car won't get done if I try and make everything perfect in metal.

Started extending the dash out to the steering wheel, to do that I've got a strip off the Sprinter window and made the necessary cutouts for the defrost. The challenge here is keeping everything straight so when I weld the two together the dash isn't cocked over weird. It's nearly ready to go just havnt decided if I'll save a bunch of time and overlap one over the other or try and trim them straight for a butt weld.(probably dosent matter since it'll be wrapped in leather)

This morning was pulling the Locosts axle out in the hopes of swapping the 7.5" s197 mustang brakes onto the Vic 8.8 Axle. No joy, and surprisingly the internet was wrong and the Vic axle is actually wider then my current one (wanted a thinner rear track with the 8.8 upgrade). Either way today I'll finish stripping the Axle off its flanges, chip off some rust and get it ready to weld on my own. Should drop back in with no problems but I'm seeing the driveshaft is slightly offset, havnt measured it yet as I don't really want to know.

That's about up to speed, work continues though I now do this exact kind or thing at work for 9-10 hour a day and it's harder to keep at it.

Bonus digression?

Work project is a making a completely bare 60's f100 fit a custom frame designed for a car, then make it run and drive within a few months. It's also an 800hp edelbrock lt4. So far I've cut and relocated the frame front and rear, plated those areas, located and mounted the body to the chassis making all the mounts from scratch, extended the rear rails, shortened the front bumper, built a removable core support, made an LS radiator fit, removable crossmember, smoothed firew blah blah blah...
As an Apprentice every step is a new challenge and it takes alot out of you trying to design and built things on a professional level within a reasonable time.
Everything I know about fabrication is from the Locost and starting this project a couple years ago I knew nothing, its pretty much fastracked my way into a career that's so far been satisfying if not stressful, time consuming, and Apprentice wages.

I don't necessarily enjoy working on the car, though I often look forward to it. It's more along the lines of showing up for class and putting your time into the course work.

Ole scrappy compared to the arts and crafts mockup from earlier

On our Previous installment of Paperbags:


Scrapped and rebuilt it while mirroring everything to the opposite side. The fenders got pushed up and forward, roofline came down a couple inches at the back, and pushed the lower bumper in.



Taillights will be from a 70's Toyota pickup then flipped sideways. The price is right, period correct-ish, jdm yo.

As far as copying both sides, not much technique to it other then to make one line, mirror it to within a couple mm and carefully measure where they welded in. The big question are the wheelwell lines that by nature of bending on more then one axis cannot be mirrored. Did my best using templates, measurements, and somewhat verified their similarity as all the mirrored lines fit into place within 1/4-1/8" variance side to side.

Example of the process:

Line was mirrored from the RH side so it should fit snug to the yellow mark.

1/4" off at the body to door jamb line, so reweld it clocked further out.

It took forever, and likely a little off but I'm confident it's within the 1/4" variance. I'll make templates and recheck the important points before committing to the panel.

Got started on the Buck using 1/4" cold rolled steel rod, It's daunting at first not knowing where to begin and what lines to lay down. Got started with some random numbers, "throw a straight line 4" out adjacent to the chassis, that aught to be enough to fit the exhaust". From there the side barrels could be put in place and then you've got a tangible foundation.

Used these to figure shapes and measurements, making the dimensionally accurate drawings was very worthwhile as numbers can be pulled straight from the page and eyeballed onto the car.

Manufacturers spends millions developing a design, modeling, clay, etc. They don't understand the true power of masking tape and paper.


There are a couple things to change but overall Super satisfying to see your own designs take shape

Start to finish, mostly in chronological order . Of course its not done but it's over the mountain peak and winding down to easier details. I'll stop spamming yall with the Suburban dumps after this one.



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A section of sill panel has been built.

Finally made new motor mounts, The previous setup was stock floppies hooked into a little 16ga square tube 90°(as pictured). It was good enough for mockup but that probably won't hold over time.
Cobbled these together using Mini LCA bushings, 1uzfe wrist pins as a dowel, and random exhaust tubing. Ran out of metal to make the mounting plates so of course its half done, but this was the fiddly part.

Snagged this from work as it seemed too nice a piece of metal to throw in the bin*

*
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After a few hours its welded together and resembles a dash! The thin somewhat stressed sheet was hard to work in some ways but its certainly viable to scavenge.
This is a trace of the existing buck with the addition of a vent behind the front wheel, the aim is for a complete flat bottom; airflow from the radiator will need to go somewhere other then down. Additionally the exhaust will be hot and need ventilation.
Annoyingly Both the front and rear buck need reworking, in the process of making everything I goofed the dimensions making the grille massive only catching it while tracing the buck in inkscape.(pictured above is a revised grille size that still looks bigly)
The taillight area isnt wide enough in person making the car look odd at some angles, to stretch that means reworking some of the rear fenders too.

Plenty to do.

@JunkleMKVII Asked how the metalshaping is being done, here's a overview with slides.

Get some Cardboard conformed, trace it out, then cut it to shape, and test fit. The last thing you want to do is eyeball how much material you need and come up short.

Trace the cardboard onto your metal, I usually give myself a little extra on a couple sides. There are many ways to use the wheel, what gets larger bends in quickly is using the side of the Anvil as the fulcrum rather then the center. You press on the panel as pictured and roll it through, instead of working front to back. However rolling it traditionally is useful for gentle adjustments and taking out small dents, whereas pressing on the side is fairly aggressive.

Great you've spent the last couple hours wheeling, hammering, and test fitting. It fits snug to the wheelwell but won't shrink down enough at the front to conform with the grille.

Plan B: Don't have the skill to shrink and stretch a panel that large? Neither do I, so work with smaller panels that are easier to fiddle with. (Also allows you trim out material)

Mockup a panel, trace out where to cut (you can see on the trace, as the panels formed their edges "grew"; the straight cuts became curved) It's not quite fitting to the wireframe buck on its edges.
Trying to impart a curve forward towards the grille while maintaining the upward bend of the wheelwell means shrinking one end and stretching the center. Holding the panel at an angle to the workbench, then hammering down into it folds the surface that's still touching the table and stretches wherever the hammers hitting. Place the center that you want to curve over a corner and hammer around it, as the metal stretches it will start forcing the leading edge to curl up, continue to hammer that flat as the metal collects. Having shrunk one end, and stretched the center its now curved. Run it through the wheel to remove witness marks, fine tune it with your hands, and keep going through the steps until you like it.
That panel took 6 hours of weekend effort. What's already on the car is the extent of my metalworking experience, so take anything here with a grain of salt. On the other hand its clearly doable without a boatload of experience.

Scrap metal:

Got started on forming some metal this weekend.


Fitting that little slice of fender took the better part of Saturday, the scavenged metal is not easy to work the same way blank sheets are. And while the surface isn't butter smooth, its certainly straight enough for bodywork down the line.

@CobraJoe

@musashi66 Really wish they had made the grille bigger though

I'm now the proud owner of a 92 Miata, sadly an automatic but $2200 out the door after headed to the dmv and paying for the smog.

First things first, its been sitting for a while so the brakes for sure need replacing and likely the tires too. Interiors in good shape minus a missing peice on the center console.


Only driven about 30 miles and already blown a rear shock

Put the top down and drove to the coast on a little curvy road, wow! I see why people love convertibles. Handlings pretty good though not amazing as the internet might lead you to believe, similar in feel to the jcw mini. Nice and precise

Feels like I made off with a tremendous deal, very excited.

@baconsandwich idk if its entirely hipsters, more that demand is greater then supply.

@exage03040 The 86 and 87s are incredible, its an entirely different "racecar" approach to go heavy with monumental torque. It would've been something to see a 10 ton colossus get an overall win, the way things were unfolding it dosent look crazy.

@atfsgeoff Very jealous!

@rusty-vandura Yes its a beetle A pillar and front section of roof, nothing else is.
The engines a Toyota 4.0l from the early 90's, same family of engines in the early 00's Tundra but with slightly less displacement, aluminum block, and stronger bottom end.

@davesaddiction Nothing wrong with the guy, he's a good boss and came up building hotrods too, so quite knowledgeable. Owning and expanding businesses has bore fruit in the form of too many expensive cars.
All that being said the cars disgustingly expensive. Theres no way around the fact it cost as much as nice Ca house.

@ranwhenparked Fiberglass, filler is porous

@adversemartyr Hell yeah I will. Though itll take me a while to trust the chassis and drivetrain reliability

@silentbutnotreallydeadly *What are you thinking will replace the truck

@cash-rewards Boss owns a car that cost more then I make in 10 years. I don't hope to own a Lamborghini some day or even feel ill make enough money to swing it, yet it makes me feel inadequate.

Perhaps Luxury goods make us all feel this way even if they are financially attainable. After all, one feels infinitely more smug in a 25 year old Lexus then a Brand new Versa

@exage03040 Get one dent on the Probe and you instantly look like a tweaker