V1 Brian's City Goblin-06/Crate MotorTC #61

[SmsDetroit]

That is a nice unit.

My wife gave me the go ahead last night. She said make sure I get a good quality TIG welder that will last. I was looking at the Alpha TIG 200x. I will definitely keep my two MIG welders and probably buy another cart for the TIG. Its nice being able to just fire up a machine thats already set up and go.

Buy a cart with your fab skills?

 

[Goblin Graber]

Buy a cart with your fab skills?

My bet is he’s going to get a kit from ZT Fab. He just doesn’t know it yet.

 

[Brian74]

Buy a cart with your fab skills?

Lol... Yeah I often forget that I can build stuff other than car parts. Thats probably a better idea.

Although I am super happy with the Vulcan cart from HF that I’ve been using.

 

[Brian74]

I was pretty useless today. Spent more time staring at the Goblin than working on it.

I installed some rubber trim on the dash to protect it from the cowling. I also mocked up the intercooler and intake tubing. I will probably fab up a cube shaped aluminum cold air box right behind the passenger seat and port a fresh air intake tube downward. I’ll run some heat reflective tape on the outside of the box for good measure.

I think I’m gonna go with a Volant powercore filter, as they are made by Donaldson and I trust them.

 

[Brian74]

I decided to attack the dreaded cowling trim today. Well, at least I got the passenger side one finished. What a pain in the ass.

I have been all over the place trying to figure out a logical cold air intake design. I decided to just leave the filter where it sits, and build around it. This way I don’t risk any potential MAF sensor issues. The fuel filler is once again in my way. I decided to port the air intake to the outside edge of the passenger firewall. It looks like a nice spot where forced air will be available at speed.

I drafted up a box. Somehow one of the measurements was way off, but I can design draft 2 much easier from this one.

 

[Brian74]

I’ve never been a fan of the air filter just sitting behind the firewall, recirculating hot engine air. It prolly took me a day worth of staring at the car to figure out a solution.

My goal is to isolate the filter inside an aluminum insulated cold air box. I will use the small area of the firewall outside of the passenger seat as a fresh/ram air intake as its relatively unobstructed and hits undisturbed air head-on at speed. The sound will probably be annoying to the passenger, but oh well.

I went out and looked at my first mockup of the ram air/cold air intake box. Fit was horrible, but gave me something tangible to begin with. Grabbed some scissors and did some bibbidy bobbidy boo on the mock up and took a few measurements.

Back to the CAD... Draft 2 was much better, bit still not quite there. Calculating these bend allowances and working the precise shape is a challenge, but rather fun.

Draft 3 is ready. Will mock it up tomorrow.

 

[SmsDetroit]

So when does your online store open for all the custom parts you have made?

 

[comegetjoe]

Going through a drafting course, I can appreciate the drawings. Keep it up!

 

[Brian74]

Going through a drafting course, I can appreciate the drawings. Keep it up!

I am trying out a few new CAD programs, myself. The one I have is limited in its ability to fit pieces together, despite it being super easy and free to use. I’d rather be able to tweak things on a computer using proper metal and bend thicknesses than have to remake a cardboard model and hope my measurements are close.

So far I’m not a fan of Fusion 360, lol.

 

[Brian74]

So when does your online store open for all the custom parts you have made?

Well, I am holding on to all of the .stl files I made... Then again I spend every single bit of free time these days building my car.

 

[SmsDetroit]

Well, I am holding on to all of the .stl files I made... Then again I spend every single bit of free time these days building my car.

Can’t wait to see your finished car.

 

[Brian74]

Today was sort of a wash. I spent all morning playing around with Fusion 360. Talk about unintuitive and complex... Definitely a learning curve.

I think the lack of features the current CAD program I use is an easier compromise for the time it will take me to get proficient at one of these bigger programs. I definitely want to learn more when I have the time.

For those of you new to CAD like me, or wanting something relatively easy to use, emachineshop.com has an awesome free program for making sheet metal parts; its what I’ve been using for all of the stuff that I’ve designed so far. You can save the files as .stl or even print them out at scale (which is what I do.)

The one thing it doesn’t do is allow you to assemble multiple pieces for test fitting in 3D. You can, however, get side profiles of bent pieces though on the design screen and overlap them to check radiuses.

 

[Brian74]

Can’t wait to see your finished car.

I can’t either. I thought this would be easy, lol. Now suddenly I’m welding & fabricating stuff and diving down multiple rabbit holes and finding new enjoyment in learning new processes I never even knew about.

 

[Brian74]

Learned something super cool today.

I got all of the airbox template pieces laid out on my aluminum sheet. I was really struggling with what method to go about cutting the aluminum (5052). Cutting the diamond plate for the floor was a pain in the ass, so I was kinda dreading this. All my research found lots of recommendations for jigsaw, bandsaw, tips on using wax to help the blades, plasma torches, ect.

I bought a 12 tpi jigsaw blade. Went to cut the material. Tried the jigsaw. Slow as all hell.

I ended up getting out my brand new sawzall (Milwaukee Hackzall) with a nice new general purpose blade. The last time I used a sawzall was in 1996, doing building demo work.

This **** thing cut with such precision and at whatever speed I needed. Never got hot or grabbed the material. The ergonomics are awesome as well.

Had 4 of my 5 airbox pieces roughed out in under an hour.

 

[Goblin Graber]

I’ve looked at one of those a million times and thought why? I never use the regular sawzall I have. Now I need one. Lol

 

[Brian74]

I’ve looked at one of those a million times and thought why? I never use the regular sawzall I have. Now I need one. Lol

Yeah, I always thought of a sawzall as a rough cut, rip through something quickly tool. With the right blade, its amazing.

The advantage over a jigsaw is less surface area at the cutting foot, which is less friction that can create blade binding. As long as you are’t twisting the blade and supporting the material to eliminate any binding, It cuts like butter. This milwaukee also has a built in light that illuminates the blade cutting surface.

The ergonomics are also much better than a jigsaw.

Best $99 I’ve spent in a while.

 

[ctuinstra]

Being that the blade width (from teeth to rear of blade) is so much bigger than a jigsaw, it holds the cut straighter. Never could cut a straight line with a jigsaw, however they are better for curves. I got to the point after using one during the building of the house, I use it for a lot of things.

 

[Brian74]

Being that the blade width (from teeth to rear of blade) is so much bigger than a jigsaw, it holds the cut straighter. Never could cut a straight line with a jigsaw, however they are better for curves. I got to the point after using one during the building of the house, I use it for a lot of things.

You have a good point. With the jigsaw I always used a blade guide for straight cuts. Not required here, which is a huge time-saver. The bigger blade also keeps the heat down. I actually found this easier for cutting curves; you just have to back it up and form out a little pocket room first to eliminate blade twist. Inside radius stuff is really no easier than a jigsaw. You just straight line it the best you can to minimize the pocket... That’s easily fixed later with a die grinder.

 

[Goblin Graber]

I think your next toy needs to be a plasma cutter. I have a Jegs Cut-40 and it’ll slice 1/4” like butter and it was on sale for $200. Consumables are dirt cheap on Amazon. You really only need to spend big money if you’re cutting expanded metal or putting it in a CNC.

 

[Brian74]

I think your next toy needs to be a plasma cutter. I have a Jegs Cut-40 and it’ll slice 1/4” like butter and it was on sale for $200. Consumables are dirt cheap on Amazon. You really only need to spend big money if you’re cutting expanded metal or putting it in a CNC.

I need to sell the Yamaha Exciter boat first. Look at all of that fabrication space I’ll have afterwards lol.