RBX

Nice jig to cut the bushings, wish I had thought of that when I hacked a couple bushings up for my FROR style trans mount.

irab88

iTrader: (4)

Thanks guys. It's not bad for a scrap 2x4, couple of washers, and razor blade. Though, wear gloves. I would have a 6-inch gash on my hand if not for my leather gloves. Yeesh. But all good.

I found some blades for the oscillating tool that should be able to handle the rusted bolts on the old body mounts. I killed 2 blades already, time to up my game.

And I had a longer than planned overtime at work yesterday. Annoying, but it'll let me afford some gas for the welder. Smooth welds, here we come!

irab88

iTrader: (4)

Knocked the passenger side body mounts out today. Captive nuts are a pain, but not as much as oscillating tool blades through bolts. I killed about $40 of blades getting this side off.



Rear out.





The riser tube hits the inside of the mount... what ever am I to do?



mmm... turn it around! Now it fits nicely.





Old vs new. Larger hardware, grade 8. And I'll be using shorter bolts. I got the long ones just in case.







A bit of a bend in the old hardware.



Front off.



Almost all flat, a little rise in the rear inside.







Fits up just fine.



So I need to trim a bit. Once I cut this, I'll trace the outline onto the other side.

RBX

Nice work

irab88

iTrader: (4)

Thanks! I had some good motivation this weekend. My wife's Corolla finally has tags and a title now. Only took 293 days . My car should have new tags a lot quicker than that.

Today I trimmed and test-fit. Everything went well, the trimming fits the front spacers nicely.













And once I knew the mount will fit, I marked and cut out the driver's side.



Don't know what I'll do next weekend. This week I'll see about picking up some welding gas.

RBX

Get after it Ian!
if you don’t have one get a knotted wire wheel to clean the metal. Clean as best you can, can’t stress it enough, especially the mill scale on the new metal. Or dip it in muriatic acid in a well ventilated area.

de6w6it

body mounts are looking great

irab88

iTrader: (4)

Thanks guys. I kept having doubts about the thickness of metal, but seeing them lined up with the factory perches is good. They are much thicker and fully boxed.

Also, I just noticed the cracking in the bigger body lift as well, same as the front two.



I still need to order some last little parts (washers for between the mount and frame), but it's all going well. I spent the rest of yesterday evening pulling a nail out of my car's tire, installing my wife's plates, and blowing all the metal-laden snot out of my nose. mmm...

irab88

iTrader: (4)

Got gas today.

irab88

iTrader: (4)

Not much done today. I put new tags on the new car, cleaned the garage a little, and went out to the thrift store, now that I'm vaxxed-up. Got some jeans, a jacket, and dress clothes, along with a few things for the wife. I think that's the first time back in a thrift store in over a year...

Anyway, hooked up the gas and practiced some beads. After reading online, I think I'm gonna either switch to flux core, or tack it in and have someone with a 220v welder finish it off. The 140 is a nice machine, but it's limited.

Cart! Used to be an AV cart, picked up from a yard sale years ago. The tank (size 80) is too tall to fit, so that'll be another project sometime.



And my beads. Not terrible for not having welded in forever, but definitely needed the practice. I want to try a few things tomorrow, but I'll probably swap material out soon.

RBX

Looks like you need more heat or slow your wire speed. Also, clean the metal until it’s shiny, remove ALL mill scale will help. Best way is to dip the metal in muriatic acid for a few minutes.

irab88

iTrader: (4)

No muriatic acid here, so wire knot wheel and alcohol wipe got it pretty damned clean. The machine is up all the way, I played around with feedrate today:





Annotated:





When I turn down the speed, it starts "hiss......pop- hiss........pop- hiss......", and it forms globs at the tip. Already messed up one tip with low wire speed. And higher just builds up more. When it's welding nicely, it's more crackling than sizzling. Like I said earlier, I don't think this 140 is going to cut it for the structural welds. On the few test parts for the "washer" on top, it seems to be fine.

RBX

Does the welder have a chart on the inside of the door for the wire? You may be right about the limit of the welder.

irab88

iTrader: (4)

It does. It only goes up to 1/8" with 0.030 and Ar/CO₂, so I'm pretty sure I'm just out of range.

irab88

iTrader: (4)

Been busy these past few months, between hot temps, cicadas, and vacation.

Played with some toys...




Got a serger, promptly took it apart, fixed it, put it back together...






And finally sold the Celica. Now I can get a TIG, and maybe a new front bumper




But on to the (little bit of) progress this week. Broke out the welder and opened the doors to burn in the top washer/spacers made last time. I'm happy with how they turned out.








I got the last bit of mounting hardware, so we'll see how this all stacks up soon. I want to get the other side done so I can drive again!!

RBX

Looks nice.
Start collecting stainless scraps you can practice tigging on. Mild steel is a PITA to learn on plus ots of cleaning and prep to learn.

irab88

iTrader: (4)

Thanks!

I'll be sure to pick some up at the thrift store. Stainless is easy to find and cheap as pots/pans/kitchen utensils. Also, why are like, half of all TIG video tutorial guys left-handed? I've seen 2 now, and remember a third from a while ago...

RBX

I think I’ve mainly seen right handed, but honestly haven’t noticed. I hood the torch with my right but use my left foot for pedal action. The biggest challenge is being consistent.

irab88

iTrader: (4)

It followed me home...




And first time with the TIG, still need practice (and practice material). Not too bad, but lots of room to improve.






in order:

RBX

Very nice