January 19, 2008 - Time to weld the header together.
And learn how to TIG weld. Might as well pick something simple as a first project, right?
As I've mentioned before, the order of welding on this critter is going to be crucial. Luckily, the entire #4 runner can be welded together without causing problems for any others, which means I can use it to locate the collector. But since it was also the first runner I put together (without the help of a belt sander), the fitment of the tubes wasn't perfect. So I used the #3 runner to locate the collector, then reworked #4 to have a perfect fit. Naturally, this took a little time.
Then it was time to start working on my welding. It took surprisingly little time to come up to speed, although nobody's going to mistake my work for that of a professional. No matter, as long as it's airtight and strong I'll be happy.
Once the #4 runner was all welded up, I did a test fit of the header on the car. Whoops. The collector shifted, and my 1/4" of clearance to the block turned into about 1/4" of interference. That's not going to work. So the next step will be figuring out how to fix that. It'll involve at least one cut through the #4 runner along with a rotation, but the trick will be finding the magic place to do that without messing up the other three tubes. More fun to come, I'm sure.
In other news, Janel and I have signed up for the California Rally Series school in three weeks. We'll learn how to deal with the really tough part of rallying - the driver/codriver teamwork - and it'll help us get the necessary licenses for the race. Plus we get to spend a day in Las Vegas on the way!
tags: testing, other cars, skills |
THE DIARY