Gt-12

[gwaii]

this is the ignition module i was talking about earlier.labelled lucas ignition amplifier...made in u.k.

the back side,cover off.the black thing is the gm module.there is also a condenser,and a thermal shut off.

 

[COPPERHEAD85]

Nice job on the intake,are you going to polish it out?

 

[gwaii]

not sure how fancy i'll get with those.polishing looks good,but it's a hell of a lot of work,too.might just sand them with finer paper and leave them with a satin finish.of course,even if i don't do it right away,it could always be done at any later date too.

 

[gwaii]

figured while we're on the subject of the intake manifolds,i'd show how they came about.

this is the way the engine was when i got it.low profile,but not too attractive.
plus,i knew i wanted dual 4barrels.

after some contemplation,i realised if i cut the runners from the intakes i could turn them and rearrange them to bolt on like this.

after a bit more trimming and fitting,i set a carb spacer and carb on top to see how it looked...i liked it.

i knew there was going to be a lot of grinding and welding,and didn't want to do this on the engine,but still needed to make sure everything remained aligned,so i made a fitting jig.

it's just a 1/2'' aluminum plate precicely drilled and tapped to allow the runners to bolt up.there was also another to keep the carb plates lined up,but it has since been cut up to become material for other jobs.this one is still being used as there is still some work to do on the manifolds.

a view of the bottomside of the manifold shows how the runners were welded back together to form the bottom of the plenum.

so,after cutting off all the injector mounting bosses and filling the holes,this is how they sit now.note that the top of the plenum was made from a carb spacer-this saved a lot of time compared to machining them from plate.

 

[martin]

Bit more info on the welding please, what did you use and how long did it take? It was obviously not a five minute job. Will you have to remove the manifolds to remove the plugs?

 

[gwaii]

Bit more info on the welding please, what did you use and how long did it take? It was obviously not a five minute job. Will you have to remove the manifolds to remove the plugs?

'not a five minute job' is quite the understatement.i've got more hours into these things than i care to remember.that's why the idea of polishing is not too appealing at this point.
all welding was(is-i'm actually doing some welding on them right now-just came in to get a die grinder bit,figured i'd check the site)done with a tig,it allows material to be built up fairly quickly to fair the pieces into each other so that when ground it looks like it was cast in one piece.
the plugs can be accessed without removing the intakes,but the four around the distributer are a little bit tough to get at.

 

[gwaii]

got to mounting the battery and building the rear sub frame to attatch the rear of the body to.

got the engine back in too....here you can see the tube on the header i modified.it sits nicely around the spring now.

another little item that will need attention soon is this.the engine has two thermostats,one for the left bank,one for the right.the right side interferes with the front bar,and it looks dumb pointing outward like that too,so i figure i will cut the base parrellel to the motor and flip it over so it's angled toward the front,then turn the bolt on housing over so it points the outlet straight forward.this should clear everything.

this is the left side thermostat...it's a much better setup.

 

[gwaii]

after getting the battery in place,i wanted to fill up a bit more space back there.

so,a fuel tank is in order.here it is layed out-for those that think this hunk of aluminum looks familliar,it's the same one i was using at the start of this thread to lay out my tube bends on.i don't like to waste material,and it's just the right size to make the tank from.

when making things like this i prefer to use bends rather than welds as often as possible.it saves on welding,and results in a more professional finished product.i made this set of bending dies for the press to do this.they are simple,but effective.

 

[TheTopher]

Nice! *tips his glass*

 

[gwaii]

Nice! *tips his glass*

thanks!

heres the main tank parts after cutting them out and forming them.despite the fairly complicated shape of the tank,there are only four key parts.i'll still need to make baffles and fittings and such,but this is the shell.

here's how it'll sit.i'll need to wait a couple of days to weld it up-right now the shed is being taken up by a customer's truck(bodywork job)but at least i can see how things need to fit around it.

 

[MountainMike]

Call me crazy but it almost looks like this thing will have some cargo room, am I wrong in this guess?

Looking really nice Tom!

 

[gwaii]

Call me crazy but it almost looks like this thing will have some cargo room, am I wrong in this guess?

Looking really nice Tom!

enough for a suitcase or two.it didn't have much to begin with,and now it'll have a bit less-but yes,there will be some.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

If you have time, I'd be interested in details of your press brake... What you did, and what you wish you didn't Any thing you would do different. I have a 10.5' portable brake that I use for aluminum capping and can bend some short pieces of light gauge steel but I'd like something to bend tabs and such, up to 3/16", maybe 1/4". I have a P.A. 12 ton press and can fortify it if need be.
Thanks,

Richard

 

[gwaii]

If you have time, I'd be interested in details of your press brake... What you did, and what you wish you didn't Any thing you would do different. I have a 10.5' portable brake that I use for aluminum capping and can bend some short pieces of light gauge steel but I'd like something to bend tabs and such, up to 3/16", maybe 1/4". I have a P.A. 12 ton press and can fortify it if need be.
Thanks,

Richard

your brake sounds like a roofer's brake.handy,but like you said,a bit too light for most automotive stuff.
my press is a 20 ton,but i've bent 2 foot sections of 3/16 steel with no problem.i'm sure it'll bend as long a piece of 1/4'',but i've bent no longer than 12'' in that thickness so far.
most of what i do with it is from 12ga to 1/4'' aluminum,but the capacity far exceeds that.
i also have a 4 foot press brake i built that will bend 1/8'' steel or 3/16'' aluminum just fine.i used it for the back top bend on the fuel tank,as it is 34'' wide there-too much for the press,it's only 24'' wide.

i people are interested i could put a thread together on how to build these things-just need to know the best place to put it.

 

[MountainMike]

I'm sure this forum would work, it would be non-RBV tech