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We thought for a while, drew our thoughts on the blackboard, and finally came up with a much simpler edition. Since the floor of the Bear Fiberglass body is so thick (almost 2″), and it is composed of two layers of fiberglass sandwiching a sort of foam material, it can be ‘squished’, for lack of a better word. Imagine standing on a pop can. Or you can stand on a soda can. Either way, unless you’re reading this blog from the comfort of the womb, you will probably collapse the walls of the can. Imagine now that you drop a steel tube inside, just shorter than the height of the can. The walls will collapse just a tiny bit, but then the strength of the tube will hold your weight. Probably.
Same idea here. We’re putting a tube spacer inside the floor so that when the bolts get tightened, they will cinch the body down but won’t be able to overtighten and crush the fiberglass.
This is one of the only pictures you’ll see of me working on the car… and it happens to be the easiest job other than cleaning.
Time to install the engine! Here, the transmission mount is swung (my computer didn’t put a red line under “swung”, so I guess it’s a word) out of the way, waiting for the transmission.
Great! Fits just like it did the first time!
If you’re on the HAMB, how about taking a minute to join the Welder Series group… you can suggest new products, share pictures of ways you’ve used our parts (standard or custom!), and generally talk chassis brackets!
Sometimes planning ahead can be a pain in the behind. A long time ago, before the rear end was painted, we decided to drill a hole for the breather. Great idea, we thought. It looked pretty slick, right between the four link brackets like it was supposed to be there. Fast forward to a few weeks ago (yes that makes sense if you think about it), and now there is a sway bar tab right over the breather hole. In order of priority, the sway bar tab wins. I had tacked it in place from below, and I didn’t notice/didn’t remember that the breather hole was there too.
I removed the tab, filled the hole, ground it smooth, and welded the sway bar tabs permanently. Then we had to choose a new location for the breather. As it turns out, it was a good thing we waited to install it; Garth Webb, a builder from next door, brought over this mini stainless breather for us to use! The holes in the sway bar tabs are 3/8″, so you can get an idea of how tiny this little guy is.
Thanks Garth!
What exactly is a hole, anyways? Is a hole something you can feel? According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary… no wait, nevermind. This is a blog about hot rod parts. Now that I’ve said that, at first glance these don’t look much like hot rod parts. I suppose it looks something like a “World Fake Currency Tour” or “Mini Metal Frisbee Tournament” collection. So by now you’re begging me to answer the only question you could have after an introduction like that: “Has this guy been tuning his car with the door closed?” No. The real question is “What are these things, and how will they make my life easier?”
So what the heck would you call these things? “Lunar Cycle Diorama?” “Substitutes for cucumbers on the eyes while sunbathing?” “Really heavy, boring buttons?”
We decided to call them unholes. They’re not holes. They’re unholes. If you have an idea of what they’re for, please comment with your suggestion. We thought they would be great for filling actual holes in your firewall. You could also use them to cap the end of a tube.
Available in 11 sizes: very small, 5/8″, 3/4″, 7/8″, 1″, 1-1/8″, 1-1/4″, 1-3/8″, 1-1/2″, 1-3/4″, 1-7/8″.
A bag of 10 of one size for only $5.
This is a good shot of our sway bar kit installed through the frame rails. In this case, it’s hooked up to a Jaguar IRS with some rod ends and threaded tubes. Thanks for sending the pictures, Bill! There is $10 in Welder Series Bucks on your account.
FYI, if we publish your pictures of our products, we’ll put $5 per picture on your account!
As the car goes back together, we’re finding little things that we’ve wanted to get done which have made their way to the bottom of the proverbial pile. We had talked a long time ago about making some sleeves so we could put 3/8″ button head bolts in the spreader bar holes instead of the 1/2″ bolts that came with the spreader bar. The thought was brought up again during reassembly, and instead of trying to machine some spacer/ washers so the 3/8″ bolt wouldn’t be sloppy in the 1/2″ hole, I made a pilgrimage to the lathe and removed some metal. Here’s the result – a smaller, thinner head. This is a before/after shot, with the before bolt in hole on the right.
There’s sad news over on the HAMB… a young boy that the members had “adopted” has passed away due to a desease called chordoma. While I didn’t know him personally, I certainly felt his presence on the HAMB.
I can’t imagine the loss to his family.
RIP HAMBANDY
Well, you can now show your support for Welder Series by becoming an official fan! I don’t think I’ll have T-shirts made or anything, but it’s still fun. Click on the logo above for access.
I need to share my elation over a few posts on the H.A.M.B regarding our products and business ethics. If you’re not on the HAMB, you should know that it’s one of the biggest knowledge bases on the internet for hot rods, “traditional” styled rods, and customs. There are more than a few members building extremely high quality, well documented cars. I highly recommend you check it out.
Why I’m Happy #1
Why I’m Happy #2
Why I’m Happy #3
Why I’m Happy #4
Or, you can just do a search on the HAMB for “welder series”, like this.
I’ve gone ahead and added t shirts in all sorts of sizes in our web store. While you’re there, you can check out our chassis parts too!
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