LocostUSA.com

This can do a lot to help you keep warm too.

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Marcus Barrow - Car9 an open design community supported sports car for home builders!
SketchUp collection for LocostUSA: "Dream it, Build it, Drive it!"
Car9 Roadster information - models, drawings, resources etc.

If it weren't for my garage doors, I'd hang a few more deeper in there. I've contemplated buying two more to hang on the walls. They do a pretty good job for a $45 total investment.

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Tucker

The new LED shop lights put out more light and a better quality of light PLUS they aren't affected by the cold and come on bright right from the beginning.

Prices aren't bad either. Costco or Sams has some on sale right now.

They've also got a great portable LED work light for about $30, but none of that helps you with your heat problem.

I hate the cold so I understand your reticence to even getting out there. Your skin hurts, your ears feel like they are going to fall off, even minor hits hurts WAY BAD, your fingernails get brittle and your pecker can fall off in the cold.

None of those things are things I willingly want to encounter.

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mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

I don't want to wait anymore. I've decided to brave the cold, regardless of the temperature outside, and start working. It hasn't been all that bad, just slow. It took 4 hours to get this much done, although some of that was because I was triple-checking everything. The good news is that these joints are looking better than any project I've done before now. I don't want to stop yet, but I'm running low on metal.

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My PRIMARY build log: http://www.midlana.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=678
For the best detail and discussion, see this log!

My LocostUSA build log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17917
A good snapshot of my progress. The LITE edition!

Looking good! Once we got past the initial tacking stage, we covered our build table with "satin coat" sheet metal. After that we could weld on it all we liked, and never worried about setting fire to the table. We also drilled 1" holes in it, in several places, so we could put clamps in from underneath to clamp the frame down tight (that square tube REALLY distorts when you put a spot of weld to it!). Despite the fact that our frames were welded up a couple of years ago, the table is still in daily use. Weld spatter doesn't stick to it, you only need to attach your ground to the table rather than the work piece, and nothing stains or marks it.

And, by the way, congratulations on doing a Zetec build - it's nice to see another one starting up!!

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Scratch building, at continental-drift speed, a custom McSoreley-design framed, dual-Weber 45DCOE carburated, Zetec-engined, ridiculously fast money pit.

http://zetec7.webs.com/

Another 3 hours, and I've started welding the frame. Distortion from tacking wasn't that bad, but I can tell that welding is going to cause some issues. I like the idea of drilling 1" holes for clamps. That will work very well. I've also discovered the capabilities of my welder within its duty cycle, and it isn't much. This thing needs a lot of cool down time. I might need to make some modifications, like adding a fan.

_________________
My PRIMARY build log: http://www.midlana.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=678
For the best detail and discussion, see this log!

My LocostUSA build log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17917
A good snapshot of my progress. The LITE edition!

I discovered the same thing about my old 110V Italian welder - wildly exceeding its design parameters led to creating some...issues. That is, while welding up part of my roll bar (a fairly substantial hunk of steel), the current cut out while the wire kept madly feeding, just for a second or two. Then, the current came back on, suddenly turning the brand new bird's nest of wire into molten ultra-heavy-duty steel wool.

The resulting mess then dropped off onto the floor, where it broke into lots of red-hot pieces, going everywhere, and starting several small fires. One of the blobs fell onto my (charged) compressor hose, melting completely through it, the end of the hose whipping all over the shop, turning the new fires it encountered into forges.

All the while, I'm standing there with the MIG gun in one hand, a glowing roll bar in the other, and singularly unable to decide what to do next.

I decided it was time to step up to a new welder. My wife agreed (she had watched my antics through the shop window, as I danced around, putting out fires, and avoiding the whipping end of the hose). I bought a Miller 190 Millermatic, and I ain't NEVER goin' back!! It's made in the USA, wasn't actually expensive, it's a joy to use, has automatic settings, and a duty cycle I'll never challenge. It also uses a plug n' play spool gun for aluminum, and will have readily available parts & consumables, well, forever.

_________________
Scratch building, at continental-drift speed, a custom McSoreley-design framed, dual-Weber 45DCOE carburated, Zetec-engined, ridiculously fast money pit.

http://zetec7.webs.com/

Get some cheap white interior paint and paint the walls and ceiling white. If you can't paint all of it, do as much as you can get to.

If you don't have a ceiling, pick up some sheets of 4x8 styrofoam and some of the plastic "rosette" washers used to hold up mobile home ceilings and fasten them under the ceiling joists. Again, if you can't cover it all, do as much as you can. It won't insulate anything if there are large air gaps, but it's a dandy reflective surface for lighting.

Weatherstripping around the doors will help even without insulation. And *any* insulation is better than none; if you can only buy a little every payday, do that. And remember it'll help in the summer too.

It's kinda cold this time of year, Might want to put that sock back on

When you tack the tubes, put the tacks on the corners of the tubes. Then when you weld the sides you can end on the tacks and it will help with the cratering at the end of the weld.

If the frame is mostly tacked together including some diagonals it will be quite strong and that will help it hold shape while you finish weld it.

_________________
Marcus Barrow - Car9 an open design community supported sports car for home builders!
SketchUp collection for LocostUSA: "Dream it, Build it, Drive it!"
Car9 Roadster information - models, drawings, resources etc.

This is huge. Your welds come out so much better. Wish I'd learned this earlier in my build.

When we first started on our frames, my buddy & I ran a quick test, having heard horror stories about warpage in square tube. We put a foot long length of 1" square tube on the table, and made a single, quick tack at one end of it. The piece quickly resembled a square banana, warping at least a full 1" over its length. Another similar tack, at the other end & diagonally opposed corner, resulted in the piece coming back to straight again. It was startling to watch!

It was at that point that we decided to securely clamp everything down to the table before making any sparks. It worked perfectly - diagonal measurements of our completed frames were within about 1 mm of absolutely perfect - better than most production vehicles. It certainly helps later in the build - measurements of subsequent parts will be identical from one side to the other, for example - no need to measure both sides when making multiple parts.

_________________
Scratch building, at continental-drift speed, a custom McSoreley-design framed, dual-Weber 45DCOE carburated, Zetec-engined, ridiculously fast money pit.

http://zetec7.webs.com/

@Zetec. I have been wondering what the best strategy was going to be in order to minimize warpage. I'll use your findings eveeywhere.

_________________
My PRIMARY build log: http://www.midlana.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=678
For the best detail and discussion, see this log!

My LocostUSA build log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17917
A good snapshot of my progress. The LITE edition!

Sure, LEDs are wonderful, except they're all blue and give me a headache after a while.

They aren't all blue, but they are less yellow which is much better on the eyes for seeing details and long term is easier on the eyes.

Those yellowish soft white bulbs are the worst for clarity. If not LEDs then get your bulbs in the Bright white which is about 3300-3700 K. It is much better for you.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.