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 Post subject: Voudou + Miata
PostPosted: January 26, 2018, 2:37 am 
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Joined: December 6, 2017, 2:20 pm
Posts: 125
Location: San Jose, California
Hi Guys,

It was suggested I start a build diary, so here I am. A bit of a background, I have an engineering degree in software and I have 0 experience in this kind of work. I had a picture of a Caterham on my background ever since highschool, so luckily I have the resources to build one of my own. I have purchased welding equipment(Migmax 215) and some safety equipment(Miller Digital Elite). I have been doing test welds, and will be doing them for a week or two till I feel my welding skills have become sufficient. I plan to do my project in my garage (115V). My main goal is to follow the Voudu plans and find a decent donor car in reasonable condition. I feel this is the less fuss way of building one of my own.

So currently I've found that the welder and my 115v has been more than powerful enough for the frame. I have even burned through one of my test 1 x 1 16 gauage pipes! Technique wise, I feel I should relax more and let the pool build up before sweeping across the welds. Leaving a small gap seems to also help the penetration. But I am not sure if this is good for strength. I have attached some photos. One was a test, second, is my cleanest weld, and my third was a destruction test. I will be practiciing while I get my build table up. Hopefully my next update will show my build table.

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 Post subject: Re: Voudou + Miata
PostPosted: January 26, 2018, 1:19 pm 
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Joined: December 17, 2010, 1:24 pm
Posts: 1580
Location: Gainesville, Mo.
Congratulations on the start! Keep at it. Practice makes... well, you know! :lol:

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 Post subject: Re: Voudou + Miata
PostPosted: January 26, 2018, 5:30 pm 
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Joined: June 5, 2016, 7:03 am
Posts: 235
Location: ontario
[quote="thehiddenproject"]Hi Guys,

Welcome to the world of Sevens. You will have a lot of fun creating one of these machines. Could you tell us more about your project. Show us photos of what you want to build :cheers:


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 Post subject: Re: Voudou + Miata
PostPosted: January 26, 2018, 7:01 pm 
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Joined: March 3, 2006, 10:48 pm
Posts: 1590
Location: Shawnee, Ks
Welcome to the mad house. Put your location in your ID. Maybe some one near you can help you out. Russ

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 Post subject: Re: Voudou + Miata
PostPosted: January 26, 2018, 7:34 pm 
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Joined: August 8, 2014, 6:08 pm
Posts: 1238
Location: Green Bay, WI
Hey welcome, Mad house is right. I am not much of a Mig guy but first question is gas. What are you using? also you may want to use a little bit more of it. 75% Argon, 25% Co2 run about 20ccf. You also right about waiting and letting that puddle develop. Welding is defiantly not for ADD sufferers.

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My build : http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtop ... 35&t=17160

MGB/GT V8 5.0L. viewtopic.php?f=36&t=20782


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 Post subject: Re: Voudou + Miata
PostPosted: January 26, 2018, 8:38 pm 
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Joined: December 17, 2010, 1:24 pm
Posts: 1580
Location: Gainesville, Mo.
I will second what Russ (trialsmangasgas) said about your location. Actually, I meant to say it in my first comment, but that's just the senior citizen CRSS kicking in. With your (general) location, someone nearby may be able to offer some help, advice or whatever it takes to assist a fellow Locoster!

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 Post subject: Re: Voudou + Miata
PostPosted: January 27, 2018, 1:18 am 
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Joined: June 8, 2010, 8:02 pm
Posts: 621
Location: White Rock, BC, Canada
Welcome. Youtube has an incredible amount of good videos on MIG welding basics. Try to find some that show how to set up your machine, and look for advice from fellow owners of the same machine. It really helps to know your settings are in the ballpark before practicing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tdTa7WZ98E

This one is good.

Cheers.

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 Post subject: Re: Voudou + Miata
PostPosted: January 28, 2018, 11:48 pm 
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Joined: December 6, 2017, 2:20 pm
Posts: 125
Location: San Jose, California
I have been using just that. The guy at the welding shop advised that for beginners. So far, I've gotten really confident.

Tundra 7 wrote:
Hey welcome, Mad house is right. I am not much of a Mig guy but first question is gas. What are you using? also you may want to use a little bit more of it. 75% Argon, 25% Co2 run about 20ccf. You also right about waiting and letting that puddle develop. Welding is defiantly not for ADD sufferers.


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 Post subject: Re: Voudou + Miata
PostPosted: January 29, 2018, 12:00 am 
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Joined: December 6, 2017, 2:20 pm
Posts: 125
Location: San Jose, California
So for an update. I will be updating my location from you guys advice. I been spending my week and time cleaning out my garage. The funny thing is, when I moved into my house, I had boxes of junk in the garage that needed to be sorted. So as I'm doing this project, I'm also cleaning up my house as a side affect. :D :D :D :D

I manage to clear out a space for my build table. I am using a 2x4 basics kit, where you can grab a bunch of 2x4s and 4x8 plywood pieces to build a strong table. The reason why I went with the kit was I wanted a nice work table after this build, so its an investment. Plus it has shelves under the table. That is where I plan to store my steel as I go along with my build. So for my next tasks, it would be to level my table ( so far its around 1 degree off in some corner) and see if I can clear more room.

I order some cool toys to help the build. Nothing expensive but a digitial protractor, digital angle finder and a 3M respirator! I do have some manual tools, but I figure I can be more accurate with these kinds of tools. But most importantly, I need to order my steel and print out the Vodou plans and start building!

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 Post subject: Re: Voudou + Miata
PostPosted: January 29, 2018, 12:14 am 
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Joined: December 17, 2010, 1:24 pm
Posts: 1580
Location: Gainesville, Mo.
Things appear to be shaping up nicely! :cheers:

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 Post subject: Re: Voudou + Miata
PostPosted: March 5, 2018, 4:52 am 
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Joined: December 6, 2017, 2:20 pm
Posts: 125
Location: San Jose, California
Hi Guys,

Sorry for the late update. I been busy with Vegas and archery~~~

I been cutting and clamping the parts down. It's going really slow since I been triple checking everything.So far, everything is within 1MM, so I'm pretty happy. Once I finish clamping these down firmly, i will be tack welding the sides of this frame only.

The trickiest part so far I ran into was with the 74' cut. But this was okay since what I did was create a jig for my miter saw. Im figuring out the quickest way to tell if its sized up correct is to take the diagonal measurements.

Heres a pic of my progress.


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 Post subject: Re: Voudou + Miata
PostPosted: March 12, 2018, 4:57 am 
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Joined: December 6, 2017, 2:20 pm
Posts: 125
Location: San Jose, California
Well now I tack welded the whole bottom frame. I double and triple checked. A thing I found so far that the front frame doesn't sit flush! I am not sure if this is correct yet, but I am now focused on making my jig.


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 Post subject: Re: Voudou + Miata
PostPosted: March 12, 2018, 7:58 am 
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Joined: August 8, 2014, 6:08 pm
Posts: 1238
Location: Green Bay, WI
Nice. Advice if I may. Don’t loose sleep over the +/-2mm. Your suspension has adjustment for this reason. Unless your on a metal frame table you’ll end up with more MM’s off than you think you want. Or you’ll just get lucky. Don’t sweat it too much. Looks good so far

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Steve

My build : http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtop ... 35&t=17160

MGB/GT V8 5.0L. viewtopic.php?f=36&t=20782


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 Post subject: Re: Voudou + Miata
PostPosted: March 14, 2018, 10:55 am 
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Joined: August 12, 2011, 1:46 pm
Posts: 85
Get yourself plenty of ratchet straps . A couple of car jacks are also a good idea when getting diagonals equal .
Also, have fun building it .

Cheers!


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 Post subject: Re: Voudou + Miata
PostPosted: March 14, 2018, 7:31 pm 
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Joined: December 6, 2017, 2:20 pm
Posts: 125
Location: San Jose, California
Tundra 7 wrote:
Nice. Advice if I may. Don’t loose sleep over the +/-2mm. Your suspension has adjustment for this reason. Unless your on a metal frame table you’ll end up with more MM’s off than you think you want. Or you’ll just get lucky. Don’t sweat it too much. Looks good so far



Thanks Tundra. But I kind of enjoy it. I'm taking my time to build it. :)


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