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95riosnake

The Chronicles of 95riosnake's OCD Machine

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@95riosnake, have you and the TIG welder been spending long nights together?!  It has to be so much fun welding that exhaust out. :lol:

 

Not quite yet, so far I took them to work but have been too swamped to work on them during the week and haven't felt the desire to go to work on the weekend lol. So for now they are just propped up next to my desk there, lol.

 

he did say he ran out of gas and wire recently.

Yea, that was for my MIG at home though. The TIG is at work. I have a fresh 10 lb spool of wire and a full tank of gas now though :2thumb:

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did I see in one of your pics that you use the smaller 3-4ft tall tanks?  I wasn't sure what I needed last year when I bought mine so I got a larger tank.  Just beem wondering how long it would last

 

I have a 40cf tank for my welder at home, mainly because it is just a lot easier to throw in my car to take it to get it filled, the big tanks are just a PITA to carry and load into a car, if I had a truck I'd probably have a big bottle. This 40 runs out a bit faster than I'd like so I'm gonna pick up a second one and just always keep a full spare on hand for whenever one tank runs out.

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So I left off with the jacking rail in place along the pinch weld, and still needed to strip the powder coat off the web braces. I picked up some Citristrip at the recommendation of @ttocs and brushed it on, then let it sit over night.

 

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Then the next day I got to work stripping them. The stripper didn't work as well as I'd hoped, but it did soften it enough to make it possible to scrape.

 

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Then followed that with a LOT of wire wheel grinder action. A few hours of pretty boring work, but in the end they were good to go.

 

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Shot them with a quick coat of primer then got started welding them in, finally. Made some good progress on the first brace, but quickly ran out of wire and gas at the same time...ugh.

 

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The welds were pretty decent though. Could be better but I always seem to have a hard time finding the sweet spot with this MM140 mig, our big mig at work welds perfect every time, but alas...there's no way to get my car into the building lol.

 

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So it sat that way for a few days until I could go pick up more wire and gas.

 

I thought you guys might get a kick out of the following. I'd previously been using several 2lb spools that came with the welder as a package, but decided I'd get a 10lb spool this time instead. Upon getting home, I found out that I somehow lost the adapter that came with the welder for the larger spools...so I had to get creative.

 

Cut down a caulking tube that fit inside the spool, then wrapped a couple layers of duct tape around it so it would fit snug. Then I took one of the empty spools and cut it down to fit inside the tube.

 

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So far so good...

 

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Then I needed something to hold the spool in place on the shaft so I grabbed a scrap piece of aluminum.

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Works like a charm! And much better than waiting for something to show up in the mail.

 

So now that I was back up and running with gas and wire, I could get back to business. One issue I ran into was these weren't designed specifically to fit my Spintech subframes, and to add to the complications I had to cheat the rear brace toward the front of the car quite a bit to clear where my side pipe passes under the subframe connector. Sounds simple enough, but I ended up having to section and bend almost every tube of the braces to change the angles so they would line up, then re-weld them, grind them smooth, etc. It ended up adding a solid couple extra hours in all but they fit perfect now.

 

Still in the process of welding them in here (blue line was to represent where my side pipe passes through the area so I could make sure to avoid it).

 

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Then all finished up and primed/painted.

 

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So that's where I'm at for now. Going to start the driver's side this coming weekend. I can't fully express with words how sick I am of crawling around under this car welding shit though...ugh. I really can't wait to finish the braces and exhaust and move back inside the to the interior/trunk.

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man that red crossmember looks so out of place under there lol  

 

subframes turned out great tho!!

 

The cross member is getting ditched once I'm done with the braces. I have a new Stifflers cross member waiting to go on, just figured leave the stock one on while I'm painting so I don't have to mask as much.

 

Looks great Dan!  Wanna come crawl under my car next winter?

 

Haha, sorry I'll have to pass ;) I really need to make sure a lift is in my future when we buy another house lol.

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Haha, sorry I'll have to pass ;) I really need to make sure a lift is in my future when we buy another house lol.

 

Well, dammit.  Rich and, God willing, Butch will be here.  I really hope to have the majority of the crawling around under the car done by then.  Thanks to your beautiful exhaust, I think I might be ditching the side exhaust idea lol.

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Uggg god bless ya  looks good... I couldn't wait to get done welding the fit system up under my car...I welded the jacking rail on my back and it sucked... so I jacked that baby to the moon and dropped a couple of 12" block under my jackstands just so I could actually sit under it and weld the rest of it up instead of lying down. Smartest thing I could have done as I wouldn't have done it if I had to lay down, just to many welds to be down there crawling around. Looks like you moved that rear section forward quit a bit 6-8" to clear the exhaust... nicely done , I was wondering how you were gonna attack that dilemma  when you said you bought the kit. I will say this about the team z stuff since I have everything they make for us, its top notch and nice fitment on everything even a nice powdercoat finish to boot. No doubt some of the best stuff out there right up there with MM.

For stripping powder I use soy gel believe it or not it pulls the powder right off with a rag.

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Pretty darn cool! Looks good! Would still love to see a red bottom lol but this will do. Must suck to mask off. Masking usually takes 2-4 times longer then painting in my experiences.

On going project, 94 cobra, r block, tfsr225, hp efi, vortech ys

Instagram @rolocut

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Well, dammit.  Rich and, God willing, Butch will be here.  I really hope to have the majority of the crawling around under the car done by then.  Thanks to your beautiful exhaust, I think I might be ditching the side exhaust idea lol.

 

Why is that? What's the new exhaust plan?

 

You will quite possibly have the most elaborate underside of any SN I've seen lol.  Great work Dan!

 

Haha thanks, it definitely is turning out that way lol. Sadly, it'll rarely be visible :(

 

Uggg god bless ya  looks good... I couldn't wait to get done welding the fit system up under my car...I welded the jacking rail on my back and it sucked... so I jacked that baby to the moon and dropped a couple of 12" block under my jackstands just so I could actually sit under it and weld the rest of it up instead of lying down. Smartest thing I could have done as I wouldn't have done it if I had to lay down, just to many welds to be down there crawling around. Looks like you moved that rear section forward quit a bit 6-8" to clear the exhaust... nicely done , I was wondering how you were gonna attack that dilemma  when you said you bought the kit. I will say this about the team z stuff since I have everything they make for us, its top notch and nice fitment on everything even a nice powdercoat finish to boot. No doubt some of the best stuff out there right up there with MM.

For stripping powder I use soy gel believe it or not it pulls the powder right off with a rag.

 

Thanks Rich, yea it's been pretty miserable welding under the car. I've taken quite a few bits of hot welding slag/sparks down the back of my neck doing it lol, but it is what it is, I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel that lets me get out from under the car ;)

 

The Team Z stuff is super nice. Their autocross K member is definitely on my to-do list, I've just had too much other crap to dump money on recently.

 

looking great dan.  got some nice headway with the underbody

 

Thanks Ryan!

 

Wow. I'm pretty sure your underbody is nicer than most of our exteriors...

It looks immaculate and bulletproof.

 

Haha I appreciate it! This will be the 3rd time I've painted the underbody, which is kind of ridiculous

 

^I have to agree. Awesome work man. Just awesome

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

Thank you sir!

 

Pretty darn cool! Looks good! Would still love to see a red bottom lol but this will do. Must suck to mask off. Masking usually takes 2-4 times longer then painting in my experiences.

On going project, 94 cobra, r block, tfsr225, hp efi, vortech ys

Instagram @Rolocut

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I haven't had to do much masking yet, but once I get the driver's side welded in and then move on to painting the middle driveshaft/tranny tunnel area I'll have quite a bit of masking to do on the stuff I don't want to be gray lol. I prefer the gray color, reminds me of the gray you see under/inside a lot of road racing cars and such, plus the gray stays looking pretty clean regarding dust and such. The red looks sick on yours though!

 

Looks great.  There is gonna be a ton jammed under there when you get it all done.  Congrats.

 

 

Stifflers web brace is on my list of underside projects. 

 

Yea there's going to be very little real estate left under the car once I'm finished. That's why I ended up putting the rearmost exhaust hangers where I did, because there was literally nowhere else to put them!

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Why is that? What's the new exhaust plan?

Well I plan to run dumps too... So I was naturally thinking of routing the exhaust as you have. Then there's the subframes to contend with... Wife basically told me to figure it out because that's the only thing she cared about. For ease, I was going to run tail pipes with cut out dumps, but gotta make the wife happy.

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Thanks Rich, yea it's been pretty miserable welding under the car. I've taken quite a few bits of hot welding slag/sparks down the back of my neck doing it lol, but it is what it is, I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel that lets me get out from under the car ;)

 

The Team Z stuff is super nice. Their autocross K member is definitely on my to-do list, I've just had too much other crap to dump money on recently.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Haha I feel ya on the hot slag ...Ive got a few holey shirts and a few burn scares from welding that crap in..

Yeah Im definetly happy with the k-member probably my favorite addition to the car this time around, just makes it so much cleaner in the bay.. I still have to drop in the additional k-member and spider bracing but wont be putting it on till I drop the motor back in. 

 So does this mean your finally going to shave the bay when you make the move on the k-member? 14yes-no.gif

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Haha I feel ya on the hot slag ...Ive got a few holey shirts and a few burn scares from welding that crap in..

Yeah Im definetly happy with the k-member probably my favorite addition to the car this time around, just makes it so much cleaner in the bay.. I still have to drop in the additional k-member and spider bracing but wont be putting it on till I drop the motor back in. 

 So does this mean your finally going to shave the bay when you make the move on the k-member? 14yes-no.gif

 

Yea the eventual plan is to shave the bay, I'd ideally like to wait until after I sell this house and move into something that has a big detached garage where I have more elbow room to work. So probably a year or two from now I would say. I'm shooting for wrapping up the current project list and driving the car for a while, I almost forget what it's like to drive something with power. I haven't driven the car since October 2012, and I've only driven it 600 miles since the blower/IRS :(

 

The engine bay smoothing will probably accompany a block/displacement change, more boost, big fuel system, etc.

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looks great, and you won't be disappointed in the fit system either. Just out of curiosity, in case i missed it, why didn't you just see if brian would send you a bare finished system?

I did ask about getting a bare steel kit when I talked to Brian on the phone and he said he didn't have any that were bare. Trust me I would have definitely rather gone that route, I never planned to leave them black but didn't think I'd have quite as much trouble stripping the powder coat as I did lol.

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Not that I haven't said it maybe a million times before on SVTP but your car is an absolutely work of art - and dare I say hands down my most favorite SN95 that I have ever seen. Your attention to detail is second to none and I envy your abilities. My dream car is your car!

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Not that I haven't said it maybe a million times before on SVTP but your car is an absolutely work of art - and dare I say hands down my most favorite SN95 that I have ever seen. Your attention to detail is second to none and I envy your abilities. My dream car is your car!

 

Thanks man! I don't think I ever noticed you were in Philly, not that far from me at all!

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looks mint all painted up to match the rest of the underside.  please let me know if you think it was worth the welding once you drive it.

 

 

@Steve-Oh is from Philly too

 

Will do! This car should feel super solid this time around. The SFC's made a huge difference, so I'm hoping this will tie them in even more. I'd really like to do a nice 6 point cage with low-slung door bars at some point and really make this car rock solid, but the time and money factor are holding that off for some other time, lol.

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I have heard a cage can help a lot with rigidity, i feel like that's one step that really moves the car away from a street car though so Idk if I'll ever do that.  The low slung door bars would be key though, I have seen too many people struggle to get in over that bar lol.

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I have heard a cage can help a lot with rigidity, i feel like that's one step that really moves the car away from a street car though so Idk if I'll ever do that.  The low slung door bars would be key though, I have seen too many people struggle to get in over that bar lol.

that's my thoughts exactly.  i highly doubt i'll ever put in a cage just because the sacrifices for fitment in my eyes that turns it into a track car.

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