Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, I watched the video. Do you think there will be 'nough documentation on Big Blue?

And, here's a couple of shots of the prototype stay. Had a piece of that aluminum laying around that was JUST long enough so thought I'd see how it would work.

Needs to be longer & obviously needs rounded corners. But it looks like it'll work for the dip stick, although the vice grips may fall off from time to time.

So, what changes are needed? I'm headed out to a drive-by graduation celebration but will be back in a bit. So hit me with those thoughts.

I'm thinking I'll mock up a coil mount and see how/if that will interface with the stay. Then if I can figure out how to make them work together I'll start making them.

After the graduation drive-by I checked to see how a piece of that aluminum channel would work as a coil mount. As it turns out, not well at all.

The piece in the pic is just the right size for the coil, but is about 3" shy of getting to the stay.

So, on to the factory coil mount. Turns out I have one with a stud for mounting the coil twisted off and the "toe" that bolts to the exhaust torn out. Perfect for experimentation.

And with a little cutting, a little welding, and a little grinding I now have a slightly smaller coil mount. This one measures 3 3/8" left/right, which is slightly over half of its original 6", and allows the coil to fit nicely. I have a bit more flap-wheeling to do, and then I'll drill it for the coil and weld nuts on the bottom. At that point I'll mount it on the truck and see where to cut, bend, grind, and drill on the leg so it can attach to the stay.

Once that's done I can finalize the stay's plan and make the final one. Then it is time to blast the stay, the DS-II coil mount, and the EEC coil mount and powder coat them.

[ArdWrknTrk]

After the graduation drive-by I checked to see how a piece of that aluminum channel would work as a coil mount. As it turns out, not well at all.

The piece in the pic is just the right size for the coil, but is about 3" shy of getting to the stay.

So, on to the factory coil mount. Turns out I have one with a stud for mounting the coil twisted off and the "toe" that bolts to the exhaust torn out. Perfect for experimentation.

And with a little cutting, a little welding, and a little grinding I now have a slightly smaller coil mount. This one measures 3 3/8" left/right, which is slightly over half of its original 6", and allows the coil to fit nicely. I have a bit more flap-wheeling to do, and then I'll drill it for the coil and weld nuts on the bottom. At that point I'll mount it on the truck and see where to cut, bend, grind, and drill on the leg so it can attach to the stay.

Once that's done I can finalize the stay's plan and make the final one. Then it is time to blast the stay, the DS-II coil mount, and the EEC coil mount and powder coat them.

Flap wheels are like taking a blow torch to a stick of butter!

What is a 'drive by graduation'?

Do you take pot shots at them while they're standing on the corner in academic regalia?

[grumpin]

Flap wheels are like taking a blow torch to a stick of butter!

What is a 'drive by graduation'?

Do you take pot shots at them while they're standing on the corner in academic regalia?

We did a drive by birthday yesterday.

People meet up in their cars and drive by and honk and yell Happy Birthday or Happy Graduation or whatever.

It’s a Coronavirus thing I reckon!

[salans7]

We did a drive by birthday yesterday.

People meet up in their cars and drive by and honk and yell Happy Birthday or Happy Graduation or whatever.

It’s a Coronavirus thing I reckon!

I remember when the term "drive by" was gang related and a bad thing.

[Gary Lewis]

Flap wheels are like taking a blow torch to a stick of butter!

What is a 'drive by graduation'?

Do you take pot shots at them while they're standing on the corner in academic regalia?

In this case the graduate was outside in cap & gown all the friends drove by in their cars, honked horns, left cards or gifts, etc. But I did see on TV where some schools are doing the actual graduation such that the family pulls up in a car, their graduate walks up to the dean/principal/head master and is handed the diploma. Must be a nightmare getting the graduates all lined up in the same order the cars are in.

Anyway, my flap wheel doesn't cut quite like that. But it is pretty effective. I didn't get quite enough gap in some places so the weld didn't penetrate completely there, but it did most places. And I'll weld it all from the back as well.

So I'm not afraid of grinding the weld down to the original metal. There's still going to be lots of meat in the weld.

[85lebaront2]

I remember when the term "drive by" was gang related and a bad thing.

When we bought our 1990 Town Car, I told a friend that in addition to a trunk that would "sleep" 3, the opera windows could be ordered to retract back into the quarter area for drive by shootings.

[salans7]

When we bought our 1990 Town Car, I told a friend that in addition to a trunk that would "sleep" 3, the opera windows could be ordered to retract back into the quarter area for drive by shootings.

If it weren't for Cash for Clunkers, you would probably see more of those in the hood.

Sorry for the thread jack Gary.

[Gary Lewis]

If it weren't for Cash for Clunkers, you would probably see more of those in the hood.

Sorry for the thread jack Gary.

No prob, Shaun.

Got a bit done today, in addition to church, take-out lunch from our local Italian restaurant, and Mother's day calls.

But I did get out to the shop for about 3 hours and got the coil bracket welding done and cleaned up. Then I did some work on the stay and bracket interface.

In this pic I've put arrows on three spots where I want to explain my plans.

• Dip Stick Tab: I plan to bend the dip stick tab roughly where the yellow arrow is and put it down over a stud that I'll Loctite into the top of the stay. That's because it will be difficult to get a bolt or nut in between the dip stick itself and the tab if it isn't bent. Plus, by bending it the tab will be stiffer and hold the stick more securely.

• Width Of Stay: I want to make the stay narrower, which will reduce the space where the red arrow is. But I want to have enough space in there for the head of a bolt which will be used as a stud for the coil bracket's attachment. I'm thinking a bolt head will make things more secure, even though I plan to use red Loctite on the threads.

• 45 The Corner: I hope to put a 45 degree bevel on the corner of the stay where the orange arrow is. That will give more clearance on the leg, which is hitting the stay in the pic. And the leg will be bent roughly where the orange arrow is pointing so it will lay up against the stay.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

[ArdWrknTrk]

No prob, Shaun.

Got a bit done today, in addition to church, take-out lunch from our local Italian restaurant, and Mother's day calls.

But I did get out to the shop for about 3 hours and got the coil bracket welding done and cleaned up. Then I did some work on the stay and bracket interface.

In this pic I've put arrows on three spots where I want to explain my plans.

• Dip Stick Tab: I plan to bend the dip stick tab roughly where the yellow arrow is and put it down over a stud that I'll Loctite into the top of the stay. That's because it will be difficult to get a bolt or nut in between the dip stick itself and the tab if it isn't bent. Plus, by bending it the tab will be stiffer and hold the stick more securely.

• Width Of Stay: I want to make the stay narrower, which will reduce the space where the red arrow is. But I want to have enough space in there for the head of a bolt which will be used as a stud for the coil bracket's attachment. I'm thinking a bolt head will make things more secure, even though I plan to use red Loctite on the threads.

• 45 The Corner: I hope to put a 45 degree bevel on the corner of the stay where the orange arrow is. That will give more clearance on the leg, which is hitting the stay in the pic. And the leg will be bent roughly where the orange arrow is pointing so it will lay up against the stay.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

I'd leave the meat and Loctite in a stud.

A bolt is doing nothing for you, and you have to counterbore* (even for sockethead)

If you 45 or radius that outside corner you're already eating into any safety margins you might have.

And, yes I think it'd look better with a soft corner.

Have you ever used carbide router bits in a mill on aluminum?

You need lubricant and high rpms because of the fewer cutting edges and wide open gullets but a can of WD-40 isn't too expensive for what you can do with it.

[Gary Lewis]

I'd leave the meat and Loctite in a stud.

A bolt is doing nothing for you, and you have to counterbore* (even for sockethead)

If you 45 or radius that outside corner you're already eating into any safety margins you might have.

And, yes I think it'd look better with a soft corner.

Have you ever used carbide router bits in a mill on aluminum?

You need lubricant and high rpms because of the fewer cutting edges and wide open gullets but a can of WD-40 isn't too expensive for what you can do with it.

I wasn't talking about taking much off with the 45. Just enough to allow the coil bracket leg to neatly miss - after I trim the width a bit. So there's actually going to be a lot of meat in the corner.

In fact, the aluminum will be turned around. In the pic below the flange of the channel has been milled (spot-faced) to be flat where the bolt passes through. That was necessary so the piece was parallel.

But when I do this for the final piece I'll turn it so the flat part of the center of the channel will be what goes on top of the valve cover. That way I won't have to spot-face it and there won't be a sharp transition which focuses the loads in one spot. But there will still be a lot of meat in the corner to which a stud can easily be affixed.

However, I've not used a router bit on aluminum. I can see how it would work thought. Instead, what I was hoping to do was to put the piece on the angle table at a 45 and just nip off the sharp corner. Then use a file and round it. Or, if I find the angle table trick to work well I may take a pass at 23 and 68 degrees and then round that. But, in reality, I'd probably be better off to take the flap wheel to it.