BUILD THREAD Project Olds Cool (Recognition!!)

[olds307 and 403]

Very nice work Donovan. When those collector gaskets blow out and they will. Remember aluminum gaskets and coat them with Permatex Optimum Grey RTV. I was glad my 70S came with a dual hump crossmember. Of course it will be another seamless looking part you can add paint to. See, he is slowly getting the whole underneath painted as well😉.

 

[Texas82GP]

I wish I had taken a picture of the hacked for exhaust crossmember that was in my car. You could lightly pull on the transmission tailhousing and the transmission would bounce as the crossmember flexed. It's fun to watch you do it the right way Donovan.

 

[Northernregal]

How did I get 15 pages behind on this. Very good progress, can't wait to stop by and see it.

 

[Injectedcutty]

How did I get 15 pages behind on this. Very good progress, can't wait to stop by and see it.

How....easy....you've been running around chasing thicc senorita's!

 

[Tony1968]

How did I get 15 pages behind on this. Very good progress, can't wait to stop by and see it.

Haven't been getting emails from here.... uggg

 

[Northernregal]

How....easy....you've been running around chasing thicc senorita's!

touché sir.

And technically Chicas, as the locals say.

 

[clean8485]

I like it!

 

[Rktpwrd]

That’s a real clever idea for the notch, Donovan, looks like it’ll do the trick nicely. As usual, your attention to detail, even below the car, is amazing. Will be stowing away this idea for future use on my car, it needs it. 👍

Thanks Mike, appreciate the compliments. By all means, I certainly don’t have a patent on the idea, so borrow away!

Reminded me of "Office Space" Damn it feels good to be a gangsta...

(Explicit language)

Great movie, one of my favourite comedies. One of the few things Mike Judge did that I ever really liked.

Very nice work Donovan. When those collector gaskets blow out and they will. Remember aluminum gaskets and coat them with Permatex Optimum Grey RTV. I was glad my 70S came with a dual hump crossmember. Of course it will be another seamless looking part you can add paint to. See, he is slowly getting the whole underneath painted as well😉.

Christian, it sounds to me like you’ve just had a bad experience with this style of header flange, possibly warped from over tightening? I have the same style of flange on my BBO’s Hooker Super Comp headers, and never once had a problem with them leaking in the 10 years it was on the road in that configuration. Granted, they’re substantially thicker flanges than what’s on these cheapie Flowtech headers, but still. They do work well when assembled properly. Hopefully these will seal well too.

And thank you for the kind words.

I wish I had taken a picture of the hacked for exhaust crossmember that was in my car. You could lightly pull on the transmission tailhousing and the transmission would bounce as the crossmember flexed. It's fun to watch you do it the right way Donovan.

Thanks Jared. The “C” channel I’m using is definitely a stout piece, more than what’s required really. But there was nothing available in a 6” span that was any thinner material, so it is what it became. I would say it probably only weighs marginally more than the chunk I cut out if you can believe it.

And I don’t know if it’s necessarily the “right” way, it’s just the way I thought would work best. I originally considered using a section of 6 or 8” thin wall round tubing, but could find nothing readily available locally. In hindsight, I think I like this better anyways.

How did I get 15 pages behind on this. Very good progress, can't wait to stop by and see it.

Appreciate it buddy. It’s been a minute for sure. Gimme a shout when you’re back in country and out of quarantine. We’ll have a brew or 3 and tell some racing lies. I mean stories.
😉

I like it!

Thanks Jeff!

 

[Rktpwrd]

Another excellent night in the shop. Good thing too, because it’s too friggin cold outside to do anything else. It hit -32 C here last night (-26 F), with wind chills today making it feel like the mid -40’s. (-49 F)

THAT’S COLD.

Anyways, tonight after dinner I got right down to welding and grinding feverishly, and before I knew it I was done. I love welding on heavy gauge material, way easier than welding sheetmetal. Laid down a couple of decent beads, maybe not Instagram worthy, but still not bad IMO for a MiG and a guy that hasn’t picked up a welder in at least two years.

I didn’t stop to take pictures in the heat of the moment (pardon the pun), so all you get is finished ones.

I gotta tell you guys, if you ever have any heavy fabrication to do, pick yourselves up a Walter brand flap disc. I use this one on my 4 1/2” DeWalt angle grinder, and it makes very short work of anything you want it to do:

It knocks down excess material and welds with ease, and if you have a light enough touch, it’ll leave a perfect finished surface. No skipping around like grinding stones, no backing nuts and wrenches to mess around with (they simply spin on), and they last a very, VERY long time. This one was already used before tonight and it still looks like I’ve barely used it.

Are you listening Motorheadmike?? It’ll make even YOUR welds look good!
😆😆

Back to the crossmember, I even had enough time left at the end of the night to get some paint on it.

Done deal:

Tomorrow we reinstall it in the car, and test if the driver’s side pipe is gonna clear.

D.

 

[old80cs]

That came out great, really nice work! 👍

I can’t even imagine that kind of cold! 🥶