What is the rule of thumb for baffles?
CK5
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I assume that you were installing them on a square, which doesn't have the molded point in the upper front corner.
I would bet that a little time in the AZ heat will help these.
@r3dd0g I would guess that you already know about leaving a small "bleed" hole at the joint to let the air escape easier.
That you need them?
I'm not sure what you're talking about with the bleed hole. Are you saying it needs a hole in the "tube" that forms the seal around the door? I don't remember if I glued my seals together or not, but I've had them installed for at least one of those AZ summers you're talking about already.
When I adjusted the latches the doors are only about 1/4" or less from flush now. Overall it doesn't look bad.
I finished welding up the bottom of the tank, now I'm working on the baffles.
No for layout and how to properly baffle the tank for slosh.
This is what I'm talking about. I'm not sure what you mean by an upper mold point. Unfortunately it looks like GM discontinued the part since the last time I looked a few years back.
This is the upper corner of my '72. They have a molded corner in the weatherstrip. @r3dd0g what I am referring to is leaving/making a small slit like an inverted V at the bottom of the joint in order to let the air escape from inside of the weatherstrip. I have noticed that some late model vehicles have multiple small holes in them, pointing down on the bottom section to let air escape.
If you glued the ends together, maybe you can use a small drill bit to put a couple of holes in the bottom edge?
I checked, the ends are open not glued.
Ah I forgot that Gen had a sharp corner there. The square body is curved just like all the trucks that have come after it. Forget I posted, carry on
Yesterday I finished welding the bottom 5 panels and started working on the baffles. I've got everything cut out, but still need to finish punching holes and prepping everything for assembly.
My welds aren't the prettiest, but I think they're good. I need to work on my stop/starts for sure.
My welds aren't the prettiest, but I think they're good. I need to work on my stop/starts for sure.
As long as they hold fuel in, they look fine.
Friday night drags was crazy busy last night, I only got 2 runs in but the Shop Truck is officially a 12 second truck now!
[email protected] on the first run.
It was bouncing off the rev limiter for the last couple hundred feet with the smaller drag radials though. On the second run I tried to let off the throttle enough to get it to shift at the top end of the track and wasted the run. [email protected].
That's likely to be the last trip down the strip until I make another change. I'm hoping both the engine and trans will ship next week, so change is coming.
Here's the first run:
The second one isn't as fast, but my friend caught some unsolicited commentary that makes it awesome.
The reason for the red light on the next group is that one of the cars that ran before us got lost and drove back out onto the track in front of me, so we were both stopped on the shutdown waiting for him to gtf off the track.
[email protected] on the first run.
It was bouncing off the rev limiter for the last couple hundred feet with the smaller drag radials though. On the second run I tried to let off the throttle enough to get it to shift at the top end of the track and wasted the run. [email protected].
That's likely to be the last trip down the strip until I make another change. I'm hoping both the engine and trans will ship next week, so change is coming.
Here's the first run:
The second one isn't as fast, but my friend caught some unsolicited commentary that makes it awesome.
The reason for the red light on the next group is that one of the cars that ran before us got lost and drove back out onto the track in front of me, so we were both stopped on the shutdown waiting for him to gtf off the track.
I have an issue with the start stops also. Because my hands shake so bad, I have to support both and slide them on something, and that can create more issues sometimes. I have found using a hot wheels car to move my torch hand works great. Can not always do that though.
I got a chance to get some work done on the fuel cell. Last week I tried to weld the baffles in one by one. I quickly realized that was not the way to do it and cut the one I had started with back out. I also realized I did not have the skills to do a fillet weld at the bottom of the tank between all the baffles.
This week I started over by welding tabs to each of the baffles so it would be easier to weld it to the bottom of the tank. Then the full baffle assembly was welded together makin sure it stayed perfectly flat on the bottom. Once that was done we put it in the tank and welded it in place. I didn't take any progress pictures. Some of the welds are pretty ugly due to my lack of skill, but it's just holding the baffles from moving around and they seem strong enough.
Tomorrow we start with the top. Currently it sits pretty flat except one spot where I need to sand down one of the baffles a bit.
This week I started over by welding tabs to each of the baffles so it would be easier to weld it to the bottom of the tank. Then the full baffle assembly was welded together makin sure it stayed perfectly flat on the bottom. Once that was done we put it in the tank and welded it in place. I didn't take any progress pictures. Some of the welds are pretty ugly due to my lack of skill, but it's just holding the baffles from moving around and they seem strong enough.
Tomorrow we start with the top. Currently it sits pretty flat except one spot where I need to sand down one of the baffles a bit.
I almost forgot to mention, the engine should get delivered on Monday, so that will be a fun update!
More work on the fuel tank today. We worked on the top cover for the tank mainly. We started by welding the custom fuel pump flange on, I welded it fully on the inside so that the fuel couldn't get to the bolt holes, then I put a few welds around the perimeter of the flange. I didn't want to fully weld it for fear of warping it severely. Once that was in I added 2 vents with bult in rollover valves and a flange for the fuel level sender.
You can see that it warped a bit, but it's not bad at all and I should be able to clamp it down and weld it without much trouble. The last thing I did was to add a -6 fitting to the bottom of the area where the main fuel pump sits. This will give me a way to drain the tank, or hook up an external fuel pump if there are issues with the main pump.
Overall I'm getting more comfortable with TIG welding aluminum, although I'm not sure a fuel cell was the ideal first project.
You can see that it warped a bit, but it's not bad at all and I should be able to clamp it down and weld it without much trouble. The last thing I did was to add a -6 fitting to the bottom of the area where the main fuel pump sits. This will give me a way to drain the tank, or hook up an external fuel pump if there are issues with the main pump.
Overall I'm getting more comfortable with TIG welding aluminum, although I'm not sure a fuel cell was the ideal first project.
I'll likely tack the top of the fuel cell on for now and get it mounted into the truck so I can determine where I'm going to put the filler neck and how I'm going to mount it. I want to be able to pull the top off to get all the aluminum shavings out from cutting the fuel filler before I fully weld it on.
I wondered where the fill tube was. As I was typing to ask, you posted. It is looking good.
I'm waiting until both Amber and I can be there to unbox it, but here's a teaser picture!
We will need video of the unboxing.
