The Willomet Charger

[beags86]

Table level up - second iteration:
The garage floor has a 1/8"/ft slope to it, and the forward adjusters were close to maxed out, so I pulled the jam nuts on the rear adjusters to get the table 1/4" lower overall.

The relevel yielded better results than the initial - 0* variance side to side. Front to back is a little different - 0.1* on one table rail and 0* on the other, though my bubble level(s) looked smack dab in the middle of their lines. My nice 4' level is on permanent loan to my dad, so I'm going to get a new one and double check the measurements before locking anything down.

Car level up - first iteration:
The car does need some assistance getting level side to side. The front is off by 1/8" rail-to-rail while the rear looked more like 3/16". The rockers leveled out perfectly from the start (measured from the top pinch). I'm experimenting using inverted and normal quick grips and shims, moving around the car to the (presumably) level table beneath it to get uniform readings.

I left the shop with all bubbles sitting within their lines and gauges reading 0* or 0.1*. Doing the math, 0.1* over 15' 9" amounts to less than 1/32", which is acceptable given that the unibody probably wasn't flat when it left the St Louis production line. Parallel and perpendicular are more important as the reinforcements are integrated.

David

Your proably 1000 times better then that factory dodge body is... Mopars were pretty notorious for there poor quality body's in the 60s and 70s.... Not that a mopar guy would ever admit that...

 

[76zimmer]

as were most vehicles from that era!

 

[GWeakland620]

Too many smarts. Not enough crayons for me. But you are doing great......I think......

 

[AgDieseler]

...Not that a mopar guy would ever admit that...

To hear some folks tell it, the sheetmetal was hand formed by The Deity. Woe be to those who don't spend their life's savings and faithfully restore their clapped out roller shell.

as were most vehicles from that era!

How flexible is your Corvette? Curious what you found through your build.

Too many smarts. Not enough crayons for me. But you are doing great......I think......

Thank you. I have sharpies?

David

 

[GWeakland620]

Thank you. I have sharpies?

David

Too permanent. I can't make that kind of commitment.

 

[campfire]

Too permanent. I can't make that kind of commitment.

When you're as obsessively exact as David is, you can afford to use permanent ink.

 

[Greg72]

When you're as obsessively exact as David is, you can afford to use permanent ink.

You just need to plan ahead, the thickness of Sharpie ink can throw off the dimensions and affect panel clearances, etc.


-G

 

[beags86]

You just need to plan ahead, the thickness of Sharpie ink can throw off the dimensions and affect panel clearances, etc.


-G

Rookies.

https://www.amazon.com/Brand-Sharpie-Fineliner-Ultrafine-S0921690/dp/B004QN81BC

 

[AgDieseler]

You just need to plan ahead, the thickness of Sharpie ink can throw off the dimensions and affect panel clearances, etc.

Lots of examples of incorrectly cut patches and quarters out there. Best tip I got from your page - dykem and scribe, cut 1/32 outside the mark, and disc grind to fit. Sharpie burns off, but I can see the scribe mark the whole way through.

It's easy to take away material, and a bit tougher to put it back.

David

 

[campfire]

You just need to plan ahead, the thickness of Sharpie ink can throw off the dimensions and affect panel clearances, etc.


-G

Yessir, that thickness is significant. We get around that by using a directional wiggle to indicate which side of a scribe line is the actual intended dimension.

 

[beags86]

Lots of examples of incorrectly cut patches and quarters out there. Best tip I got from your page - dykem and scribe, cut 1/32 outside the mark, and disc grind to fit. Sharpie burns off, but I can see the scribe mark the whole way through.

It's easy to take away material, and a bit tougher to put it back.

David

When a fineliner won't work,
I just use a fat sharpie and a scribe.

Yessir, that thickness is significant. We get around that by using a directional wiggle to indicate which side of a scribe line is the actual intended dimension.

X marks the spot?

 

[campfire]

Rookies.

https://www.amazon.com/Brand-Sharpie-Fineliner-Ultrafine-S0921690/dp/B004QN81BC

0.8mm isn't good enough for some of our structural surveys. We'll leave a <0.25mm line behind us when we want a mark to be perfect.

Not that it actually is perfect, but we'll pretend it is. Easier to measure off of a skinny line anyways.

 

[beags86]

The line is .4mm...

Yeah, yeah, I hear it all the time about surveys,.... engineers....

I live in the real world... And we are building old Chevy trucks and in this case a Dodge... A sharpie Magnum would probably be close enough

 

[campfire]

X marks the spot?

No, something like this. The side of the line with the squiggles is the dimensioned spot. A plate welded on top of this line would sit on top of the squiggles and just touch the edge of the line. That's how the shop runs.

 

[beags86]

You don't use NS/FS, as shown/opposite hand/side??

 

[campfire]

The line is .4mm...

Yeah, yeah, I hear it all the time about surveys,.... engineers....

I live in the real world... And we are budding old Chevy trucks and in this case a Dodge... A sharpie Magnum would probably be close enoughView attachment 230410

Yeah, at home I do things much differently. David's tight tolerance and leveling process just reminded me of work.

 

[campfire]

You don't use NS/FS, as shown/opposite hand/side??

For laying out plates or for welding instructions?

 

[beags86]

Actually, it would apply to both.

 

[AgDieseler]

Table Level Up - Final:
I picked up a good 4' level - turns out I'm an accidental fan of Stanley Fatmax - and made minor adjustments to the the front pegs. All is now level to the greatest resolution my instruments will measure.






Car Level Up - second iteration:
With the table adjustments, it was less of a chore to get the car to level out - the same stack of temporary shims amounted to level side to side. The rockers are parallel, and the rear was only out by 0.1*, which was easily solved by some quick grip action. I'll verify everything is the same in the morning.



Hard to get a good side shot, but visually this shows the rocker parallel to the table along with the slope of the floor.


Across the rockers.


Rear frame at the shackle hangers. Just wanted to take multiple readings.


Inverted quick grip on the driver rail - pulled out that last 0.1* to get the rear as level as the front and center.


Right about now is when the wife comes out with Shiners and says, "we're going out."

David

 

[tRustyK5]

I'm certain you did this, but I often check my levels by turning them 180 degrees and seeing if the bubble is identical. I have some old school Stabila levels with the adjusters on them...if it matters I always check the level first. Same for squares, I'm amazed at how often even a brand new, quality name square is slightly off.

Anyways, dicking around with the measuring tools can be a real trip down the rabbit hole...but it can also save you a ton of frustration if you find and fix a tool problem at the beginning. I worked at a fab shop that built aircraft tooling, and was tasked with building a fabrication platform area using a dozen 24" wide flange beams set on 24" centers. 24" was a decent height to work off. I spent almost a week drilling anchors, assembling the various shim packs and shot the whole thing in with a transit. I had the whole flat and true to + or - .030". That lasted for about 6 months until we had an earthquake of 5.3. I had to start from scratch after that. It was less fun the second time...