Fat Chicks n' Mopeds

[fernon]

Back at It Again

I decided to finish cutting the front end away so that I can start working on extending the inner wells

Marked out where I wanted to cut on the other side so that they would match up.

Now that both sides are cut away I can start to make the new panels for the inner fender well.

Also went back to working on filling holes and removed the track that holds the trunk seal that needed to be replaced, I am still amazed on how many little holes there are to fill, this car is going to be totally smooth and very minimal when it ever gets finished.

Again more little things that needed to be fixed, the front of the hood needed some welding and filling.

A little look at the doors, they actually work better than the original stock doors, plus they look bad-ass.

Hopefully I will get some more work done this weekend it's hotter than hell down here and it keeps threatening to rain.

[fernon]

A Little More Work

I was able to get some more work done on the car this morning before I had to go to my Father-In-Laws Birthday Party, talk about someone who has forgotten more about cars than I will ever know about cars, he is a walking encyclopedia of car knowledge and he can also back his shit up with know-how a truly amazing person to talk to and also listen to his stories.

So I started to take off the drivers side rear tire since that was the only tire that I had not taken off since I bought this car and wouldn't you know it took me about two hours to take it off (rusted up seized bolts) but eventually I was able to get them loose so I decided to clean this side as well.

Also cleaned the adapter and primed the inner well.

The inside of the rims were also full of caked on brake dust and needed to be cleaned.

Tires back on and lowered to the ground, starting to look a lot better.

A view from the rear.

Hopefully I will get a little more work done on it tomorrow.

[fernon]

Bottoms Up

Well, we finally finished putting the bottom of the drivers side door on and now it is official, the entire bottom of the body is new metal, no more chasing rust, at least on the bottom of the body.

We started by marking off the area on the door that we wanted to cut off.

As you can see the entire bottom was pitted and riddled with holes.

Next it was on to replacing metal, we started with the inner structure of the door frame.

Then we went to work on the door skin.

Test fitting it for the hundredth time to make sure that the body lines match up and the contour of the door was still intact.

Welding the seams, making sure not to oil can it when we welded the large area

Adding metal to cover the hinge area.

Trimming it to fit.

The door finally back on the car with a bottom.

That's all for this episode...
Until Next time...

[fernon]

Soul Meets Body

We got some more work done on the bug this weekend in spite of the fact that we spent half the day running all over town (3 different stores and my brother-in-laws shop) tracking down a bit for the die grinder that we had the entire time (My Bad).

Did play around with the dimple dies to see if we like the test rocker panels that we did, now that we see how they look we can start making the modifications for the final panels there are a couple of things that I want to change for the final panel, but they will be Bad-Ass.

Well it was time to see if all the cutting and fabbing would actually line up and work, since we did replace both pans and heater channels and we are putting a 1962 body on a 1972 IRS pan. This was the first time that we actually bolted the body to the pan.

One of the things that we had to do was move the rear body mounts so that the body would be able to mount to the frame.

Then we had to modify the 1972 body mounts to fit the 1962 body, we also had to drill out the bracket for the new spot welds.

The new modified mount set in place, ready to be welded in.

Welding the new plates into place.

The plates welded in and ready to be ground down when we go to finish the body work when the body is off the frame.

Finally the body is actually bolted to the frame for the first time. Everything lined up perfectly and we didn't need the grinder after all.

Until Next Time...

[fernon]

Flippin A Right

Since this was the first weekend that hasn't felt like we were working on the surface of the sun we decided to go balls out and flip the trailing arms in the back end to stand the tires up.

Like usual we started with a test piece to make sure that this was going to work before we started cutting up the trailing arms that were on the car.

First we had to remove the trailing arms that were on the car.

Since they had been on there for over 35 years they were a little stubborn.

With everything broken loose we could begin to remove the training arms.

You can see the test trailing arm (with the disk brakes) next to the one we just took off.

Holy shit, a shot of me actually working on the car, see I actually do work on this thing too, this is the evil metal genius getting back at me for always being on the other side of the camera.

Cutting off the shock tower so that we can test fit it on the car.

After it was all bolted up we put the tire back on and set it down to see if it made a difference.

It made a major difference, we were blown away on how much it straightened out the wheels that we decided to start cutting up the trailing arms that were on the car. So this is where the fun begins.

We began by trying to remove the nut that holds the axle together and let's just say that it did not want to come off, so we decided that no matter what, it was coming off, well after we bent and twisted several wrenches and broke a pile of tools we said fuck it and cut the fucking bolt off.

Go ahead fuck with me and I'll cut your ass...

OK, Sorry I had to vent, so back to work, we took both trailing arms and began to cut them up so that we could swap them from side to side.

Then we began to cut the shock towers off so that they could be flipped.

With all the towers cut off we can now begin to bolt the trailing arms back on the car.

And now for the moment of truth. Here is a shot before the flipping of the trailing arms. Notice the amount of camber that is in the back end of this car.

And now after flipping the trailing arms the tires stand straight up, now the ass end of this car doesn't look like shit.

A couple of more shots and a huge thanks to FONZY for his article in the tech bin on flipping the training arms.

I love the stance that this thing has now.
PURE FUCKING EVIL...

That's all for this installment...
Untill next time...
Stop your whinin' and start your grindin'

[fernon]

Left of Center

So back to working on the Volksrod, since we decided to change the way we were going to do the front end we can now center mount the rack and pinion. First we cut the rack off the beam and re-positioned it to the center and tacked it in.

As usual we also decided to cut and make a test set of tie rods before we make the final tie rods for the car. After we cut the tie rods we had to tap them for the ends.

Then we had to cut the notch into the tie rod.

Now we are ready to put the ends back in and mount them to the car.

The tie rods are now mounted on the car and adjusted to the right position.

After that we cut the connecting shaft to connect to the steering shaft.

Here is a look from another angle. Center Mount Steering on a 10-1/2" Beam Extender.

Well after two years of listening to 40 year old hood springs screeching every time we opened the hood we decided to put on a set of billet hinges and hydraulic shocks for the hood.

They look pretty sweet and now we can open and close the hood without the hair on your neck standing on end.

We also spent some time playing with some sheet metal for the front end but we are still not happy with what we have done so until we are we will keep playing with look of the front end.

That's it for this episode...
Until next time...

[fernon]

Sit Down and Shut Up

Well after what seemed like a lifetime away from working on the car I finally decided to get back to work on it. Since the last episode the Evil Metal Genius sold his old house and bought a new house so we have been a little busy with other projects.

I finally made a decision on the seats but as usual I couldn't just order something out of a catalog. When I was out in California I stopped by ProCar by Scat and asked them to custom make some seats for me, they are exactly like their low-back series seats but I had them make the bottom cushion area 2" shorter so that they sit lower in the car since the roof is chopped.

Well I got home today to find two big boxes waiting for me.

I put the seats together and set them in the car to see what they look like.

Now I just need to build a custom mounting bracket and bolt them down.

Now that we have the seats we can really start working on the car since we needed the seats so we could finish the steering column and the front end.

Get ready for a full on assault, now that I can sit in it I want to drive it...

[fernon]

Milli Vanilli

We were able to get a full weekend to work on the Volksrod so first thing Saturday morning we went down to pick up the steel (10' x 4' 20ga Cold Rolled Steel and some bar stock to make brackets), so that we could start working on the panels for the car. As soon as we got back we jumped right in and started to make the seat brackets so that we can finally mount the seats in the car.

The pan had to be modified so that the new brackets would fit.

Then we fabbed up some cool little brackets for the seats. The one on the left is after the welds were ground down.

Then we started to weld the new brackets in place so that we could put the seats in the car and start to work on the steering column.

First we had to make a bracket so that the steering column can mount to the car.

Now that the column is in position we can start to make it look good.

First we made a template pattern so that we can get the spacing that we want on the column.

Then I drilled a shit load of holes in the column with the mill.

We worked that bit hard today.

Here is a look at the column before I started to de-burr it.

All cleaned up and put back together.

Back in the car and a bracket mounted at the bottom was added for more stability.

Here it is all mounted in the car, now we get to take it all apart and tig weld it all together. I'm petty happy with the way it came out.

[fernon]

I can see the light

Made the final mounts for the gas tank so that it sits off the body far enough for the shut-off valve to open and close.

Then we proceded to make the brackets for the headlights.
Again as always we wanted a little something different.

Once they are all welded in they will be ground down and look like they are part of the beam.

Some shots with the headlights mounted to them.

Next project we begin to brace the front end which will certainly cause widespread panic.
Wait till you see this!!!

[fernon]

How To Speak Australian - (Beam Brace)

So before we start to brace the front beam we had to make sure that we have the right amount of caster in the beam, because once we weld this bracing system together the front end can not be changed.

We start by setting the car up on the plates and getting everything zeroed in.

Then we set the caster / camber level and begin to make adjustments.

Now that we have the right amount of caster in the beam that we want we can now begin to brace the front end.

Before we start to go over the front end bracing lets keep in mind that the Evil Metal Genius is use to building frames for things that go over 200 mph so he tends to over engineer everything that he does when he builds cars. That being said we have built this front end so that the force of the beam is supported throughout the car and not the frame-head were you only have four bolts holding the beam extender and the front end together.

We started by making a new bracket system for the front beam.

Then we begin to cut the 1" square tube (1/8" wall) so that we can make the frame.

Setting up the rear brace that will be attached to the firewall.

Welding the plate to the upright.

Then we begin to weld the frame extenders to the new brackets.

Now we can begin to put the lattice work into the frame brace.

One side of the new beam extender brace is welded together so that we can bolt it back into the frame.

Here is the new upper beam bracket

Here is the new lower beam bracket.

Here is one side bolted back into the front end as you can see it is a little overkill but this front end is not going anywhere.

Here you can see how it is bolted to the firewall, the bottom is threaded so that we can run a bolt up to support the frame to the pan, after we finish the other side we will X-Brace it across the back wall and then also tie it off into the frame-head.

Now I need to finish the lattice work on the other side.

[fernon]

Bueller?... Bueller?... Bueller?

Holy Shit, has it really been over three months since we did anything on this build. Well in the words of the immortal Ferris Bueller - Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. We both have been busy with so many other projects that we just haven’t had the time to work on the V-Rod.

So for now lets get back to work on the V-Rod, We finished welding up the other side of the latter work on the beam brace.

After that we ground down all of the welds so that we can mount it back in to the front end.

Then we proceeded to make the frame-head brace that will tie into the beam brace, working on the drivers side first we added cross members to the rear of the frame-head back to the bulkhead.

Here you can see it all tied together with all of the support in the front end. Yes, this is one over-engineered front end but it is not going anywhere, that is one solid-ass front end. I still need to add some gussets on the top and mounting plates on the back wall.

I even have room in there for the brake reservoir to mount on the master cylinder and still get to it. We had to ditch the front end battery though.

Next we started to custom fab the hood locking set-up. We are still fabbing and designing the locking mechanism so this may actually change. We are not happy with the set-up right now so we may go back to the stock latch mechanism but we are trying to keep this in the inside of the hood, it's something that nobody will ever see or should I say notice but it looks kool as shit.

Until next time...

[fernon]

The Bracket from Hell

We finally came up with a way to incorporate the cool plate for the front end using the original VW latching system, so we started to weld on a backing plate to re-enforce the latching pin.


The backing plate is tacked in to place on the plate.


Then we started to Cleco the plate system on the hood.


Welding the plate into place on the hood.


The plate looks pretty good and re-enforces the front end of the hood, again a lot of work for something that will probably never be seen or noticed, but we know it's there.


Now we can nutsert the latching pin into place.


The hood is set with the latching pin in place.


Now we focused our attention to the bracket for the latch. I'm not going to go in to detail about the first bracket we made but lets just say we spent two days making it and about 5 minutes to cut it apart and make the bracket we should have made to begin with, that's what happens building Kustom Cars. So we took all of the pieces of the original bracket and welded together 5 pieces of metal to make the Bracket From Hell.


Here is the bracket all welded together.


Here it is with the welds all ground down.


The original latch set inside the bracket.


Here it is bolted to the beam.


You can see the angle set into the bracket so that the pin latched in the receiver.


There is a lot going on inside the front end of this car...


Until the next time...

[fernon]

Exhausting Work

So I drove for over 2-1/2 hours to go to the Volkstoberfest Show in Melbourne, Florida and the show was nothing compared to last years show. Only a handful of cars showed up and the Swap area was maybe a dozen vendors, and to top it all of I forgot to bring my camera, but it wasn't a waist of trip, I did manage to score some great parts for the build. I picked up a full set of coil-over shocks for both the front and rear and a quad megaphone exhaust system new in the box for $30.00 (SCORE)...

So I began to disassemble the Stinger exhaust system that was on the car.

Then I began to trim the back end to make the new exhaust system to fit.

Also picked up a new set of gaskets and nuts.

Here is how it looks on the car, I like it better than the stinger, it cleans up the rear end. I still need to trim the back end a little and begin to work on cleaning up the rear section of the car (as always we will come up with something kool for the back end, just can't keep it simple).

Until next time...

[fernon]

Bucking "A" Right

Back to work on the front-end. We decided that the only way to get the panels to look the way we wanted them to was to make a buck and to form the panels by hand. So since I am the "Wood Butcher" it was up to me to make the wood bucks for the panels.


Then it was time to cut the template out so that we could form the panel.


The panel was cut over-sized so that we could work on it and then trim it down.


Then the panel was placed in the buck to be formed.


Here is where the "Evil Metal Genius" lives up to his name. Hand forming the metal to the shape of the buck.


The panel is now formed with a nice lip around the edge to stiffen up the structure and to give a nice edge around the lip so that we can pick up the front end without cutting our fingers off.






Now it's time for a test fit.


Some minor tweaks with the shrinker to pull the front end in towards the nose.


Trimmed down and Cleco to the car to see how it looks.




Next we begin to work on the front brace that ties the front end to the frame of the car. As always we start with a cardboard template to get the look that we want.


This is going to be a trick little brace with a re-enforced inner structure to tie the body to the frame.


We are off to Pasco Bug Jam Next week and then we will be at the Daytona Turkey Rod Run for Thanksgiving to pick up more parts for the Volksrod so no updates for a while until we get back. But then look out...

Until next time...

[fernon]

A Thing of Beauty

So we started to work on tying the front end together and as usual we just couldn't just weld a straight bar across the front, NO we had to make some elaborate full frontal bracing system that would require us to make a muilti-part box frame and new bracketing system to tie it all together, but when it was done it does look "Trick-as-Shit".

So let's begin with what we did. After making cardboard templates the Evil Metal Genius went and bent up all the steel to make the bracing system that incorporates a lip for the inner panel that will cover the inside of the car.

After we test fitted the pieces together we had to cut off the original body mounting tabs on the beam so that we could make the new bracing system.

Then we had to make a custom bracket to tie into the new bracing system.

Now we did some test fitting to make sure everything lines up before we cut the sides down to follow the lines of the car.

After we made sure everything lined up we cut down the sides and started to weld the box together.

Here is what the new front end looks like with the body now solidly mounted to the frame the front end is even more stable than a stock VW and it looks trick as well.

Next we tie in the side panels in and then work on the inner panels to finish the front end up.

[fernon]

Closing the Gap

So day two of the front-end build is starting to shape up, we were able to finish tacking in the one side while making the filler pieces so that the panels all tie together again.


Then it was back to the buck to make the other side.


Again the Evil Metal Genius working his magic to form the new outer panels.


After trimming down the panels a hundred times to make them fit like a glove, it was time to weld the panels in place, starting with the filler piece to tie the two panels together.


All of the outside metal is now welded in place so now we can start to work on the inside. (Sorry, I Love the Welding Action Shots)


Again we can't just lay a piece of metal on the inside and say that we are done. So we decided to make another buck with compound curves to tie the new outer panels into the inner structure.


Then it was time to finesse the metal a little with the srinker/stretcher.


Here is the panel set inside the trunk, you can see how it forms to the outer panel with all of the compound curves, the pictures do not do it justice but the metal on the inside of the trunk flows, it is funny that we put this much work into something that will only be seen by us.






Now we need to break the sides and then work on the inner door system so that we can access the breaking system.

We are off to the Daytona Turkey Rod Run for parts and then we will be back at it again.

Until Next Time...

[fernon]

New Years Weekend Build Bash

Back to work on the front end it, was time to weld up the inner panels.

We had to trim the new panels so that they fit into the trunk.

Welding the new panels into the trunk area.

Then it was time to work on something that I got from the guys at Speedcult in Detroit.

We started like we always do with a cardboard template to make the door for the inside of the trunk.

Then we cut out the metal that we will break and bead roll for the inner door.

It will have a piano hinge that runs along the back side and fasten in the front for access to the brake fluid reservoir.

[fernon]

How to waste a day of fabrication

So we jumped right into building the inner door for the trunk that we made, so we broke the panel so that it will be re-enforced all the way around and it came out great, so then we proceeded to layout the inner design for the panel.


Then we proceeded to put a double step bead all the way around the door and the logo just because we can't just put a Laser cut 1/8" steel KDF logo in the center of a panel - well maybe we should have just left well enough alone. It looks "kool as monkey snot" but it also warped the panel so bad that now we can't use it, so now we have to fab up another panel for the door.


So after that fiasco we decided that we needed to work on something that won't piss us off, so we grabbed a piece of metal, the can cutters and the dimple dies and made a new piece to replace the grill on the back of the car.


After laying it out on the car to see if we liked it, it was time to make a decision because once we make the first cut there is no turning back.


We marked out the grill so that we can cut it out.


Then we proceeded to cut the bars off.


Then we had a pile of VW tooth picks.


Then we made the final cuts before welding the piece in.


Then we tacked the piece into place.


A little grinding and lets have a look.


That's 10 lbs. of sexy right there.


Now we need to finish welding it in and grinding it down. It gives the back end a different look (like a battle bug) but I like the way it came out.

Until Next time...

[fernon]

Finishing off the Back Vents

The vent section has been welded in place and now needs to be ground down.


After everything was ground down I spray bombed some primer on it to have a look and save it from rust until we begin the mud work.


Here is a shot from the side so you can see the profile of the holes it gives the back end some character.


Did some other work on the car but nothing worth taking a picture of then it was time to clean up the shop a little and then pass out.


As far as the inner door panel goes, the main problem that we had was when we did a double bead roll on the metal remember the edges are sunken and the center is raised and the door is a quadrilateral piece of metal to begin with. The right way to do this is to stamp the piece but since I don't have access to a stamping machine we thought we would try it this way knowing that it was not the ideal way of doing this piece. Yes we could brace and re-enforce the back side and then do a shit load of body work to make the door look right but in the end this is an access door that is on the inside of a trunk. Also keep in mind that when the door was latch down in the front you couldn't tell that it was warped but since we are anal as hell (remember we cut the drivers side door in half to add an 1/8" of metal so that the door gap was perfect all the way around). Rest assure we will come up with something kool for an access door that no one will see.

[fernon]

So... what's behind door number 2 Dick...

Now that we have decided not to double bead roll the inner door we cut up some more metal and made another door. Now we can start to make the latching system for the door, like always we can't just latch it like everyone else we have to be difficult, so we start out by marking out the door so that we can start cutting it up.

Then I began to make a bunch of precise cuts into the door. after all of that we insert the latches. OOOOOO these are too friggin' kool. The final door will be pin-striped around the KDF logo.

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO
Door Latch in Action

Then I installed some of the parts I ordered from CIP1. First was the front trunk latch and cable pull so I can open the trunk without fumbling around under the car for 20 minutes to pop the latch.

Then it was time to mount the front brake lines again since we cut the mounts off when we stretched the front end. We also changed out the hoses for steel braided lines, they look and work so much better than stock hoses.

Then we rolled the car out again to take a look before we turned it around in the garage to start to work on the back end.

Until next time...

[fernon]

The Wood Butcher Strikes Again

Well, I finally made it back from my Washington - Oregon Trek and I was able to visit and B.S. with some fellow Volksroders while I was out there, again Thank You guys for letting me play in your Sand Box.

When I got home, my lovely wife already had my Honey-Do list waiting for me, so no working on the car for the past two weekends, instead it was time to re-build the Dock that we built 14 years ago after we moved into our house. The sun and weather down here is brutal on wood or anything else that is outside. Since everyone always come over my house to go fishing we thought it would be a good idea to rebuild the dock.

Like always I just can't do it the easy way.

Fortunately, everybody came buy at least one day or the other to help out, my Father-in-law was there all day both days both weekends and I can say without his help and everyone elses this would not have been done.

The Evil Metal Genius even came buy to help out with the framing of the dock. The frame is so strong you can park a truck on the dock.

My father came by and helped me make the Duck-board Benches that weigh about 100lbs. each. They are super sturdy and very comfortable to sit on.

My Brother stopped by and gave me a hand with the railing system. They are black aluminum balusters that are mounted to the railings on the stairs.

We even have electric run down to the dock.

Well the wife is happy so back to work on the Volksrod.

[fernon]

Deck Lid Bracket - Shin Cutter 2000

Finally finished the Honey-Do list and jumped right back into working on the Volksrod. It was time to tackle the one thing that we have been trying to figure out since we cut the rear end off - How do we make a latching system for the rear deck lid since there is nothing back there but engine.

So as usual we took out the cardboard and some markers and started to play with some ideas. Once we came up with the bracket that we wanted to make I grabbed some steel and began to cut. (I really need to get a Plasma Cutter at the house).


Like everything else that we do we just could not leave it alone so we stepped the bracket with holes. (Not bad for cutting it with a cut-off disc).


Then it was time to start to weld it up.


Then we added support struts to triangulate the bracket. The struts are mounted to tabs that are bolted to the header flange.


Then on to the other side. Here you can get a sneak peak at the top pulley to the custom made Serpentine Belt System that I will be using. We had to put that one on to make sure that the deck lid would clear.


With the support struts in place you can actually jump up and down on the support bracket and it does not move.


After we finish working on the W-Deck Lid we will make the rest of the bracket and latching system for it.

(For any purist out there, you may not want to watch what we do to the W-Lid....)


Until next time...

[fernon]

Let The Bodies Hit The Floor

We picked up a 1956 W-Lid at WinterJam 2 years ago that needed a little TLC and since we were going to butcher this thing we weren't too worried about it. The lid had a big dent in the corner and the lower edge of the lid was rusted away.

We were also able to pick up a pretty decent shape 1962 Lid at Pasco Bug Jam last year so now we have the metal to repair the W-Lid.

First thing we did was to drill out all of the spot welds so we can take out the inner panels on both lids since we were going to be cutting both lids to make one good lid.

Then it was time to work on the dent on the W-Lid. Once the inner panel was removed from the lid we can start to beat the living shit out of the W-Lid.

Here is a little video of the Evil Metal Genius make every Purist Twitch Uncontrollably.

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO
Reshaping a 1956 Volkswagen W-Lid

After all of the beating it is as good as new again.

Now it is time to start cutting. First off I grab the 1962 Lid and cut the bottom off the lid so that we can start to fab up the W-Lid.

With the lower half on the W-Lid we can now start to mark off the areas that we want to replace on the W-Lid.

Now we start to cut the W-Lid to make the lower half repairs.

The W-Lid is starting to take shape again.

Welding in the filler pieces to the W-Lid.

Now the bottom is all filled back in.

After that we filled in all of the remaining holes on the lid.

Now with everything all filled in we can start to cut the W-Lid up and add our touches to it.

Until Next Time....

[fernon]

Donkey Punch

Back to work on the Volksrod, I wanted to do something to the side walls to clean up the inside of the trunk area, so I broke out the cardboard and started to draw out what I wanted to do, then I transferred it to steel and proceeded to cut it out.

After cutting out my pattern it was time to do a test fit and then a bunch of trimming. I am not sure if I want it to come down more but I can't do anything else until I pick up some more steel.

After I make my decision I will begin to put the details into the piece, and to help me do that I went and picked up this neat little toy. It is a Hydraulic Punch Driver Set so that I can make big holes in steel faster than doing it the manual way.

I will try to lay out the inner side piece and punch it out before I Dimple Die it so I can get a feel for what it will look like.

[fernon]

Evil Kenevil Got Nothing On Me

Well lets just say it has been a busy and exciting weekend here at the Nut House.

Saturday we loaded up and went to the
2011 Super Chevy Show
and my son Hunter went racing on the Go-Kart track that they have there, then we walked around the Swap Meet and I wound up buying a Motorcycle for him. (we'll come back to this later)...

Sunday we wake up and decide to go to the
2011 Festival Car Show
and we got to meet up with Kevin (Kremy5) and see his car in person. Kevin I have to hand it to you, me and the Evil Metal Genius just love the car and we had a great time B.S. with you. It is definitely a fun ride and the artwork on the hood is just perfect, you did a great job on this build.


After the show we decided that we need to get off our asses and get back to work on the car.

So as we are working on the car I decide to play around with the motorcycle that I just bought my son. I figure that I would see if I can get it running right for him before I let him play around on it and get hurt...

So I fire it up and pop it in gear and the bike takes off like a bat outa hell... so as I am trying to pop it out of gear I am heading to wards the canal in the back yard, so I did the only thing I could and lock up the brakes and lay it down.


Needles to say the Evil Kenevil jokes were flying the rest of the day. After that I decided to go back to work on what I was suppose to be working on to begin with.

So we started to work on the rear deck lid again, we made a new inner piece so that we could make our latching system for the deck lid.


Then we proceeded to make the pin system for the deck lid.


Tacking the backer plate to the inner shell.


Trimming the bracket for the receiver.


Tacking in the new plate that will have the hole for the pin.


Then I proceeded to use my new toy and put a shit load of holes into the new plate.


I have to say that the Hydraulic Punch Press is definitely one of the best things that I have bought for this build. It has saved hours of time punching holes in the metal. Now I can go NUTS with holes in this car.
Here is a video of it in action

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO
Hydraulic Punch Press

Here is the panel with all of the holes punched and dimple died.






The panel looks good in side the deck lid that no one will ever see.


Next it's time to work on the bracket that holds the latch pin hole and also the mounting system for the license plate, You didn't think we were just going to slap a license plate on the back of this thing...