Some aluminum fuel cell redemption...

[CoachVino]

Recently I have had a few "issues" with a fuel tank (inside joke) :cry: and needed a "fabricators" pick-me-up to get my mojo back with the torch. So my boss tells me today:

"Yo, Pimp-Daddy-Master-Fabricator-#1 (this is my shop persona at work you see) I need you to take this 300$ brand new aluminum fuel cell and narrow it to fit between the rails in ??????'s chassis. Hope your aluminum skills are still sharp!"

I immediately started laughing because of my last few experiences with fuel tanks but thought what the hell!? I also thought it was hilarious that we are putting a 15gal fuel cell in a pro-mod style chassis we are building in a street legal +/-7.70 et. car! The customer insists on having two fuel cells so he can drive to the track, whoop some ass and then drive home... to each his own I guess.

So here is what I started with (sorry camera phone pics arent that great):

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2389/2515590608_a166277e49_b.jpg

and this fuel cell is supposed to fit here: yeeeeaaaahhhh,,, riiiiiggghhhht...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2367/2515590688_51cf890961_b.jpg

so after some critical measurements like wheely bar clearance, frame width, suspension it was off to cut her up (we decided to take the material off just one side to save the customer some money, even though the filler opening will be offset now to one side, oh well):

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2064/2514766005_67c9c328ef_b.jpg

at this point there was no turning back! :oh: so now it was time to burn or rather fuse metals with my own hands! bwaaaahaahahahaaaa
Things came out just fine, in fact it is f'n PIIIIMMMPPP-DDDAAADDDDYYY!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2307/2514766067_53a80223a9_b.jpg

Thats all the crappy pics ive got to show, but I and the bossman were quite happy with the results since he sucks compared to me (thats why Im PIMP-DADDY-#1 and hes now officially #2!) hahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

bad-fabricator-mojo<---:32:<---Pimpdaddy-#1

CoachVino-Pimp-Daddy-Master-Fabricator-#1... out!

[Chunke1]

Nice Vino! Sending you a PM about some more "special" projects :)

[CoachVino]

Thanks Do, PM responded! Parliamo dopo!
-Vino-

[sanfret]

hit man I got all sorts of stuff for you to do ... my kid is so small I have to cut and stitch everything

[Afterimage]

Nice. I'd like to see more pics of that chasis. Sounds like it'll be a wild car when it's finished.

[CoachVino]

Got the fuel cell done today, had to fit it and weld in some tabs on the back and on the chassis:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2192/2516971689_41fb406c0b_b.jpg

Fits like a glove,,, except the glove holds like 13-14gallons of fuel:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2351/2516971727_93b2578bf0_b.jpg

-Vino-

[sanfret]

nicely done... looks professional even

[CoachVino]

Nice. I'd like to see more pics of that chasis. Sounds like it'll be a wild car when it's finished.

Ill def. try and get some decent pics of some of the chassis stuff and post em up. This car came to us an absolute TURD! Albeit, a high 7second street-turd! The owner IMO is lucky he never walled this thing, he would likely never have survived given how shoddy the original chassis/cage was. The general consensus at the shop was that none of us would have driven it beyond an 11second pass it was that f'd up. This camaro/owner is pretty well known at the track for his car, and its ability or lack there of to make a clean pass more than say 1 out of 7-10 passes. I also know multiple racers that refused to run next to him because his car was so scary/unpredictable. Were pretty confident that the new chassis we built will get the job done, but who knows what hard parts (ie: rearend, tranny, axles) he might blow up now that the car is so tight... well see.
Here is a video of what this thing was known for:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxBVvDV89a8

[CoachVino]

nicely done... looks professional even

HAHA, thanks it better! If not I better find a new job!
PS:
If you need help with the little mans bike (fab stuff, whatever) feel free to shoot me a PM!
-Vino-

[sanfret]

I appreciate the offer. I'll let you know if we need anything else.

[Afterimage]

Ill def. try and get some decent pics of some of the chassis stuff and post em up. This car came to us an absolute TURD! Albeit, a high 7second street-turd! The owner IMO is lucky he never walled this thing, he would likely never have survived given how shoddy the original chassis/cage was. The general consensus at the shop was that none of us would have driven it beyond an 11second pass it was that f'd up. This camaro/owner is pretty well known at the track for his car, and its ability or lack there of to make a clean pass more than say 1 out of 7-10 passes. I also know multiple racers that refused to run next to him because his car was so scary/unpredictable. Were pretty confident that the new chassis we built will get the job done, but who knows what hard parts (ie: rearend, tranny, axles) he might blow up now that the car is so tight... well see.
Here is a video of what this thing was known for:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxBVvDV89a8
Wow, that's frickin' nuts! I normally go to the big events at Woodburn (used to help out on a Top Comp dragster team) and rarely go to PIR for the drag races so I honestly don't think I've ever seen this car before. He should have bought an ex-Pro Stock chasis with the kind of power he's making. :D When that chasis is finished and dialed in that thing should scream!

[CoachVino]

Nice! Woodburn is more my stompin ground too. The engine is actually a bit much for a pro-stock chassis, toooonnnnsss of torque and with low boost (i think about 20-25psi) he is puttin down somewhere around 1200hp at the tires. He has made a 7.80 pass I believe, leaving really soft. It will be interesting what he accomplishes with the new setup... now if we can just get it done before the end of the season! :great:
Ill try and get some pics up of the chassis for your viewing pleasure!
-Vino-

[Afterimage]

Nice! Woodburn is more my stompin ground too. The engine is actually a bit much for a pro-stock chassis, toooonnnnsss of torque and with low boost (i think about 20-25psi) he is puttin down somewhere around 1200hp at the tires. He has made a 7.80 pass I believe, leaving really soft. It will be interesting what he accomplishes with the new setup... now if we can just get it done before the end of the season! :great:
Ill try and get some pics up of the chassis for your viewing pleasure!
-Vino-I've been reading that the current crop of pro stock engines are making close to 1400 hp(!) these days so it might work. An ex-IHRA mountain motor pro stock chasis should definitely hold the power though. :D

BTW, I forgot to tell you nice job on the welding work. I used to be (years ago) a pretty good stick welder and was good with a mig, but I never got to play around with tig welding. It always impresses me to see what guys like you can do with a welder. An old co-worker of mine had a big Miller welder in his garage with all the tig goodies, aluminum spool gun, etc. and he was always doing impressive work.

[CoachVino]

Yeah, the mountain motor chassis would probably work, but they are still designed with the minimum tube diam. and bracing to keep weight down. Plus, most of those engines are reving to the moon and making that power at the crank. They are def. nasty as hell though. This chassis is a "pro-mod" design, modified double frame rail with bracing everywhere. What is still amazing is with the old chassis he was pulling off a high 7second pass on a street legal tire. (although not as amazing as the 10.5 guys)
Oh, and thanks for the compliment, I love fab-work and have dabbled in a variety of this stuff over my short 30years of existence. If you were able to get good welds out of an arc welder back in the day thats cool, you gotta get into the tig though. It is waaaay fun. Before this job (and going back to school full time) I was the equipment manager for a local golf club and the only welder I had was a Miller arc welder. My old boss and good friend almost gave up welding with his mig after he saw what I could do with the stick! hahaaaaha Ill get picks up soon since you seem to be pretty interested.
Ciao, Vino

[Afterimage]

Two things I wish I was really good at: welding and machining. In high school I took some shop classes and learned how to run mills and lathes but it's been so long I could barely even turn one on now. In that class one of our projects was to build a vertical belt sander. We had to make our sand molds and cast the frame, table and pulleys and then machine the frame, table, pulleys and our own bearings and assemble and wire it up. It was my first time ever running lathes and mills on my own so it was quite an experience. I must not have done too badly because it's still sitting in my dad's basement where it gets regular use and it's never needed anything more than an occasional shot of machine oil after 19 years. :cool:

[shaggy1]

nice work vino! looks great. that vid is pretty funny, especially when the front end is in the air and hes turning the wheels back and forth, haha.

and professional? um, vino is a pro.

[kneedragger]

holy shit man...very nice, very nice indeed!