Maybe I'll work on my..... something.

On the tranny tunnel, I welded 1/4" round stock to the back of the firewall to give a ledge for it to sit. On the bottom of the tranny tunnel and the driveshaft tunnel I welded in some 1" DOM that I had custom bent to arches and then I cut down to the right height to give a taper down toward the back.
On the bend at the floor, I used a modified HF brake. Then on the down turn from the floor to the side of the structure, I used a rubber mallet to get the shape followed by a body hammer and a piece of I beam to get it square and even. To get the roll to match the arches, I used my thigh.
I will get a picture tomorrow of the shape I bent them into.

 

Keep in mind that the three driveshaft tunnel pieces are just sitting there in the picture. When I weld everything together, it will be a better fit as I will roll and push the pieces together.

 

Subbed.

 

This is the shape of the driveshaft tunnel pieces. When it is in place, it is shaped to the arches with a slight taper towards the back.The spring tension of the pieces makes them stay firmly in place and it takes a bit of effort to get them in/out.

 

Once built, how will you be finishing / preserving all that 'hidden' metal?

 

Frame and body will both be getting dipped. After that, epoxy primed. All internal areas of the structures and the bottom of the floor will get coated with undercoating.
The points of overlap will get sandblasted clean before final assembly and welding so there isnt surface rust contaminating the welds or under the overlaps.

 

Started to fiberglass the bathroom in the Airstream. Cloth over the wood to join it to the cap. It is overlapped on the floor and will basically make bathroom waterproof. Tomorrow, going to build the shower basin and then put 1.5oz mat over everything to make it all one piece.

 

Building the shower basin. Fiberglass goes under the wood then wraps over top. Letting it cure then will put the vanity and shower seat back in and glass it all in place. Tomorrow will probably include putting mat over everything.
Roundish cut out spot is where the drain will be. It will be slightly recessed and the floor is slightly beveled toward it.

 

Spent part of the day working on the car.

 

Been working on fiberglassing the bathroom. PITA, and arms and face and everywhere.....
Should have just spent the $400 and gotten a fiberglass chipper. Having to do 2ft x 2ft sections due to sag. But, it will all get sanded level. Only spot that got one solid piece is the shower wall because it is the only place that doesnt have a compound curve. Will be glassing the cabinet/shower seat tonight or tomorrow.

Picture makes the sag look worse than it actually is.

 

Got the framework for the floor welded (mostly) into the car today. Still have to do a bit more, but cant get to it right now. Ill have to get under it and so a little overhead welding. But, its in there.
Ive decided that I will rivet the floor to the framework until I get the body dipped ($2k) and will build the roll cage to be removable from the frame so and put a couple removable tie in points so the cage will be dipped with the body.

 

More test fitting. Figuring out the height for the seat brackets that I need to make.

 

Back at working on the Airstream. Walls are sanded down (initial sanding). Went through with the dremel and a plunge/router bit to grind out all the air bubbles. Tomorrow, I will pack all the holes with resin soaked mat and put a layer of mat over a couple spots that are a little lower than surrounding areas. Didnt "need" to do this step, but decided I might as well.

 

Waiting on parts to be milled to finish out the floor supports for the seat mounts, so I decided to work on the heater. Used 1" angle, welded it into 90s. They sit on top of the firewall recess. Tomorrow, I am putting the motor/trans back in to build the steering shaft.

 

Motor back in. Steering figured out. Need to build a bracket for the support.
I was able to use a bit of the Dakota steering shaft along with the parts from the car. Having it at this angle will allow for the roll cage going through the firewall to the front end while at the same time giving me enough space to remove the headers out the top.

 

Hooked up the remote oil filter. Also reshaped the filter mount a bit.

Also picked up this NIB Mallory fuel filter for $40 today.

 

Built a support for the steering shaft. Ill weld it in later (going to the casino for crab legs in a bit).

Note: after getting a vibration isolating Borgeson U-joint for $90 off, I decided to build an all new shaft from the firewall u-joint to the rack. So, the shaft that is there now will get replaced with a nicer one which will run the same location.

 

Spent some time taking the motor out and putting it back a few times to get the new shifter brackets installed on the tranny and getting the hole figured out. I am going to make an access panel that will attach to the tranny tunnel and have a hole for the shifter boot. That way I dont have to fight it in the future to get the shifter off to take the motor/tranny out. I will finish the cut next week when I pull the motor out and do a bunch of grinding and welding to turn all the bolts into studs for components that attach to the firewall. Gonna cut the heads off then weld the studs into the holes.
Note: Yes, that is the old a** optional heater that I am re-using.

And this is the U-joint that I got for $90 off.

 

Building new seat bases. Drilled out the welds that held the OE stamped steel bases to the rails and made new ones out of 2x1 tubing. I will be welding the rails to the bases, and will bolt the bases to the 4x4 risers. I am going to weld the nuts to pieces of scrap plate, then weld the plate to the inside if the tubing.

 

Need to get placement in the car done and add a piece to keep them from rocking with side load. Also, need to weld the OE rails to the spacers.