A Good weekends work

Had a good weekend of work. John and his family visited so while our brave wives dealt with 5 kids, we went to the workshop! While I welded up all the tacked joints, John fabricated the mount for the steering column, which I later welded up. John then made the cross piece for the top of the chassis. The mount will bolt to additional cross pieces not yet made.
I have been agonising for ages about what to do for the floor. I had been given a large sheet of 18g steel to use, but I was worried about it flexing as I got in and out. Aluminium was my preferred option, mainly for the weight, but the current prices are very high and it seemed silly to spend £50 or £60 when I had perfectly good steel. I then noticed a Fiesta back seat in the scrap bin. The back of this is thin steel but it has ribs pressed into it and supporting bars. I have now cut this down to use at the front of the footwell and I’ll use the this steel under the seat where you don’t stand, as you can see form these photos.

Had a much more successful time today. Managed to cut and drill 2 sets of seat rails, the lower portion on the centre tunnel and cross member and the ‘verticals’ for the front and rear bulkheads. Doesn’t sound much when it is listed like that but it was a good 2 to 3 hours of solid work this afternoon. It is getting quite exciting now that the prospect of finishing all the metal cutting is looming nearer!
Time to get the welder out and join this lot together!

No steps forward, two back

Had a very simple goal today. 1. Remove Engine 2. Begin fabrication of tunnel. Time allocated: Task 1 - 10 mins, task 2, rest of morning. Oh that it were so simple! Began by positioning hoist to support engine so that once the mounts were undone, the chassis could be lifted a few cms to clear them before manoeuvering it clear past the exhaust stub, which will be going soon! However, for some reason, the engine didn't come out level and the right engine mount remained not only firmly attached, but also skewed so that no motion either wasy was possible. 2 hours of fruitless effort followed during which time I was unable to budge anything. At least the integrity of the welding was proven as the entire engine/gearbox were suspended from one mount while I 'tapped' it to free it. Unfortunately I caught a glancing blow on a couple of pieces loosly tacked in place, which fell off! Eventually I was forced to admit defeat as the mount had begun to bend. I had to cut it off the chassis. Time was then up for the day so I returned home for lunch a very unhappy bunny! Maybe tomorrow when I have chilled a bit I will start task 2 on my list!

Reminder to self: Supposed to be enjoying this!!!!