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Any tips for the new guy?


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Picture #1 shows the hinged underdash panel. In order to simplify the wiring a bit, I added a small 12v accessory fuse panel. This panel hinges at the front of the scuttle support. The USB port is a generic motorcycle part

Picture #2 shows a Deltran (Battery Tender) Lithium Ferrous Phosphate battery. 3.2 lbs as compared to 9.6 for a Braille. 

Picture #3 shows an Element fire extinguisher. Double the range and duration of a 2.5 lb powder or Halon. weighs less than 1lb.

Picture #4 shows my 3rd brake light. This is a motorcycle unit mounted on some ⅛" aluminum stock polished and cut to fit on the front side of the spare tire bracket. I added a programmable flasher that is set to flash 15 times before going solid red. Also a motorcycle part.

Picture #5 shows the panel at the front of the passenger footwell. Passengers will regularly use this as a foot rest. Unfortunately, this forms the rear wall of the electrical compartment and that is small enough without compressing it further. I plan on riveting a thicker aluminum doubler to this in the next week or so. Maybe 5/32" if I can find some scrap at the local metal supply. 

Picture #6 shows the roll bar mount on one side. You will most likely have occasion to remove the roll bar and it is a huge pain in the ass to refasten (at east mine is). This is due to the fact that the rearmost fastener installs from the top down (as the forward one does) into a threaded boss at the end of a triangulated chassis support. On my chassis, these two triangulated supports didn't exactly line up perfectly making it a two man job to reinstall the rollbar. I fixed this by running a bolt up through the chassis support and securing it with a locknut on top as shown. The trailing supports for the rollbar are a bit misaligned as well but are more manageable. 

 

If you can swing it, consider getting a "Quick-Lift". It securely raises the car 19-20". Engine/transmission installation is easiest from the bottom up. I modified a small transmission lift to slide the engine/transmission under the car and raised nearly into position. The transmission clears each side of the chassis opening by about 3/16". Remove the reverse light sender from the transmission before installing. Ron Francis sells a neat pigtail connector for this switch. 

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  • 8 months later...
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53 minutes ago, mca said:

Any updates on your experience with this tool? I'm planning to install a lowered floor on the drivers side and I'm told there are ~100 rivets to install.

 

Used it a few times. So far a lot better than a hand version that caused me to damage my body work due to the abrupt jump it does once it releases. 

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I picked up one and have used it several times now with great success. There is a bit of a learning curve however. I would recommend wearing a leather work glove as the body of the device needs to be held to keep it from rotating along with the internals. It is a bit bulky as well and that restricts where it can be used. On the other hand, I don't have to squeeze the hands together any more. I've gone through at least three rivet guns over the course of my last three builds and this is clearly the best solution except for the space constraint. I even tried a pneumatic riveter (POS!) when I re-skinned a formula car. This is much better.IMG_2345.thumb.jpeg.09852157c0ddeb1338201a5ce4dbfab5.jpegIMG_2343.thumb.jpeg.224fcb628a0cbf478fcdf0e580cb83e1.jpegIMG_2342.thumb.jpeg.f4eba1ef846677288c99a31592b3fb78.jpeg

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