The excitement is building

[Island Girl]

I made an acrylic shock mounting plate to test fit in the morning . . . . may or may-not need to fine tune it a bit, but I know it's pretty close and making new ones with minor variations doesn't take maybe half an hour or so once you have the first one. . .

Once it's right, I'll make it from aluminum to use as a template.

Only need to make one since flipping it over gets the other side's bracket when I cut them out.

 

[Spanky]

This is the item we're talking about (for those who may not have a similar setup) . . .

 

[Island Girl]

This is the item we're talking about (for those who may not have a similar setup) . . .
View attachment 21106

That's exactly what the ones I just got from Speedway look like, but that critical dimension is a wee bit too short for the diameter of the shock mounting eye to clear the T that attaches to the batwing . . .

Here's the pair I made from acrylic as a mock up for the stainless ones to make when my new toys arrive . . . this is the loaded position with the weight on the jacks at nominal ride height.

 

[old round fart]

Did you try reversing the speedway bracket?

 

[Island Girl]

Did you try reversing the speedway bracket?

Yeppers, tried it all 9 ways to Sunday . . . wasn't gonna happen.

Here's a couple pics of the mount brackets, and one with the Speedway bracket overlayed with the shackle holes aligned . . . you can see the shackle hole to shock hole distance is greater, and the angle is closer to the perpendicular.

 

[choppedtop]

I had the same chrome brackets and they wouldn't work out for me either. BC or Josh sent a different set that worked fine.

 

[Island Girl]

I had the same chrome brackets and they wouldn't work out for me either. BC or Josh sent a different set that worked fine.

The car originally came from Spirit with a reverse eye, (eyes up) spring with shock mount brackets that are virtually triangular shaped . . That's probably the norm for Spirit cars.

If I was just using a small block, and a normal '23 or '32 style grill shell . . . probably would have been no need to look for a better suspension option, but the extra weight of big block just overwhelmed the spring and killed the ground clearance, already severely limited by the '34 style grill shell option.

Pic below of when it first arrived:

 

[Island Girl]

Looks;like I have a new toy and a weekend project . . . .

 

[choppedtop]

Only have gotten to use a plasma cutter one time and I really liked it. If I were to build another hot rod, I just may have to have one.

 

[DonnyRay]

If your plasma cutter was made in China ; you may have been robbed. I bought one that was powered by 110 , 115 , 120 Volts. It worked for a very short time. The trigger stopped working & i couldn't find a replacement trigger. The machine was close to the size of a standard mailbox. I now have one that uses 220 Volts but my shop doesn't have electrical power. I really enjoyed the first plasma cutter. You can use goggles that are made for oxy/acetylene use. With the oxy/acetylene goggles , you can see your work while you are wearing them. Like wearing a pair of sunglasses.

 

[DonnyRay]

I searched for your unit & found it was made in China. See if replacement parts are available for your LTP5000D , OKAY ? My " DUD " was purchased several years ago ; the quality could've improved since then. Plasma cutters are a lot of fun to use. Make sure your air compressor can keep up with the plasma cutters air consumption ( line pressure ). Otherwise ; have fun with your new toy. HTH . PS : I was alerted by the name , " LOTOS ". Sounds like , " LOTUS ".

 

[Island Girl]

If your plasma cutter was made in China ; you may have been robbed. I bought one that was powered by 110 , 115 , 120 Volts. It worked for a very short time. The trigger stopped working & i couldn't find a replacement trigger. The machine was close to the size of a standard mailbox. I now have one that uses 220 Volts but my shop doesn't have electrical power. I really enjoyed the first plasma cutter. You can use goggles that are made for oxy/acetylene use. With the oxy/acetylene goggles , you can see your work while you are wearing them. Like wearing a pair of sunglasses.

I got one that has a crap-ton of good Amazon reviews and YouTube video demos and reviews.

This one is pretty much the number one choice in the under $500 class. The PrimeWeld Cut 60 is the best one in the under $1000 / $750 class, but at $675, it was too far out of budget.

Mine is a dual voltage 120 / 240 machine and I have a 240V 50 Amp cord for my TIG, so I'm good there. . . . The Lotos 5000D comes with an L6-30 Plug , , so I need to change it or make an adapter cord so it works with the the 50 Amp welding receptacle

I ordered a couple 50 Amp welder plugs from Amazon, but I'll need to source something local to use it this weekend, hopefully I'll find something at the hardware store on my way to work in the morning.

 

[DonnyRay]

You go Darlene . I'm tempted to buy one too. On the 120 volt setting i was able to use oxy/acetylene goggles ( they're like wearing sunglasses ). Don't know if they will work for a 220 volt setting.

 

[DonnyRay]

These are the goggles i used many years ago : These look a lot better :

 

[DonnyRay]

The goggles at the bottom are the ones i used years ago. The top safety glasses are the more recent style. Somehow everything was flipped when i posted them. LOL !!

 

[DonnyRay]

You can change the plug-in on your new plasma cutter to fit your tig welder's power cord. Then both machines will work off the same power cord. Just a suggestion.

 

[Island Girl]

You can change the plug-in on your new plasma cutter to fit your tig welder's power cord. Then both machines will work off the same power cord. Just a suggestion.

Besides the welder''s extension cord that plugs into my breaker panel, there's also another cable that can use the same receptacle / breaker, and that's the one that can connect to a generator on the porch when the power goes out to backfeed the panel . . .

As it turns out, after just digging thru all my electrical parts stash, I have enough of the right wire and twist-lock connectors, to run the plasma cutter out on the porch off what would otherwise be the generator cable to backfeed the breaker panel.

It's not my first choice option, but if I strike out at the hardware store tomorrow, at least it'll get me running for the weekend. . . . The unit ships with a small bit of consumables, so I'll be OK for such a small job untill the other accessories come in.

I have a self darkening welding helmet, not one of those $600 ones, but a damn nice one that should work pretty well.

 

[DonnyRay]

Have fun Darlene.

 

[Island Girl]

Have fun Darlene.

Thanks, . . . . I'm gonna try to

Picked up some bits for the compressor and air supply line at the hardware store so I have decently dry/clean air at the machine and made up the adapter cable so I can plug the machine up out on the porch.

The more I think about running it from the line to the porch, the more I like that plan. I may make up an adapter cable to be able to plug it into the welder's connection as an option down the road . . . . gotta see if I have another 3 pin L6-30R connector.

Will grab a couple new drill bits since I know the SST is going to be tough, and most of my frequently used sizes are quite well used . . .

 

[Island Girl]

Little Update . . . . .

Got the adapter cord to run the plasma cutter from the generator cable out on the porch . .

The second cable at the panel connection is for the welder

Generator output is a 4 pin female twist lock, so the cable has a 4 pin male twist lock which requires the adapter cable to be 4 pin female to 3 pin female for the cutter to plug into.

I put in some quick connects to be able to add the filter/dryers at both ends of the air supply line to the cutter so the airflow seems good to go.

I watched some videos on the Tube to get some idea how to use this thing, but having it in your hand and using it is a lot different from watching a pro in a video . . . .

Anyway, I made the first couple little cuts and at least didn't screw anything up . . . . may have to spend some extra time with a grinder, but not too bad for a first timer . . .

Decided to break for late lunch and get back to it on a fuller tummy . . . Hopefully today . . .

I'll work on grinding the edges tomorrow or so once I finish the cuts

.