The Ecobeamer

[hkv]

what made u use rivets?

well nuts and bolts would have been ridiculous. lol but seriously welding really isnt the best idea when working with thin sheetmetal. rivets are just as strong as welding and to have welded thin sheetmetal like this would have been a major pain, preventing burn through would have been very difficult and the end result would have looked worse.

now I understand why people weld in sheetmetal when repairing rusted out sections because that retains a stock look but especially on something as big as a firewall; riveting these panels as opposed to welding is quicker, cheaper, easier, much better looking result and just as effective/strong as welding.

[LowR3V'in]

what made u use rivets?

[hkv]

Nice project! But I would not do the all bodywork with aluminium sheet and rivets. The original wirewall and transmission tunnel is essential part of the body strength.

thanks for the comment. what would you do?

the original firewall is 18 gauge(1mm) thick steel. I am using 20 gauge(.80mm) thick steel(not aluminum) that when overlapped from sheet to sheet like im doing is 1.6mm thick(over 50% thicker than stock). there are even some spots where I have riveted 3 sheets together(2.4mm). Rivets are a tried and true fastener that is very suited to handling shear forces. before welding was developed riveting was the way to join metals in most applications. they are still used in allot of applications where high strength and low weight is desired, notably the aircraft industry. The point being I am confident in this firewall, I can tell you from knocking on it and pushing it that it is very strong.

[hasa]

Nice project! But I would not do the all bodywork with aluminium sheet and rivets. The original wirewall and transmission tunnel is essential part of the body strength.

[hkv]

passenger side is pretty much finished up, I really dig the look of this riveted firewall. drivers side is really gonna be a pain though.

[hkv]

installed the Holley hydramat fuel pickup in the fuel cell. this will supposedly prevent fuel starvation without the need for a surge tank. mounted with magnets that are strong af





did some more work in the engine bay





ive got the radiator to fit really easy, just had to cut the hoses provided with the control pack. the intercooler and aircleaner is a different story. the intercooler i think i may be able to use the tubes provided in the conrtol pack but its a stretch. the air filter box I may be able to fit if I chop the bottom off but I may just use a cone filter instead. once I spend more time here and get it finalized I will weld or rivet up some brackets to support everything.

[hkv]

Slightly terrifying but very impressive project you've got here.

yeah I will say what kind of concerns me is the fuel cell location and that im gonna be putting 350 ftlbs through 205s so this car is gonna be pretty hardcore.
thanks man

[hkv]

Great project. Ive always worked in a similar fashion with projects. Work hard to get it working and running, sort out the major issues, then come back and tidy it up later. look forward to more updates.

thanks man. and yeah people have different styles of working I agree with you, what you described is the plan.

[shredicus]

Slightly terrifying but very impressive project you've got here.

[e30davie]

Great project. Ive always worked in a similar fashion with projects. Work hard to get it working and running, sort out the major issues, then come back and tidy it up later. look forward to more updates.

[hkv]

You are getting a lot done quickly. Some of it seems rushed, do you have a deadline?

I can get behind it all except the paint job. It looks like a giraffe to me. But it is your car so your opinion is the only one that matters.

This is a track car right? It's definitely unique. I am interested to see the end result. Keep up the good work.

I have a self imposed deadline of October 31st. I hope that's realistic, if I keep up the pace I think I can make that happen. im not taking my time, I am cutting corners which I may come to regret but really as far as im concerned the real corner I cut was the paint and body which I can redo later on if I really wanted to but now would've been the time to do it right since I had the car stripped. I do like the paint i think it looks like a mil camo and ive seen some cool cars with geometric camo for instance. I could've done a neater job on allot of stuff but I would have had to take my time and try hard so my results right now are just my personal ability at the pace I tend to go.

im really just in the zone focused on getting it running and driving so once I get to that point and im out of the zone I will focus on polishing up some loose ends.

thanks man I will keep it up

[hkv]

coming along good on the passenger side. as ive added more panels its become super sturdy.

[rzerob]

You are getting a lot done quickly. Some of it seems rushed, do you have a deadline?

I can get behind it all except the paint job. It looks like a giraffe to me. But it is your car so your opinion is the only one that matters.

This is a track car right? It's definitely unique. I am interested to see the end result. Keep up the good work.

[hkv]

did some work on the firewall. I said the downpipe was fun and easy, this is less so. more challenging but still fun. using tin snips to cut decently thick steel and then trying to get it to fit good. this section was easiest part and the passenger side wont be too bad but the drivers side will definitely be a challenge. but im really digging this look and I think it will turn out cool. pretty damn sturdy too. I got the idea to paint the cabin side with clearcoat and then sticker bomb it which will be cool af, I got tons of motorsports stickers saved up. the other side I will paint the same color I paint the engine bay which wont be camo.

[hkv]

This is freakin' cool. Thanks for sharing. your tig skills are pretty damn good too!

thanks man, decent amount of welding in this project.