Monday, April 21, 2014

Built not Bought

Hey Everybody! I'm back with a small little update on my continuing adventures in fabrication-land, not actually a really place, but it'd be sweet if it was. With the addition of okay Thursday on to Good Friday, I had a nice four day weekend back at the ranch where I accomplished pretty much nil relating to the Midget. However I did under-take the construction of a super-mondo-heavy-duty welding cart for my new welder. After a trip to Harbor Freight for some wheels and a stop by a local welding supply store to see what was commercially available my dad and I decided to try to use up the tons of material that is laying around the shop and build a welding car...poor choice on our part, we spent close to a full day planning out the defining, no-compromises, ultimate cart, went through, multiple design changes, style re-imaginations and other manufacturing disputes before successfully starting on the project and cutting eight sections of angle iron, before we exhausted our time.

Now I am slightly factious on this, the design is well along and by the time I return home we should be ready to weld and fabricate the cart together, but it's always interesting to see how much time can be consumed seeking perfection on a project. The real crux of the situation is the question of weather or not this is wasted time or if 'genius' really does take time and thus you can not rush the process if you want the results. I am in this camp and I happy to take the extra time if it yields superior results down the road. When I get back to the shop in a couple weeks I'll make sure to get some pictures for you guys! Until then whatever you do, do it well.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Get Blown (Away)

After an interesting and productive weekend at home, whose got two thumbs and a MIG welder, this guy!, I am back in Peoria plotting away on what to do to the 72 Midget. Over the weekend I dropped off a load of BMC engine parts at my local auto machine shop, anyone from the Chicagoland area will immediately know the place I'm talking about, Auto Machine. There seemingly endless knowledge of engines and performance engine building has unfortuately put a damper on my thoughts of having a high revving, high compression motor in the Midget. Three main engines are not suppose to rev to the moon and supposedly you don't want to even try it. So now on to (side)step two... Forced Induction.

Now I have always been a turbo guy, from the 1.8T that was in my Beetle, to dreaming about the twins in a 993 911. However due to the fact that I am without fuel injection and don't want to inject the Midget, it looks as though a blower is in order. I have found a couple of almost Vintage correct kits that should provide the perfect mix of usable power and affordable cost. I will keep all of you up to date as I move down this road. So if you hear the whine of a supercharger coming from a little red car, just know that I'll be coming through.

Take care for tonight, more news to come soon!