For the benefit of those among us that lack the ability to see a project until it's actually completed, I'm here to tell you that today you'll be able to see what I did w/ 12 little pieces of steel.
The Gila gills on the driver side are 90%. There are still pin holes, and some little blurbs that need fixing, but for the most part, It's close enough to allow it to sit till paint time.
I did tig the entire thing in there though I said I wasn't comfortable enough to do so. I started out doing the spot weld ever 3" or so using the mig, but after grinding them all down said Fk that. There's no way I'm gonna do that again, so I forced myself to work w/ the tig. My tig also has a finger button trigger, besides a foot pedal, it's jus a matter of getting the heat setting right. I managed nonetheless.
It still wasn't w/o it's fair share of obstacles. Those 12 little pieces ended up a little wonky when it was all done, and I played holy hell getting it in the opening any where near square. If you look at the above pics, you'll see the downside to trying to assemble all of those separately welded pieces. The top line isn't anywhere near straight, and the front edge doesn't follow the same curves as the three behind it.
(That's cause I'm a one man garage hack, and not Troy Trepenier)
The worst part of this side is the fact that there was a previously welded version of an earlier scoop that needed cutting back off. That process, and the resulting sections that had to be rewelded in as fillers, managed to just warp all to hell. Try as I may to keep moving around while welding it in, the thing still sunk in pretty significantly.
That required a bunch of time as the Bondo Body Man. Whether that's a good thing, or bad, it's all water under the bridge now. I really couldn't straighten the metal that much as the scoop itself was either in the way, or was partly to blame for keeping the panel in a warped shape because of the structure itself.
I don't know what the guys on the shows like Car Warriors do differently, but seems to me they slather the Bondo on, and sand until they get what they are looking for. That's the exact way I did it in the garage.
One other problem was an oversight on my part,..one that I will not miss on the other side.
What's wrong with this picture?
Well?
That is the back side of the two center fins.
Open.
As in not welded shut.
What happens when I'm driving in a torrential rain storm, or just washing the car for that matter, and water gets in the scoop? ( not the problem).
How does the water that will run into those fins ever get out?
It can't. Therein lies the problem, and my oversight. I shoulda welded the back side of those fins closed.
Now the only thing I can do is try to inject some kind of fungoo into the backside through that opening, and try to seal them up. With what I don't know yet.
I also found a new mesh that I'm happy with enough to use universally. I'm gonna put that stuff in front to protect the coolers as well. Got it at the metal supermarket for 10.00 for a 12 x 48" sheet............................................Love the metal supermarket.