Welding Bench

I've had covid. I started feeling ill over two weeks ago at the time of writing, but it has really set me back. For a start, there was the best part of three days where I could only move between the bedroom and the couch. Then as soon as I was able to get back to work, I was slammed with all the appointments I'd had to reschedule. And after that I had umpteen reports to write, and no time left to write any of them. If that wasn't bad enough, I started feeling ill on the Friday afternoon before a 3-day weekend. Most specifically a 3-day weekend we had set aside to finish the god damn deck replacement that has already been ongoing for more than a year. 

So that's the story of the last couple of weeks. This weekend through I was done with work on Friday evening and ready to work on something fun (i.e. not the deck). If you're not familiar, the photo below shows the set up in my garage. It's a bit cluttered...what I really need is some more drawers or shelves....

In addition to my primary work bench I have an old sideboard that I have been using for storage and as a place to dump stuff. What I really need in this spot is a welding/metal work bench. The top of this bench will be made from the bed from my old table saw and the two side wings. 

The bed is 27" x 20" and will be mounted so that the bench has an overall depth of about 23 inches....which means that the wings, which are 27" x 12" are too long: 

I solved this problem by chopping the wing in half with a cutting disc....

...and then chopping off a seven-inch-wide section:

When pushed back together, the remaining pieces measure 20" x 12" overall. 

The original plan was to build the bench and the new drawers myself....but I didn't want to spend the time it would have taken, so I bought two large toolboxes from one of those big box stores that I use a lot but also loath, and built the bench around them. I want my finished bench to be the same height as the existing timber bench. I started by building a platform for the drawers to stand on and then I leveled it:

I made the platform and the bench from lumber that I had on hand, which was a mixture of doug fir and PT lumber. The four bench legs were made from 4" x 4" PT posts that were salvaged from the old deck enclosure. The design is just copied from my timber bench which was put together sixteen (16) years ago. The original version was made with just a circular saw and some clamps, and the legs took ages to make. All four of these legs were cut in less than twenty minutes using a mixture of the cabinet saw and the band saw. 

Bench framework constructed around first toolbox:

Added the second toolbox and secured everything to the wall with Tapcons.

Maneuvered the original bench back into place and secured it to the wall. I took the opportunity to reduce the depth of this bench by five (5) inches. The space I regained will be useful if/when I get another vehicle that needs to share this space with the '68.

Next step: strengthen the support for the bench top:

The saw bed will sit in the center of this area:

I added some galvanized steel sheets to the areas either side of the saw bed:

The sheeting is intended to stop weld spatter from landing on the timber structure. 

A timber frame was added around the edges of what will be the welding area. I may end up covering these areas with galvanized steel too.

Um....still looks pretty cluttered, I guess. Oh well.

351 Windsor Leak Down Test

The '68 has been making a LOT of noise lately - most specifically an awful popping sound when idling and accelerating. It was particularly noticeable at the Goodguys show and on the way home.

A friend from BAMA lent me a leak down test kit. Unfortunately, both adapters in the kit have a 14 mm thread, while my spark plugs have an 18 mm thread....Grrrr...a problem that only the internet could solve. This was particularly irritating because I had spent twenty minutes warming up the engine and another ten or so taking out all the plugs.

A week later I received the 14 mm to 18 mm adapter in the mail. This part is designed to allow the installation of 14 mm spark plugs into an engine block with 18 mm threaded holes. But it still didn't fit! The depth of thread (about 10 mm) is not long enough to engage in the block before the bolt head hits the top of the recess around the spark plug hole. Grrrr!

So....I wrapped some electrical tape around the thread...

...and introduced the adapter to my grinding wheel setup. I ground the hexagon shaped head into a circle, and the smaller flange now fits inside the spark plug recess:

From above: 

Now we can do the leak down test. The test is a little bit tedious but goes like this:

1. Get the car up to operating temp. (I skipped this step since I pulled all the spark plugs out last weekend and I couldn't be bothered to put them back in etc.)

2. Take out all spark plugs, remove radiator cap, dipstick and oil cap. (See above).

3. Find Top Dead Center (TDC) on cylinder #1. (I did this by placing a piece of narrow-gauge stainless steel wire in the spark plug hole and turning the crank with a socket wrench until it peaked. Some people use the dipstick instead of a piece of wire).

4. Now that I have the correct adapter, I can use the Lang test kit I borrowed from a mate to check the pressure on each cylinder. (Note: If the pressure drops to 100 % immediately, it's probable that the cylinder is aligned at the exhaust cycle; so TDC +180 deg. If you rotate the crank through 180 deg. and get the same result, then an exhaust valve leak is the diagnosis). 

5. Repeat from #3 another seven times to cover all the other cylinders.

The biggest issue, literally, with doing this, is that the 351 Winsor motor is a bit too big for the engine bay, so access to the spark plugs is difficult. This particular engine was not an option in the '68 Mustang; mine was salvaged from a '69 Cougar which has more space between the shock towers. Luckily Amy Sheep came down to the garage on her birthday, to help with the bits that were most difficult. It didn't do much for her manicure, but it was super helpful.

The pressure fell instantly, and air was blowing through the tail pipe at the driver side on #5. We got the same result repeatedly in spite of re-finding and re-re-finding TDC multiple times....conclusion: A leaking exhaust valve at cylinder #5.  

All of the other seven cylinders held between 40% and 60% and any leakage was passed the rings which manifests as air flowing from the valve cover at the breather cap opening. The variation in percentage on these cylinders is most likely the result of variations in TDC alignment - it's hard to be accurate with the method I was using.

Garage Ceiling and Lights Part 1

If you read the last post, you're probably expecting to see some gutter installation....well, um...I haven't done that yet. Instead, I've been working below the deck/inside the garage. As mentioned back in February, we didn't get the deck finished before the monsoon season, and so the deck/garage ceiling leaked water all winter. The ceiling first went moldy, and then partially collapsed. About six months on it has properly dried out, and, with the deck finished (except gutters, railings, etc.) I can do something about it.

Step 1. Make some more space at the rear of the garage. This was achieved by taking down the lower couple of shelves at the rear wall and punting their contents into the table saw room: 

Moved the refrigerator in there as well, and pushed the '68 all the way forward....

.... which leaves plenty of space to work in:

Pulled down the ceiling from the first four (4) feet at the front of the garage:

The old insulation and assorted debris came down with the ceiling:   

Debris transferred into trash bags:

It is work noting that the structure of the garage roof/deck has been severely weakened at this point. Before we started, the structure consisted of LVL joists spaced at twelve inches on center, plus at least three (3) layers of 3/4" plywood, several layers of roofing material and a layer of deck boards. Now it's just joists and deck boards, and even the limited shear strength of the ceiling has been removed. 

I knew this was going to be an issue, which is why I only took down the first little bit of the ceiling. Before I can take down the rest, I need to add some strength, which means....blocking! I'm using sections of 2" x 8" doug fir, which are about 10.5" long. Each block is secured with 3.5" nails fired from the cordless Dewalt gun:

I'm installing blocking every 36" across the garage, which looks like this: 

To give myself a three (3) wide nailing surface for the ceiling drywall, I'm adding 2" x 4" scabs to the sides of the blocks:

Which looks like this when complete:

Pulled off (!) the next bit of ceiling as far as the first pair of strip lights:

Cut out the sections between the lights:

The drywall at the front left of the garage was stained, so I ripped that off too:

More bags of trash to get rid of later:

I set up the laser level to help me keep the blocking straight: 

Time to remove the automatic door opener - it doesn't work, and I'll be replacing it with a different style.

I was working on my own, so I had to support the heavy end with the step ladder and a box of trash bags during the lowering process:

Finished up installing all the blocking:

Then I removed all four antiquated strip lights. I'm replacing them with 10' long LED lights which are clip-mounted and easy to move around. The strips can be coupled together or connected with cables. To start with I have four lights at the remaining section of ceiling....

And another five where I just removed the ceiling...this is a temporary arrangement since the lights will have to come down when the ceiling is replaced.....but that is a few months away at the moment, and in the interim I have plans that need decent lighting in the garage.

The wiring for the new lights is super simple. Previously each of the four strip lights had an incoming cable: 

I just put an outlet at the end of the cable which the new lights can plug into. Power is controlled by the same wall switch as before. 

The lighting in the garage is much improved:

Back wall: