More info?
NXCoupe's Shop Build
- Thread starter Nxcoupe
- Start date
ckessel
Well-Known Member
Sure. optrel.us. I'm using the E684 currently. I was using their Vega View 2.5. The Vega replaced my Miller Elite. When I was doing the welding classes, I was having issues killing stainless and steel from too much heat. By the time I could see the weld pool and get moving, it was too late. Burned the chrome or carbon out. One day when I was having issues at the class, I borrowed a couple of helmets from the homies. One guy had a new Lincoln unit which was no different. The substitute instructor had an older Speedglass unit. BINGO! I could weld without killing the metal. The Miller blocked too much light, even on the lowest setting. About that time I received a new catalog from USAWELD. They talked about the Vega view unit and how you had more light transmission to see with but still had protection. I called and explained to the sales gal what I was experiencing with the Miller and she said the Optrel would help. It did. Later on as I'm getting older, the Vega was blocking a little too much so thats when I got the E684. Now my only problem after I had surgery for a facial spasm which closed up the left eye, is paying attention to the pool. The helmets can be had from Amazon, usaweld and some of the other online welding suppliers. The Optrels don't have the flashy appearance like the Miller's, Lincoln's etc but I don't care for that. I want function. I've been running the 684 just above 7 on my lower TIG settings for sheet metal and it works fine. The higher the amp, the brighter the light, so I run the settings up then.
Thanks! I will def look into that. I bought a new adjustable auto helmet from HF which is working well so far but I have not began tig welding yet.
Figured it was time to get the doors installed, so Neil and I removed all the packing and set it in. I made the door opening too big, but it'll work. It took patience and a bunch of shims, but overall I'm really happy with how it turned out.
My neighbor got his car back together and needed me to massage the keys and get his sniper tuned for the bigger cam and heads. He brought the car down and also brought the baseboard molding. He had it done in 20 minutes. Man is a machine. It looks great, matches the cabinets nicely.
His car needs a new distributor, which is why it was running crappy. I need to paint the doors and trim and then put knobs on them. It's pretty much done inside. Time to move on outside of the walls.
I started working on emptying out totes, getting them out of the way. I got about 10 to 12 emptied out. I am finding cool stuff as I go, and a lot of stuff that needs to go in the trash. Still need to put shelves up on the inside walls so the tools and manuals have a place to go. More later. Trying to empty and move totes so I can move my toolbox into the engine room. Thanks for looking!
It is time for the next portion of phase 2 to begin and that is putting up the walls so I can start putting my work benches and porting bench up. That will entail building wall frames, putting plastic barrier up and then installing insulation afterwards. The difference is, that these walls will be about 15 feet tall. I'm not looking forward to the first one but it has to be done. I am also going to use steel instead of drywall at certain points on the wall for easy clean up, since I do a lot of T5, TKO, TKX and T56 rebuilds, that can get messy because most guys don't drain them before bringing them to me. The rest of the walls will be drywalled and taped, mudded, sanded and painted. I need to get started so I can start porting heads and doing 5 angle valve jobs again. I have 5 engine projects of mine that are all waiting on this.
That's the latest. Pics and progress to come soon.
That's the latest. Pics and progress to come soon.
Hemirunner
Well-Known Member
Looking fantastic... I need to get over your way one of these days and check it out in person!
Please do!
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I always had more fun working "on" my shop than working "in" my shop......... gets a little spendy tho
Finally made time to get back at this. I need my porting bench like yesterday, so that's the motivation g
For getting on this.
I had 2 guys to help me today, as lifting this was going to be awkward at best.
I laid all the boards out onto the floor and got all the tools, supplies and sawhorses out and ready.
We used the studmaster 16 on center tool to do the bottom half and 24 on center for the upper half. We got both frames all done and then nailed them together into one piece.
I got the plastic out and we laid it out over the frame. It was stapled down to the frame. We flipped it over and installed the insulation and then lifted it upright and slid it over and into place. We nailed it to both of the 6x6s to hold it into place. The 2x4s are not straight at all, and the concrete between the posts isn't level either, so you can see it is off up top a little bit. It's not engine building, so close enough is good enough.
For getting on this.
I had 2 guys to help me today, as lifting this was going to be awkward at best.
I laid all the boards out onto the floor and got all the tools, supplies and sawhorses out and ready.
We used the studmaster 16 on center tool to do the bottom half and 24 on center for the upper half. We got both frames all done and then nailed them together into one piece.
I got the plastic out and we laid it out over the frame. It was stapled down to the frame. We flipped it over and installed the insulation and then lifted it upright and slid it over and into place. We nailed it to both of the 6x6s to hold it into place. The 2x4s are not straight at all, and the concrete between the posts isn't level either, so you can see it is off up top a little bit. It's not engine building, so close enough is good enough.
Well, over 6 months later, I finally said enough is enough and we got back on this. We laid out the studs for the bottom section of the wall. But first, we measured 3 width measurements and three height measurements so we knew total height. We put the first one together using std length studs but cut the headers to width.
Then after we got that nailed together, we started cutting the boards to length for the headers and the studs to length.
Then after we got that nailed together, we started cutting the boards to length for the headers and the studs to length.
We moved onto the top section, bottom section is 16 on center and top section will be 24 on center as it is not load bearing at all. The bottom section will have work benches attached, so I wanted the extra support and lots of places to secure the benches to the wall. Once we got both halves built, I nailed the top and bottom sections together.
Next, we drug the plastic vapor barrier out and spread it.over the 2 sections and stapled it on. Then we flipped it over so the plastic was on the floor and put the insulation on and stapled into place except the edges so we could nail it into place on the 6x6s. Then we walked it upright and slid it over into place.
Tomorrow we are hopefully going the the opposite corner to do 2 walls there. If it EVER STOPS RAINING, we could move cars out of the way and it would make doing the outside walls so much easier. We are going to nail the top of the frame to the 6x6 too and the secure the insulation. We are also going to finish the insulation on the neighboring side too. Hopefully more to come tomorrow.
Tomorrow we are hopefully going the the opposite corner to do 2 walls there. If it EVER STOPS RAINING, we could move cars out of the way and it would make doing the outside walls so much easier. We are going to nail the top of the frame to the 6x6 too and the secure the insulation. We are also going to finish the insulation on the neighboring side too. Hopefully more to come tomorrow.
Well, best laid plans and all that, we built the roughly 9ft x 16ft section, with the top and bottom halves attached in the center, when we realized we wouldn't be able to stand it upright because it would hit the garage door tracks, the LEDs, etc. So we decided the three of us could lean it enough to clear, and scoot it to where it needed to go and then slide it upright into position. Well, we just didn't have enough oomph between the three of us and the top half ended up folding downward. I got pissed and just let it go and pulled the stupid thing off and out of the way. Oh well, we put the bottom half into place and got it nailed in. I got up on the ladder later that day after I had calmed down and cut all the nails sticki g up flush with the board. At least I thought I did.....
I left the original bottom board to the top section nailed onto the bottom so that meant I had to cut all the studs back by 1.5", and after looking at it a bit we realized the studs were loose and about to fall off anyway, so we yanked them off and got the nails out. I cut the boards down and we assembed the dang thing again. This time, I had 2 friends stop by to help and we lifted it into place, well sort of. Tge left side slid right in, but not the right side. I tapped it with a hammer, then the sledge and cussing, walked away. Neil lifted it up a tad and boom, it slid right in. It was caught on a nub of a nail. Sheesh. Got it on and all nailed up. Pics tomorrow, I'll edit this post with them.
Building stuff is seldom easy, and I have had more than my fair share of frustrations.
You made progress - keep up the good work and it'll get done!
Yep, going to get out there between spending time with my wife today on her day. I also have a car to work on.Building stuff is seldom easy, and I have had more than my fair share of frustrations.
You made progress - keep up the good work and it'll get done!
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