December part 1
I've been taking it easy since I got the new Lex. I could have been finishing off the drivers door but I decided I would take a break from the van for a little bit. In the mean time I decided my welders could do with a cart to make moving them around the workshop easier. I didn't really go into too much detail with plans, I had it in my head how I wanted it to look and just went with it. I had 2 large rear wheels from an old power wash lying around and lots of scrap 3mm sheet from work collected already.
I wanted it to look nice as well as being practical so I put a bit more extra effort into it than I normally would. It had to hold my Mig, Tig, gas bottle and a drawer for accessories.
There's not a lot of build pictures for it as my digital camera is borked and im having to use my tablet in the mean time. I started with a basic frame made from 25mm box then cut the sides out and tacked them in, then the top and bottom shelves. I wanted a nice curved recess for the gas bottle so I cut the 3mm plate into 500mm strips, bent them around a smaller gas bottle then tacked them together. Tacked that to the cart and cut down the side to remove the excess.
After I got the basic shape done I made a drawer for it then welded it all up. Smoothed it down and a little bit of filler on some of the welds to tidy them up then a nice coat of blue we had lying around the work to match the welders. It took a bit of time but I wasn't doing anything else so it was a fun build to do.
I did go down to the van today. Next week is the big engine removal from the Lexus job so I went along to tidy up and prepare a few things. Once that was all done I was looking at the engine bay of the van and was thinking about what I'd need to remove to get the engine in. Its played on my mind for a long time about where to cut and so I had a good clear image of what id need to do. I felt confident enough with my plan to just go ahead and start cutting. The 1UZ-FE dimensions are around 26" cubed.
I marked out with my scribe the area I'd need to remove, the area left between the sides was around 36". That gives me 5" space each side for access when fitting.
I also had a few bolts to undo.
Then with a 1mm cutting disc in the grinder I started to cut.
Once cut the panel lifted straight up and out.
So now I have loads of space to fit a V8!.
Now I can't wait to get on with next week, Just got to get Christmas out the way first ;) .
Oh, I have also put my little book on offer for the holiday period. For the next 2 weeks I have taken 35% off the price so for the UK that's £3.90 and for the USA that's $6.38 for 585 pages of images and reading . You could buy it for yourself, something to read on that nice shiny new tablet, laptop, phone etc... That someone bought you for Christmas or give it as a gift to someone you know that may be interested in it. Either way, it helps me out with the build.
This link will take you straight to the discounted price https://sellfy.com/p/zFxy/-kev/
Or click on the pic below.
If it asks for a discount code its - Kev
Merry Christmas everyone expect part 2 of this update late next week!
