Project Countach

 Did a lot of chassis cleanup and addition of metal panels this month. I welded in the foot panel areas, the plates under the stick shift tunnel, the firewall plates, and I painted the underside of the car (may need another coat once complete with everything). Just to protect it for now. I am doing all I can while it's still in frame mode. I still need to weld on the floor pans for the seating area, mounting tabs for the dashboard and other panels, and brackets/holders for the hydraulic lines. I used to be able to lift it up by myself on it's side. The last time I tried, I pulled my back and shoulders a bit since it's getting too heavy for me to lift one end up now. I imagine I'll be using the engine hoist or a neighbor when it's time to turn it again to route the lines (or just go under the car). Not a lot of pictures. I've been focused mainly on working. I usually leave the phone out of the garage so it's not a distraction and will take a pic afterward if ...

The following pics seem to have come in in a backwards order. August was basically welding month. I welded the majority of the frame and began work on the floor pans. I admit I have not been taking as many pics as I was hoping to, because once you get on a roll, it's hard to stop to snap a pic. Rather than summarizing, I will just caption each pic. The first pic is the last thing done in August and the last pic is the first thing done in August. For September I have already started final welding on the frame and will take the time to clean it up before the next steps. Moving this frame around on my own took a toll on my energy so I have been resting this past week. With the frame on its side, I was able to get a good look at how to mount the seats. I went with 3/8" bungs for the front part of the seat rail, bolted through the tube with predrilled holes. The rear part of the rails have a couple of tabs welded to the car frame, with a 3/8" bolt securing the seat frame to th...

 It's seat time! July was focused mainly on installing seats using a rail system I came up with. I didn't want to bolt the seats directly into the frame like I did in the previous version of the build and wanted to have some adjustment - even if it wasn't easy to adjust. The rest of the month was spent cutting and welding tube steel to start supporting the frame. This last one for fun. Taken 3 days apart. What a difference a haircut makes!

So far June and July have been extremely productive months for the car project. There were times when I couldn't stop to take pictures because I was too caught up in the momentum of building! I started the month by removing the engine and transmission from the old chassis and setting them aside. I then mocked up the fake engine with the appropriate mounts and welded it to the new chassis, and then bolted on the transmission. Next, I added the headers to allow for visualization of the drive train. It took a few days to measure and place the engine but the end result was worth it. I also took the body off the old frame and dragged it out to the driveway. The next task was to begin on the steering system and starting to get the ergonomics correct. So for this, I needed to order proper seats. I bought replica Countach seats from ebay and was super happy when they arrived as they were very nice quality and allowed me to continue! I rigged a PVC harness for the steering to get the angles...

May was spent mainly fitting the front suspension components and tackling issues with wheel fitment. There were a few issues with the wheel adapters, and with the wheel fitting over the hub of the rotor. I went to DC on a work trip mid-May and got Covid on my way back. I also gave my boys Covid so we spent the latter half of May sick. I made a lot of progress in June so far as well.