For people who like projects and pics...

[lucas]

Last week I learned that I could use the 3D printers at my school.  I printed some headlight brackets I had designed in Solidworks, here is what they look like in the computer (click for full resolution photos):



and here is what they look like on the bike.



They are in yellow because it was free and yellow is the color that was loaded into the printer.  It feels pretty solid but I'm going to see if a 3D printed plastic headlight bracket can withstand the violence of hanging off the front of a motorcycle after a good thrashing

[ShowBizWolf]

lucas that is too awesome! I like it   

After I read a reply of yours in the *tries to remember* clipon thread that recently popped up, I was hoping at some point you'd post a pic of your bike with the handlebar setup I mentioned in that thread.

Outside of the obvious need to find different headlight brackets, did you have any other issues with mounting the bars under the triple? How hard is it on your wrists and back if at all?

[lucas]

Besides the headlight bracket there are some other minor issues.

My brake line is now about 1.5 or 2 inches too long.  I am planning on going to a shop and having a stainless steel brake line made.  Until then there isn't really a problem, it just looks dumb having extra brake line flapping in the wind.

Similar situation with the clutch cable and choke cable.  I deleted my choke cable and just made a loop that hangs off the carbs... Hard to explain.  Let me see if I have pics.



There we go.  I cut the cable and used a ferrule to make a loop.  I threw a magnet on the loop so that it will tuck against the frame while I'm not using it.

I did a similar thing for the seat release



What was I taking about? Oh yeah the clip ons!

The handlebars do vibrate.  More and less depending on the speed and rpms.  I wear gloves while I ride so it doesn't bother me very much.  I am thinking of ways to dampen the vibration though because I would rather they not vibrate as much as they do.

The pressure on the hands and on the back is about the same as a sport bike.  I am a fan of riding bicycles with the drop handlebars and on those I like having a stretched out body position so I guess maybe I'm used to the additional pressure on the back n wrists.

For my body the hardest part of riding is the legs.  My lower legs get crampy after, I don't know, an hour of riding.  This has less to do with the bike and more to do with my circulation and flexibility... for example my legs fall asleep straight away of I sit cross-legged!

P.S. Went for a ride today and the headlight bracket is solid.

[lucas]

Since I found out that I can use the 3D printer at my school I've gone completely crazy designing stuff to print.  Here are some things I'm most excited about.

I made a clip for my girlfriend's backpack.  I bought the backpack from a sale at REI and I didn't notice that it was missing one half of the clip on the chest strap.  So this weekend I measured the remaining half and drew a clip to fit in it.  I added something that should hold the water tube of the camelbak.



For my backpack I made a thing that'll go on the shoulder strap and hold my water tube

[Hupjai]

You weren't kidding, buddy. I wish I had more skill to design draw up projects like that!

Did you learn that in a design class? Textbook (hopefully PDF)? Just mad skillz?

Looks great, glad you're enjoying the tech!

[lucas]

I don't want to hijack this conversation so I moved my response to Hupjai over here

[Hupjai]

Thanks, Lucas!

I'm sure that info will be useful to many!

My current internship requires me to build/modify 3D models on Solidworks. Simple drawings and features, nothing as intricate as yours. I was just curious to see what resources you had to gain these skills and I think you've done a wonderful job sharing.

Keep up the great work!

[ShowBizWolf]

Bump for anyone's new projects...!! and also as a reminder for me later to add some pics of the 20 hours of progress I got done on my car this weekend 

[ShowBizWolf]

Ok so finally I am going to update this about my car. Work on it was slow during the winter but I managed to keep doing things here and there.

Got a brand new silver painted gas tank with lock rings and seals for $76 and put that on with new straps and stainless bolts. I know I took pictures of it installed but I had to get a new laptop recently and I think some of the more recent pictures got lost in the shuffle. I do have this one picture of the new tank though:


I had to go back to page 2 and 3 to see where I left off explaining things lol... anyway, when my car got hit, it did a lot of damage to what was left of the rusty frame.
Driver's side:


Passenger side:


I was able to get frame sections from an Acclaim, a new bumper bar for $40 and new bumper shocks for (I think) around $45 each. Soooo lucky they made a ton of these cars and parts like that can still be found. A friend of my dad's welded the new frame parts in for me... and then I did a ton of finishing work like sanding, filling, patching little places etc... then coated everything with primer and then truck bedliner.


The inside of the trunk... ugh it was awful. The lack of frame under my car + the rusted bumper shocks + the impact pushed everything up into my trunk. I honestly believe that if I hadn't swapped the donut for a full size spare long ago, this would have been much worse.


The guy (Dave) who welded in the new sections of frame, also did some fiberglass work in my trunk before he gave the car back to me. Pretty awesome of him to want to help me out and improvise so much with this project...


Then I spent time going over it and over it... sanding, adding more fiberglass here and there, cleaning, etc. This is how it looks so far with primer.


This past weekend I wanted to work on the back bumper... re-creating my flaring design from 2010. I *might* have been able to save what was on there after the wreck but... I decided to just scrap it all and start over. I felt confident I could do a better job this time anyway.

First thing I wanted to do was fill in the piece of trim or whatever that was missing. This had been gone since before I even got the car so it was time lol... I just used duraglas, sandpaper and a dremel:




I thought about it and studied it and got to a point where I was thinking holy crap how did I make this flaring for the bumper before? 6 years ago... I looked back at pictures and was like no that's awful I can do better. I decided to just work on the center part of the bumper for now and then wrap the sides around later.

I cut the pieces of aluminum, riveted them on (aluminum rivets too so no rust) and then fiberglassed the seams.




Then I sanded the fiberglass and used duraglas to smooth everything out. Pretty crude and bare-bones way of doing this but I like how it turns out.




Could show a bunch more pictures but you get the idea lol


Then I wanted to sand all the old layers of paint off the rest of the bumper (leading up into the trunk) so I did that...


And then primed it and called it a day. Woooooot




Next time I get down to the garage, I will work on the side pieces that wrap around the bumper and into the wheel wells. I can add more to this thread about other things I've done if anyone is interested... like the floor patches and the roof and whatnot... and of course, thank you for reading!! 

[Hupjai]

That looks like you have a solid network of kind people to help you with this project!

Looks great and it was really awesome that fella was able to help you!

Looking forward to seeing more and posting photos of my projects soon!

[lucas]

Glad to see your car survived the accident, it's super cool

[ShowBizWolf]

Thank you so much lucas!!! I really appreciate it. I know the wild paint job and the fact that it's just a 22 year old Spirit doesn't do it for many people but I love my car and can honestly say it has a little bit of a following 

Hupjai, thank you too for your kind words! Oh you have no idea how much of a blessing Dave was with his welding skills. Even though my dad's had his own (car) mechanic shop since 1972, he was never big into welding... that was my Pap but he passed away right when I finished high school so I never got to learn from him.

The first guy my dad found to help with my car ended up making things worse. He kept my car for a good 10 months and kept saying he was working on it... he was getting things done... and then we find out he just left it sit outside all winter and spring. He freaking lied.       

It was awful... that winter had gotten down below zero numerous times. The fuel lines rusted through... brake lines rusted... my battery was toast... little animals made nests inside... my cd player is dead... etc. So then we had to have it towed outta there and my dad got on the phone asking around who wanted to help... then we found Dave. He had it for about 3 or 4 months and then gave it back to me 

I am so so so so fortunate to have my dad's garage to work in. Air tools, lift, don't have to worry about how much of a mess I make lol... would never have been able to do the things I've done to my van and my car if it wasn't for that. 

[steezin_and_wheezin]

Great progress Biz!! Not really my style paintjob(just a bit too busy for me), but those Liz paintings are really fantastic! Amazing skill you have there. I can always appreciate someone pouring their heart and soul into any mechanical creature!! Keep up the great work

My biggest iron in the fire currently is swapping my 99 2.5rs with the complete drivetrain I pulled from my 2004 donor WRX. Just got to fire up the engine since swapping last weekend! I have loved this car for the 8 years I've owned it. Put all my knowledge to the test and modified it as best I could at the time. Intake, exhaust, headers, lighten crank pulley, reflashed ecu, yadda yadda. Time had come to stop messing with naturally aspirated setups and make my jump into the land of forced induction. Found a 2004 wrx donor for a great price just a few hours away and it was a done deal. Bought the donor, pulled my parts, sold the shell, and actually saw profit on my end! So all my extra I had saved was invested(still a better term then "spent" "squandered" "wasted") into suspension and a few power mods. Started the swap last January when I broke my leg on the slopes. It's taken tons of time, effort, research, cussing, and a fair amount of my play cash. Wouldn't change a thing though, I've learned too much to turn back now! It's been a great experience, but I'm ready to feel her back on the road

Last photo shoot before going under the knife;


How she's sitting now;




First start last weekend. Hadn't trimmed my mid pipe yet, so this is straight off the downpipe. Its chunky!!

My build thread is pretty long winded, so here's a link to it if anyone is interested;
http://www.rs25.com/forums/f145/t84683-estelle-99-2-5rs-_-another-swap-story.html

[ShowBizWolf]

steezin thank you for your support and compliments!! Yeah belieeevvvee me I've gotten mixed reactions to the graffiti paint job... it certainly isn't for everybody but I like the look of graffiti and just kinda went crazy with it. Some people hate it, some people love it, some people don't care lol... but anyone that can find something they like about my car, I really do appreciate!

You my friend have an AWESOME project there!!! As I was reading I'm sure my face did a   

I've always liked the styling of those cars and that color as well. I am going to check out the link you included later tonight at work... I would do it right now but I've gotta make a beer run before my shift starts 

[peteGS]

Wow nice work there ShowBiz!!!! Should turn out well indeed 

PS I'm glad your kitty approves of your fuel tank purchase 

[ShowBizWolf]

Thank you thank you Pete!! And yes, Hastey was thrilled with the new tank... she kept trying to get into it lol but lucky for me, couldn't fit. Don't need fur in my fuel LOL

[peteGS]

Hahaha but she'd be a purrrrfect fit!!!

We let a few of our cats out (indoors usually) and they like to come visit me in the shed when I'm in there... can be fun when doing things like fibreglassing...

[ShowBizWolf]

LOL! Yeah I've often though about my cats hanging out with me at my dad's garage... but omg they would get SO dirty/dusty/oily and that would be very bad. 

Hoping to get to the garage this weekend to work on one or both sides of the bumper finally... had a huge motorcycle rally in my town this past weekend (Thunder in the Valley) so that's where I was Sat and Sun and the weekend before that I was painting the foundation on my house   

I should put up some pictures of that because it was really really needing done... huge difference now! But I can't do it here at work because these computers won't load imgur or photobucket so poop on that

[peteGS]

Pic's are needed for sure! House painting though... ugh... no thanks! We have a brick house just so I don't have to paint the outside! Hahhaa

I did have to paint the gutters a few years ago though... never again!

[ShowBizWolf]

Oh I hear ya about house painting... inside the house? Forget it I am dreading having to do that eventually. Right before I bought the house, every room was painted so I've got years to wait for that 

My house is brick too!!! But there's a bit of the foundation that shows so that's the part I've been tending to. Need to get my butt on the computer when I'm at home (instead of just when I'm here at work haha) and upload those pics so you can see what I mean. I didn't mind painting the foundation tbh... I was careful for sure but it's not as precise as inside the house