scoutkid
Van Builder
Thanks! I called the guys at Atlas and he put my fears to bed right away. Great folks!
You don't happen to have a Plasma with you in that van, do ya? :sombrero:
Scoutkid's van is HERE!!!
- Thread starter scoutkid
- Start date
Thanks! I called the guys at Atlas and he put my fears to bed right away. Great folks!
You don't happen to have a Plasma with you in that van, do ya? :sombrero:
Way to go! good on you.:coffeedrink:
scoutkid
Van Builder
Not to be completely defeated by the weather and plasma issues, I got a few other necessary things done.
First, for some reason my plasma had a 40' cord on it. My welder has a 4' cord on it. Now I have 2 machines with 4' cord, and a 36' extension cord! This was a must since my 220V outlet is all the way in the back of the shop, and the welding needs to be done outside...
I also finished getting all the misc aluminum from the big built in desk out of the van. Now I can start plotting and planning!
You can see that there is about a 30" section that didn't get the nice heavy duty rubber flooring the rest did, but I will get some matching from Home Depot and finish it out.
Sorry for the super dark pic - I will take a better one I promise. It's nice having a pretty clean slate to work with!
First, for some reason my plasma had a 40' cord on it. My welder has a 4' cord on it. Now I have 2 machines with 4' cord, and a 36' extension cord! This was a must since my 220V outlet is all the way in the back of the shop, and the welding needs to be done outside...
I also finished getting all the misc aluminum from the big built in desk out of the van. Now I can start plotting and planning!
You can see that there is about a 30" section that didn't get the nice heavy duty rubber flooring the rest did, but I will get some matching from Home Depot and finish it out.
Sorry for the super dark pic - I will take a better one I promise. It's nice having a pretty clean slate to work with!
scoutkid
Van Builder
Honestly? I am up at 4:15 every day, at the gym by 5, home, eat, work, eat, work, eat, etc. gym again internet, work, eat, internet, sleep.
It goes something like that
loren85022
Explorer
I think you win Most *itch'nes Build of the Week.
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scoutkid
Van Builder
Thanks!
Hopefully it is about to get 'itchener. Ever wonder how much your 2WD suspension is worth? $30 at the scrapper. It just about 500 lbs, hubs through link ends, FYI.
And here is a perfect example of how I get impatient.
Plasma needs consumables? Have to wait a WEEK? Screw that, I can just get a whole new tool
I mean, I scrapped $142 today, AND sold my old machine in about 10 mins on Craigslist for $200! I only paid $100 for it on Craigslist last year. AND I took the long old cord off of it that would have cost me $100 just to make. I feel like I did well 
I went with the hypertherm over the miller 375 JUST because it had a smaller (narrower?) tip on it. I tend to work in more confined spaces than not, and smaller is better for me.
NOW let's go burn some steel!!
scoutkid
Van Builder
I'm glad you think so!
It turns out the guy that bought my old Plasma was a 'Scout Guy', so when he got it took more time than anticipated as we went through the Red Scout, Vantom, shop, etc... I'm not complaining at all, it's just hard to chat when you have a brand new metal-munching toy sitting on the shop floor!
I got all the holes burned for the shackles, EFFORTLESSLY I may add, with the new fancy-schmancy Hypertherm.
But I must say, Chris must be a HELL of a lot stronger than I am... his video says 'just bend the ribs in the frame out of the way....' then you see him seemingly snap these plastic-like jobbers out of the way with barely a tug on the prybar.
Let me tell you, my van must be the one built with real, honest to God steel, because those ribs don't just 'bend out of the way'. After the trouble I had prying those bastids out of the way, methinks I shouldn't tangle with a guy like Chris.
Oh, and he used a clamp to hold his nice little templates in place. I didn't have such a clamp, but I thought his was pretty creative, so if you are planning on doing this conversion, maybe this will help:
Then it got dark, like it seems to do EVERYday... and I was only able to weld in the drivers side sleeve, it still needs ground/prettied up and painted, but I will wait for some daylight. Between the two pictures you can see that I am not in fact lying, and I did get both sleeves in the frame.
And on a 'thats handy' note, it looks like when I get the springs in their final place, I will be able to roll the axle under them and use the ubolts to cinch it up right off the ground. How's THAT for a 'custom axle jig'?
scoutkid
Van Builder
Will do!! The Vantom WILL be up on all fours by the end of the weekend, this is taking WAY too long!
I'll take all the help I can get
