HM-2016 BUILD THREAD (MN)

[mandmGuys]

Looking good there Aaron. Two quick observations and one suggestion.
First, presume the photo with Levi is staged since in your picture you have eye and ear protection on but your son drilling has neither? Second, see that Hurricane as added a vin tag on the frame above the rear end, does your car also have the number welded onto the frame?

Last, did not notice, did you modify the e brake handle to set up at a +/- 45 degree? Think most of us made that mod since Paul showed us his. Works with interior better and looks "more" original.

Keep up the good work and pictures.

Mark

[aarvig]

Mark,
Nope, the pictures with Levi aren't staged. I have a valve that attaches to the drill that can control the speed of the drill and I had it set fairly low for steel.  That drill is actually for aluminum and can spin up to very high RPM'S (Carry over from my airplane project).  So the valve makes it easier for drilling steel by slowing the drill head down.  A welcome side-effect is that the drill is quieter too.  Sometimes, if I am running the drill I will leave the valve wide open and control the speed with my finger but it usually is louder and if I'm not careful the drill bit starts smoking when working with steel SO...the valve was set appropriately for Levi. 
The number is welded onto the drivers side rear of the frame.  Also, there is a second VIN tag above the one you see in the picture (on the trunk cross member).
On the e-brake...no, I haven't set it for 45 degree angle.  How do you do that?

[mandmGuys]

Aaron this is a shot of mine in the "OFF" or released position. Don't really have a good shot of the mods. If you have the link to Paul P's build page, he describes it pretty well. It involves cutting off the front mount of the handle and adding pieces to raise it up then using a chain link to correct the draw angle. Others have done slightly different variations of the that, you also have be sure the boot fits over it.

Mark 

[Bob Worley]

Aaron, Here is another example of an article I need to write on modifications I've made.

Also, thanks to Paul Proefrock who sent me drawings and even parts that he didn't use to help me make the modification.  There is more to do than what it shown in these pictures but this gives you an idea what's involved.









I'll get all these articles written someday!

[Dan]

Looking good Aaron.  Let me know when you plan to drop the motor in and I'll try to make it over.  I do have the plate that attaches to the intake for use with the engine hoist.  I also have a set of tools that make it easy to assembly A/N fittings when it comes time to run your cooling and fuel lines to the engine.

Dan

[aarvig]

Looking good Aaron.  Let me know when you plan to drop the motor in and I'll try to make it over.  I do have the plate that attaches to the intake for use with the engine hoist.  I also have a set of tools that make it easy to assembly A/N fittings when it comes time to run your cooling and fuel lines to the engine.

Dan

Thanks Dan.  I would've had the fuel cell in over the last weekend but the whole family was occupied with the pukes...not a fun weekend.  This next weekend is out but hopefully the following weekend I'll have the fuel cell in and then the engine/trans to follow.  Thanks for the offer, I'll definitely take you up on that.

[Russ Crouch]

Aaron,
Your build is looking great. Good to see your family involved. I have three #80 half-links to be used with the famous Paul Proefrock brake mod. If you or someone else needs one, I can put it a padded envelope and send it your way. They only weigh 2.7 oz. each. Just PM me and I will get it sent out. The best price I could find on ebay was for four and I will never need the three remaining half-links.

Russ C

[120mm]

Great write up!

I look forward to updates as you make progress.

Drew

[MFE III]

Aaron,
Your build is looking great. Good to see your family involved. I have three #80 half-links to be used with the famous Paul Proefrock brake mod. If you or someone else needs one, I can put it a padded envelope and send it your way. They only weigh 2.7 oz. each. Just PM me and I will get it sent out. The best price I could find on ebay was for four and I will never need the three remaining half-links.

Russ C

PM sent. The world famous PP Brake Mod is on my to-do list!
Matt

[aarvig]

I've need to update my build thread so I decided to start the update.  We are making good headway right now with what has been a very enjoyable project.  I have learned a lot as we have been building.  Following the rolling chassi being finished the next step was to install the aluminum fuel tank.  This is a very nice piece that Hurricane includes as STANDARD on all their kits.  This is one of those value added things that Hurricane does that you won't find in many other replica manufactures without paying for upgrades.

Because I wanted a nice finish on my tank, I sanded the tank with 220g all the way up to 2000 (wetsand).  Don't do this with a bum shoulder...ask me how I know.



After wetsanding and sealing with a product called SharkHyde, the finished product was awesome!  Don't forget to rinse out your tank.  Mine was full of production shavings so I rinsed it out and let it dry before finishing it with Shark Hyde.

[aarvig]

Once the tank was finished the next task was to hang it in the car.  Hurricane uses a strap system combined with bolting the tanks aluminum side flanges to some welded rails on the frame.  Easy enough.  My plan was to bolt the aluminum flanges to the frame rails using grade 8 hardware and then open up the fiberglass trunk floor so I can get access to the bolts with the trunk in place in case I ever need to remove the tank.  Jason included some plastic plugs so the holes in the trunk floor could be sealed from the elements.

Using a floor jack I lifted the tank into place and held it there using a hand vise.  I then marked the drill locations with a drill punch and then had the boys drill the holes through the frame rail into the tank flanges.





I wanted to insulate both the metal straps and the aluminum tank mounting flanges with rubber to prevent rattling and friction.  I was perusing Mark M's photobucket and I noticed his tank straps had some really sweet looking wide, thick rubber straps that looked era appropriate for a cobra.  He forwarded me the info on where he picked them up so I ordered the tank strap insulators from Quanta (Gastanks.com).  I think they are from a 70 Chevy/Oldsmobile.  I had a bunch of extra rubber so I trimmed some to fit between the frame rail and the aluminum tank flange.



Here is a picture of the frame rail and aluminum tank flange separated by the rubber insulator and bolted down with grade 8 hardware.

[aarvig]

Building the straps proved to be a real pain in the you know what.  You'd think this would be easy but because I'm a newbie this took three sets of straps to accomplish.  Primarily, I'd get the bends too tight around the tank and then when I'd try to bolt them to the upper frame rail the carriage bolts holding them to the rear bumper would snap.  Rule of thumb...plan for some stretch when you set the position of your bends. 

The kit comes with carriage bolts (which fit under the trunk tub fiberglass nicely, but after bending/snapping them several times, I used grade 8 hardware and plan to put holes in the trunk floor with plugs so I can access these later if I need to. You can see the hardware on the rear bumper rail plus how I planned my first bend.  I used tape on the tank to protect the really sweet finish I put on it that I will never see  .



After making the aft bend I made the leading edge of the tank bend that sends the strap up to the top of the frame for bolting down.





Once the strap was aligned to the upper trunk rail, I pulled it really tight and marked where the through hole was on the frame for drilling.  The manual says to mark 1/4 inch below the hole so when you fit the strap, its tight.  So that is what the lower blue mark is for.

[aarvig]

In order to reinforce the straps you have to fold them over on themselves and match drill the existing hole.  So first...I drilled the hole for the bolt where it was marked on the strap.  Then I folded it about 110 degrees using the edge of my workbench as a straight edge bend around and then finished the fold off in the vise and then match drilled the hole.







Then, I installed the straps, rubber insulators, and bolts and the finished product looks like this:



This is a picture of the hardware setup used on the rear bumper rail when I converted it to grade 8 hardware.



Here is a picture of the upper frame rail where the forward (bent back on itself) portion of the tank strap mounted:

[s_reynolds]

Aaron, good work. Brings back old memories, except I had the poly tank on the "original" Hurricanes and had to do it all over again when I bought the alum tank. Keep the pics coming.

Sam

[Russ Rittimann]

Looking really good Aaron.  Keep up the great work.  Got some fine helpers there too!!

Like the way you finished the aluminum on the tank.

Russ