As it turns out, tonight I started on [both] the Kafer bar and the oil system! First up was the Kafer, or rear truss, bar. The upper shock mounts required grinding away some of the body, and then I got to the lower mounts. Here I found a fairly big issue. When building my transmission mount I totally forgot to take into account the truss bar mounts, and have created a bit of a problem. Sliding the truss bar mounts in between the trans mount and frame horns isn't going to work, as it will push my trans back and stress the mounts. I was going to weld them behind and up-high, but the way I double layered the metal on the trans mount means that would be a whole lot of welding and work. Combine all this with me forgetting which frame horn bolt was the one with iffy threads...and it was a challenging evening.
When I fit the Porsche transmission to the frame, I did so with the floorpan upside down. Thus the "left side" frame horn bolt was the one with damaged threads. Now, of course, the floor pan is right-side-up, but my brain was still thinking "left". After cross-threading the frame horn insert, I spent quite a bit of time dismantling things before I could cleanup and repair the threads. Missed the closing hour of the industrial store in town, so the truss bar remains half finished until I can buy some hardware. I'll end up bolting on the lower mounts, which wasn't my initial preference but will leave me with plenty of options down the road. Everything is just hanging out in the photo below, I'll shoot proper photos tomorrow once it's finished.
With that project stalled, I moved onto the oil system. Much like wiring, it's a good idea to have a map of where you're planning to go!
With my plan finish, I started by mounting up the tank. With the tank in place I can start visualizing where everything is going to go in the car, so I can start sorting out the fittings. I'm trying to plan ahead so I have the correct fittings at the correct time, without a need to reorder every night. Now is also the time to decide if things like the oil filter mount need right or left ports, or whether the accusump valve should go "here" or "there". The seat goes in, the seat comes out...there is plenty of movement and scribbling on paper, but not much to show here in photos!
My head was really set on getting the truss bar finished so that I could "move on" to other projects. I tend to find when I get significantly stalled, and the hour is getting later, I revert to doing silly little jobs that are usually out of order. When I found myself thinking about running the Air-Fuel gauge wire, I knew it was time to take a break!
...and really, there is always time for Top Gear ;-)
-Dave