I haven't had a chance to work on my car much, so here is a random update of other stuff.

I did get my heat shield TIG welded up.  It warped quite a bit, so I spent a few evenings trying to straighten it back out.  It's pretty slow going, and still not perfect.

I took it out of the fixture.

I stopped at AutoZone for some supplies.  I was going to pick up some used cigs too, but they're cracking down.

Last weekend, I moved my brother to Blacksburg, VA.  He starts med school at VCOM this week, so we piled all of his stuff in a 6x12' U-Haul trailer.  It was a pretty easy move!  The enclosed trailer made everything super easy.  It was easy to load, stable to haul, easy to unload, and totally painless to return.  This was also my first time towing with the new truck, and it had no trouble with this little trailer.  I didn't even notice it back there!

New River Gorge bridge.  This must have been taken on the return trip, because the trailer isn't there.

Tiny truck.

We passed a few of the smaller 5'x8' enclosed trailers on the highway.  The 6x12 was perfect; I can't imagine trying to pack all of his stuff into this little guy!

Bachelor pad all unpacked!

We found out that Big Lots sells Awesome for $0.95!  I usually pay $1.00 at home, so this is quite a bargain.

Deep thoughts from the printer.

My brother came back to Pittsburgh, he will move down to VA permanently this week.  We went out to a fancy dinner, and I snapped this blurry picture of downtown Pittsburgh from the restaurant window.

This weekend I went to help my buddy JJ with some home improvement projects.  He's got a baby on the way, so I offered a day of my services to hack something together.  We planned to do some outdoor wiring, but rain changed our plans.  We built a shelf.

It will fit right between the water and the beer.

I need one of these handly little fuckers.  It's like an extra pocket that won't wear out.

We anchored the shelves to the wall.

It's no Uzi... but still pretty badass!  JJ has all the toys.

I just loafed, drank beer, and took photos while J worked.

Success!  Ziti approves.

Speaking of shelves, they were giving away these old racks at work.  Everybody passed up this one because it was missing some screws and really flimsy, but it was larger than all of the others.

I removed a few shelves, tightened all of the screws, and added some Harbor Freight casters to the bottom.  Much better!  I also cleaned up my shop a little bit, it was getting too cramped to work.

I was happy with the test piece I bent from aluminum, so I transferred my pattern to a sheet of 22ga stainless steel. 

Bottom side marked out:

Top side:

The practice piece had a few scratches on it, so I polished up the edges of the bead roller to make everything smooth.

Bent!

I made a tape template for the center piece. 

I forgot to take pictures, but I bent and fit the center piece.  I had Woody tack it in while everything was still bolted to the car.

This is really hard to get a clean photo of!

I bolted it to my fixture and delivered it to Lewis Welding.  He will do all the finish welding this week.  After these three pieces are welded together, I still have to design and bend the front section which will be visible from the engine bay.

I went to visit my Uncle Rich today, and snapped a picture of his 1968 Checker Aerobus.  He found this thing in a barn a few years back.  It hasn't changed much since he bought it, he is going to tinker with it this summer. 

I posted more info about it back when he first found it:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5234889-Barn-find-1968-Checker-Aerobus-6-door&highlight=checker

Fro and Jeremy stopped out and brought some toys!

This one was fun!

Each of these papers requires a signature from the local police chief, fingerprinting, up-to-date ID photos, a federal background check (which takes 6 months), and about $200 in taxes.  The hoops you must jump through to get the good stuff!

I started making the next section of my heat shield.  This piece is really complex, so I started with a sheet of scrap aluminum.  Once I know the shapes are correct, I will make another one in brushed stainless.

This is the area I'm shaping a heat shield for.  Notice that the exhaust is offset toward the passenger side of the car, and the shift linkage passes down the driver side of the car.  I will need to add a clearance section for the shift linkage while allowing the maximum size for a catalytic converter.

I started with a template.  The red shape in the foreground will be the shape near the rear of the car, and the red shape in the background will be the shape near the front of the car.  The relieved section will taper toward the front for clearance around the shift linkage.

Bend lines laid out - bottom side:

Top side:

In the areas where up-bends and down-bends converge at a point, I won't be able to use a brake as I normally would.  To make these bends, I had to make a tipping wheel for the bead roller.  This puts a slight kink in the metal as it passes through, and you can make larger angles with more passes.

I welded some steel tubing and a $1 steel washer together, then trued it up on my lathe.

I raided my parents' basement for some old skateboard wheels, I found a few different hardness wheels for the lower drum.

Bending!

Simple as that!  Not shown: 12 hours of paper templates, practice pieces, test bends, and advanced geometry.

Plenty of clearance for the shift linkage, and plenty of clearance for the exhaust.   I will plan out the front piece (which will be visible in the engine bay) and the connecting piece before making the final brushed stainless section.