Kimjon

Did a test panel to test a few assumptions. I think, hope, pray...this works on the main door skin.

Cool idea. Out of interest I weighed the door this morning. Was only 3.6kg (no sheetmetal). The steel is super thin wall.

Changed it up a little. There were several versions of this model of Ape. One had suicide doors. So I'm going down that path...just cause. Took a little figuring out, but i came up with a mechanism that offers the articulation needed to clear a few things.

I'm lucky to have the workshop right next to the house, so I can put in hours when I get the chance. It's probably 20-30hrs a week??? I'm too poor to pay for someone else to fix/make stuff for me, so i just roll up the sleeves and get shit done.

This was the last but piece of the puzzle. its far from perfect, but im getting shit done.

Doing things the hard way since ages ago... I cut two bits of sheetmetal, then stretched one bit, and shrunk the other. Making the panel beating equivalent of a 69 with equal and opposing halves. Then tig welded it together. A lot of work.

I'm out of mig gas, and doing this type of work by yourself with a tig is punishing. If I was an octopus it would be okay-ish, but with only two hands I'm not loving this task. Slowly getting there, but I may park it until next week when I can get some ArCO2.

But, it's slowly getting there. And I'll be well pleased if I actually achieve it.

So, to make a door - it needs a frame. I thought about the different ways of doing this and settled on buying 20x20x1.6 SHS off a steel websitein Akl. When I went to collect it, I was told they didn't stock it. Ffs!! So i left with much bigger 25x25x1.6 which is considerably harder to work with. Google cunt of a job, and you'll most likely see images of someone who was planning to use 20x20x1.6, but ended up with 25x25x1.6 instead.

Then cut it in half, then cut it in half again... Now we're getting somewhere.

Donuts? Who doesn't love the guilty pleasure or glazed carbohydrates... But these ones are guilty free: I did some rough maths, ignored it...made these because the size was roughly in the middle of the two bends I needed to create.

Start a project. Visualize it finished...then go full retard and commit. Seems to be a formula that works.

Photo to give better perspective of just how small these Ape's are: For me, that's part of what makes them so cool.

Not my favorite part of any build, but unfortunately as good as Bluetooth wiring looks, unfortunately real wires are required to make it run. My multi use braket gained an extension to house the fuse box. It's removable so I can still access the brake reservoir below if needed. If tried to tuck it away out of the heat from the motor fan. But its all getting pretty full in the space.

Bit of pitting in the slave cylinders. But mostly where the slugs sit, not where the seals are. So I might get away with a light hone and prayers to baby Jesus or whichever God answers prayers for vehicle related problems?