A Day of Frame Prep

Another good day working on the BatBerry!  I was able to spend the day getting the frame prepped for its upcoming stretch.  I’m still working on finding a shop that can take care of the frame stretch, although I do have a few leads… we’ll have to see how they work out.  It all comes down to timing and availability.

Today I took all the extra bits off the frame like the fuel lines, brake lines, exhaust and I also removed the wiring harness from the engine.  Now you can simply pop out a couple of bolts to freely pull out the engine and transmission.  I’ll be able to re-use most of the exhaust, but I had to cut it in a few pieces to get it off.  That’s OK, since I’ll have to lengthen sections of the exhaust anyways.

I also busted out the grinder and wire-wheel attachment to clean-up all of the areas where the new metal will have to be welded in.  I was able to get it all ground down to the bare metal and then sprayed it with a light coat of primer to keep it from rusting again.  A wire wheel should take that light primer off easily before welding.

It looks like I should be able to take 2.5″ x 5.5″ box tubing cut to the desired length and then replace the existing frame rails with the new solid piece.  I’m also planning on moving the engine back towards the firewall to give me more options for engines down the road and also get a better center of gravity.

Now I just need to get some shop time booked to get to the next step 🙂