Cheers!

Its ok, does 90% of the tings i want it too. Find it best for making templates for stuff and rendered visualisations. Its not the most user friendly of things and I've never been properly taught most of its features. I did once make a basic working engine in it once, consisted of block, pistons, gudgeon pins, conrods and crankshaft. But you could turn the crank and the pistons would go up and down

I'd have thourght the program you use would be much better. Rendering looks a lot better.

Nice. I use Solidworks. I think its fantastic. Managed to get a cracked copy off t'internet, its great!

At uni we use Solidedge, which is similar in workings to Solidworks, but its a terrible program. I hate it. It won't reference properly, it lags etc etc. Luckily, Solidworks files can be used in Solidedge, so for uni work (we have to have work in Solidedge format) I do all the work in Solidworks, and transfer it over to Solidedge. Different people, different preferences though, some of my mates love it. I used Solidworks in college though, so I'm more familiar with it anyway, which is why I get so angry with Solidedge

The rendering in Solidworks is very good, and its a lot more complicated if you want to get the lighting "perfect" or whatever. I haven't bothered with most of the stuff, no idea how to use it! Rendering for me is just a case of picking a material, drag onto the part, and hit render

Its a very capable program, I've only scratched the surface!

I might have to try it out like, Although as with anything, you always prefer the one your used to. Prodesktop is very functional with little emphasis on pretty rendering. Drag and drop materials and different lighting directions and a few lenses. Its pretty good for not lagging etc. was really good at school when we could send designs to the CNC Router and it would cut it out of foam

Am going to look into getting the plates for the top of the struts machined at a local engineering place depending on price

Soildworks is one of the best CAD programmes, although in uni we use Autodesk Inventor. Both will do testing etc, but solidworks seems alittle more "arty" and thats not good for people who do maths hahaha!

Am still on the hunt for free 3+ mm steel sheet to make the strut top pieces but have acquired some (free) 25x25mm box section with a 2mm thickness which i think will do. Will have to design some new bracket for the power steering fluid reservoir as the old one wont fit over the brace. If i can do the whole thing for free i will be very happy.

Also got some thinner sheet so that i can start getting the rust chopped out the sill and front valance and replaced with good metal.

Have now sourced some 3mm sheet (at a cost ) and have turned my attention to the adjustment mech. Think i'm going to go with a turnbuckle and weld it in. this is the one i think i'll buy, would have gone with a 20mm thread but i'm trying to keep costs down:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Forged-Galvan ... 19c6c5fe85

Unless anyone has a better idea?

I am not particuly confident about that item :/ I take it your going to cut it up?

Was just going to cut the hook and ring off each side then weld those sections into nuts then the nuts into the box section like so:


Obviously there would be the gap in the central threaded section

What is it in particular about it that makes you doubt it? dia. of the threaded section? overall size? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Was thinking i could weld the two threaded sections together and then cut the nuts of and weld them into the box section. or just weld some plate between the two arms to give a bit more strength. This is my first real adventure into fabrication so am learning all the time and haven't actually put welder to metal yet

are you making it out of box section? I thought it soild bar sorry. I don't know what the forces involed would be though

Aye 25mm x 25mm x 2mm wall thickness - was given free was going to use some hollow tube origionally

don't think there will be much force really, am thinking it would be my welds that go first if anything lol

Seems like the best method then

So finally got all my stuff for making the strut brace. The night before last i gave cutting the steel with a hole saw a go. Even though it was intended for 'heavy duty cutting of thick metal' it barely got a quarter of the way through :/

So after a day of rest from it i started again this time doing it a slightly different way...


printed, full scale templates stuck down onto the steel plate. (these were off the first attempt, changed the design since then but pic shows what i've done)


Bit of cutting later


Bit more cutting an grinding


All done


Now how are we going to attach those together?


get the welder out


Stuck together.

I haven't drilled the bolt holes as cutting it then welding it back together will have altered the overall size and had i drilled the holes they would no longer line up. So i will drill them later


As if it had never been cut, and what's more it fits!


Next bit the bar that goes up so the main bar clears the engine. Think its going to run along the top of the heater box (have checked it will clear)


Maybe not the best way of doing it but i am very chuffed with todays work

Thanks for looking,
Matt

Did the other half this morning:



This evening should see the main bar being made with the turnbuckle in.

If that happens then wednesday will have the holes drilled and bar welded on to the sides i've already made. thursday will be paint and fitting

nice one! moving fast

cheers, i'd just keep going all day but thourght i'd give the neibours a break from the grinding noise lol