Thread: Bad Ast Astro Van Build

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Nice work Mark, fabricating IMO is sill the best part of any build, and when a product is "space challenged" like your van it always becomes even more interesting!!!!

Thanks Guys! Appreciate the compliments!!
I had yesterday off and got out in the shop early. Mel came out and we hit it pretty hard. I got the sand blaster set up and ran all of the radiator brackets thru the box and got them primed with some Eastwood self-etching weld-thru primer.
http://images9.fotki.com/v174/photos...00_5345-vi.jpg
http://images50.fotki.com/v1526/phot...00_5346-vi.jpg
http://images108.fotki.com/v191/phot...00_5347-vi.jpg
While I had the blaster set up I also ran the seat brackets thru it.
http://images20.fotki.com/v502/photo...00_5351-vi.jpg
If you have ever worked with hot rolled steel you'll know that sand blasting is about the only way to clean this stuff up. A grinder will do the job but that leaves you with more finish work then it's worth. Blasting leaves a nice even surface ready for primer.
http://images61.fotki.com/v440/photo...00_5352-vi.jpg
Of course, once it's blasted you have to get some primer on it. It will start rusting almost immediately if you don't...
While I was doing all of the dirty work Mel was having fun building the battery brackets...
http://images28.fotki.com/v126/photo...00_5353-vi.jpg
Yea, I let him do it. I'm kind of worried about him though, his eyes are bothering him, sounds like Macular Degeneration. Not good, he goes to the eye doctor Thursday.
These pieces are made from 16ga sheet.
http://images50.fotki.com/v1523/phot...00_5355-vi.jpg
We did all of the flaring in the arbor press. Much easier on the tooling AND our arms.
http://images16.fotki.com/v388/photo...00_5357-vi.jpg
http://images12.fotki.com/v236/photo...00_5358-vi.jpg
We were doing the flaring while my primer dried on the radiator brackets. Once I got back too them I jigged them up and got them welded together. I didn't take any pics while I was doing that. Things were moving fairly quickly and I didn't think to stop and snap a few...
I cleaned up the welds a bit and reprimed them and once that was ready I shot the bracket with some "Hammered" Black.
http://images49.fotki.com/v572/photo...00_5360-vi.jpg
Doesn't look to bad. So sad it's buried under the radiator...
http://images109.fotki.com/v144/phot...00_5361-vi.jpg
http://images55.fotki.com/v1617/phot...00_5362-vi.jpg
The camera died as I was going to take picks of the seat brackets all painted and the battery bracket all mocked up. I got holes drilled in the rear tub for the mounting plates and will bolt the plates in before I tack the bracket together. That way there is no second guessing as to if it will fit or not.
Mark