Starting on the Radiator Mounting

<robin>Holy future vision Batman, the end is in sight for metal fabrication!</robin>

As I start looking at what all needs to be completed as far as metal fabrication goes, the end is definitely in sight! I have a few tabs to weld on, finish the top of the cabin above the firewall, a few other small bits, create my exhaust and fabricate my radiator/fans/condenser mounts.

First up, working on the radiator/fans and A/C condenser mounting mechanism.  I also have some pretty tight space to deal with in front of the engine.  While it looks roomy there isn’t a lot of height, nor space between the frame rails once you consider the steering box on the one side.

Take-Two on the Steering

The first attempt on the steering assembly was a valiant one, but it came up a bit short.  The U-joint connected to the steering column was at an angle greater than 30 degrees causing the joint to bind when you tried to turn the steering wheel.

After asking around about “what might happen” if I left something this way, the answers of “complete steering failure while driving” didn’t sound too good to me 🙂

Friday I dropped by the Hot Rod shop and picked up another U-joint and support bearing.  I looked at some options like a double U-joint, but after talking to a few people, I went with adding in a 3rd section to the steering mechanism.

The BatBerry Goes to its First Show

On August 26th the BatBerry made its first appearance at the Toronto Subaru Club’s Hypermeet.  Since my Subaru was in pieces after thieves had their way with my engine bay (Grrrrrr), I figured the Batmobile would be the next best thing to have at the show.  No body knew it was coming except for me, the event organizer and Budd’s Subaru who covered the cost of the flat bed service.  A big thank-you for all who helped make the first appearance happen.

I’ve been a member of the TSC for years and years.  It’s great to still see a lot of the old guard around, along with tons of new members.  I would have to say that this year’s event was the biggest that I’ve seen yet.

The BatBerry even won it’s first award at the show… wait for it…. Best Do It Yourself 🙂

Prepping for a Car Show

Last weekend we took the BatBerry out to a local car show (more on that later).  In order to get the car there, we had to do a few things to get it into shape.  These were namely getting the hood to line up with the lower body lines, installing the front air springs, connecting the steering and creating some kind of tow hook connection for the flat bed truck.

First off was getting the body lines to match up with the hood.  When the hood was cut free from the rear body section, the front of the rear body section started to sag.  So I needed to prop it back up into position