Baby's First Mini

Alignment was a success. If y'all need an alignment on a customized ride in the Louisville, KY area, I do recommend Tony's Brake and Alignment. It was cheap and painless, and she drives as straight as an arrow.

The gas fill vent hose was ripped right next to the gas tank. Found out the hard way. Had a fun time getting the old clamp off.



New hose.



Had tire issues. See here:

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Life's been a bit busy so I hadn't been posting my work.

Kept having issues with crap in the tank. Finally dropped it and cleaned the rust out. Wow was there an unbelievable amount in there. Plus the fuel sock was ripped letting huge chunks through. Went through three fuel filters in a week.







After fixing the inside I had an issue with fuel leaking. Turns out the return line had a pinhole leak on the metal close to the tank where the fuel line didn't cover. Since I have an electric pump and the return line was capped under the hood, I decided to cap it off at the tank. Used a short piece of hose with an oversized screw to plug it. Shoved it down to the tank and clamped both ends. Covered it with RTV.



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I have had ride quality issues from day one, and I'm finally taking care of that. I purchased all 4 shocks and I'm getting my tires properly balanced.

I jacked up my truck and started on the rear, which currently bounces like my wife's chest. Lo and behold:



Do you see what's wrong? Never hit me to actually look for them, I just assumed they were bad.

Yes, my welds were atrocious to start, and finished mediocre, but this was only my second time welding.









Finished pics coming in a few. My son stole my phone while I was welding so I haven't snapped pics of the final product.

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Sensa-Trac in the back, OESpectrum in the front. Again, I know my welds are atrocious, but I finally started to get my groove by the time I was finishing up. Any constructive criticism would be welcome, however. I did learn dirty metal makes for welds akin to runny dog shite.















I had to grind off the end of the passenger side top mount due to rust, plus re-die both top mounts to strip the rust off the threads. Since I couldn't get the die bar up there, I had to use channel-locks. I had to grip so hard, it's hard to type on the phone.



Also did the brake booster and tune-up. Still not holding brake pressure (vacuum). By the poor idle, I'm guessing I have a vacuum leak.



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Good stuff! Id suggest getting some gas and getting away from flux cored wire

What's the benefit? I am looking at eventually getting my own welder. I was borrowing my father's.

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Flux core usually has better penetration than a gas MIG especially when using 110V. MIG has MUCH cleaner welds and won't require as much spatter cleaning, plus it won't pit as much as flux. When I worked in the body shop I used gas for body panels and any "cosmetic" or visible welds/single pass welds, and flux core for strength like on frames and easy to clean areas. If you are going to weld in any kind of wind it will adversely affect your clean "gas welds".

110V with gas may be more difficult to keep it hot enough to flow the puddle decently (not impossible though) but if you are looking into 220V it doesn't really matter the higher voltage will keep the welds hot enough to flow nicely with or without gas. You can even dual shield use flux core wire with gas for both penetration and cleanliness.

Always make sure you clean the welding surface well!

Just my opinion.

My biggest problems were the cleanliness of the welding surface and the helmet. I toyed around with the settings on the helmet, but it was still so dark I could barely see the weld itself.

A strong wire brush and solvent will help clean your welding surface, or a wire wheel.

You can get some good auto darkening welding helmets or just the auto dark lens that fits in your current one... some are better than others. It will also help to block out all the light behind/inside the helmet (like throw a towel or something over your head) so there are no reflections.