To insert the triangles you wouldn't have to touch the previous weld, just nip the one corner of the triangle off with a zip wheel or just grind it off. Say a 1/4" or so. That'll give you the clearance over the weld. That's usually how I do with corner gussets like that. Leave the weld, just m...

Then I did get one of the caster wheels mounted to the foot that I installed yesterday. Unfortunately that would be it; the top (beginning) of the all-thread on the other foot has a defect that will need to be cutoff. That defect wouldn't allow it to thread into the captive. I don't like running the...

And I did get all 6 gussets tacked into position: I'll weld them out first thing tomorrow:

I should follow with "I only wish I was done, 'cause I ain't" ... because I ain't. :lol: My objectives tonight were to tack-in the remaining 6 gussets (= 24 tack welds), see if I had any more material that could be used as gusseting for the new center mid-support cross member, install the ...

Wow Bill, thank you much for the kind words. Although I've been doing fabrication projects for a couple+ years now, I still consider myself a newbie; therefore such feedback from the more experienced at this game who know what they're talking about is akin to finding a golden nugget at the end of a ...

Because these were from different cutting events there were gaps that I would need to fill. And so that gave me additional practice at so doing. Not a bad thing really, but definitely a time sink. Anyway I soon enough had formed those three pieces into one and installed it in its place on the rack: ...

In a way, I tend to view these scenarios as welding practice opportunities rather than the unnecessary time sinks that they actually are. Anyway to get the alignment, I called on the clamps: And angle iron again, as per normal:

Little bit by little bit I might finish this off one day. :D Tonight I welded in the support for the two middle legs and installed one of the feet. Admittedly, I incurred a self-induced performance penalty WRT time by electing to fabricate the link (support) for the two legs from scrap pieces of the...

Ground down the weld on each crossmember as well as the primer, then put the clamps and angle back to work: storage rack 46.jpg Did that x2. Then installed the feet: storage rack 47.jpg And fellas I had a much better go of it with the rod tonight. Still 7018, 3/32" LE Excalibur MR. Kept the amp...

Now that the cutting of the moon roof hole task was behind me, it was time to add the center legs to the storage rack and then put it to work in the outbuilding. So I pushed it onto the adjacent field in order to "soften the blow" of turning it on its side. Did that, then dollied and stron...

Well the storage rack performed its first duty quite well. It held my large self in suspension just above the roof of Ol' Blue while I cut a hole in it for the wife-eee's moon roof: sunroof 154.jpg And so the next task will be to install the remaining two legs. Then I'll put it in position in the wo...

Glad to see it come together David!

Looks like a really clean cut from this distance. Is it as clean up close? Fabrication is fabrication, whether it's structural or automotive or aesthetic. I think you did a helluva job on all of it. Ah ok, well I wasn't sure if such projects would be all that welcome in a welding and fabrication fo...

I have a friend with a shop who used to install lots of sunroofs. He used a nibbler and made clean holes with no heat or paint damage. The nibblers are available in both air and electric power. Now ya tell me! Hahaha! :D Well I was warned by the guy I spoke with who does this stuff for a living to ...

Well today was indeed the day. The short version is that I created the hole for the moon roof without too much incident. I need a little touch-up work with the flap disc but apart from that things are looking pretty well. The plasma worked out in fantastic fashion; cutting sections at a time and usi...

I noticed that these cut-outs themselves could be used to cut the hole as well. I tried running the torch along side one of them and noticed that the drag shield standoffs were positioned well to run along the rather low height of the 16ga edge. Therefore this is indeed a possibility. I am consideri...

And a soap stone pencil trace indeed showed a hole that was just a tad large. So. What to do? I decided to make a few test cuts to see what would happen if I held the torch at a slight angle inward. After making the cut like that I measured the new hole. To my surprise, the hole was too small! Wha-?...

I had the glass and inner cover removed in no time: Then set it on the sheet of 16ga from which I cut the plasma table collector for some measuring:

Alright so first thing's first...I wasn't able to fit the cutting of the moon roof hole in Ol' Blue today prior to darkness falling. 'Had a rough night last night, didn't sleep much and then slept in late. Upon discovering just how late, I immediately decided that I would defer the actual cut until ...

So I applied the straight edge and made a cross-hair from those marks: sunroof 114.jpg Then sat back to verify that the result was indeed centered, at least as much as a DIYer could reasonably achieve anyway: sunroof 116.jpg Satisfied with what I saw, I drilled a hole: sunroof 117.jpg Which will ser...

And took measurements of the headliner opening with it inside the CV and with it outside: sunroof 111.jpg I divided the longitudinal and lateral numbers in half and made marks on the underside of the roof with a soap-stone pencil: sunroof 113.jpg With one set of marks completed while the headliner w...

Alright moving forward here ... so I built the storage rack with the intention of using it to suspend myself in the air above the wife-eee's CV (Crown Victoria) while I cut the hole. As I mentioned at the outset of the previous post, with the storage rack ready to serve that purpose, I revisited the...

With the storage rack on solid footing (hah!) I refocused on the plasma cutting adventure. The goal is to cut a hole in the roof of a 2006 Ford Crown Victoria. The quick backstory is that I bought this car to serve as a parts car for the 2006 Ford Crown Victoria that is her current daily. The cars a...

Those braces don't need all sides welded. A closed top and 1 vertical is ALL YOU'LL EVER NEED. Even then, 1" stitches would be more than ample. You know, it's funny. I kinda had an instinctual notion that this was the case. However no practical experience to support the contention. Therefore w...

In the event that I elect to only weld-in one of these, I opted to set it 23" down from the bottom of the upper tubing: storage rack 40.jpg And bothered to get each brace square-ish: storage rack 41.jpg But only had time to weld out 3 of the 4 sides on each of them. 'Had to leave it there for t...