It's Official

Yes, I'm building a car.  I thought I had been building for a couple months now, but not so.  I was a designer, theorist, purchaser, researcher, etc, etc. but not a builder -- until today.

I actually spent most of my time today continuing to prepare parts for assembly.  I checked that the front brake calipers fit on the spindles and would accommodate the 13" rotors I plan to buy.

I finished prepared the front control arms.  Here I'm installing the grease fittings.

You may have noticed that my kitchen counter makes a very good work bench.  So far Laurie hasn't been too bothered and it's much warmer than doing this stuff in the garage.  (For those who think about germs, I do clean the counter after I'm done.)

Many of the holes on the frame are now too small because the powder coating is a very thick finish.  I used a round file to remove the paint from inside the holes.

Installing the lower control arm.  This is part of the front suspension.

Even with removing the paint, I still had to use a little persuasion to get some of the bolts in place.

Torquing down the nuts.

I assembled the coil/shock units and installed those.

Lastly, I reassembled the front spindles.  I had to torque the spindle nuts to 250 ft/lbs and I almost broke my vise applying that much force.

So now I'm building.  But still researching, theorizing, purchasing, designing, etc, etc.  Did I say that I'm finally building something?  Who wants to go for a ride?