The Rear Bumper

If you have been following our previous posts, you will have noticed that we have a hard time holding onto our bumpers.  First, we started off with a cardboard bumper mold.  Then, the cardboard was modified.  Next, we filled the mold with plaster of paris.  Then, we scrapped it.  The second bumper mold was made of styrofoam.  This was scrapped as well.  Finally, Mr. Garcia had the amazing idea to invert the rear bumper of a Toyota which he found in the junkyard.  So far, this bumper has remained and today Mr. Garcia and I had the pleasure of working on it.

Because the body of a Toyota is slightly wider than our Mazda, the rear bumper had to be shortened.  It was first cut in half, then laid one on top of the other on the car in order to visualize the proper length.  I then drilled holes through the plastic bumper and the car’s aluminum and installed riveted threads so that we could properly secure the bumper.  Next, we drew a guide line over the longer half of the bumper and cut it to size.  In order to connect the two halves (almost halves), we took a piece of aluminum and cut and bent it to match the curvature of the bumper.  We then riveted this plate to both sides of the bumper.

Half-way!

Aluminum Connecting Plate

Final Product

Hopefully this is the last of our bumpers!  Thus far, it’s pretty secure!  Looks good, too!

Excuses

Sorry for once again going for such a stretch of time with no posts.  Nearly the whole team, including myself, has been out of town since June 4 and I, quite frankly, neglected to write anything about the work completed May 30, June 2, and 3.  So, here is my short redemption:

On Tuesday, May 30, Mr. Garcia and I began making the rear firewall.  But before we started on the firewall, I quickly made a stencil for the intake manifold gasket.  Now, back to the firewall.  We began by cutting a cardboard template of the empty area behind the driver’s seat.  Then, we used the template as a stencil to cut out the actual aluminum firewall.  Since the fire wall is longer than a single sheet of aluminum, we used as much as we could, as efficiently as possible, and then riveted another piece to completed the structure.  Firewall complete!  Sometime after I left, Mr. Garcia installed the intake manifold and Weber Carburetor.

On Friday, June 2, Tyson progressed on the aluminum trunk lid.  He added little adjustable support surfaces on the inside of the lid and adjusted them so that the lid is level with the rest of the body.  All the trunk needs now is a latch and it’s good to go. Gabe C bolted in the 3rd link mount, thus completing the rear end suspension system.

On Saturday, June 3, Mr. Garcia, Gabe C, Tyson and I all worked at the shop.  We began the process of directing air to the Weber Carburetor.  Instead of just having the filter stick out of a hole in the hood, we decided to add a scoop.  The plan is to have your typical scoop on the top and then add the sides of an inverted bowl-like shape surrounding the filter and, finally, a plate underneath the filter which seals with the rim of the bowl.  As of right now, we have a template of the bottom plate and have channeled the hood to direct air to the whole filter.  I will post clarifying pictures once the scoop is complete.  While Tyson and I were working on the plate template, Gabe bolted in the 3rd link mount, thus completing the rear end suspension system.