More exhaust tunnel work
Today I started working on the details of the rear of the exhaust tunnel. The goal was to close up the gaps in a nice way. I figured out how to do the second bends on the flanges of the tunnel part. Once that was done, I trimmed the flanges along the bend line until I got a few inches from the back edge. Here, I left a couple narrow tabs or wings that extend over the gap. It took some work to get the tabs to lay down correctly, but the first one came out pretty good. The second one didn't cooperate as well and got a little more chewed up from the shaping. By the time I had both tabs shaped correctly, the corners had cracked from work hardening. This is 6061 T6, so I think it will work better with T4. I'll get some in .032 and .025 so that I can try it both ways. I think the thinner sheet will be easier to make and might eliminate some of the extra work with the hammer.
I installed enough screws to keep everything in place. This let me see how well it all fit together. If you back up a couple steps it looks nice. I think the tabs could be a little wider and possibly enough to pick up the first screw on the side pieces. That would make it pretty secure and it looks fine as long as it is all snug.
I'll order some more sheet for next weekend's session and maybe try the welding on the current part just to see how it works out.
Here's one picture, but there are a lot more here.
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