Fixing a Broken FM Turbo Heatshield

This is a microblog done entirely with my phone. No epic story or how-to or anything. Just a quick fix and the documentation of it.

Poor little neglected Sharka

Poor little neglected Sharka

One of the tabs on Sharka’s FM turbo heat shield broke free about a year ago. It would rattle at idle. I tried JB Welding it, but… nope. That failed after about 2 weeks.

Poor neglected little Sharka.

Ready to be zapped.

Ready to be zapped.

Zap!

Zap!

I stopped at Carmers Paint Shop and begged Jerry for some assistance. He quickly wheeled out the welder and clamped up the parts. A few quick beads and I’ll never have to worry about the tabs coming free again. Jerry even re-tacked the other two that were close to failing as well.

I really need to learn how to weld. Like… really.

Thanks again Jerry!

Fixed! No more rattle!

Fixed! No more rattle!

Ta-da! No more rattle. And the heat shield is 100% less likely to fall off and allow things around it to melt.

Rewarded with washies.

Rewarded with washies.

A little afternoon washies were called for. The other three revlimiter cars got washed the previous weekend, leaving Sharka as the only dusty one. That just wouldn’t do, so Sharka got some pampering.

And between the above photo and the time of this blogging, Sharka has also been polished with the DA, degreased with rubbing alcohol, and received 2 coats of sealer “wax”. Another coat and a product review are coming up soon.

… and that’s all. Microblog as promised.

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  • Brad says:

    You know what’s cooler than bolting on cool parts that other people made? Bolting on parts that YOU made (and designed, prototyped, tested, redesigned, swore due to a bad measurement, redesigned, etc, etc), it really is quite satisfying, I swear!

    Honestly, picked up a Lincoln 180HD last year so my buddy could weld together the bracket for the Supra’s fuel cell. Decided that I too, should really learn how to weld, and plus it would have been a waste to use it for literally ONE job, so I dove in with my amateur understanding of how to melt metal together. Few artsy pieces later, and I have an even great appreciation for metal work. I enjoy it quite a lot, even when things don’t go as planned (because they won’t always, despite the best of plans and measurements), it isn’t upsetting, it’s merely a new challenge.

    Give it a shot, pick up a machine that will work with your garage, a nice helmet (oh how I wish mine was carbon fiber… they get kinda heavy on my pencil neck haha), couple pairs of gloves, a long sleeve welding shirt, and I highly recommend a bottle so you can dive into MIG. I think all in, including purchasing a decent sized bottle, I’m maybe $1100 or so into my setup, but it is a 240v and can weld thicker steel than I’m likely to ever actually NEED, but good to have the capability if the need ever presents itself.

    Reading through your posts for a few years, I think you’ll like welding.

    • GT-Alex says:

      Yep, welding is magic. Or maybe not, but it is a VERY useful skill to have. But then, Adam will be truly unstopable…

    • revlimiter says:

      er… how to say… I don’t wanna come off as egocentric or full of myself… but… um… .I’ve been making my own parts for a while now. Parts that I design, prototype, test, etc. I now do it professionally… and I make thousands of these parts every year.

      I don’t weld, but I design in CAD and send the parts to machinery to be cut/created. Not everything I make is metal-based. A lot is plastic. I’ve been making molds and casting for most of a decade.

      But yeah… I don’t know how to weld. I need to set aside some time to learn.

      • Brad says:

        I totally get what you mean Adam, most of what I’ve seen you make is style. Don’t get me wrong, you do a fantastic job at what you do, and definitely have a skill set that is worlds beyond mine. Once you learn to weld though… not much is off limits at that point, at least in terms of performance modifications. You’ll no longer rely on others to fabricate ducting, piping, brackets, etc, you’ll be making them yourself. =)

  • Robert says:

    This happened to mine aswell. I called fm and they sent me a new one that had been welded all the way around the top.

  • Leave a Reply to Brad