After a brief sabbatical, work resumes on the quarter pounder.
Sunday I made my version of the upper shield locking devices. Sliding bolt latches from eBay, and the other components I made on the day. What a cow of a job. I can still hear the grinder echoing in my head. The securing arms are made of angle iron. Being 1" for securing shield up, and 2" securing shield down.
Doing the holes for the latches to slide through, was the most tedious part. Drill a hole somewhat smaller than actually needed, then file like hell until the hole is in the precise location desired. I was nervous about the holes missing alignment, so checking, filing, checking, filing, was the order of the day. I discovered if the securing arms were fabricated without drilling any hole, then installed and tightened into place, I was able to locate the latch bolt hole location easily by applying a dab of paint to the end of the bolt......and just sliding it into the arm until the paint was fully transferred. All I needed to do then was centre punch accurately and drill a bees undersize. Too easy.
The shield panels align fairly well, though the bolt latches are only finger tight when I took the above photo. When fully tightened, nothing moves anywhere, thankfully, and a dead straight line can be achieved if I put a very thin metal shim under the right-hand latch bolt base. Left side (seen in photo) is OK as is.