FEC Clone Build - Its GO Time

Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 11:45 pm

Tonight we got the steering finished, just have to decide on what to use for a handle. also got the hole cut in the door for the temp gauge and welded in the fitting to mount the temp gauge.

Cut the hole in the frame for the front drain pipe and got the pellet feeder hopper on and got the rest of the rack guides mounted.

Our to do list is getting pretty short.

Sorry for the pic quality. i forgot my camera and all I had was my Black Berry.

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 8:01 am

I can see Greg leaving that unit on the clone and not even wanting to use the lil Tex any more. He will find that his clone will heat up not quite as fast as the smaller unit, but will retain the heat better, so this will mean less pellets. I have started my FEC up for only one roast. No problem.

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 7:04 pm

smokinJim wrote:

I can see Greg leaving that unit on the clone and not even wanting to use the lil Tex any more. He will find that his clone will heat up not quite as fast as the smaller unit, but will retain the heat better, so this will mean less pellets. I have started my FEC up for only one roast. No problem.

Jim how could you even suggest that I abandon my Lil' Tex Sad

It got me where I am today !! Laughing

We're goin' at it again tonite, as you can see we measured wrong Embarassed

on centre for the hopper assembly, we have a fix for that. Still lots to do but i'm gonna pick away at it whist Red Rooster starts No.2, that way we can both stay busy, Oh Yeah - those red cups are just "props" nothin' in them Wink

Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 12:09 am

Mountain Road MicroWave wrote:

smokinJim wrote:

I can see Greg leaving that unit on the clone and not even wanting to use the lil Tex any more. He will find that his clone will heat up not quite as fast as the smaller unit, but will retain the heat better, so this will mean less pellets. I have started my FEC up for only one roast. No problem.

Jim how could you even suggest that I abandon my Lil' Tex Sad

It got me where I am today !! Laughing

We're goin' at it again tonite, as you can see we measured wrong Embarassed

on centre for the hopper assembly, we have a fix for that. Still lots to do but i'm gonna pick away at it whist Red Rooster starts No.2, that way we can both stay busy, Oh Yeah - those red cups are just "props" nothin' in them Wink

Yeh and I don't have any grey hair. Who do you think you are talking to anyways? Laughing

Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 4:02 am

Pretty productive night. We got the frame cut to the proper length so it didnt stick out past the hopper. Got a receiver mounted on the front for a handle and on the back for a winching point for when loading this thing up a set of ramps by yourself. and got started on #2. Got the inside built, insulated and the outside put together. Married the 2 together and then called it a night.

Tonight's "ah ha" moment was when we welded the inside tub together on #2 we used 023 wire instead of 035 on the 16ga stuff and it welded a lot nicer.

We also welded the outside edges of the inside tub and made a lot of tack welds instead of running inch long beads on the inside of the tub in the corners once it was tacked together. We found that it welded much easier, was easier to keep straight and did not warp at all. Hopefully spending the time now will make putting the rack guides in much easier.

Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 8:31 am

A good nights work for sure guys. Time for a drink. At that rate #2 will be finished by Sunday night. Very Happy

Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 1:08 pm

Then some ribs on Monday ?? Looks good . Cool

Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 3:40 pm

Cruisin' right along guys, very interesting build...

Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 11:39 am

Nice work. A slice of teflon between steering pivot point might make it smoother.

Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 6:41 pm

norcoredneck wrote:

Nine work. A slice of teflon between steering pivot point might make it smoother.

That's an excellent idear, I'm gonna try that for sure.

Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2010 4:36 am

Had to take a couple days off from the build, here is the latest:

Gregg got his gasket on his door and has started to figure out a heat shield/ grease tray for #1.

I got the door assembled, cut the hole for the exhaust and built the rack guides and got them installed. Got the inside skin tig'd to the outside all the way around and welded in the exhaust pipe.

Also was able to cut the pipe for the fire pot and mount it to a piece of plate.

Should have the frame built for #2 by end of the day tomorrow if all goes well.

Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2010 8:42 am

I was just wondering what had happened to the projects. Good work. I think that fire pot might be heavy enough. Should last 60 or 70 years at least. Embarassed

Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2010 11:35 am

Well you know how it goes Jim, its all about what you got on hand!

Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2010 6:26 pm

smokinJim wrote:

I was just wondering what had happened to the projects. Good work. I think that fire pot might be heavy enough. Should last 60 or 70 years at least. Embarassed

Our engineering motto is " if a little more is too much .... then a LOT more will be just right " Laughing

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 12:49 am

And then there's the other motto " Sometimes too much to drink isn't enough" haha.

Well it got off to a slow start but once we got rollin we did pretty well.

Gregg got his bracket mounted for the grease tray, got the cabinet bolted to the frame and built and installed the grease drain. Now he can build the heat shield and the grease tray.

I ended up getting the frame built for #2. Changed this one up a bit. Steers and rolls pretty nice. Im not quite as tall as the big man so by changing the frame I was able to gain about 3 inches. Now I'll be able to reach the top rack!