6
i've got one more picture of the presumed Eller Convertible.
And I've just written an email to the director of a company named Eller, but I don't know if it's the right company, or that it just has the same name.
When I google, I find a lot of VW bug convertibles with Eller in it's name.... don't know the relation yet.
I am now trying to get a name of someone who was said to have owned one. Perhaps then I will be able to get more information
Great. When you do, please post to this Straman thread so I see it. I don't follow much here on RPR unless it is a Straman topic.
I found the owner (and builder) of the red one. It's not a Straman, not an Eller, but completely selfmade. The owner was a Honda-dealer in Germany. He had permission to build three after the red one was finished and approved by the authorities (tüv), but he never build another one. So there's only one. The trunklid came off a Fiat x/9, the roof was completely self-fabricated.
That's all I was able to find out so far. The black one is an Eller, but I have not yet located who this is. The email I sent to an Eller Coachworks in Germany was not the right one, they never built a convertible of anything 
So I will continue my search...
heres #108 as she sits so far, I have the passengers side floorboards fixed and some fresh steel supports underneath. I'm definitely not a pro welder nor do I have professional equipment, but it is very structurally sound and I plan on multiple coats of rust stop,primer,and rynoliner undercoatings
Wow, ArnyBoy, that car looks great.
I am about to send my Straman CRX to the shop for the same frame repair. Do you have any words of advice?
I am also curious how different your car handles now. Are the repairs obvious on the road?
Edited by slimwhitman, 21 January 2014 - 01:50 PM.
Wow, ArnyBoy, that car looks great.
I am about to send my Straman CRX to the shop for the same frame repair. Do you have any words of advice?
I am also curious how different your car handles now. Are the repairs obvious on the road?
Yes I noticed its a bit stiffer and the body doesn't flex as much as before. I can tell cause the rear view mirror doesn't shake as much. It took quite awhile and many man hours to cut out the old rusted metal and weld in new stuff. I used 18 gauge steel for the floorpans and 1"x2" steel for the support beams. The plasma cutter I had made it much easier to cut out the pieces. I did alot of stitch welding of various pieces around the mud guard area, and I also removed the small little pieces near the back of the frame that got rubbed into by the rear swing arms. I've been driving it around town for a little feels fine so far. Now I'm just working on some new integra front brake setup from the race beast (87)
I guess I should formally get my straman on the registry.Not really sure how. I have a red 1986 SI , ST 1084 The mileage is 114, 587. I reside in Clarkston WA. The car was not running when I purchased it. Since then, I have done the repairs-new oil pan gasket, new brakes, etc. When pulling the old carpet to replace with better I found out that the channel iron that Straman welded to the frame acted like a conduit and as a result the floor pan was badly rusted through. I've been stalled out with a house sale and move, not to mention I don't know how to weld. I purchased a welder and will soon get back to her. Part of the rust issues is that I purchased this car in Portland, OR-need I say more.... The white straman is beautiful!
I guess I should formally get my straman on the registry.Not really sure how.
I already have you in the registry. Thanks for checking in. As for the rust along the Straman added reinforcing....that happened to all of them unless they are in extreme arid climates. Keep after it!
I didn't see it on the register-I must have been looking at an old one. How many cars do you have registered so far?
cruiserbruiser,
You made two statements. " I don't know how to weld. I purchased a welder" If you purchased a MIG welder, I'd suggest using CO2 gas with it, with solid wire, not flux cored, for a couple of reasons. CO2 "short arc" welding is the "coldest" arc welding technique since the wire spends a good percentage of its time shorting out, then reinitiating the arc (the arc is on a fraction of the time, not full time). This is very forgiving with thin sheet metal. The other reason for MIG CO2 welding- it is the easiest welding process for a novice; you pull the trigger and the wire & machine control the arc for you. That's why you see bike and hot rod builders on TV use it all the time.
The drawback about MIG CO2 is, as the coldest form of arc welding, it has the shallowest penetration and is not that good for welding heavy structures.
Jim- welding engineer
Hey, thanks for the advice. I purchased a longevity migweld 140 140 A/110V. Will this do what I need it to do?
I clicked on Amazon and there were overwhelmingly favorable reviews for the machine. You could probably get really familiar with it by watching many of the Youtube videos. It should be able to do the job. I'd wirebrush the heck out of everything first off, to remove rust and crud that doesn't conduct current making starting and a stable arc tough, as well as removing potential contaminants.
My first concern is seeing it is 110V as you may make frequent trips to the breaker box. As you'll be working at a lower power load with small diameter wire, low voltage and low current, you may luck out. Try to avoid using an extension cord, or at least make it a really heavy one. Too much heat/wire feed speed and you'll know it, as it'll blow holes instead of form welds... that's what you'd get if you tried to stick weld it. You MAY find the flux cored wire is very similar in heat to stick welding and that too could make swiss cheese out of the underbelly; that's why I suggest using CO2 gas and the regulator. Practice on some scrap metal to adjust your wire feed speed and voltage adjustment and get a good feel for it. It only takes an instant to pull the trigger and make sparks, but it'll take a great deal longer to remove dingleberries and patch holes. You may discover that you're more successful making a series of connected short tacks (stitch welding) rather than long continuous welds- less distortion and fewer holes. It will take some time to feel it out.
We've purchased 8 CRXs over the years, and living in Michigan, our three 1st generation CRXs have had bad cases of cancer underneath from the salt, BUT our last one is the Straman which we picked up in Los Angeles............. ROCK SOLID! Lucky me!
Edited by jrnsr, 05 March 2014 - 03:11 AM.
Great advice. Thank you. The welder came with a tutorial video and they have great support on their website too. I'll study and practice. I purchased a sand blaster set up too to go after the rust and to clean up the whole area so that when I'm done I can put down rust preventative on both sides.
On another note, I have been watching a 91 prelude SI for two years.I met the 91 year old before she died and she was the original owner. It has 93k and the interior is pristine. The body has two dents hood and rear deck, but all is repairable. Picked it up for $1440. That's a problem for me. I have three project cars going at once-87 SI (almost done), 86 Straman and now the Lude. It really stretches the hobby budget. Someday all three will go to the show and shines... Thanks again for the imput. I'll PM you if I need advice or help down the road.
Bruce
#108 gets its new top, all in all the quality is very high the the fitment is spot on, next task is to see if the rear window can be tinted.
Community Forum Software by IP.Board
Licensed to: Red Pepper Racing
Sign In
Create Account
Back to top
