slow slow slow progress! i did get the front end mounted and the hood lined up. its been unusually cold in the 4seasongarage™.
around christmas i bought a compressor, my old coleman powermate has been getting louder and really I have been asking a bunch of it with the almost non stop sun up to sun down plasma cutting I have been doing. it was an IR T30, and the guy said it was a 3ph motor wired 230 single phase and it had a black white red cord on it, the guillotine switch was missing. some 3ph motors can be wired this way, so i bought it.
unfortunately he was mistaken, the motor was a 3ph and couldnt be wired single phase, the single phase colored wires were a red herring, someone had just use whatever they had on hand. it was also missing the contactors and perssure/unloader setup. a $300 t30 is a good deal when it doesnt need a $550 motor and $200 in ancillary parts.
but TODAY. I found a gal listing just stuff after stuff on FBMP and saw a 10 minute old ad for a 17 gal compressor with a motor that fit the bill exactly, 5hp (I needed 3-4), 1785 rpm (needed 1750) 230v single phase. and it had contactor and all the missing parts I needed. kudos to the gal for posting the motor deets on the ad! $100!!!
nothing could prepare me for the size of that motor though!
I had to improvise getting it out, when I loaded the guy was helpful but at my house my wife and daughter were home so i just did it by myself.
of course it works great, so now i am thinking of just connecting it to my 80 gal tank and using it as a 97 gal setup. my wife will love it because when i forget the switch at night the coleman sounds like a helicopter landing in the basement.
more to come I promise!