Front Bumper Project

[short bus]

Well I finaly finished my "honey-do" projects for long enought to have some time to start building my bumper!! I'm pretty happy with the way it's turned out so far concedering this is my first tube bending project. I ran out of welding gas or I probely would still be out there! Joel

[RHINO]

nice man, the bends around the headlights give it a unique attitude.

[Wayneraintree]

looks great, post some more shots of your pig! you finished the cage I presume?

[Luke111]

Show us more! Please!! Show us the cage

Lou

[DWitcher]

Damn! Looks good

[Lucy_FJ55]

Totally unique bends on that front bumper- looks sweet!

I just noticed you posted on the Cascade Cruiser forum about making the trip to McGrew and I was wondering if you were bringing this beast with you. If so, I can't wait to drool over it. Anoher convertible pig to check out- I love it!

OINK! OINK!

[scouthead]

Yeah that's sick... but now you have to give us more. I checked the P.O.T.M. schedule, but didn't see you in there... can't wait a year to see more. Need it now!

[clemson55]

I love that view from the front with the spotlights in there. It'll be cool for me to finish mine up and post pics next to yours since you went over the lights and I went under them with the noseguard.

[inkpot]

Howdy! Looks really good,especially with the extra lights. I suppose it would look just too overwhelming if you ran a tube on up from the lower supports towards the parking lights. That corner of the front fender always takes a beating in the pucker brush. John

[scottryana]

I really like that! You did a great job working with the lines on the 55. I really like how the horizontal bar wraps around the fender providing some support without effecting clearance. Great way to think out of the box. Awesome job.

Ryan.

P.S. Like everyone else I would love to see the cage, and how you cut off the top. I hate to admit it but I am sure eventually my pig will be going in that direction.

[short bus]

Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it.
I have been trying to build this in my head for the last year or so. I wanted to emphasize the unique characteristics of the front end of the piggy.

Later on we are going to be adding a bar from the firewall, through the upper fender to the snout cover, for added strength.
At some point I will also be adding tube front fenders(Meteltech style).

I will be taking her on the McGrew Trail ride in July. We can't wait...this will be our first TLCA event. We ran the trail a few years ago and had a blast.

This is one of the pictures of the cage I have for now...I will take some more and get them posted.

Joel

[Lucy_FJ55]

Um, can you say 'bobbed'?

Sick.

OINK!

[short bus]

Well I got a little more done on the bumper. I boxed in the ends of the frame rails for extra strength, and because I cut one off to short when I did the SOA. Adding in the mounting points turned out pretty good too. They should be pretty strong with four 5/8" soon to be grade 8's and three 1/2" bolts on the the lower half.

I have not had a lot of time to spend fabricating until recently and it feels great! Every once in a while when I'm in a bad mood I'll sneak out to the shop to grind on something and it always puts me back into my happy place.
Joel

[short bus]

With the bumper well on it's way, I started thinking about how bad those fenders are looking!

If your a purist you might wont to turn your head. Sorry! I used to be, until I started grinding out the bondo and chicken wire the p.o. used for body work.

This is the first set of bars I bent for mock up.

Joel

[short bus]

Couple more pictures! Now that I bought a Silver star I feel like a Japanese tourist at Disneyland! (don't be offended, it's funny)

Cardboard is a great thing! It holds a pizza together, and can fill in the gaps when your trying to think!

Joel

[Wayneraintree]

man that is a great looking fender mock up- and the way that front axle is built is beyond me! Sweet stuff, keep it coming!

[eventhough]

Those fenders look sooo sweet. I'm goign to try the same thing in two weeks...

[pr0ject42]

Hey dood, how do you plan to attach the rear of your tube fenders to the body? I have to admit, I've never seen a bobbed or chopped pig I like before. Your work looks really nice.

Do you have a picture of her butt?

[short bus]

I 'm getting closer to finishing up the fab work on the first fender. Man there a lot more work in these little buggers than I thought there would be. Theres a lot of different angles to have to work with. But I'm happy so far.

P.S. thanks for the words of encouragement!

[RHINO]

man i really dig the way your tying it all together and keepng it looking like a pig, thats really what purist is all about for me, make it better but keep it the same.

[Wayneraintree]

I think those fenders are perfectly suited to the 55... sweet work!~

[eventhough]

That is EXACTLY what I want on my Pig. I was going to use a set of lower fenders to bend tubes and place within but I like your method much better of bending tubes and placing new sheet on top.

Simply awesome work. I've saved your pics to model mine after.

[short bus]

Originally Posted by RHINO

man i really dig the way your tying it all together and keepng it looking like a pig, thats really what purist is all about for me, make it better but keep it the same.

Thanks! It took a while to figure out how I was going to make everything tie together without making it look j**pish. I would rather shoot myself in the foot before I would let that happen. Joel

[TJDIV]

that's slick.

Nice work.

[short bus]

Originally Posted by eventhough

That is EXACTLY what I want on my Pig. I was going to use a set of lower fenders to bend tubes and place within but I like your method much better of bending tubes and placing new sheet on top.

Simply awesome work. I've saved your pics to model mine after.

That is the way that I was heading, but the radius on my die is 6". I couldn't make a tight enough bend for the top bar bend, so it turned out easier to kinda start from scratch.

P.S. I just read your thread " the beast". Great work! I need to replace spots on my floor to. Its nice to see how someone else does something.

[eventhough]

Originally Posted by short bus

That is the way that I was heading, but the radius on my die is 6". I couldn't make a tight enough bend for the top bar bend, so it turned out easier to kinda start from scratch.

P.S. I just read your thread " the beast". Great work! I need to replace spots on my floor to. Its nice to see how someone else does something.

I like your fenders better the way they are instead of reusing the lower factory fenders. Did you weld your lower tube into your sliders? How did you attach the rear tube that runs parallel to the ground and ends between the vent and rear view mirror?

[short bus]

Originally Posted by eventhough

I like your fenders better the way they are instead of reusing the lower factory fenders. Did you weld your lower tube into your sliders? How did you attach the rear tube that runs parallel to the ground and ends between the vent and rear view mirror?

Here is a picture of how I mounted the bars on the cab side. The lower bar is welded to a piece of 2"x2" angle iron, with is bolted to the sliders. So that I can still remove them just as if they where stock. Joel