RustyNailJustin
Supporting Vendor
Building a engine cage of sorts is a must I'm mainly to help support the front of your chassis and your shocks.
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- Thread starter
- #42
I Lean, your suggestion for the notching worked great to cut the notch section in half, thanks!
Justin, I'll have to see about the engine cage, like you said I think it's a good idea for shocks but the driver's side has so much going on I don't even know where to start to route tubing on the side--let alone get a clear spot to mount a shock up.
I worked all day on the truck, and had our dog Fatty decide to give me company bending tube:
I started out notching the B pillar tubes where I wanted them, and then added two sections for the "roof rails". Nothing fancy, just straight from the B pillar back and angled down/out after the B pillar notches. I put two ratchet straps around the roof to make kind of a basket to hold the tubing so I could easily manipulate it and move it myself which worked out well.
With the roof rails in place, my idea was I could then start bracing/building up to the outer dimensions of the roof. So now I can "connect the dots" since I know where the frame is and where the roof is. I tried to make the roof rails as symmetrical as possible, though since the driver's side of the roof had been crunched in there was a little discrepancy between the sides but overall it looks nearly identical and I'm happy with it.
Next I added a brace between the B pillars, followed by the brace at the top of the windshield. I was debating getting fancy and making the tubing match the roof line somewhat, but decided that it'd be a lot easier, plus structurally better to just have straight sections.
And that's all I really did today.... it feels so slow, but I'm taking my time and getting my notches and tubing to match up as best I can. With the exception of the A pillar, the rest should go a lot faster since most of the rest of the truck will be straight sections of tubing.
Lastly I finally cleaned the inside of the truck up a bit. Still need to go through and give it a more thorough clean up and remove the sound deadening on the roof, but it's slowly starting to look like something.
Justin, I'll have to see about the engine cage, like you said I think it's a good idea for shocks but the driver's side has so much going on I don't even know where to start to route tubing on the side--let alone get a clear spot to mount a shock up.
I worked all day on the truck, and had our dog Fatty decide to give me company bending tube:
I started out notching the B pillar tubes where I wanted them, and then added two sections for the "roof rails". Nothing fancy, just straight from the B pillar back and angled down/out after the B pillar notches. I put two ratchet straps around the roof to make kind of a basket to hold the tubing so I could easily manipulate it and move it myself which worked out well.
With the roof rails in place, my idea was I could then start bracing/building up to the outer dimensions of the roof. So now I can "connect the dots" since I know where the frame is and where the roof is. I tried to make the roof rails as symmetrical as possible, though since the driver's side of the roof had been crunched in there was a little discrepancy between the sides but overall it looks nearly identical and I'm happy with it.
Next I added a brace between the B pillars, followed by the brace at the top of the windshield. I was debating getting fancy and making the tubing match the roof line somewhat, but decided that it'd be a lot easier, plus structurally better to just have straight sections.
And that's all I really did today.... it feels so slow, but I'm taking my time and getting my notches and tubing to match up as best I can. With the exception of the A pillar, the rest should go a lot faster since most of the rest of the truck will be straight sections of tubing.
Lastly I finally cleaned the inside of the truck up a bit. Still need to go through and give it a more thorough clean up and remove the sound deadening on the roof, but it's slowly starting to look like something.
- Thread starter
- #43
The last week a lot of goods came in for the truck. Got my 32gal Jaz tank from Jegs.
And my PRP seats from SRQ Fabrications.
I started on the A pillars and frame stand offs.
My girlfriend really likes using the tube bender too haha
I also spent some time and figured the ignition system out. I need to route the wiring to my switches once I locate them, but I have it "test wired" so I can use the stock plug and the ignition will fire up and then the starter button works.
Yesterday I test fit the 40 series wheels and tires on the 80, though since they're 15s I'd have to use spacers on the front. Since I have spacers on the front of the 40 (because the 15s are so deep they hit the steering nominally), I had the thought that I could take Drogo out this weekend for a test trip. I would have to finish the passenger A pillar, tack it up, and make a steering column mount and then just bolt the PRPs to the body temporarily. I decided to try and make the 80 drivable by Sunday.
I worked on the passenger side and got the frame stand off and A pillar made, as well as cutting out the exhaust and cats.
I don't have any pictures of the truck after this really. The A pillars are all tacked in and I made a stand off from the driver's A pillar that the steering column will mount to. Literally everything was going perfect to be able to hit a trail tomorrow and do a little tooling around and see how the 80 tows (I also bought a new-ish Tundra a week ago as a tow vehicle, so wanted to test that) and on the LAST hole for the driver's seat I drill through the fuel pressure line. I drilled through the body and hit another piece of metal, looked under the truck thinking it was the fuel tank, which it wasn't but I didn't realize it was the fuel line (literally right above one of the little brackets that hole the fuel lines) so figured the body was probably two layers sick where I was drilling so kept going... I was debating running down the hill and trying to get a new fuel line, but it seemed like a waste of time when I'll have to route the fuel system for the fuel cell so may as well just do that now. So I ended up dropping the stock tank to wrap up tonight.
The fact the 80 has a fuel drain is the nicest thing ever!
So no going wheeling any time soon until the fuel system is together... I ordered another 100ft of 2" DOM which I can pick up from the steel yard on Monday or Tuesday since I've run out. And that wraps everything up that has happened this week on the 'RaceCruiser'!
And my PRP seats from SRQ Fabrications.
I started on the A pillars and frame stand offs.
My girlfriend really likes using the tube bender too haha
I also spent some time and figured the ignition system out. I need to route the wiring to my switches once I locate them, but I have it "test wired" so I can use the stock plug and the ignition will fire up and then the starter button works.
Yesterday I test fit the 40 series wheels and tires on the 80, though since they're 15s I'd have to use spacers on the front. Since I have spacers on the front of the 40 (because the 15s are so deep they hit the steering nominally), I had the thought that I could take Drogo out this weekend for a test trip. I would have to finish the passenger A pillar, tack it up, and make a steering column mount and then just bolt the PRPs to the body temporarily. I decided to try and make the 80 drivable by Sunday.
I worked on the passenger side and got the frame stand off and A pillar made, as well as cutting out the exhaust and cats.
I don't have any pictures of the truck after this really. The A pillars are all tacked in and I made a stand off from the driver's A pillar that the steering column will mount to. Literally everything was going perfect to be able to hit a trail tomorrow and do a little tooling around and see how the 80 tows (I also bought a new-ish Tundra a week ago as a tow vehicle, so wanted to test that) and on the LAST hole for the driver's seat I drill through the fuel pressure line. I drilled through the body and hit another piece of metal, looked under the truck thinking it was the fuel tank, which it wasn't but I didn't realize it was the fuel line (literally right above one of the little brackets that hole the fuel lines) so figured the body was probably two layers sick where I was drilling so kept going... I was debating running down the hill and trying to get a new fuel line, but it seemed like a waste of time when I'll have to route the fuel system for the fuel cell so may as well just do that now. So I ended up dropping the stock tank to wrap up tonight.
The fact the 80 has a fuel drain is the nicest thing ever!
So no going wheeling any time soon until the fuel system is together... I ordered another 100ft of 2" DOM which I can pick up from the steel yard on Monday or Tuesday since I've run out. And that wraps everything up that has happened this week on the 'RaceCruiser'!
Will that 32gal tank fit where the spare was? I was thinking about doing a 20gal fuel cell there.
- Thread starter
- #45
This tank is roughly 36" wide, 19" deep, and 15" tall, so it's cross section would actually be a perfect fit where the spare goes, but it'd hang down 4-6" below the rear frame crossmember (bumper) from my rough measuring.
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Quick update for today, worked on the cage a little. I was halfway debating making the verticals not angled out so far (and/or going to a smaller diameter tube) but decided to just run them. If my vision is obscured that much they're easy enough to cut out in the future, and considering this is my first racecar/buggy build, going overkill doesn't hurt.
- Thread starter
- #47
I was thinking that originally but Justin pointed out he didn't think the rules allowed that. I looked into it and he was correct, or at least as far as my interpretation of the rules is, which says that the body must be stock and unmodified with the exception of half doors and ports allowing for electrical/roll cage/etc. So it doesn't sound like I can cut a big hole in the back and drop the tank down. I could mount it under the truck and put a skid on it, but I'd be fairly restricted in how big a tank I could run (as in only run a ~20gal tank probably). Just putting the fuel cell behind the seats will be easiest, plus give me quick access to the whole fuel system without crawling under the truck.
I agree it sucks I can't really get it lower (or choose not to get it lower). Maybe in the future I'll run a double tank setup to get the CG really low...
Sub'd!
2fpower
SILVER Star
question on your tube bender. It looks like you have the harbor freight air over jack on it. I can't get mine (well really it is @tornadoalleycruiser ) to work in that position (sideways) it seems as if it can't pick up oil from the bottom.
Is there a trick to make it work sideways?
Is there a trick to make it work sideways?
RustyNailJustin
Supporting Vendor
Couple tips/ tricks. Might be late for this one... Notch the body and put the cage tubing inside. Gives you more head clearance and cuts some weight.
Per the rules your main tubes in your cage need to be 1.75 or 2 inch depending on weight, but you can save alot of weight using smaller tubes elsewhere like your windshield supports.
Per the rules your main tubes in your cage need to be 1.75 or 2 inch depending on weight, but you can save alot of weight using smaller tubes elsewhere like your windshield supports.
- Thread starter
- #51
In the instructions I got from Swag offroad it said to have the bleed valve (the little black T handle at the base (right side) of the jack) to be pointed straight up otherwise it wouldn't work. I'm guessing that's so the pump mechanism is on the bottom and full of oil? I had to go top off the oil once though, originally there's this little hand pump thing at the bottom which I pulled off, and the little plug that goes in the jack for the hand pump popped off and spilled a little oil (hardly any) and that was enough to make the jack not want to push past like 15deg. Otherwise I haven't had any issues... hope that helps!
RustyNailJustin
Supporting Vendor
Example from my car.
- Thread starter
- #53
I need advice! I welded a few sections of the cage that I have easy access to to just practice a little, and the welds are s*** or at least look like s***. I'm not sure if it's just me or I have the machine setup wrong or what. I'm using a Millermatic 211 I bought a few weeks ago, and when I first got it and was practicing I was putting down good welds I thought and with .030 wire that came with it (Hobart). I ran out of that pretty fast, and had some .035 Chicago Electric (Harbor Freight) wire laying around so just threw that in. I feel like the wire might be to blame, or me not being used to the .035 wire is messing me up since I seemed better practicing with .030 in the past?
The machine has "automatic settings", so the wire speed is set to .035, and the voltage I have set for 3/16--I wasn't sure what to set the voltage to since it's all fillet welds, so figured a higher voltage would help with good penetration even though the material is 1/8".
The welds just seem super blobby and fat and tall, it's like there's too much wiring coming out for me to go slow without getting this tall huge bead.
Any advice and critique is appreciated, I'm not trying to show how great of a fabricator I am, I just want to have a safe roll cage that will pass tech. I plan to grind down most/all of these and go back in once I practice on some pieces not on the cage and see if I can figure out what I'm doing wrong. Thanks!
The machine has "automatic settings", so the wire speed is set to .035, and the voltage I have set for 3/16--I wasn't sure what to set the voltage to since it's all fillet welds, so figured a higher voltage would help with good penetration even though the material is 1/8".
The welds just seem super blobby and fat and tall, it's like there's too much wiring coming out for me to go slow without getting this tall huge bead.
Any advice and critique is appreciated, I'm not trying to show how great of a fabricator I am, I just want to have a safe roll cage that will pass tech. I plan to grind down most/all of these and go back in once I practice on some pieces not on the cage and see if I can figure out what I'm doing wrong. Thanks!
RustyNailJustin
Supporting Vendor
You are right on it looking like the wire speed is to fast. On an automatic machine how do you do overhead welds? I have to adjust the wire speed up in that scenario.
I would try messing with setting till you get it right on scrap pieces.
I would ditch the HF wire
The techs do seriously inspect weld quality and design. But beyond that you are right the number 1 thing is making sure you have a safe cage. I have crashed 2 times at speed and it is piece of mind knowing your cage is good to go.
I would try messing with setting till you get it right on scrap pieces.
I would ditch the HF wire
The techs do seriously inspect weld quality and design. But beyond that you are right the number 1 thing is making sure you have a safe cage. I have crashed 2 times at speed and it is piece of mind knowing your cage is good to go.
- Thread starter
- #55
I spent awhile this morning playing with settings and trying to get the welder dialed and think I got it, my girlfriend also grabbed some Lincoln .030 wire for me so I'll swap that in later.
The truck was fighting me all day so I didn't really make any progress, I actually made negative progress. In the morning I made another set of tubes for the front V brace that weren't angled out so much since it was bothering me, then I cleaned the inside up a bit in preparation for seat mounting. But when I put the driver's seat in, the only spot that was really feasible with the seat not being too high made it so the bottom windshield tube was totally in my line of vision. I wouldn't of been able to see the whole hood, let alone what was directly in front of the hood. This was my view:
So I made the decision that even though I wanted to keep the dash to make it look cool, it wasn't really feasible with how I had it setup currently. So I pulled the dash out, then cut out the lower windshield tube and the V brace I had just made. I started making a new bottom windshield piece that would sit a lot lower, essentially level with the windshield wiper area, but after fighting to get the tube the way I wanted to tack it in place (no one is here to help me hold it and tack it) I decided to quit for the day.
I still think having the dash would be nice, but that will be something that IF I can get it/part of it to fit then cool, but if not then whatever since it is a racecar after all. Hopefully make some progress this coming week, since I've literally made zero progress in the past week.
The truck was fighting me all day so I didn't really make any progress, I actually made negative progress. In the morning I made another set of tubes for the front V brace that weren't angled out so much since it was bothering me, then I cleaned the inside up a bit in preparation for seat mounting. But when I put the driver's seat in, the only spot that was really feasible with the seat not being too high made it so the bottom windshield tube was totally in my line of vision. I wouldn't of been able to see the whole hood, let alone what was directly in front of the hood. This was my view:
So I made the decision that even though I wanted to keep the dash to make it look cool, it wasn't really feasible with how I had it setup currently. So I pulled the dash out, then cut out the lower windshield tube and the V brace I had just made. I started making a new bottom windshield piece that would sit a lot lower, essentially level with the windshield wiper area, but after fighting to get the tube the way I wanted to tack it in place (no one is here to help me hold it and tack it) I decided to quit for the day.
I still think having the dash would be nice, but that will be something that IF I can get it/part of it to fit then cool, but if not then whatever since it is a racecar after all. Hopefully make some progress this coming week, since I've literally made zero progress in the past week.
steffan
SILVER Star
Do you really need to run the cage all the way to the back of the vehicle?
RustyNailJustin
Supporting Vendor
Interesting point, no but if he wants to keep running in 4600 yes cause he will crash at some point and having crinkled sheet metal around the cage is ok but smashed to the floor is not. Plus the fuel cell is back there.
If I was running a 4 seater I would be putting in a 3 and maybe a 4 seat. Having the man power in the rocks would be rad. There is no rule on how many co dogs you need to finish with. Leaving them in the desert is acceptable and has been done, many times.
Great build thread! I look forward to following it through completion. Terrific use for a rolled 80 that was in good shape otherwise. I hate to see them parted out when they could still be used for wheeling purposes.
- Thread starter
- #59
No, but I'm doing it for the exact reason Justin said, if it rolls I don't want the back half to cave in, plus gives me tie in points for spare tires and tools, etc.
I always thought 2 seats was required, I didn't know more than one codriver was allowed.... that might be pretty neat actually....
steffan
SILVER Star
understood - i was just thinking about all the extra weight. all good
