Disappointing Fabrication Session (1 Viewer)

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Dec 24, 2003
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Then: Disappointing Fabrication Session Now: Success!

Well, just wanted to vent to those who would understand. Just finished up (translate kicked a project from one end of the garage to the other) a fabrication session and after doing literally dozens of somewhat complex cuts (60 degree miters on 1/8th inch thick 1x2 rectangular tubing - harder to do when your chop saw only goes to 45 degrees), lots of simple cuts 30 to 45 degrees, dozens more welds and hundreds upon hundreds of measurements, checking twice, three times etc ... I get to the last piece and screw the pooch by neglecting to check twice after tack welding. Everything looked good, emphasize looked, so I welded er up and could hardly wait to stop welding and start some congratulatory number sixes. Its only then when I go to bolt the project on that I realize I've cocked that last piece about 4 degrees and as a result, short of some ugly cutting and grinding and such, the project is trash! :mad: So after five super precise hours of measuring, cutting, and welding, I f**k the whole thing up in five minutes. :eek:

Yes, I'm already thinking through how to do the next one better, but arrrggghhh, what an awful way to finish some fabricating. Like I wrote, just venting, dont expect any sympathy, just venting to those who would understand. :cheers:
 
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What was your project. Maybe its still salvageable. Pics?

Did you just weld it out of place, or did you not "tack" enough before finish welding. I hate it when "cooling" pulls a part off line.
 
flintknapper said:
What was your project. Maybe its still salvageable. Pics?

Did you just weld it out of place, or did you not "tack" enough before finish welding. I hate it when "cooling" pulls a part off line.

It was a skid plate to protect the part of the exhaust pipe that crosses under the frame. It was really working out well and then i screwed the last little part of it up . Pics will come when I have something worthy of pride and therefore worthy of pics. I'd be a little less annoyed with myself if it did pull a part off line from cooling ... in this case it was simply stupidity and I literally laid the thing off about 4 degrees when tacking, did not double check, then laid a super strong weld around all four sides of a 1x2 rectangular steel section. I could cut it off with a cut off wheel, grind the mating surfaces, and re weld but it was the prototype anyway, the thing that took the most time was calculating all the angles and lengths, modifying my chop saw to do cuts over 45 degrees, and matching up holes, etc. Now that all the math is done, I can simply take my time and produce something worthy of some pride. Anyways, not the end of the world for sure. :cheers:
 
Dude. Sorry to hear the trauma. Been there, done that. Cut it and mount it anyway, it's a skidplate, so it doesn't have to be a museum piece. It does suck big time though to botch a job on a minor 4 degree F' up. :doh:

"Whatsoever the welder addeth, the grinder taketh away."

That's the sig line for a reason. :D
 
Oh well!

You know what they say: Pobody's Nerfect!

Make another 'un.
 
it's only metal, you can out think it or atleast i hope you can.

if it was that critical, why did'nt you tack it in place, if it was super critical it should have been welded in place as well.
 
I know we have already had this discussion bro but route that exhaust up and over the frame so that this problem doesn't exist. Couldn't that place in Denver help you out with that???
 
Hey man, look on the bright side, you are out there trying, thats cool and inspiring to others with less skills. Once you complete it you'll be happy you stuck it out.

:cheers:
 
reffug said:
I know we have already had this discussion bro but route that exhaust up and over the frame so that this problem doesn't exist. Couldn't that place in Denver help you out with that???


Actually, no, originally three and now four pro exhaust shops flat out refused to do it. They stated the carpet could catch fire, the rear heater hoses could melt, etc etc etc. I almost considered going to Aus to get the original Safari exhaust system like you've got. But, until then, I thought that making a skid plate for it would work well enough. It's actually really awesome and only hangs about 1/8th of an inch lower than the TC skid plate. For 15 dollars in steel, it beats the plane ticket to AUS!!! Still, why dont you reconsider my suggestion to chop off yer exhaust and put cherry bombs and straight pipes on that thing??? :D When you do that of course, I will happily help the Safari system off your hands; hey its what friends are for right? :flipoff2: Thanks for the encouragement fellas, the next one will be better. :cheers:
 
turbocruiser said:
Actually, no, originally three and now four pro exhaust shops flat out refused to do it. They stated the carpet could catch fire, the rear heater hoses could melt, etc etc etc.
I redid the exhaust on my LX and routed it over the frame. To do that I only used 1 cat, since that lets you start the bend far enough forward to easily get over the frame. It was near the floor but after looking at it, it really didn't need to be, if you mapped out exactly how you wanted to bend it it certainly could be done clean and not be overly near anything. I think it would be easier to have a bunch of 45 and 90 degree pieces that you can play with tack-weld together, etc. Doing the compound bends where you need a pipe bent 2 ways at the same time (up and backwards at an angle, etc) are tough and most benders don't deal well with that. Mine was manageable, I was going to wrap that entire section with the high-temp header wrap, but after driving for 2-3 hours I felt around and nothing was hot at all (floor probably was, but t/c wasn't, frame wasn't etc).

I think you could still have both cats, but you'd have to slide them forward 8-10" to get where I was with only one cat, it gives you a good spot to wrap the piece up around the frame, it kinda ends up being a screw piece, and to get it in place you have to screw it into position.

I had a local Meineke do the work, they didn't care one bit about heat/fire (probably should have), they just did what I told them to. For the part from the cat back including a turbo muffler was ~$300.

Later,
Mark Brodis
 
Sorry to hear about the frustrations of fabbing.. This is the perfect example why custom work costs so much money and why most shops will not quote you a price on custom work, but rather charge by the hour. Once you get it complete, it will be well worth it. If you were not a perfectionist, you'd probably make it work, but it would not look very good.
 
fj40charles said:
Sorry to hear about the frustrations of fabbing.. This is the perfect example why custom work costs so much money and why most shops will not quote you a price on custom work, but rather charge by the hour. Once you get it complete, it will be well worth it. If you were not a perfectionist, you'd probably make it work, but it would not look very good.


Thanks man, very kind and very wise. I could have made it work (afterall it was only 4 degrees off) but since it was literally the last piece, there was no way even to compensate by an equal and opposite cut later on. Not that I would have wanted to do that, I'm sorta the type to sit there and think to myself over and over about that one damn off angle or off length or whatever. Its agonizing, so in general, unless it is pretty close to perfect the first time (which is what normally happens) i'm prone to 'prototype' the first one and look forward to doing the second one. The thing that irritated the most was that it was the last little part and i was allowing my attention to wander. Ohh well, live and learn, and weld another day!!! Thanks again! :cheers:
 
1st. This thread should be moved by either a supermod or admin as its not chat. :D

2nd. Turbo can you post pics of what you were attempting in regards to the exhaust as I think this could truly be beneficial to other 80 owners.

3rd. Mabrodis I completely agree with your assesment, my truck does not have dual cats it only has a single and that greatly contributes to the turn over the frame.

4th. I hate pansy ass shops that won't do work even when you the owner tell them to cause of legal ramifications :flipoff2: .(I'm not saying I don't understand I just don't like it)

5th. I will attempt to get pics of my exhaust and post. I never realized until talking with Turbo that a standard 80's exhaust is run under the frame. :doh:
 
reffug said:
I never realized until talking with Turbo that a standard 80's exhaust is run under the frame. :doh:

My 80 is certainly not standard with the 350, single cat, and over the frame exhaust. The floor doesn't even get warm, much less catching the carpet on fire.
 
White Shark said:
My 80 is certainly not standard with the 350, single cat, and over the frame exhaust. The floor doesn't even get warm, much less catching the carpet on fire.


Got pics? Seriously, if i had some pics to show the people at the exhaust shop, perhaps they would see past the policy of 1 inch clearance at all times from floor. Who knows?
 
mabrodis said:
I redid the exhaust on my LX and routed it over the frame. To do that I only used 1 cat, since that lets you start the bend far enough forward to easily get over the frame. It was near the floor but after looking at it, it really didn't need to be, if you mapped out exactly how you wanted to bend it it certainly could be done clean and not be overly near anything. I think it would be easier to have a bunch of 45 and 90 degree pieces that you can play with tack-weld together, etc. Doing the compound bends where you need a pipe bent 2 ways at the same time (up and backwards at an angle, etc) are tough and most benders don't deal well with that. Mine was manageable, I was going to wrap that entire section with the high-temp header wrap, but after driving for 2-3 hours I felt around and nothing was hot at all (floor probably was, but t/c wasn't, frame wasn't etc).

I think you could still have both cats, but you'd have to slide them forward 8-10" to get where I was with only one cat, it gives you a good spot to wrap the piece up around the frame, it kinda ends up being a screw piece, and to get it in place you have to screw it into position.

I had a local Meineke do the work, they didn't care one bit about heat/fire (probably should have), they just did what I told them to. For the part from the cat back including a turbo muffler was ~$300.

Later,
Mark Brodis


Mark, can you clarify something for me, this is with 3" tubing? If so, I'd really love to see some pics! I just can't see how 3" tubing would be any more than about a quarter inch from both the floor at the top and the frame at the bottom.

I already am running a single 3" high-flow cat and it pretty much starts right after the front body mount. I am also running the MAF 3" mandrel bent safari turbo system exhaust which is awesome from the inside of the frame rail back. The only thing i don't like is the crossover pipe that goes under the frame. So, if I could splice an over the frame, 3" , pipe in between the front of the system and the back, I'd be in business. Until then, the skidplate will work, although at an admitted disadvantage. Again, I'd love to learn more about what your system is like. Thanks man.

Another idea might be product ID number WW3 found on this link.

http://www.mesamarine.com/AIM.htm

What do you think of this as a possibility, its flexible and corrugated usually equals more heat dissipation into air. Thanks again all, :cheers:
 
Hi All:

Mark, sorry to hear about the boo-boo! I think it is pretty natural to want to "vent" after something as fustrating as that. As long as it was a learning experience (not to rush a job after spending so long on it) it was still a worthwhile experience.

As someone else mentioned, it is a skid plate - no one is gonna see it! Cut-off theoffending piece and re-weld it on correctly! (after measuring it 5 times!)

Good luck finishing the project, I'm sure it will be fine!

Regards,

Alan
Seattle
 
Bummer...but look on the bright side: With all the experience you gained the next ones will be cake :D FYI: Just got done making my sliders for my 100. And I had to grind off a strut, after I got it all welded, due to a misaligned miter and reweld. Thank God metal is so forgiving!

The process is actually why we homey's make stuff (AL4M)...if not it would be FAR cheaper to just pay someone else for these add-ons!
 
turbocruiser said:
Got pics? Seriously, if i had some pics to show the people at the exhaust shop, perhaps they would see past the policy of 1 inch clearance at all times from floor. Who knows?

I'll try to get some pics today.
 

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