Yes, what he said! As always, thanks for making time to share your knowledge/talent!
Printable View
Thanks for the comments guys. It looks like we will be leaning toward something with longer louvers, as in the Sharpie marked version on the hood side, with no louvers leaving the hood area.
AND.........in the interest of showing the good with the bad, the lessons learned if you will, Safety tip of the day is to deburr your sheet metal even if it's only for practice pieces....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203685.jpg
Looks like a nice gouge there! Is there a photo of the sharpie marker version that I missed. My internet has been off more than on lately!
Ignore the above question, I went back a couple of pages and saw the original sharpie photo with the green tape!
OOOOOOooooo.. payin dues with that chunk o'skin missing! I thought I was the only one that did stuff like that! :rolleyes::o:rolleyes::o
Nice gouge:HMMM:, but I'm sure that isn't the first, nor the last, and as always yours like mine will heal soon enough with little to show for it;):LOL:
Jack..
So far so good, nothing green or oozing.. :whacked:
Tonight we worked on the frame, used some poster board to make a pattern for a strengthening plate to span the pocket kit on each frame rail..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203705.jpg
While Kyle filled in some frame holes by plug welding to the pocket kit, I cut out the frame plates...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203706.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203708.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203709.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203710.jpg
And the shop vacuum is about on it's last leg, it leaves behind about as much as it picks up. For anyone at DYSON or SHARK vacuum that would like to send a test sample, we can sure do a stress analysis on your product.. :LOL:
Nice work! Good luck on the test vacuum. Haha
So far so good, nothing green or oozing..
Tonight we worked on the frame, used some poster board to make a pattern for a strengthening plate to span the pocket kit on each frame rail..
No green oozing.. thats alway good! :HMMM:;):LOL:
"Pocket Kit" ???? Huh?? What the??? um.... IDK!:LOL:
They make a pocket kit for the tri five Chevy that allows moving the leafs into/suspended under the frame for additional tire clearance for those larger meats and still leaves the room between the rails for fuel tank/exhaust.. Like here:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...Picture465.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...Picture474.jpg
AHHHhhhhh,,, I see said the blind man!:LOL:
thanks ( as usual) for the info. I hadn't seen it before.:3dSMILE:
Aww, that now explains the weird camel backs on the rear frame rails to a non experienced tri 5 guy. :LOL:
More prep and welding on the frame....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203722.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203723.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203724.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203725.jpg
and we cleared out the remaining vacuum inventory from the yard sale pile.. This one is working a bit better!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203721.jpg
We've been going through a dry spell here in the shop, it's been quite some time since we've seen any yellow body panels. Soon to change....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203726.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203727.jpg
Nice work! The bus looks like you get to do some upper panel repairs there too.
We'll cut out the damage and make a panel to splice in under that middle rub rail. Waiting on some parts from the bus dealer...
Still working on the frame, Kyle was prepping the frame for welding on the strengthening plates while I drilled the plates for plug welds..
Plug welding....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203733.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203735.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203737.jpg
The outer perimeter will be Tig welded...
Still working the frame, here's the driver's side plate all clamped up and ready to go.. Hindsight and all that, should have made the plates about 2" longer and we wouldn't have those pesky holes in the way at the front end..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203739.jpg
So we decided to cut out some 14 gauge and fill in those holes. Cut a piece the same width as the hole, and rounded the end. Then used the band saw to cut a vee on the back side of the "plugs" and continued to clean up the radius with the 3" Roloc sander. Once close, a bit more on the band saw and break off the remaining, then fine tune with the sander..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203741.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203743.jpg
Magnet used to hold in place for tacking..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203748.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203742.jpg
For TIG welding the perimeter of the plates, we decided to make up a "crutch" that we could rest our hand on for better holding the torch...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203751.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203750.jpg
Kyle is getting a pretty good hold on this welding stuff...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203747.jpg
He even let me get in some practice....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203755.jpg
As soon as I read the first paragraph, I'm thinking you whipped up some triangular shaped piece to become the cover and dress out the plate... but no..
You and Kyle whipped up some magic and made the holes simply disappear! :3dSMILE:
Good idea on the "crutch" too! Nice touch to a good looking weld.:D
As always, thanks for thinking of us and sharing the work.
I realy like the crutch idea! Great work and sweet welds!
Kyle got the welds finished up on the frame plates...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203756.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203758.jpg
Frame is ready to send to get media blasted...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203757.jpg
And the rear was busted apart for some media blasting as well
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203762.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203763.jpg
Getting the bus parts prepped for paint, the owner had a used bumper in stock so it will get repainted...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203761.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203760.jpg
Looks like you're staying busy still!
Too busy Ryan!
We've been waiting for an opening at the machine shop's blasting booth, we're going to get the frame done first. They have some large platform in there now for the US Navy, so it looks like another couple weeks.. So in the meantime, Kyle has been prepping some front end components for paint..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203764.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203765.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203766.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203767.jpg
......and we should have this showing up tomorrow, need to get some metal cut out of the side and new replacement made up...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203726.jpg
Custom suspension components
Just when I thought you couldn't push the bar any higher.
The disc conversion on the 55 pushes the front wheels out, those are some narrowed Heidt's units that pull them back in..
Here's what we had to contend with on the bus. Some can opener effect going on....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203769.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203770.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203771.jpg
After cutting some of the mangled mess out of the way.........
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203773.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203774.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203775.jpg
......we saw that the bottom structural member was not going to cooperate. The horizontal section behind the weld tear at the top used to be vertical... So to save some time, we'll cut this out and make a replacement. This is 16 ga, and is there to keep vehicles out of the passenger compartment. It did it's job, so let's put in a new one to restore the integrity..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203776.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203777.jpg
Here the bottom flange is pushed in over an inch..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203778.jpg
Here's the replacement we made up..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203780.jpg
Comparison....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203782.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203783.jpg
All trimmed, we'll get the replacement panel formed and fitted Tuesday..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203784.jpg
Spare parts...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203786.jpg
That's important work, paying attention to the job the different support pieces are there for, and getting them back as good or better than before to keep those kids safe. You're doing good things there, and I'm not just talking about the quality of your work. Nice job.
That is coming along very nice! Great work.
Thanks guys!
Well our bus side panel is just shy of 8' long and about 24" wide. We did a light pass on the wheeling machine just enough to break the grain, figured it would have less chance of waves that way... We found out real quick that 8' is a bit long, so some 1x2's were pony-clamped under the outside edges to provide a bit of support. We tried to make a pass through the bead roller for the stepped flange at the bottom, with less than stellar results, a bit wavy up and down. Good thing we had the other half of the sheet. More wheeling, and used the offset / step dies in the Lennox Tru-Edge.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203787.jpg
Given our challenges with the long panels, we had to call in reinforcements. Regardless of the late hour that Scott's attire suggests, it was only 8 at night!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203789.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203788.jpg
Linear slides really came in handy, nice straight detail this go round..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203791.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203792.jpg
Comparing the bend relief above the rear bumper ear...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203793.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203795.jpg
Tomorrow evening well get it fitted to the bus and final trimmed..
Finished the welding of the lower structural member on the bus repair...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203797.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203798.jpg
.....and underneath it is tied to the floor cross members
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203802.jpg
Added the frame around the fuel door, this helps prevent the side panel from flopping around as the fuel door is pushed closed..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203803.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203808.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203807.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203806.jpg
Thursday evening we'll get all the holes pre-drilled for the skirting and start prepping for paint..
The braces for behind the lower skirt were mangled pretty well, had to untwist the pretzels to get accurate measurements..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203809.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203811.jpg
Getting all the holes prepped...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203813.jpg
Welding in the new braces..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203817.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203820.jpg
All the pieces of the puzzle... Well, almost..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203821.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203822.jpg
Now to bust it apart for paint prep..
You make it look easy.
Thanks! This one has been a bit more involved than most of them..
Well, only one more piece to make for the bus, we need a cap to join together two pieces of rub rail....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203823.jpg
Bent up some 18 ga on the Baileigh magnetic brake...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203824.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203825.jpg
Then for the highly technical stuff, bent the rest using vise grips to clamp it in place and a dead blow to incrementally tap the ears around...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203826.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203834.jpg
Continued to use the hammer to tap it around, then tightened up the radius on this die/post dolly
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203843.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203844.jpg
We'll get some paint on the bus parts tomorrow..
Wow that's nice.
Thanks!
Cody Walls drove down from Delaware today so we could punch louvers in the hood sides for 35 Chevy he's been working on, see some of his beautiful work here...
Cody Walls builds a 35 Chevy | The H.A.M.B.
After using the samples we punched last month, Cody wanted to run one more test sample with larger louvers to check the flow against where the headlight lines up. Here Cody and Kyle wheel a new test sample...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203827.jpg
Using the Lennox to punch the louvers, stops were riveted in place.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203828.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203829.jpg
Clamped to the hood side, we decided on a slightly larger, with more to be added at the rear than the front..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203833.jpg
The Driver's hood side takes it's turn...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203835.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203836.jpg
One down.....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...re%203836a.jpg
Passenger side....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203838.jpg
All finished up...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203839.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203840.jpg
Can't wait to see these on the car..
Wow you guys make it look so easy! What a great job. That kid's got talent!
Wow that's great metal work, I wish we had some of the equipment at our shop it'd make plane building a bunch easier. Nice works guys !!
Amazing metal work you gentlemen produce!
Rich
I can only echo the previous comments. Way cool.
So is that a Phase converter sitting over by the wall?????
Thanks for all the comments guys. Jerry, yes, good eye. We have a static phase converter on the Lennox that we used to punch the louvers, and the rotary phase converter is for the Pexto shear (12 ga capacity)
Wow, great work! The louvers turned out great!