:LOL:Quote:
Originally Posted by ted dehaan
Been following the build for a while now. Quite inspiring.
Printable View
:LOL:Quote:
Originally Posted by ted dehaan
Been following the build for a while now. Quite inspiring.
I finally had time to sit and read this and enjoyed it very much. You have given me some ideas on what I want to do with my cab. As far as the toes go, I broke my big toe 15 or so years ago and can now tell when we have a nice winter storm coming in. Since you live in WI, I hope you are not blessed with that.
I hope the doctor's bill is not part of the three grand total.
Ok, .....the toe is now throbbing so i took a .078" bit and manually drilled a small hole in the toenail to relieve pressure.:CRY: The Doctor gave me a velcro bootie since i cant wear shoes.....my sock is exposed so the welding is getting more exciting!...need to keep my feet back and watch for sparks.:eek:
Yesterday and today i finished all the frame welding. The frame will be the airtank for the airbags so must be airtight. I welded all the seams and tried to do a good job so it will hold air.
I also welded on 3/8" thick wear pads on the bottom of the frame, so when i drop and drag i cant throw sparks and not grind through the frame tubing. I suppose i can keep adding to the pads as needed....
I need a frame drain system for water etc...so i drilled and tapped each frame rail (near the rear of the frame) with 6mm threads....using a bolt for a plug...this will allow me to drain water from the frame. I also welded on a pc of steel to protect the bolt so when i drag frame it wont peel the bolt head off the frame!
I am going to seal the frame from the inside using paint. I discoved this on my Suzuki Samurai off road buggy....i made a rear bumper as an air tank...
Here is what i did. Welded frame completely sealed. It is near impossible to get a fully sealed vessel (frame in this case) using only weld...and if you grind welds it only makes for more leaks....I use OIL base rustoleum paint. I had a quart of white and a quart of "off white""'heck ...the color doesnt matter!!! it was old paint and I just added some thinner so it would flow nicely...I poured 1 quart into each frame rail.. and then rotated the frame around to coat the inside of the frame. see next post.
I poured 1 quart into each frame rail...adding the paint to the welded in 3/8 pipe bung that will be the feed port for the airbag valve asm. This is at a high point on the frame and will help keep crap/debris out of the valves and airbags....i might run a filter too...
The frame leaked everywhere...i sprayed windex (it was handy) on the welds and found many, many leaks..small ones...I fixed a couple large ones with the welder....After the paint was pouring into the frame i screwed on the air coupling and added 120PSI air pressure. The air forces the paint INTO each pinhole and seals it instantly!!!:D This is a fantastic way to seal a pressure vessel. I used the chain hoist to lift on end so the paint would ooze to the downward side...listening to hisssssssssss.....then silence. Every hole sealed!
The last pic...I then pulled the drain plugs-reattached the airhose to blow any excess paint out....and maybe got 8 oz of paint out.....i think the inside of the frame is pretty well coated with oil base rustoleum.
I hope to spray the outside of the frame with Red Oxide Rustoleum tommorrow before heading to Minneapolis for Christmas with by brother...
Merry Christmas to all the Hot Rodders out there!
Hey Wolfco, that toe brings back a lot of memories for me! Many years ago a Friend and I were trying to load a motor block onto the back of a rack body truck by sliding it up a plank. In short, he lifted and pushed and I didn't----
Motor fell off the plank from about three feet in the air and hit right on my right big toe!! I think I just felt that again..............:CRY: :o
What a devil of a time I had with that, for several months. :mad: I managed to hit it with everything, bump it on everything, dropped a phone on it! ouch. I had to have that one drilled, Doctor used a paper clip, heated on a bunson (sp) burner and melted it thru----------Man, when that went through I nearly went into orbit. I might have called him a name or two. :eek: I sincerely feel for you. Ain't NO FUN. The nail finally came off, then the new nail grew in where it wanted to, had an awful time getting it right. Merry Christmas and a HEALTHY New Year. Perley
I too feel on the toe. Hurt mine back packing years ago. Took a added two days to get out of the wilderness area. One of the reasons you should not go alone.
Like your paint seal idea, paint the inside and air presure. Need to give that a try!!
Have a great Chritsmas!!!!!!!!!!!
Earl
Hey, thanks for the toe comments.....i am sure many of you readers have smashed a toe....Perley-it sounds like that engine block really smashed yours!!:CRY:
I am still working on the car, just being careful so i dont stub that toe.
I painted the frame but the pics are all taken with high resolution....i forgot that i left the camera setting on high res. for Christmas pics and they are too large of files to upload. I will downsize and post later today.
I prepped the frame paint-final welding on frame, cab and other parts.
I did some grinding, wire wheeling, d/a sander on the frame rails to get them ready for paint. Man that can burn time....i spend 6 hours prepping this rat rod for primer. Kinda glad I'm not making a show car:cool:
I also used some bathroom silicone for seam sealer on the bottom of the body so water doesnt creep into the crevices and rot the new steel....i like a rusty cab, but i wanted to paint all the NEW steel.
I used a can of OIL based Rustoleum RED oxide paint, $8.99 from Menards Home Center. I thinned it a bit (10%) and sprayed it with the el-cheapo Harbor Freight spray gun....painted the frame, suspension parts, under cab, inside cab (floor)and firewall....
I primed the suspension parts and then painted them with flat black...i thought the car would look too odd if the entire car is brown/red oxide...I plan to shoot the firewall in flat black, but ran out of paint....need to get some more flat black paint and then the reassembly can begin. Man, it will be sweet to work on clean, painted parts vs rusty junk. (yeah, the cab is still a rust heap, but the rest is decent now!)
Jeff
sorry about those last pics...large file size...i reset the camera to 640x480 so they will be smaller and easier to view.
Jeff
Hey man, ya just gotta love a guy that can get away with working on his rat on the 25th of Dec. :3dSMILE:
Btw, you don't need to reset your camera, you can resize your pics using paint on your computer.
Right click the photo on your computer
on the menu click:
OPEN WITH-
PAINT
In PAINT... there is an upper tool bar - CLICK :
IMAGE
In the drop down menu... click STRETCH / SKEW
You'll get and option to STRETCH ... Horizontal & Verticle
You can change it from 100 to 90 in both directions....
You can keep doing this in 10% increments until the pic is about 3/4 of the viewing screen.
However I've found that if I change them both to 36% it comes out to a good size.
ya might want to resize them and repost them so we can see what they actually are
I wire wheeled the Turbo 350 tranny with the 4.5" wire wheel on the grinder...boy does that work good!...just a few minutes and all the crud and dirt was off of the housing and now it is somewhat clean.:D
I installed the engine, front and rear suspension....much nice to work with newly primed parts vs rust.
The driveshaft yoke wasnt made for more that about 10 degrees of travel....so i took a grinder to the yoke and fixed it ....ground some clearance in the yoke...we do that on our off road Samurais and havent had issues....if you dont have clearance, you will bend the driveshaft or tear the ears off the yoke..(from experience).
Made some aluminum spacers on the lathe to keep the arm centered in the piston for the front rocker arm on the front suspension...(piston pin area).
made some brake lines for the front and rear. Might be hard to see but Notice the "L" channels i welded to the inside of the frame to retain fuel line, brake lines and wiring. These channels will protect from exhaust heat and keep the utilities from draggin in the dirt!
Jeff
My friend Steve came to help on the brake lines. He has all the flaring tools and line benders, bending pliers etc.
My Master cylinder will be on the firewall , up high.
DO i need residual pressure valves ?(all 4 brakes are drum).
DO i need a proportioning valve? Ford 9" rear, 63 F100 Fronts.
I have a single outlet master cylinder 1" bore. I want to have a cool looking older master so this is what i have. I realize the twin outlet would be safer, but this is the route i wanted to go. All new brakes, new lines... so i think i should be ok, heck...they made millions of cars with the old single outlet type.
anyone have ideas about the valve questions above?
thanks
Jeff
I used a camper hot water heater for the end shells of the gas tank. My friend had an older camper and replaced the hot water heater...i said "what are you doing with that tank?" and he said "scrapping it"...so i took it home for free....i had to weld some pinholes due to leakage...i think i found nearly 25 pinholes. i will probably coat the interior of the tank with a sealant called "Red coat" found at Oreilly Auto Parts.
At my workplace (Polaris Industries)..we have a open shop policy, so Friday after work we rolled a 15" wide section to fit the end caps from the water heater...i will plug the extra bungs with pipe plugs. we used an atv billet filler neck for the inlet for gas, and i will use the atv/snowmobile style cork float with the fuel level dial in the cap...
I used a handsaw for cutting the internal 2.5" tube ....fun stuff. :D I mounted the tank with some thicker version of plumbers strap and wedges under the tank. it is very solid. I plan to clean up the outside of the tank due to weld burn/distortion from "pluggin all the leaks from the inside."
Jeff
i cleaned up the casting bosses on the ramhorn exhaust manifolds....what a grinding mess...i wore a respirator for most of the work, but that casting stuff is messy. i used a grinder then a flap wheel...they look much nicer now.
i had some orange cable from a garage sale...came with some other stuff ...around 10yrs ago. I almost threw this stuff away many times but kept it for a "rear battery" project!! I'm glad i still have a bit of "pack rat" in my blood....notice the orange cable lays in the angle iron channel on the inside of the frame rail ...man that worked slick!
I crimped on new ends and soldered them too. Made ground and power leads. Welded a thick washer to the frame for a good ground near the engine....
I also shortened the throttle cable about 15"....i cut the lug off the end and removed the inner cable, then cut the housing, reinstalled the cable and crimped on a new end (actually i used a brass snowmobile carb main jet, drilled it to .045" and slid it over the cable end...then pounded it with a hammer to clench the cable)....cheap fix and works great. You can use a small #4 or #6 nut for this purpose too. The outer cable was worn so i slipped a pc of rigid air hose over the cable and heat shrunk the ends to hold it together. it looks great and works great too. This custom throttle cable is only about 11" long.
Jeff
Hey Wolfco, on your brakes I wouldn't think you will need a residual pressure valve because your keeping the master up high on the fire wall. So there shouldn't be any leak back. I would suggest an adjustable proportioning valve though. I don't know how well the brakes ballance out and it's not likely you will find a limiting block to suit. Put in the adjustable valve, set it a zero or even pressure and do a few hard breaking tests preferable on a loose serface where you can get an idea if the fronts or rear are locking up first. Then adjust it accordingly until you find even braking.
I just got the SPeedway order today on the prop valve and the 10 psi RPV.
I think i will follow your lead...install the prop valve only...i can always adjust it if i need to.
As for the RPV, i can add it later if if want to....it is just ugly purple valve from Speedway and i dont want to add it if i dont really need it due to the high mounted master cyl. thanks for the info.
Really nice work! Cool idea on the tank, too.
Neat looking car man! Very cool and unique ideas for the suspension and the cool gas tank. Love saving money if possible. Keep up the good work. don Jr.
thanks for the comments.
I made a dash from .080" alum sheet....cut out the hole for the Bronco speedo. This is a cool speedo i bought for 35 bucks. It has all the guages ...similar to a CJ Jeep guage but older looking.
I plan to mount two guages for the air bag pressure...and a glove box on the right side of the dash. The cardboard template was a great asset...i would have wasted a few pieces of aluminum if i hadnt made a pattern.
I used a plasma cutter to cut holes for the guage and glove box area.....and a jigsaw to cut the speedo hole.
Jeff
I borrowed a brake line bender from a friend...bent the brake line for the master cylinder. Notice the welding wire template....that works great to get the bend correct. I got some good brake line sections from a donor vehicle...and only used this one used section on my car. the line it really nice shape and no rust, has a cool spring over the brake line and a "pigtail" bend that i liked.
The exhaust runs right through the rear bumper, and i made some "homemade" grommets with some 3/8" rubber gas hose, just cut a slit in it and installed into the bumper....nice!:D
To keep the exhaust from baking my @ss, i wrapped the area of the exhaust pipe under the cab section...i had some leftover wrap from a chopper bike project from a couple years back..i used a couple of hose clamps and also some FARMER bailing wire every 8" or so to keep the wrap intact...
WWFD? = what would a farmer do?
That is a good rule to follow. farmers are smart dudes.
Have a question on the rubber fuel line used on the exhaust. How hot do you think the tailpipe will get?
I run a 9' stack (stainless 3") after 2' of pipe from the muffler (BBC) under running board and during warm/hot days you will burn your hand on end.
Earl
i dont know how the rubber fuel line will hold up to the heat...i wasnt going to have any grommet but this was easy and cheap (about 1 ft of fuel line)...on a car with full exhaust the very end of the tailpipe doesnt get real hot....we'll find out..
I think the rubber fuel line will hold up better than the rubber on my tires!!!
Great build.
My roommate did the exhaust on his car out the rear bumper, welded it in flush so it just looks like a hole. After a couple of really good rev limiter clutch drops the bumper is to hot to touch within a few inches of the opening. The bumper is made out of 2x2 box steel. I think that you might want to go ahead and remove that fuel line before it melts and is tough to clean.
jeff,
i just looked through your entire thread. didnt read it all, but some of it, and looked at all the pics.
awesome job man. you are one heck of a fabricator. i would not change a thing. its perfect.
i love your front airbag/piston bell crank set up. very inventive.
keep the pics coming, and if you ever think about selling, let me know.
and it always amazes me how some of you guys can do all the work you do AND find time to make such an informative thread on the build.
leonard
Hey Ratrodking....nice truck!!! i just checked out the photobucket link...man..that is a CLEAN truck!!! the box floor is a work of art.
Wolfco
I used the donor fusebox...cut a nice 3x4" hole in the firewall that mates the fuse box (inside) to the chassis plug on the outside. Made a paper template and cut the hole...the fusebox is located just above the tranny hump.
Airbag stuff:
I am using DOT airline, this stuff is tough, wont kink very easily, tough outer sheating. The VALVE asm is a pack of 8 solenoids and is compact vs 8 separate solenoids. (you need 2 valves at each bag. one lets air in, other valve lets air out).
another shot of the fusebox mounted, firewall chassis plug will feed the fusebox (from engine) and front wire harness plugs into this too.
I haver a rats nest of wiring from donor ambulance/camper/P.O.S....man that vehicle was a heap....
My friend Adam, electrical engineer at Polaris is helping to wire it....sweet!!
He cut off the main plug into the instrument cluster and marked each wire for usage...using about half of em...
WIRING: Here is Adam (AKA Jimmy John) cuz he is so fricken fast at wiring.....cheap too. We are using sealed connectors, crimping on terminals, seals, connectors...all automotive stuff!! man this is a sweet wire harness!
HEADLIGHTS: I am using Victory motorcycle headlights..these housings are retro bullet styling with a modern twist. Twin H11 bulbs...55 watts each i think...the front turn signals are LED light strips..amber color. I can get real HID lighting bulbs and ballasts for this setup...maybe an upgrade this summer.:D
I made some aluminum brackets for the LED front turn signals...to mount just under the headlights using the same bolt as the headlight bucket.
I pd 29.00 for this light on ebay...glass lens, it will be my third brake light , mounted a bit higher than the taillights on the box..it is from an old railroad light...about a 4" daimeter glass.
I put a new socket in it....i got the socket from a motorcycle turn signal light.
I finished up the dash, drilled the holes for the 2" gauges with a holesaw in the drill press. i used a plasma cutter to cutter the Model a dash to fit everything, and made a glove box area..all of this is in the area of the original model a gas tank, it had already been hacked into...so no harm done.
Jeff
I got this compressor for $75....OK, I had 2 gift certificates that me and my brother won at a RockCrawling off road rally...I had best time thru the course, and he had best crowd pleaser (he rolled his Samurai on a STEEP hillclimb due to my poor spotting advice)...anyway..i had no use for the $200 certificates and applied them towards this kickass compressor. I was told it is more air than a Viair 450??whatever that means..It is a PUMA brand...I rubber mounted it in the box of the truck with vibration dampening mounts. It is capable of 190PSI at high volume??CFM? I will use a 90/120PSI cutoff switch i bought on ebay for $4.00.
This is the homemade tank using the camper hot water heater i got from my buddy...i cut it in half, rolled the center section...I know why he replaced the heater..there were 25 holes i TIG welded shut from the inside of the shells. I used a gas tank repair sealant called "REDCOAT"...get this from OReilly or Parts City auto parts. or ebay of course.
This stuff is like tranny fluid looking liquid..a bit thicker like syrup. It is MEK based and is potent!! really smells and I'm sure causes health problems if you breathe too much of it...dang it is hard to get good stuff like this and i couldnt believe they are still selling MEK based stuff.. pour it in, slosh it around, roll tank slowly, drain out the rest. Let dry one night and ready for gas. I wanted to make sure all the little pinholes were sealed BEFORE i put fuel in it! :eek: