Thread: Tube Bender

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Originally posted by pro70z28
Richard:
Funny you should mention Ritch Bowers. I talked to Greg (Rt. 66 official) yesterday and he printed out the list of Central Division Chassis Inspectors. Ritch Bowers and Dave Luken are the 2 he circled as the guys best to talk to. Turns out there's an IHRA tech here in town too. "I did not know that". Got a few more tubes in today. I'll call Ritch tomorrow. Thanks

i got a pipe bender ill sell you for 5000.00 and then you can hang a few mufflers to.

Thanks for the offer, but I found a guy to bent em' for me. That must be one of those "Push a buton and it bends the pipe" type benderz'.

Originally posted by pro70z28
Thanks for the offer, but I found a guy to bent em' for me. That must be one of those "Push a buton and it bends the pipe" type benderz'.

it is, but most of the good pipe benders throw the card system away and do it by eye. i have a nephew that was the pipe bending champ for a few yrs. i never got good at it, but i had 3 of the best in richmond working for me. i was pretty good at getting people that was better than me, to do it for me.

I'm makin' progress on the cage. Just to be on the safe side I ordered a helmet (Should be here today). Also, my Son and I made an executive decision today to NOT use the seat adjusters and to build the cockpit specifically to fit a 6'0" person. That way we can loose the weight of the sliders Approx. 20 Lbs. total and the seats will be easier to mount also. I had figured to mount the sliders in tracks built into the floor to keep head clearance. This way I can mount the seats on a flat floor.

Good choice. Just don't get any taller. If Jeff get's too big, tell him to build his own car. No, don't do that, ya big meany.

Quick question for Richard if you could. I'm looking for the best spot to tack the rear helmet bars. If I line them up outside the shoulder belt slots they are too far apart, (Interfere with other bars, The brace from the halo back to the frame rail will intersectright between the helmet bar and the inner funny car bar if I run them in line with the centerline of the car). If I line them up inside the slots......... too close. Where they are in the pic. seems to be the best spot, but they are right where the shoulder belts would wrap around the crossbar.
Question is, can I weld tabs to the front of the crossbar for shoulder belt attachment, or do they have to wrap around the crossbar?
My thought was 2 tabs for each belt with a bolt between the 2 tabs or a short length of tubing between the tabs to wrap the belts around. I'm guessin' this situation has come up B4? Thanks for puttin' up with my odd questions.

Camera angle makes the cossbar look crooked but NO it's just my photography skillz' HEHEHEHE

Denny. I would be the guy on the right. Hence the headroom problems.

Originally posted by techinspector1
pro, no, the belts do not have to wrap around the crossbar. It's just one of my little idiosyncrasies that I like them wrapped instead of locked in a buckle which is bolted to a tab.

Thanks for the quick reply. Back to work.
BTW: We decided to build the car to fit just me, so the sliding seats idea is no more. Makes staying within the rules with the funny car cage much easlier. Thanks again.

Hi
If you want to bend tubing Harbor frieght bender is for pipe not good for tubing. I built a tubing bender for 1-5/8" tube.
bought plans for it on ebay, guy in california sells them $15.
great plans. Dies are from WWW.pro-tools.com run $95. to $150 dependent on size. I modified the dies to bend over 90 degrees.
give me an emai address and I will send you pictures of the bender and mods to the die.

Hey Tom, thats a nice bender. What did it cost you to build if you don't mind me asking ?

cost about $100. for the steel
2" X 2" x 1/4" square tube
some scrape flat steel
jack 8 Ton $60.00 ( Harbor Freight)
1-5/8" dies $200. www.pro-tools.com)
wheels $12.00 ( harbor freight)
plans $15. (www.gottrikes.com)
heavy drill rod $20.00

The fun building and seeing it work
PRICELESS!!_

Richard:
I have an email sent to Ritch but it's after 5 so I won't here from him 'til Monday. Just thought I would get a second opinion if you have a minute. I get a different answer from just about everyone I talk to on this.

This is the mock up of the shoulder belt configuration. I only have about an inch clearance between the seat and the cage, so I don't think I can simply wrap the belt around the bar?? No room for the adjuster that way. The belt has to fold some to make it through the seat and around the helmet bars but there isn't anything there sharp to cut the belt.

Do you spoz' this will fly or is there a simpler but clean way to attach them? Ritch will no doubt give me a thumbs up or down Monday. Just wondered if I'm making this too complicated. Am I missing an easier way to do this?
Thanx
Gary

Green boxes represent the adjuster.
Orange represents a 1 1/4" tube to wrap the belt around and the red a mounting gusset. The lower cage support is right there but the frame rail is in the way on the inside. I thought this way they would both attach at the same hight.?

Yup, the bar is even with my shoulders. Thanks for the reply Richard. I might just get this thing built yet.