Projects COE build thread - "Git r' done"

Did you buy your belting? I go to a place here that has old conveyor belting, and remnants out back that I can have for free. You may check to see if there are any conveyor belting suppliers in your area. The one I use up here is Applied Industrial Technologies, not sure but I think they are all over the states. They would also have a glue for attaching the belting to the steel.

 

The new bushings to mount the hinge arms.

The hinge rotates on the small diameter. The short stub will fit inside the cross pipe and locate it.

 

Spent much of the day drilling and tapping a gazillion holes. I made more chips than Frito Lay. I bolted one hinge together and it workes great. The alignment is dead on too. It is still missing the nylon washers (on order) but even "loose" it feels really good.

I am also working on a door adjustment idea. I am thinking of adding drain holes on the bottom of the storage box doors, and having a screw accessable through the drain hole that will let me adjust the door height when the door is closed. (Maybe a headlight adjustment screw). Once the height is set, I can open the door and tighten the hinge bolts. Otherwise it will be a real pain to adjust it just right.

I am not going to move the rear end after all, but instead I will lengthen the boxes by 12"

 

I was asked how I built my boxes with the bead rolled curve...here are some pictures to try and explain it...

I rolled all the beads on a flat sheetmetal. Then bent lips on top and bottom.


I used a shrinker stretcher and a wooden buck to gently create the front curve. The buck was used to bend the beads and coax the center around.




This created the curved outer skin.




ONce th outer skin was built, I bent up and bead rolled the top skin. The extra bend is the drip rail for the box opening.


My fuel tanks are located inside the front of the boxes...this is an early picture. The mounts have changed. The tanks are supported from the bottom and the top tabs are just there to stabalize it. The fuel tanks are from a boat.


Everything else is made of simple flat pieces bent up, plus a lot of welding.

I was also asked how I bent the 2x4 tubing for the bed rail...notice the numerous cuts. I cut the top bottom and inside of the pipe. When I had it where I wanted it, I welded up the top and bottom cuts. Then cut out the inside and replaced it with one solid piece.

 

Nice work man!!!

 

the beadwork looks outstanding!!!

 

Just a quick update...I got my nylon thrust washers and they tightened the hinges up nicely. I also got my slotted pipes from the water jet guys and they are ready to be welded to the brackets. I started practicing with my TIG welder, but discovered the Argon tank is leaking. I only have a couple dozen short welds under my belt...but I have become a master at messsing up the tungsten. What suprised me is that it is actually easier to make Aluminum welds look good over steel. Once I get the welder up and running again, I hope to get my welding skills improved and put these hinges together...so close and yet so far away!

 

Great fabrication, looking good!!!

 

I did my first trial fit of all the parts. Everything looks and fits just as I expected. You can see where the lower arm runs into the drip rail, so that will need to be trimmed. I need to clean up all the parts next...and continue my tig welding practice.

 

Real nice work ! What gauge are your boxes ?

 

As for the box gauge...it measures out at .0455, so I think it is 18 gauge. It is thick and heavy, but I didn't want it to feel flimsy since much is flat.

I bought a "cheapy" belt sander of craigslist and I am cleaing up all the edges of the hinge parts. Cheap sander...you better believe it, all the bearings were dry! Forced grease into them and it works better, but is still a cheap sander...luckily it is getting the job done. Lesson learned - you get what you pay for.

I drilled four holes in each of the 5/8" x 1" - 6" long mounting blocks to lighten them and make them easier to weld to the sheetmetal box. Each hole took four drill bits, one as a center, 3/8, 9/16 and one to chanfer...Add in the two holes per block for the mounting bolts, plus tapping those holes...and there are 8 blocks.

Dang that was a lot of drilling!!!!

 

Well all I can say is......., IMHO, tig welding sucks rocks!

I tried Tig welding this tiny tab to a bracket. The tab melted long before the bracket heated up. I managed to get two of them welded, but they both looked like hell and had to be ground down to salvage them. Two more to go...ugh!

 

Great to meet you today, the project looks awesome!!

 

My truck is out to get me.

Today it took a long slice out of my hand...seven stitches.

BTW - Does anyone has any spare grill parts?

 

Now that it's tasted blood you can't stop or it will want more!

Hope you're okay man.

 

Hi Mike
Hope you are ok and didn't faint at the sight of your own blood
So how did you do it, come on us guys need to hear all the gory details so we can avoid the same fate.

The things you will do to avoid working on your COE

 

I was moving the storage box off the bed and it slipped. I grabbed it and my hand went into the hole left from the mounting bracket. (shown in back corner) In a split second I gashed my finger deeply. I wrapped it up in a paper towel, and quickly drove to the emergency room...where I waited for two hours to get it stitched up. Fist come first served...

I touched the hole today to see how sharp it is...sharp and rough. I'm lucky I didn't do more damage.

Here is the hinge assembly mounted in the box. Missing is the bracket for the strut.





FYI - I would have sanded everything to make it look nice like the doughboy's project, but blood and sandpaper do not mix...HA! Maybe next time.

 

but blood and sandpaper do not mix...

wouldnt that be considered wet sanding?

 

lol...More like color sanding.

 

This is so frustrating. The weather is dry and warm and I can't work on my truck with these damn stitches. ARRRR!!!!!

I did try to design some box mounting brackets. My goal was to make them look like they were built by Henry Ford, but they also need to function. This bracket is meant to be welded to the rear axle front spring hanger.

I am open to any and all ideas...

 

I am back at design again. This time with a "Frame Brace" meant to support the Z in the frame that occurs right at the back of my cab. The design also allows me to change the engine cradle from the current cradle that is only attached to the Ford lower frame flange. The current setup was the result of exhaust clearance issues. The new cradle is mounted on the brace and because it is mounted lower, it will clear the exhaust.

 

Hi Mike.Love the engineering and thought that went into the hinge design.
Very clean design.Whats that old saying?Oh yeah.All good things come to those who wait.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Thanks. FYI - All this stuff (hinges, box mounts, engine mount and frame brace) are the items I never finished, or did "less than nicely", many years ago when I slapped it together for a home relocation.

The hinge design will work very good. The frame brace will finish the Z and let me build better engine mounts. The brace might not be needed, but will give me some piece of mind.

The last big item to figure out are the box mounts...then it is time to put the hammer down and finish it for real....well, actually pick the hammer up.

 

This is pretty awesome, truck would look amazing if you polished up the boxes and painted it plain high gloss black.

 

black...yuck. Oh wait, it is black. Is that your pinstripping handiwork in your avatar? It looks good, you should make a road trip and come and stripe it when it is done.

 

Moving forward on my frame brace. Here is the general plan. Going to use 3/16" steel. Can I bend cold roll plate or will it crack?

 

Hand is all healed and back to rocking it? This isn't my style, but I LOVE it. Some great engineering and execution going on. Keep up the great work.

 

I got to sit in the Elio prototype today. Before you hit me with not being HAMB friendly, let me tell you what I found out. The R&D guy that I talked to today was involved with producing the 1969 Plymouth Superbird (very cool!) and was heavy into factory race cars in the 60's. He also worked on the development of the Plymouth Prowler and is a vintage car guy too (model T's and A's). I gave them my 2 cents worth for improvements and told them how us hot rodders would change things (since we can't leave anything alone) . They seemed honestly interested in my input. I also learned a lot talking to them that I will use in my own builds. With 84 mpg, and a price of $6800, I think it would look cool sitting in my garage right next to my COE....hotrodded of course.

 

Love your COE, good job. I hope to have one as well one of these days.

 

Stitches are finally healed up, yardwork is mostly done, and the weather is too crappy to do more of the wife's house projects, so I ordered my frame gusset plates today. (post 175) Pics to follow once I get them back and start modifying them.

After watching doughboy and corvettesander install dashes from other cars into their trucks, I am tempted to do it myself. I can't decide between a 65 falcon or 64 buick to put into mine...(yeah right...not!)

Still not sure how to do all the storage box mounts.