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Hot Rods Cheatin' The Reaper

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Legendlives, Mar 5, 2016.

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  1. Buying that damaged chassis was an excellent idea.
     
    Legendlives likes this.
  2. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    Yes, without doubt.
    It gives me all of the tubing to finish my rollcage/chassis, plus over 40 Dzus clip brackets and a few other random brackets (which I'm sure will come in useful).
     
  3. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    Another good weekend of adding more tubes to the rollcage and chassis.
    The 'Funny Car' cage is now cut and tacked in place:
    And the other front engine bar upright is now in place, along with that 'wobbly' bar at the back of the engine:
    The 'wobbly' bar will have uprights from the main chassis rail which will intersect at the base of the arch, forming a 'U' shape which will have the motor plate bolted to it.
     
  4. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

  5. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    Motor plate.
    The motor plate is made from 5mm steel with integral mandatory 3mm x 50mm scattershield.
    Front:
    and back:

    The main plate will sit vertical on the chassis, but the outer plate is angled back slightly:
    This is for two reasons; 1) the firewall will sit flat against the rollcage which is slightly angled backwards, and 2) the heads on the engine that cannot be named sit further back than the back of the block.
    At the bottom of the plate are cut-outs for these channels:
    These will be welded to the side of the main chassis rail and (like the channels at the rear of the chassis) will allow the fuel plumbing, brake pipes and battery cable to pass the engine without needing to drill holes in the bulkhead.
     
    '52 F-3 and saltflats like this.
  6. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    It's getting to the point that I need to fit the seats so I can work out positioning of the pedals, switches, steering column and shifter.
    The rear of the seat mount needs to sit 90mm higher than the top of the chassis rails and 120mm further back from the rear crossmemmber, so it would be easy to just angle-cut some box section and weld it in right?
    Wrong:
    These sections are formed from straight box which is sectioned:
    Bent:
    The cut-out bit is also bent:
    and welded back together:
    Before being smoothed off and welded into a complete crossmember:
    This fits in between the main roll-hoop and will have the outer seat-belt mounts welded to it.
    Now all I have to do is make the front seat mount frames which will bolt into this piece and sandwich the floor/panelling.
     
    fauj likes this.
  7. saltflats
    Joined: Aug 14, 2007
    Posts: 12,594

    saltflats
    Member
    from Missouri

    That must take some work to not tie it into a knot with all the welding.
     
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  8. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    I've now made the front seat frames.
    These are made the same way as the crossmember, and have 3mm brackets at each end to bolt through:
    These will attach to the crossmember like so:
    There will be 8 bolts holding each frame in place, attaching to captive threads in the crossmember and floor members.
     
  9. There's good stuff everywhere you could look, even under the seats :)
     
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  10. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    The seat crossmember is now tack-welded in place. It already has the threaded inserts welded into it so the frames are bolted on so that I can establish where the front mounts have to be.
    In the pictures you'll also see the outer seat-belt mounts tacked in place.

    Whilst I was playing I thought I'd add in some more 'cage tubes, so it now has another bar in the roof:
    This will not only add strength, but also provide a solid mount for the 'chute release and the overhead switch console.
    I also added in the 'up diagonal' 'X' bars in the drivers door:

    In a few of the pics you'll see a gearbox has appeared. Thanks to son-in-law Darren and petrol-head daughter Eleanor for helping me lift it in. It's pretty heavy!
    It mounts up to the motor-plate at the front which has given me the position for the rear mount (yet to be made)
     
    saltflats likes this.
  11. KustomKreeps
    Joined: Jan 7, 2016
    Posts: 324

    KustomKreeps
    Member

    Nice progress. 5months and looking good.
    damn jealous of your skills man would save me a fortune if i had half your ability.

    Alex
     
    Legendlives likes this.
  12. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    The last few bars.
    3 tubes that tie up the motor plate/bulkhead area:
    An up-diagonal that links the outer outriggers to the engine bars:
    And diagonals from the rear of the chassis to the rear rollcage hoops:
    Now everything is tacked in place I need to finish-weld all of the joints. I won't bore you with the process but I may just drop in a photo of the finished chassis with the body off later....
     
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  13. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

  14. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    Front seat mounts now in place. You'll also see the 5th seat harness mount welded at the chassis end of the mount tube:

    Motor plate mounts now in place:

    And a special heavy weight arrived to help keep the engine down:

    Actually there has been lots of progress, but as none of it is particularly finished yet I'll wait until it's photo-worthy before boring you all with it.
     
  15. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    Next job on the list (or at least one of the next jobs on the list) is the rear transmission mount, but whilst I was in the area I decided to make an adapter to fit the Jaguar propshaft to the Mustang tranny. This is made from 10mm steel plate with high-tensile 10mm studs. I couldn't find studs on the shelf so made these from 12.9 tensile cap-screws. Studs are threaded into the plate and also welded on the back-side for extra strength.
     
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  16. llonning
    Joined: Nov 17, 2007
    Posts: 681

    llonning
    Member

    All I have to say is; DAMN, you got the skill!!

    Len
     
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  17. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

  18. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    The steering column itself is a Mazda collapsible unit - it will have to be collapsible to meet the NZ tech standards if I have any chance of making it road-legal. On the subject of road legality it will also need indicators. I didn't want a big cumbersome stalk so came up with this little housing which is supported by a tube:
    The indicator switch is a simple on/off/on toggle switch. The additional holes in the housing are for LED warning lights (left & right).

    Coming from the base of the indicator support tube is another tube that runs the length of the column:
    This is to hide the wiring and keep it secure. The ends of the tubes are turned down so that I can heat-shrink the wiring in place where it traverses the 'collapsible' part.

    I've also added a quick-release steering hub - essential if I ever need to get in or out of the (tiny) car. I'm not 100% sold on the looks of this, but once that horrendous gold is stripped off it should look better.
     
  19. woodbutcher
    Joined: Apr 25, 2012
    Posts: 3,310

    woodbutcher
    Member

    :D Very nice.Neat but not gaudy.
    Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
    Leo
     
  20. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

  21. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    Back in the thread somewhere you'll see the spanky adjustable brake pedal box which I scored (unsurprisingly) cheap.
    Unfortunately, having tried to fit it, it won't - fit that is - without looking hideous, so the only option left to me is to custom-build a pedal box.
    Back when I bought the steering column, it came with a few other parts amongst which was a manual pedal box, so I rescued the pedals and started at them with a drill:


    You'll see the original pivot hole, and the new position for the pivot half-way up.

    Dredging the scrap bin I found a manifold plate that had been cut wrongly (not by me I hasten to add), so managed to cut this:


    and these:


    From the available metal (which incidentally is about 15mm thick aluminium). It's great when you have to design parts around what's available....
    Anyhow, these will all go together like this:


    More as it happens..... :)
     
  22. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    Prettied up the main plate a bit:

    So the nut-spacer has now been removed and substituted by this top-hat spacer made of 6061 Alloy:

    Which is pressed into the centre strut like so:

    And then the whole lot welded together:

    The pedal pivots have nylon sleeve bearing inserts (original Mazda). The clutch pedal spacer has been added too, also in 6061:

    All I have to do now is try it in the hole and then make mounts & finish the pedals. Oh, and a false floor. And footrest. And accelerator pedal......
     
  23. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    Pedals.
    These (as mentioned before) are Mazda production pedals with a few mods.....
    Because I have to step the brake pedal sideways, I didn't want to over-bend the pedal so decided to space the pedal away from the actuation lever. I'm sure the pivot tube on it's own would have worked OK, but decided - for safety's sake - to add this spacer tube which is the same wall thickness as the brake pedal (5mm).


    Clutch pedal is just welded to the pivot tube with no spacer.


    I'm going to mount it up properly before finalising the pedal pads.
     
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  24. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    Another side-project that's been going for a while is the overhead switch panel.
    This all started when I was looking through the garage and came across this dash panel, made for a previous (unfinished) project:
    I figured if I flipped it over
    It would make (with a bit of modification) a good switch panel.
    Well....after more hours than I care to count it looks like this:
    It hooks over the door bar
    and under the centre bar
    to make it fit level. There will obviously be threaded mounting tags welded to the 'cage so that it can be easily removed.
    The mods were more intricate than I first imagined as all of the bars are at different angles.
    The panel is made from 1mm high-tensile aluminium plate which is super-light and super-strong, and will house all of the switches except for the indicator and line-lock.
     
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  25. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    It's been a couple of weeks since the last update and there have been a few bits done.
    The steering linkage has all been fabricated. This uses the top joint from the Mazda system and the bottom joint from the Lada system. There was a bit of shortening that went on, but now it all fits (and works) well:

    I've now made enough room in my small single garage to trial fit the front. It's going to need heaps of work to make it fit properly, but at least it clears all of the chassis etc.

    And teh gratuitous wheel shot. You have to do it don't you?
     
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  26. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    The pedal box has been largely finished now. I've welded extensions and mount plates to the main part with plates to bolt a 'false' floor, raised in the heel area.
    This does two things:
    It raises the cylinders above the exhaust line, and (believe it or not) actually gives you more foot-room.
    The left-hand mount is made from 5mm steel, and threaded for four mount bolts. This will be seam-welded and a gusset at the rear added. On the opposite side of the pedal box you will see a series of holes, these are for bulkhead fittings for fluid feed and front/rear brake and clutch pressure lines.

    The Mustang gear selector has been shortened by about 10" and the (unnecessary) flexible joints removed.
    At the rear of the selector is this bracket.In the Mustang it's mounted the other way up and bolted to the floor, but in my application it's this way up:
    Because it bolts to this construction which forms the top of another drive-shaft hoop.
    The whole thing bolts together like this:
    and works exceptionally well!

    I've also spent an hour or so chipping Bondo from the fibreglass front which leads me to think at some stage in a motoring store there was a conversation that went like this:
    "Hello sir, can I help you?
    "Yes, I'd like to buy some Bondo."
    "How much do you want?"
    "All of it!" :)
     
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  27. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    Went to a local swap-meet today and found these headlights (the top ones) for a whole $25NZ the pair!
    They are a lot smaller than the originals (below). Something I didn't realise when I bought them is they are stamped '1937' which is a year older than the car. Result!
    I also bought a nice pair of aluminium brake calipers for the rear for $10. I don't know what they are from but they'll work well.
     
  28. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    Back to the dashboard. I've at last found a suitable speedo, so cut a suitable hole in the middle of the dash:
    Edge welded this reinforcement donut behind and attached the mount studs:
    so it'll look like this (when I've cleaned the edge up better!)

    More dash work is ongoing so I'll update as soon as it's picture-worthy.
     
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  29. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

    Back to the steering for a moment. The Pitman arm on the Lada steering box was totally wrong, so \i decided to make a new one.
    Once the original Pitman arm was cut from it's splined hub I stuck it in the lathe and cut this step into it
    Which is the correct diameter to accept this, cut from 5mm steel:
    I found this:
    in the fab-room at work. It had sat there for over 5 years and no-one knew what it was from, so I cut off what I wanted and straightened it in the press:
    From then it was only a matter of welding it together
    And smoothing it off:
    It's now the correct length, and at the correct angle.
     
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  30. Legendlives
    Joined: Mar 4, 2016
    Posts: 203

    Legendlives

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