Project 4 from Agent4573 - Category - Offroad Fabrication

[agent4573]

Got the final tubes made for the main section. The rest will have to wait until I get the front suspension mounts plasma'd out or get the transmission mounted to the motor. The final tubes aren't welded in yet, but they will be tomorrow or tuesday. The main cross bar bent itself from too much heat when I was welding the rear trailing arm mounts on. It looks like the side with the mounts shrunk as it bends in on the outside of the tube as well. Whats the best way to go about shrinking the front of the tube? I don't need it to be perfect, but if I can get some of that bend out I'm going to try.

[agent4573]

Got some good news and some bad on the update for this project. I've been steadily getting parts together over the past month. I now have an almost operational engine, picked up the transmission, clutch, seats, all shocks, and a pedal assembly. Unfortunately, somewhere I messed up my measurements and have to remove the rollcage and increase my headroom ~6 inches. I don't know where I lost the height, but once I put the seat in there and put a helmet on, my head rubs the upper bars. I figure it set me back about 2 weeks with having to cut off, grind down, and redo the upper part of the roll cage. I'll post more pictures when I get it to the height it needs to be at.

[Rambozo]

Measure twice, cut once?
It happens. I've gotten to the point of trying to make good drawings or 3D models for as much stuff as I can. It's a whole lot easier to fix on the screen than in the shop. And if things change, I can easily get measurements from my drawing or model for things I didn't even think of when created.
Or like they say, measure with a micrometer, mark with a crayon, cut with an ax. Proper planning is the biggest part of most jobs, and can save a lot of time down the road.

[agent4573]

Worked on it a bit over the weekend and past few weeks. Minor surgery took me down for about a week there and it pissed me off. Got the roll caged lifted and tacked back into place. Put a few bars in for the motor/trans mount. I cut out the plates that bolt to the motor and now have to make the stand-offs for it and the motor will be done. I think I went a little overboard, but its what I had on hand. The plates are made out of quarter inch steel, the downtubes for the motor mounts will be made out of 1"x.25 wall tube. It was expensive, but since I don't have a lathe, I needed some form of tubing that I could stick a 1/2" bolt through without making a spacer or insert for it. I have two more top tubes to put in that run from the top of the roll cage all the way to the ### end of the buggy, but the shape of them isn't decided yet. Once I get the motor solidly mounted I have to place the radiator and that will in part determine where those tubes go.

[agent4573]

Got quite a bit done today. Swapped out the drive flanges on the transaxle from 934/935 CV's to 930 CV's. Made the last few tubes for the rear part of the car. Motor mounts are made, transaxle mounts are in place. I'm in the process of fully welding everything up now. Spent about 3 hours welding tonight, gonna spend about 4 more tomorrow, but I have to work so it'll be late. I did find out that on the Powertig 185, the stock air cooled torch gets too hot to hold before the welder shuts itself off from over heating. Ordering a new tranny seal to fix a leak around the shifter and some seat sliders tonight so I can mount the front seats. Rear seat mounts are in place.

I'm going to be mounting up the rear shocks soon and was wondering if anyone has any experience with internyal shock spacers to limit bump and droop. I've hear limit straps stretch and aren't ideal and that the best way to do it is to make custom poly spacers for inside the shock. Any input in this area would be greatly appreciated.

[agent4573]

Got the other front seat tacked into place and the pedals tacked in. Its a tight fit for everything, but there is enough leg room for a small adult in the back seat and I fit perfectly in the front, so I'm happy. Also had to drill out and remove a bolt that was snapped off in the used flywheel I bought. It actually came out a lot easier than I thought it would.

[agent4573]

Finally got my buddy to cnc plasma out the parts I was begging for. Got the front bulk heads for all the suspension and all my gussets. Got all the gussets tacked in tonight and I'm planning on doing the front suspension tomorrow. I ordered standard width front seats, but I think they sent me the +2" width front seats, as they are REALLY tight. The radiator is out of a 5.0 mustang and appears to be a pretty nice single pass radiator with an oil cooler. Hopefully its enough to keep the 3.0 liter Nissan cool. If not, I'll have to find a larger double pass radiator. Got the "windshield" downtubes remade and tacked in. Motor and transmission are in for good with the clutch and starter mounted. All I need to finish that is the slave cylinder. Tacked the pedals in but had to rip them out to put in the gussets. Once I put the seats in I realized the roll cage was way too low so I had to raise it to get some head room. Because its at an angle , when I raised it, it didn't hit the same point on the mid-rail as I planned initially, so I made up some braces to help spread the load out. I know its not ideal, but without redoing the entire bottom half of the frame, this is the best I could come up with. All the gussets are 3/16" mild steel. Also, I need to stop wearing short sleeves while I weld.

P.S. I completely apologize for the rambling or fragments, I'm freaking drunk.