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  #151  
Old 10-17-2018, 06:55 PM
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Originally Posted by 123pugsy View Post
You could also just send the drawing to a company that does laser/waterjet cutting.
I have done that in the past on some projects. However, I find it difficult mentally when I’m building and designing in my head when I get to needing a bracket I want it now to keep progress going on that phase. It’s tough to plan ahead when doing custom work (for me at least) For example, the exhaust I just did....I had the exhaust routed and temporarily supported in place, then I obviously wanted mounts and hangers to secure it in place permanently. I suppose I could have sent all the files off, waited for the parts to arrive and gone onto another part of the project in the meantime. I don’t like skipping around too much and leaving too many “half completed” tasks all around the project (unless I have a plan or reason for it in my head)
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  #152  
Old 10-18-2018, 05:22 AM
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123pugsy 123pugsy is offline
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I have done that in the past on some projects. However, I find it difficult mentally when I’m building and designing in my head when I get to needing a bracket I want it now to keep progress going on that phase. It’s tough to plan ahead when doing custom work (for me at least) For example, the exhaust I just did....I had the exhaust routed and temporarily supported in place, then I obviously wanted mounts and hangers to secure it in place permanently. I suppose I could have sent all the files off, waited for the parts to arrive and gone onto another part of the project in the meantime. I don’t like skipping around too much and leaving too many “half completed” tasks all around the project (unless I have a plan or reason for it in my head)

Makes sense. I hate leaving stuff as well.
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  #153  
Old 10-18-2018, 09:39 AM
steve.murphy steve.murphy is offline
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Hi Dane,
Nice work your doing there.

If you haven't seen this site and aren't worried about rabbit holes, here is a good reference: https://www.cnczone.com/forums/cnc-p...rjet-machines/
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  #154  
Old 10-18-2018, 11:15 AM
homanfab homanfab is offline
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I would check local Craigslist as there are several used CNC Plasma tables in our area that are for sale. There is one in Brooklyn Park that looks like an okay deal.
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  #155  
Old 10-18-2018, 05:44 PM
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As you may recall, I previously had to cut out the center crossmembers that the chassis builder had as there was just no way they would work how I wanted for the exhaust.

I have now bent up 3 new crossmembers (1 is also the removeable transmission mount and will get split with bolt flanges added to it later)

The new crossmembers had to go up and over the exhaust yet drop down in the center for driveshaft clearance once the suspension was raised.

The front (transmission mount) is level, the second crossmember has a mild drop and the third one has a deeper drop. This tapered drop front to back helps it follow the angle of the driveshaft better. For no reason except it visually looked nicer to me and more "planned out" I'd say.

I finished it off by adding a few more exhaust hanger brackets and isolators.

Tomorrow I'm hopefully going to set the body back on so I can start getting a real good game plan for floor structure, etc.

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A view from the front with the suspension dropped shows plenty of driveshaft clearance.

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From the rear with the suspension dropped, again shows good clearance.

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A view looking down the length of the driveshaft.

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The view from the side with the suspension raised up shows why the crossmembers had to drop for the driveshaft.

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This angle from the front helps show a bit how each crossmember has a different "drop" to help better follow the driveshaft angle.
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  #156  
Old 10-19-2018, 12:14 PM
Scshrd Scshrd is offline
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Can the driveshaft be removed once the body is on the chassis? Spectacular build BTW.
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  #157  
Old 10-19-2018, 03:22 PM
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Can the driveshaft be removed once the body is on the chassis? Spectacular build BTW.
Well there is no floor yet!ha But yes, it will have no problem dropping out with the future floor / driveshaft tunnel in place.

Also, thank you for the compliment and for enjoying the build.
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  #158  
Old 10-19-2018, 10:30 PM
Fasteddie Fasteddie is offline
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Try plasmaspyder.com for a plasma table forum. A lot of good things there.
I bought a Plasmacam 4x4 table in 2005 and a few years later bought a 5x10 Sampson table a few years later. A lot of the people that make the cheap tables don't last but a year or two and you have no support or parts. Plasma tables make lots of smoke and dust and probably shouldn't be around a paint booth. I shovel up 55 gal barrels full of metal dust under my table. I cut 22ga stainless at 300 inches a minute and can quickly turn new metal into scrap. The first day I ran my machine, I ruined three 4x8 sheets of 1/8. My neighbor says "It cost a lot to be stupid". These machines are probably easer to run now than when I started. Just trying to point out some of the bad things. I hope this helps.
Eddie Lawson
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  #159  
Old 11-08-2018, 09:11 PM
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I'm back.....this will probably be a fairly "winded" long worded post so I apologize in advance.

I've begun design, planning and fabrication on the floor. In my head I see the plan and vision, but truthfully it might be a bit hard to explain or show in this post (I wasn't going to post until I was further along, but the pictures were piling up and I didn't want too many at once)

I knew in my head that I wanted to floor to look "clean" from the bottom side of the car. Instead of adding a lot of beadwork for strength, I had envisioned on having all the floor braces and structure hidden above the floor instead of below it, I'll add extra braces / structure to make up for lack of bead work. This serves the same purpose in the end, but it leaves a nice unobstructed floor later (underneath) The problem comes on the inside.....with all the braces and structure it would be hard to do carpet and such, so I'll actually be adding a second "false floor" on top of the braces. This gives me a smooth floor and most importantly the "cavity" between the floors will be an ideal area to install sound deadening material as well as insulation for heat / noise. Eventually as the floor project progresses, this should make more sense.....hopefully!

I'm tackling the floor structure in several different stages: (susceptible to change as I progress further)

1. Driver and passenger front halves
2. Section above mufflers and over rear end
3. Trunk floor
4. Wheel wells / tubs
5. Inner quarter panel structures
6. Firewall / cowl

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This picture is an example I pulled off the internet. I discussed having a smooth floor with the customer and he wasn't totally sure. I scrounged up a dozen pics or so, showing examples of some higher end well known builds and talked him into letting me go with what was in my head.

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Another example picture I shared with the customer so he could sort of see what I was thinking in my head.

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It all starts with a simple flat blank cut and marked for my first floor section.

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The basic bends complete. The long edge will be along the frame rail and will become the inner rocker panel. The other bend up is the transition into the driveshaft tunnel.

It may be tough to see but I also added a slight "S" curve towards the driveshaft portion of the floor. This raises the floor edge about 3/8" to gain the needed clearance over the center chassis crossmembers I built in the last post or so.

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Here's the first basic panel just set into it's rough location.

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I did the same set of bends for 3 more floor sections. My magnetic brake is only 48" width so I had to split each floor side in half (here I've got the front and back half tack welded together.

I also rolled up a rough shape for the driveshaft tunnel so I can visualize and plan accordingly.

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Another view of the floor blank sections set into place. I've only rough cut the opening for the transmission as well as the mufflers and rear suspension.

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Looking in the rear wheel opening forward you can see how the floor will fit around the chassis. 3/8" clearance above it and a 1/4" gap along the side. The body pucks are a polyurethane bushing, so there won't be any real movement once bolted down tight.

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I don't have a picture but I bent up a pile of straight "hat section channel braces" Where the braces need to follow the "S" curve I added to the floor I made them in 3 pieces (top and each side flange) shrunk and stretched accordingly....

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Here's an example of the floor braces and the curved one (not trimmed, just there for an example and test) Will fine tune floor curve to fit perfectly when the time comes.

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Same process for fabricating each of the brace ends. These will tie the floor braces to the rocker structure eventually.

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Here are 6 curved brace ends ready to attach to the straight sections (I made 2 non curved brace ends that go in a different location as well)

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I pulled the floor section back out and started to trim and fit the floor braces where needed with clecos.

The customer also dropped off the seats the upholstery shop got for him (really only plan on using the structure, foam and material will obviously be reworked when that time comes)

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A little better view of how the bracing is laid out. The 3 with the punched radius hole are the body mount locations. Inside the brace I've added a steel doubler plate to spread the load out evenly The body mount bolt will set down inside the brace (again giving me a clean surface later for carpet)

Other braces are added where needed for seat mounting and general floor structure.

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Another view from the front. Again the transmission cutout is just rough at this point (only cut enough to get the floor to set in the chassis) The same for the forward edge....this will change according to what's needed for the front kick up into the firewall.

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The next thing I needed to fabricate is a new inner rocker panel structure. If you look at this picture you can see the original inside the rocker panel next to the frame. (The piece with all the holes in it)

I need to do this for two reasons:

1. I want to lengthen it all the way back to the future wheel well / tub
2. It'll be one of the main items that ties the floor and braces into the body structure (to be seen and make sense later eventually)

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Getting started on the new inner rocker structure (again needed to make in two sections as it was over 48" in length) It's a "Z" bend. Eventually the top bend will plug weld to the rocker / door jamb area and the bottom bend will be one location the outer rocker skin will plug weld to.

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And the completed inner rocker structure. Punched full of holes never to be seen again once installed!ha I suppose it adds a little strength, but I did it to mimic the original a bit.

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Another view of the overall floor section. You can see how the rocker structure will eventually attach (plug weld) to the floor braces.

The raised portion of the rocker structure is where it transitions from the rocker to the door jamb structure. Eventually the inner quarter panel structure will attach to the top lip.

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Just another different view. The curve of the floor brace ends is for the transition to the rocker / door jamb as the floor braces are slightly higher than the door sill. (It won't follow this exact radius) but that gave me the needed clearance to do a smoother floor transition later.

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From the bottom side. This is the inner rocker now (along the frame rail) you can see the two bottom flanges where the rocker skin will attach to later.

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Here's a picture with the inner rocker brace located where it will be for reference (though obviously lower and inside the rocker panel) but this shows the alignment to the rear door post structure.

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Once the floor was a solid unit with all the braces and structure clecoed into position I was able to bolt on the body bushings and mounts and locate it on the chassis. With everything lined up the body mounts (built previously) were tack welded to the chassis and the floor was finally attached by itself....it even fit how I wanted!ha

I grabbed Adam off of his project for a few minutes since he's much closer to the customer's height than I am (Adam is actually about 2" taller...so that works good for fitting) They are both pretty tall guys and this is a pretty small tight car! I had him check the leg room and how comfortable he felt. The wood at the front is roughly the kick panel / firewall.

He gave the thumbs up and said it was really good.

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A good side view of the seating and leg room.

I like this view...it just looks like some wild go-kart or something right now!ha

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My next task was to start closing off the area above the driver's 4-link and muffler. I left a good amount of clearance (probably much more than I needed) for exhaust / heat transfer and air flow but yet wanted to keep things compact enough to gain as much seat room as possible.

Eventually everything behind the seat to the rear window will be below a compartment (so this area won't be seen, except from the bottom) I wanted to fabricate it where I can probably mount components to later. A/C unit, wiring harness, battery?, etc. etc.

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Side view of this area. The angled portion is over the suspension, the other area is above the muffler.

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Different view. I didn't want to do any hard sharp 90 deg. bends. so I've added at least a small radius to every edge. This section will be trimmed and butt welded to the floor panel (not just a flange plug welded on)

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With the seat located as far back as it would ever go you can see why I needed to keep the floor around the muffler as compact as possible.
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  #160  
Old 11-09-2018, 07:17 AM
route56wingnut route56wingnut is offline
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Inspirational work you are doing. Still need to take time to visit and see it
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