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  #1011  
Old 07-02-2019, 04:40 AM
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Gojeep Gojeep is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Onorius View Post
Didn't know they had any in Romania. Must be very few as didn't spot any while there.

I did not make a repair just like yours, not even close. The pictures are to see that I have touched a real one here in Romania.

Attachment 53275

Attachment 53276

Attachment 53277

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Attachment 53280

Attachment 53281[/QUOTE]

Awesome. Looks like a 62-64 model year.
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  #1012  
Old 07-02-2019, 04:43 AM
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Originally Posted by cliffrod View Post
Seems redundant to keep saying the same thing but it looks great, Marcus.
Never redundant mate. Might have thought I was making it worse otherwise.
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  #1013  
Old 07-06-2019, 07:06 PM
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Time to start making some chassis cab mounts. I have gone thicker than stock using leftover 4mm-5/32" plate that I boxed the chassis with.


Drilled some lightening holes. I make the hole diameter half the width of the area where it sits. This is good structurally and proportionally.


I bought this brake press especially for this job years ago.


One problem you face though once the flanges are taller than the width of the web, is that it bends the first 90 degree fold back out some when it clashes with the side of the brake while you are doing the second bend. You can avoid this by not going to a full 90 degree fold on both sides, and leave it at that, or make the web wider as the height of the flange increases. Sometimes a bit of both is used.


I wanted to keep 90 degree flanges without tapering the web wider so hammered the side square again over the edge of the bench. The thicker the steel, the bigger the hammer to get it done.


The large hole at the end is to take the step in the bush to keep it centrally located. I much prefer rubber for better isolation of noise and vibrations. I bought a complete set including nuts, bolts and washers to suit a 1964 - 1967 GM Chevelle convertible. They are 52mm-2" in diameter.


These sit a bit above the chassis rails so the tab at the end goes over and down to the other side of the rail. This greatly increases the weld area at the top and prevents such a long bracket trying to tear off the side of the chassis.


Here it is tacked into place directly under the drilled plate welded at the bottom of the B pillar when I built them long ago.


The front mounts are a lot shorter due to how much the cab tapers. I have made them with the angle in the web as the frame tapers inwards where they attach. This way the mounts are still perpendicular to the centreline. I keep all the holesaw slugs too as they make great heavy duty washers and for filling holes in chassis rails etc.


Have this tacked in and all the mounts I bolted in. I have measured the compression on the rubber to keep them all the same. I will fully weld them with the cab off for easy access once I am sure no changes are needed.
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  #1014  
Old 07-13-2019, 07:46 AM
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When building the chassis I knew I didn't have quite enough room for the front cross member between the front of the engine and the back of the fan, so left it out for the time being. I have both the 4 cylinder one on the bottom and the 6 cylinder one at the top to choose from.


I'm going to go with the 6 cylinder version as it drops down and has a cutout for the harmonic balancer. I only have the width of the narrowest part of it to fit between the fan and the bottom pulleys! And that was after I had already moved the grille forward 40mm-1.5" when reprofiling the front guards.


I find making a cardboard profile of the cross member helps visualise what needs to be done rather than start cutting away steel. It doesn't clear the underside of the pulleys, but not that far off. Can see why the 6 cylinder one was a better choice


The bottom plate is just spot welded on and was already coming apart. I need the flanges removed for more clearance anyway, so will cut it off for now.


I was surprised how clean it was inside! I had soaked it in the citric acid bath 5 years ago and then just pressure washed the inside from ends to rinse it.


The cutout for the balancer was not long enough as it needed it to clear the A/C compressor as well, so will reuse the factory pressings and move them outwards.


Can see how it goes together while still only using steel from the original cross member. They just swapped places after the fill in pieces were cut down.


Now even though the longer cutout means it clears the front of the engine, it only just fits between the engine and fan without clearance. Rather than make the whole cross member even narrower, I will get it to go under the engine to give me the clearance I need. I cut a V into it but not all the way down, leaving 13mm-1/2" at the bottom. When I did the chassis rails I left 25mm-1".


Leaving it partially uncut not only keeps everything in alignment, but gives you a radius at the bottom. The more you leave the bigger the radius. Takes very little pressure to bend it and I tack it in place while under the press.


Welded up and you can see it looks more factory than just a mitred cut.


I coated the inside with zinc paint before welding the bottom plate back on again.


I put a block in the middle a bit taller than the gap and then tensioned the cross member over it with clamps at each end. Then tacked on the bottom plate.


While still under tension I stitch weld a section before quickly doing directly opposite it. Ten leave a space before doing another stitch weld. Even though the tension over the block will help stop it from trying to straighten out some, it still good practice to balance your welds to stop twisting.


Once fully welded it was smoothed out. You can also see where I had hammered in a scallop to give clearance over the power steering rack.


Plenty of clearance over the rack, more than the minimum 10mm-3/8" clearance required.


Now it seems superfluous to have lengthened the cutout when the engine still hangs over it, but the reason is I now have just enough room to unbolt the subframe, with engine and everything in place on it, and move it back towards the firewall and drop the whole lot out the bottom of the chassis. Makes future engine or transmission changes easier.


Worked out well with just using the one bend in the cross member to clear the pulleys.
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  #1015  
Old 07-13-2019, 09:18 AM
Jon Thompson Jon Thompson is offline
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Nicely done!
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  #1016  
Old 07-13-2019, 09:29 AM
blue62 blue62 is offline
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Marcus,
Nice work, very clean looking.
Great write up on your methods of how you get from point A to point B.
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  #1017  
Old 07-13-2019, 06:11 PM
bill m bill m is offline
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A well thought out approach.

Thank you for sharing your ideas and methods.
cheers
Bill.
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  #1018  
Old 07-14-2019, 04:13 AM
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Thanks guys.
Been good to get back into the heavy metals again where my training was many years ago.
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  #1019  
Old 07-14-2019, 02:55 PM
dwmh dwmh is offline
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Superb work on some serious metal.
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  #1020  
Old 07-20-2019, 09:55 PM
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With the radiator back in you can now see the clearance between the cross member and the fan support.


This is where I want the grille body mounts to go, but it is not quite flat enough.


So I used some 6mm-1/4" plate ground to fit the contour and make it perfectly level on top. Welded a nut inside the chassis to take the mounting bolt as will cap the end of the chassis later on.


Next is to make a mount off the grille without welding to the face of it so it doesn't show once painted.


I will see if I can use the body mount as a support later on for the top radiator mount as well.


I folded up the mount so it has a tab that goes over the double layer of steel where the lower grille tray overlaps the grille flange. This helps spread the load and is also a strong section. The vertical brace is up against the side of the bead I put in where it is the stiffest.


The outside brace welds directly to the steel strap that runs right around the outside of the grille. I had already extended it to the very bottom when I made the grille longer in preparation for the mounts. Back of the grille was painted and then flexible caulking put in between the front face of the mount.


Using two mounts instead of the factory single centre mount makes it much more sturdy than stock.


That is the last the the cab and front clip body mounts done.
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