Ol'fogasaurus black buggy

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I took some pictures this morning of what I am trying to do. It is cold out there and the last of the three pix was very difficult to do.

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After using a straight edge to check straightness I laid the tube in the angle iron an marked a line the full length of the tube. As I said before I tried to use a center finder tool (this is an example of a multi-tool with the center finder part in the center: https://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-com ... 62968.html) but since there seems to be some variation to the tube it didn't work well so I am going in another direction) to be able to mark the other side of the tube as a double check for the main bore hole. I will document what the next try is later on.

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I only showed it in partial depth so some additional features are shown but the notch will be the full depth of the rectangular tube.

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This was the hard picture to take. Being cold, standing on a stool to get depth of focus, trying to balance, focus and keep both sides of the tube in full perspective where even breathing affected what I was trying to show. Anyway, I finally got it fairly good s hot.

This shows why I was concerned about centering the notch in the tube. The sides left are fairly small and, incase I have to open the notch up a bit incase I have to go over the Truss bracket, I still wanted to keep as much of the "meat" of the tube as possible.

There are two more ways to ensure that the notch is centered. One is a bit more "iffy" with my sorry construction skills than the other method.

I hope this helps someone else.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Since we had a dusting of snow last night and the sun has dried up the pavement and sidewalks except where there are shadows made by the trees or mail boxes it is OK out. I went out to the mail boxes anx while standing to get the door unlocked I started sliding sideways down hill. I'm staying in 'till tomorrow!

I did try one of the other methods of centering the tube. It worked but the drill jig I bought (not from HF) waaaaa ! It was cheap but I had hoped not this cheap!

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I got the jig aligned with the band saw's blade then clamped in place. Again, the jig has issues but I finally got things to work out after about an hour changing things around. I did a short cut at both ends using the line I had drawn using the extruded piece of angle iron. I double checked it again for straightness after bead blasting and wire brushing, this was done to get all the potential problem crud off it.

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Turning it over this is where the cut sits.

Again I drew lines from one end to the other and the two cuts, top and bottom align within the tolerance I was going for: a half of a blade offset or less. I will get the old marks off and redraw them; then I can put the marks on for the hole saw's bit to go through and where the top of the cut should end up.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Went out in the garage today to work on the saddle mount but it was just too cold. The temp was 47° as before but the moisture in the air was a lot more so I did a couple of marks on the tube then came in to do some other necessary things. I tried to use a drill to start the holes but it just made rude noises to me .

Snow is supposed to be coming in again this afternoon. Normal temp for this time of the year is in the 50's.

Lee

[mlrailguy]

LOL. 47 would be considered a heat wave here in Moses Lake. Yesterday finally climbed to 32. I haven't been out to my shop for at least a month now

[Ol'fogasaurus]

47° was the temp in the garage. It was 32° to 37° mid-day and mid-20° during the night. We had to go to Everett yesterday and that was the temps we saw going up. Coming back it was low mid-30s w/snow falling and this was all happening while the sun was out. Go figure! It is supposed to get warmer now. Anchorage Alaska was warmer than we and down to Portland were. I think the Portland area is supposed to get some snow this weekend.

Being in the "high desert" part of the state you are usually either colder in the winter and warmer (hotter) in the summer than the left side of the Cascade Mtns.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Its like a sauna in the garage... comparatively speaking that is; its 51°!

This is what my (current anyway) plan it on the cutting of the saddle notch.

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This is the more accurate of the two centering mounts I made. I put some angles with a hole in each one to tie the tube in place while I cut the 1" hole. I am hoping this holds things in place after I fully tighten the straps so my holding onto things will not be needed as much. I'll still have to do it but if there is a sudden grab I should be away from things. Again, I will use the notches I made using the band saw to center/align the tube in the jig, strap it in tightly then move to the drill press. The hole for the hole saw bit will already be piloted. Each side will be drilled separately as I don't trust either of the drill jigs; the commercial one I made... or myself.

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Extending the end of the tube out past the end of the centering tool I will slide the jig into the blade to cut the two sides on the band saw to match the 1" hole cut in the drill press. I am hoping this will work and will not require much holding onto the tube tightly... same reasons as above. The tool can be offset to each tape line I will add. Oh, and a new 14 tooth band in the band saw as the old one is getting dull and has spit a couple of teeth.

I could have used a cut off wheel but the blind alignment to the lower notch could easily go out of whack or it would require cutting each side individually which is time consuming (like that makes a difference after how long I have been working on this build .

The end of the notch will have to be using a cutoff wheel and a air hacksaw I think. Again, I will tape the area to be cut but each side will have to be done separately.

Tomorrow is the day of mass mutilation I think.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I went out an finally did some cutting of metal on the saddle mounts. I had bead blasted the tubes, wire brushed them and used lacquer thinner on them but they seems to have pictured up some film of some kind and plus it is cold in the garage as neither the sharpie or the tape want to stick to the metal.

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The strap setup I made for the jig worked on some ways but not in other ways. The tube will still slide and turn in the jig even with the straps pulled to tight I broke one. The jig did help when the hole saw wanted to bite into the tube and that was quite often. Not perfect but should be usable when finished.

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I marked the lines for the notches to be cut with the Sharpie then taped them as the tape is easier to follow but as you can see the tape is lifting.

The couple of hours I spent inthe 51° was just too much for me so I will have to wait for the warmer weather to finishe this. The weather guessers are saying it should warm up next week some time.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I went out and took some lacquer thinner to the tube again and holey Whoop, the tube was really covered in some kind of fairly clear grease of some sort... again. Since the thinner removed all the marks I made on the tube I did mark them back on with a Sharpie and this time the marks are dark.

I also did do some measuring and the one hole where the pilot bit wanted to slide down one side a bit but it doesn't seem to be as far off as I thought. I have some rubberized material that I will try to put under the straps to see if that helps keep the tube from wanting to roll in the jig.

Not just sure when I will be able to cut the notches as we have a lot to do this week and next. Worked on income tax today and boy, did that tire me out and the wife did most of the work gathering the information together .

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I finally got out into the garage today to start cutting the sides of the saddle mounts. I did discover, quite quickly, that my band saw was just too lightweight, especially in the platen area, to do what I wanted it to do. I could make cut OK once it was started but with the close spaces of the small band saw to really see what I was doing, Add to that the thin platen and the saw blade (14 tpi) being too aggressive for a fine cut so eventually the teeth caught ahold of the tube (.095 wall) and ripped it out of my hands and the jig I was using as a guide went flying even though the jig was clamped in place. Luckily it didn't come close to my face but I was still wearing eye protection... just in-case.

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This is what a cornea transplant looks now days. I have had 5 of these and they are not a lot of fun (not due to eye injury but to a genetic disease marker that came to fruition I got after three guys beat me up as an 8 year old). On my first three transplants the surgeon had to break off bits of a razor blade in a holder in order to have the fine sharp cut needed (you could hear the "ping" as each stitch was cut) then pinchers remove the stitches as each area healed. Now days they come out by themselves but let this be a warning on wearing safety equipment.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

It warmed up this afternoon enough to spend some time in the garage. It looks kind of like I had over thought the last part but what I was trying to save was the hand work (filing to get the front and back edges of the saddle parallel) which I had to do.

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It ended up being me and the pneumatic air cutting disc having a go at things. I was messy but being careful I could follow the lines pretty much by turning the mark straight up then dressing down later as I said, The cross-cut at the top was the hardest part not to go past the side cuts which I kind of did once; I will weld that notch closed later.

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This is the finished object. All hand fitted to the 1 X 2.

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Cut to length and sitting in place. I left the notch long as I wanted some scrap just in-case I wanted to go to a 1 X 3 spreader bar instead of the 1 X 2.

It would be a 1/2" cut when fitting it.

I think the saddles will sit closer to the C-clamps than where they are now.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I went out to the garage this am, while it is still too cold out to do much I did do some measuring.

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I did move the saddle mounts out to be close to where they could end up. Since the seats are not in the seat mounts I tape measured up to about where I think the bottom of the roll cage would be and the angle of the spreader and stubs' looks close to being correct. The angle of the spreader is still at 66° and is at the bend of the shock mount and the body mount join. I would have to cut the bend in the spreader more than an inch from the end) so the foot of the spreader could be bent to move the angle of ~55° to 66° then weld the seam back up and add end plates as reinforcements and sand/salt blocks. Doable!

I then started to look again at the Truss bar mounting. The 10° angle change is a big thing!

The Truss/Kaffer bar angle mount for the engine mount would still work but would need to be changed to add more bolting structure. The angle is close enough to not worry too much about.

In the top picture: I had made my angle on the spreader as a visual location but just for the heck of it I laid the kit spreader bar half on the top of the 1 X 2 spreader and was amazed just how close they are location wise. Remember, this is just two dimensional and there are other angles involved.

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This is the kit's connector extended out to the max to see just what is going on. I would have to make a new mount at either location but the angles would be so much more than they would be at the 55° spreader bar mount location.

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This shows the same rod at the same length at the location I had planned on. The length of the bar would change about a 1/2".

The main advantage is the kit's location interferes just a bit less as it ends up being just a bit more centered in the CV than the other location.

My argument with myself is: which is more important, the down bar from the cage or the support of the pickle fork (engine and transaxle mount) to keep it from doing the "Congo" dance on the dunes when traveling the rough (not flat) sand or climbing a long or steep dune (the transitions are either sharp or the transition is more of a "whoops" loaded change).

The way I have it now the spreader bar will transfer some of the Truss loads back up into the cage where the kits design only puts it into the shock and shock mount bolts. On a roll over (a one time only with the glass body) the loads would go into the pickle forks which is... eh! The negative is the pulling on the shock mount with much tube bending/flexing with the "worrying" (The act of moving something by repeated tugs or pushes • vigorous worrying finally loosened the saw"~ agitation". [Word Web dictionary]) of the forging with the potential of cracking/breaking being the main worry (concern).

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Update:

To do a rough check of where the down tubes and the "B" piller might intersect I tried clamping a straight edge on the rectangular spreader bar tube. I then measured the intersection height to where I think the "b" tube of the cage would be and it was very close to where I thought things would end up.

I then pulled out the two shims I used to get the 66° of spreader bar angle in relation to the previous angle then re-clamped the spreader tube back to the shock tower (it turned out that the angle is 60°) then re-measured the intersection height. I got a difference of ~14" of height change of where the down tube would intersect plus I got big difference in tube length (expected).

My, my, how much small things can make a large difference.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

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Solid mount, could someone measure this hole to find out what size of bolt and drill bit I need to make a new pair of Truss bar brackets. My mount looks like it has been damaged around the hole so I need to grind it flat and re-drill the hole. I get a 19mm measurement which I think it correct but just-in-case.

Thanks, Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

2nd edit: I think I verified that the hole is 19mm which, silly me, is 3/4". All the time I thought I was sold 1" bolts not 5.8" bolts.
Thanks again to those who may have looked for me.

Lee

[dustymojave]

The standard for those holes is 3/4". That's because the rear bumper cage typically made of 1.5" x .095 wall tube can readily be attached by lightly hammering a 3/4" nut into the end of the tube and welding around the edge. Then a bolt through the mount from the front side into the nut in the end of the tube fastens the bumper cage.

And a bumper cage mounted THAT high up will not protect the engine from anything. The original idea was from Chenowth who made their motor mounts WAY back with the holes in the mount much lower than these here. But to use these holes for tabs typical of bumper cage mounts with 3/4" bolts and nuts instead of using the bolts into the yokes is a fine idea that means the bumper mounts can be removed without removing the motor mount saddle.