Tim's Green Bug...

[dustymojave]

Basically the rear torsion assembly is a subframe that attaches to the back of the pan at 3 points. There is a triangle of tubes that extend a little less than a foot forward of the center of the torsion housing to a bolt that mounts the assembly to the center of the pan, and a tab at each end of the housing to bolt to the outer rear corners of the pan. The engine/trans mount yokes as well as the upper shock mounts are part of the subframe.

[TimS]

I tried to post pictures again, but got frustrated.

I will be ordering metal tomorrow and should have on hand... Sleeve material for the OD of the torsion housing. 40 feet of the 1.5" round tubing. 100" of 1.5*3" rectangular tubing.

What happens from there is anyone's guess. I have a few thoughts in mind... Welding within the confines of the body should lead to some creative solutions to jointery. I took one seat out already.

[TimS]

IMG_20170720_202559452.jpg

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I hope this works. If so you will see pictures of my half assed cage work. What is there is solid, but I will be adding more. You can see the window that will allow access to the torsion assembly. I hope to close this up when done. I will also be opening another window to complete the full circumference welding around the crack.

When I plan these things, I have to plan each piece placed not only on where to place it for strength, but also so that I can weld it. I can weld anything on the bench and make it perfect. Once I get into out of position stuff, it gets more unpredictable.

I picked up the metal today. I should have everything I need to get back on the trail. Seat mounts will be redone in this process and possibly new seats if they come around cheap.

(Mr. foggy... I guarantee you will not like what you see when I am done. Feel free to use your engineer talk to educate the lurkers as to what I'm doing wrong or how things could be better. It will probably be as entertaining for you as it is for them. It is unlikely that I will read or follow any of it because if I did I would still be working on this project next summer. I have a goal to be trail ready for a 1000 mile off road expedition in October. I would really like to get done before September 9th to the BOR race to run radio relay again. If I had confidence in my skills and my ability to find time to complete it, I would start over from scratch. Thanks for your efforts to educate us.)

[TimS]

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This is the tube I was talking about and some of the body cracks. Most of this welding was done with the harbor freight 90 amp welder and flux core.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Sorry, just trying to help. I won't post any more!

[dustymojave]

That last picture shows why you're supposed to weld a piece of plate to the surface and weld the end of the tube to the plate. 3/16" plate works well.

As my dad used to quote from aerospace engineering and fabrication...
"Cut to shape, hammer to fit and paint to match."

[CentralWAbaja]

Is that pic of the tube just welded to the body? If so, good learning example. And lastly, Tim I have no doubt that you will toss enough steel and wire at this thing to survive some more floggings.

[TimS]

That quote dusty describes my mentality perfectly.

Cwa, that tube goes through to the top of the body mount on the torsion where it was cut off.

These are mostly spot welds, gasp. But it soaked in good.

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That bar across the top is just for visual. I will have a full width bar tied into tunnel, torsion ends, and triangulated to cage.

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This is all welded in. I really like how it turned out. Took it for a drive and it didn't move. Still needs more bracing. Video soon will explain.

I think this bug will live for a while. I see no reason this fix has to be temporary.

[TimS]

https://youtu.be/6D63yPmY9TM

[TimS]

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Dusty and CWA, this is the bottom of the tube that looks like it dead ended into the sheet metal. It is one solid tube and the sheet metal was formed around it.

[CentralWAbaja]

Makes sense. Some of what you are dealing with is similar to what we had/have with JTs car. And is all stuff Dusty has seen for years in his travels.

[TimS]

I probably should have paid attention to the alignment before I welded that in. The torsion is about 3/8" rearward than where it was. Hopefully I can fix it at the spring plate. Oops.

[TimS]

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Other side roughed out. Need metal for seat mounts and rear bar. I don't think that rear torsion will be going anywhere.

After I get the inside buttoned up, I will be tearing apart the rear end - cv's, bearings, brakes, etc. The cv's haven't been looked at since I installed them. I was getting some vibration. Not sure where, could be wheel bearing. So I will make sure it's all good. I will be checking everything, too. I know a have a wobbly wheel, not sure if it's the stubs, but it could be, or drums or wheels. I haven't exactly babied this thing, it needs some refreshing. Glad I'm focusing on the green bug this summer.

[BAJA-IT]

How about an under bar to connect from the beam to the bottom of the A-pillar to the B-pillar to the torsion housing????? Kinda like my under bar from the B-pillar to the torsion. Gonna use TOS for hosting the pic.


If you need, I can talk you through the rest of doing this job I'm recommending.

That's what I will be doing when I push the beam forward on baja-it.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[TimS]

Just an update. I will start my days off tomorrow. I wasn't really expecting to even start on the bug until then. So I'm ahead of the game.

Today I replaced all the giblets on the metal squirter. Lining, tip, cup, etc. Also got a new knotty wire brush.

I also picked up some more metal for the seat mounts and the rear cross bar. I added up the weight of the metal I plan to add, and it should come in under 50 lbs total. I will weigh the "junk" metal when I'm done but I am expecting a net gain of around 35-40 lbs. For the strength I'm adding, I am satisfied with that penalty. I am learning how things could have been done differently with better strength per weight, and working with the metal, so far, is increasing my confidence in welding. So, as far as I'm concerned, missions accomplished.

As a side note, sheet metal is about the same cost as duct tape per square foot, it seems, once you account for overlap and layering, so I think sheet metal will be my new preferred dust proofing material. I need to find my little pointy hammer... Haven't seen that one for quite some time.

I have plans to move the battery mount off the floor. The floor is getting some pin holes in it, and it had taken some good hits in Jackpot. I should be able to replace the rear "shelf" as it was and I will gain lots of room under the shelf for jacks and tools and stuff. Still looking at options for spare tire. I like the internal placement for security and to keep the outside clean, but anything is possible at this point. I may be looking at the roof, inside.

This weekend I will tear down the rotating parts in the rear and look for wear. I'm planning on replacing the stubs if they show any signs of bending, also the bearings, drums, pads, and brake lines if they need it. I have a poop-ton of parts stacked up for Brianna's bug, so the bushings and whatnot are available, I just have to replace them if I use them.

I will post some pictures in a minute of the rear shelf and the proposed battery relocation location. I might be up and running before the weekend for the local "Mud Fest".