Grabber70Mach 107 Report post Posted February 26, 2014 So paint comes in two weeks. :biggrin::shaun::clap: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted February 26, 2014 I thank all of you for the comments, if I was done by now, I'd have to start over, this is still a lot of fun. Got to play with my bender this afternoon. I was working on round tube all day at work, so I wanted to get home and mess with some "bigger" sized tube. I started out making a template (that RPM stole) the other week, and had a decent measurement for the amount of tubing I needed to start with (11' to be exact). I drew a center line on the tube and measured out for my first bend tangent line, which was 18" to begin with. Since I have not calculated any spring back before attempting the main hoop, which I'll show why in a minute. I made my tangent line (start of the bend) line up to begin with. I bent the 1.75" x .120" DOM tube to 75 degrees, it slipped just a little, so I had to watch this on the next bend. Once I got the tube out of the bender, and onto the template, I checked to see if I was close, which I thankfully was. I was shooting for a 55" over all dimension for my main hoop, so far so good. The template has the bend tangent lines figured for a 5.5" CL die, but does not compensate for spring back. It make the bend some where in the 5.625" CL area, which could make my part big. I transferred my second tangent line to my tube with a square... Then marked the line all the way around the tube. I cheated, and used a piece of aluminum conduit with an ID of 1.75" which makes my lines nice and straight. Went ahead and bent the 15 degree second bend, which came out nice. Returned the tube back to the template to find out my centerline mark was off 5/8" (bunch of spring back). Happens all the time, just have to be aware that it will happen. From my new centerline, I subtracted another 5/8" for the next set of bends, cause it will happen again. Repeated the first steps... checking the setup with a digital level, so all the bends are on the same plane. This is a big part, which is fun to do by yourself. Once the last bend was done, I was interested to see if I was in the ball park on my 55" OD... Just right. A little trimming to a height of 36" (for now) In the words of Ace Ventura, "Like A Glove!" Halo bar is next... :punk: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted March 2, 2014 Busy, busy, busy. Very little time after work this week to do the important things, (Car Building) but I have accomplished a little over the past few days. Turned my main hoop template into a halo bar template Thursday night. I just about have it to where I want to start bending some tube. I needed to tack the main hoop in place, then I realized I do not have any base plates made, that would have been bad. I started this morning off with a few "tool" projects I needed to do. I had a fun time with my main hoop while I was bending it, with out help, so I made me an adjustable stand just for that, and many other occasions. I have a brake for my shop press that is meant to bend larger thickness of material, and have been in need of fitting a smaller lower press brake die I have in my tool box. This helps out a bunch when smaller, 1/8" parts are in need of a little bending. The radius is a little large, but I can make 3/8" flanges in .120" steel. Not quite a press brake, but it works. I tried it out on the base plates for my main hoop. I do not have a large area for my hoop to sit on, so adding a little vertical weld to tie it into the B pillar will help. I will be adding other sheet metal braces once everything is all welded in place. For now, I need to get these plates fried in place, and try out my new adjustable stand on the halo bar. I get to actually notch some tube this time! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bossed 10 Report post Posted March 2, 2014 As usual your work :rolleyes: um play, looks fantastic!! Wish I was a little closer, maybe some of your skills would rub off on me. Seriously, nice work Mike. Bossed Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted March 2, 2014 Um, wow! The pics of your work is giving me an inferiority complex. 55-1/16" o.d.? Really, a 16th inch off? I think you bent it, measured it, then came up with the bs 55" number to make it look like you know what you're doing ;) You gonna tig or mig it? Can't remember if you've mentioned it. It's a shame all your welds will be covered up. Why not give it the race car look and just paint it? Very nice work Mike. Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted March 3, 2014 Thanx for the complements guys. But when you have to make proto types like this all day... bending tubing is the least of your worries. I swore to myself that when I got out of the AF, that I would NEVER go into making metal furniture. Well... it does help when you want to put four simple bends in a piece of tube, on the same plane. I used to love polished stainless steel, now I cringe at the word. At least roll bar material is easier to handle, and the surface condition isn't quite as critical. Oh yea, my cage will be TIG welded as much as possible, it is so much more fun than MIG, plus I get to weld up side down. Can't wait! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted March 3, 2014 That table would look real nice in my shop :) Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grabber70Mach 107 Report post Posted March 3, 2014 Everything looks great, but I guess I'll be the one to ask the dumb question so here it goes. Is there enough room at the top of your roll bar to allow the installation of a headliner? :confused1: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted March 3, 2014 Everything looks great, but I guess I'll be the one to ask the dumb question so here it goes. Is there enough room at the top of your roll bar to allow the installation of a headliner? :confused1: That is not a dumb question. I wanted the bars to sit as high as possible to the roof, so it is about 1/4" away at the closest point. A standard head liner will not work. I have invisioned using parts of a MTF one piece unit to fill in where the roll bar does not cover the roof, leaving the bar exposed. It ought to be different, which could be a good thing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grabber70Mach 107 Report post Posted March 4, 2014 Sounds good, wonder if his headlner would slide in from the front or rear with the glass removed? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted March 12, 2014 Work is just about to take over my life, or at least it seem so. Guess it is better than not having a job. I got a few minutes, well more like a few hours this afternoon to get out and play in my shop. I left off with needing to weld the base plates in for my roll bar project. I got them all cooked in place, and trimmed the main hoop, it wouldn't fit. Just a little trimming, it was located in the car, leveled and tacked into place. I only put one tack on the bottom inside of the legs, and a tack towards the top where the seat belt upper mount bolt is. It is actually tacked to the bolt, hope I don't regret the location of the main hoop later if I need to use those mounts, but probably not. I checked my halo template one more time before I destroyed 9' of tubing. I wanted to go just shy of the template, right around 45 3/4" in width, and 30" in length, minus the cope. I screwed up right off the bat, too much on the brain, but recovered nicely. I marked my tangent lines for the first bend, and put it in the bender backwards. I'm glad I used an 11' piece, or it would have been used for another part of the cage. It is all bent, ready to be trimmed and copped. My little stand was extremely helpful, makes these big parts easy to handle by my self. My picture is a little blurry, I'm tired, so I'll finish up this part, hopefully, this week... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted March 12, 2014 Atta boy lato! No more brain farts, ok? It's going to be a shame to cover up all that nice work with paint, insulation, carpet... Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted March 13, 2014 More fun at home this afternoon. I cut off what was not needed from my halo bar, and set the notcher up. I had to move the table around some to accommodate the 36 degree notch, the tube hit the table. Once all was ground to shape, and wiped off, I attempted to install the bar, not so much fun by yourself. I ended up using a ratchet strap to hold the copped tube up against the main hoop, made it into a hinge of sorts. I had to trim a couple of raised areas on the car to get the bar to fit level. Once they were out of the way... and a little help from a boat motor support, I am pleased with the fit. You can't see the halo bar from outside of the car, it is way up there. I need to do some rust control before I tack this bar in place, or I will not be able to get to the areas that need attention. Guess it is wire wheel / POR-15 time before too much longer. Then again, might have to bend some A pillar bars... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stangme428 33 Report post Posted March 13, 2014 ooooohhhhhhhh nice... very nice!!!:punk: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waketek516 10 Report post Posted March 13, 2014 That is sick! Can't wait to see it when its done! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted March 15, 2014 Decided to bend up an A pillar down bar. I played around with some short pieces of tubing to get an idea of what angles to bend, and notch the final tube to. These bars have two bends in them, but they are not on the same plane. I did the usual math stuff, and figured out how much tube to use, marked and bent the first bend. I figured out that my second bend needed to be rotated 74 degrees, but didn't have a fancy way of judging that measurement, so I improvised... I attached a small piece of square tube to the round tube on the end, parallel to the bend, and used my digital level to set the degree. Bent the second bend, and hoped it fit the car... It fit quite nice, even between the dash and the inner kick panel. Gotta love the super crunchy dash parts, the only bad part was I made it 1.5" to short. There was no tube left at the top to notch, so I made another one, just 2" longer. Got it bent, and using my first test piece, I laid out the notch area to the halo bar, then notched it. A little cleaning of the coped area, and... not quite as tight as my first try, but there was no cope on the end and the bar sat just a little higher. I might trim this one just a bit to help the altitude, it is about 1/4" away from the A pillar, the first one was slam up against it. I will bend the passenger side first and see how it fits, then make them look alike. Tubing is FUN!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted March 15, 2014 Nice work. You definitely da man! Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snookman35 10 Report post Posted March 15, 2014 Looks real nice are you just going to trim the dash pad around it? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted March 15, 2014 Looks real nice are you just going to trim the dash pad around it? Will have to, it is always a compromise when doing this type of work. I don't have one to play with, but I am not too concerned, it will be modified in some way to fit. I am bending the other A pillar bar right now, and contemplating putting an X in the halo bar as well. I have ruled out any type of stock headliner, or anything easy, but I do have an idea of cutting up a MTF drop in headliner to "fill in" between the bars. There is no way one of those will slide in either window opening because of the halo bar being in contact with the inner roof structure. Still a bunch of details to work out, like rear interior panels (wheel tubs, and now bars!). Guess some more fab work is in order... :clap: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted March 16, 2014 Bent and notched the passenger side A pillar down bar, with a little finesse, had it similar to the other side. Stuck my lower cowl on just to see how it was fitting with the new bars. Once I was satisfied with how all of it fit, I removed everything except for the main hoop. I want to put an X brace in the halo bar, so I went back to my template and laid out how it would fit, and started making tubes. The roof is higher in the front, so I am trying to stuff as much of these bars up as close as I can. This project is soaking up a bunch of tubing, I might have to get some more! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RogerC 136 Report post Posted March 16, 2014 Since I was wanting to do something similar with the front hoop and A-pillar bars, I've been thinking about how to do the headliner also. So far I'm thinking of rotating the car upside down and, after insulating, lay-up a headliner in fglass like fabricating custom door panels or sub-woofer box starting with fleece but without all the mdf structure. Maybe some wire structuring to define shape. I still need to get a tube bender and finish that part out before tackling the headliner. Just an idea to ponder. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted March 16, 2014 Since I was wanting to do something similar with the front hoop and A-pillar bars, I've been thinking about how to do the headliner also. So far I'm thinking of rotating the car upside down and, after insulating, lay-up a headliner in fglass like fabricating custom door panels or sub-woofer box starting with fleece but without all the mdf structure. Maybe some wire structuring to define shape. I still need to get a tube bender and finish that part out before tackling the headliner. Just an idea to ponder. You Sir, are a mind reader. I want to build a rotisserie and detail the under side of the car. I had envisioned doing exactly the same thing if the MTF stuff didn't work out. The biggest part of the equation is the rear glass transition area. I want the bars to be uncovered, and I think that even the MTF might have issues in this area. (cause the main hoop top is flat) I also have thought of getting one of my work vendors to do a one off ABS plastic part, can you say $$$$. My halo bar and A pillar bars will have tie in points all around, so mainly the inside part will have to be dealt with. Thanx for the thought, we'll have to compare notes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted March 21, 2014 Worked on my halo cross supports a little this afternoon. I had to double notch the main hoop area, witch could not be totally done with the notcher, it doesn't go that far. Slowly but slowly... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
latoracing 256 Report post Posted March 22, 2014 (edited) Messing around with my friend's new True Forged "Sleepers" done up with a brushed center, and a polished DEEP lip. They measure 18 x 12 with a small BS, sporting some 335-30-18 KDW's. Not my favorite style wheel, but wouldn't be a bad choice, if you are into 5 spoke wheels. Edited March 22, 2014 by latoracing Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grabber70Mach 107 Report post Posted March 23, 2014 Nice way to mess around, looks pretty good to me. Think they would look better without the rivits just not a fan of them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
