Ok, the cat is out of the bag!!!

[Gastrick]

Hey that looks good Don. Is that a frog sitting on your rear tri-power air cleaner?

 

[donsrods]

Yeah, my Son Don is a clown. Kermit has been around for a while, he migrates from one car to the other...........you never know where he will turn up. .
Last I saw him he was driving Don's T bucket.

Don

 

[50Ford]

This thread amazes me, you guys do amazing work!

 

[gogogadget]

the project is some serious insperation, keep it up man

 

[donsrods]

Thanks guys. Hopefully, next week we will make more progress and I'll do an update.

Don

 

[donsrods]

It looks like we are getting down to the final bits of fabrication on the frame for Dan's RPU.............this weekend we worked on boxing the frame. The reason we have to box it is because Dan elected to have 3/16 steel bent up into a C channel shape for the siderails, rather than use box tubing. He wanted the front part of the frame tapered, and also wanted to "step box" the frame. For those of you not familiar with the term, step boxing is where the inside boxing plate is not flush with the outside of the frame, but is inset a little bit. By step boxing it, he can run lines and wires and they will be hidden inside the frame somewhat.

He bought some 4 inch wide x 3/16 steel plate, 16 feet long, and we sliced the lengths we needed from that. But before we could put the boxing plates in place we had to create something to keep them at exactly 5/8 of an inch from the outside edge. What we came up with was a bunch of 3/4 inch angle iron pieces about 1 inch long, that we welded into the frame to act as "stops" that the plates will rest up against. This way we can clamp the plates down tight against these stops and then fully weld them in place.

It took a lot more time than we thought, because first of all we had to drag the frame outside so we could sandblast the entire inside of it so it would be clean enough to weld to. Sandblasting is one of my very favorite jobs.(NOT) Even with a paper suit, goggles, and a respirator, sand still found it's way past all that. That is one more job I found that I wouldn't want to do for a living.

Once it was blasted we got the stops welded in place and cut the boxing plates to fit. There are three boxing plates per side, one under the body and two in the engine room section. There will be about 36 feet of weld to do, and Dan is going to have to do it a little at a time so it doesn't warp on him. He figures it will take most of at least next Saturday to get the welding all done. But boxing it did clean up the insides of the frame nicely, and now it looks like a more finished frame with them sitting in there.

Next step after the welding is done is to figure out how we are going to coat the frame. We don't think painting it will work real well because of all the nooks and crannys there are.........it would be tough to get paint evenly into all of those places. Powder coating is an option, but we have to figure out what we can do to smooth the frame out. You can't use body filler with the high heat of the powder coating process, so we are looking into all metal or lab metal as a means to do that. We just have some more research to do before we decide.

Here are some pictures.

Don

Here are the stops welded into place

And after the boxing plates were slid into place.

 

[ratty 46]

Kewl.........looking good Don. I got a few things done this weekend too.

TRR .... just around the corner!!

Paul/Ratty 46

 

[Gastrick]

That chassis is looking so good that I wouldn't even want to attach anything to it. I'd just want to display in my den like a big piece of artwork.

 

[dmw56]

That frame is a work of art. I've seen profesionally built frames that did not have the quality and attention to details the you've both put into that frame not to mention the rest of the RPU. It's a shame that most of it is going to be covered up.

 

[donsrods]

Thanks guys. It feels pretty good to be somewhat coming down the home stretch with this build...........4 years is waaaaaaaaaaaay too long. Not sure if it will really be done for Daytona in November, but we are still trying. But Dan and I talked it over the other night, and he is ok if it doesn't quite make it. We only have 78 days till we would have to leave, and there is a whole lot to do yet.

Paul, you mentioned you got some stuff done on yours, what did you do?





Don

 

[DirtWorshiper]

Incredible build! As much as I want to see it done, I say why hurry now, it is a work of art. It'll be done when it's done.

 

[iwna29a4door]

wow...I just read the whole thread including the previous one with the airbagged frame. very very great work! the first build is exactly what I want to do. I won't be building a four door till next year sumtime till after I finish my bagged and body droped ranger. do you have any other pics of the old frame like how air bags were mounted to the front? I know this is a rat rod forum so I won't post em unless anyone wants to see the ranger. this thread has given me a huge burst of ambition to get it done so I can start on building the sedan!

 

[donsrods]

Thanks guys. The only pictures I have left are below. My computer crashed a while back and I lost most of my pictures. I'll check with my Son tonight to see what shots he has of the airbag setup on the front. Essentially, it is a Cenpen airbag setup that was never intended to be used as a suicide setup, but my Son modified it. Cenpen sent him an email and said they had never considered using it that way, but it worked out pretty well. They wanted to see pictures when it was all done, but he took the sawzall to it all before that ever happened.

But here are 3 pictures I have.

Don

 

[iwna29a4door]

thanks that helps out. I really like how he hid the bags

 

[donsrods]

Well, progress has slowed down a little. Dan has taken on another property to manage at work, and I have gone back to work D) so our play time is now limited to weekends. He still had one major fabrication job to overcome before the frame can be powdercoated, and that was to finish welding in the boxing plates.

This past weekend he concentrated on getting that done, all 32 feet of weld! The frame has gained so much weight that when we picked it and the jig up to weld it, we burned out the one electric winch on our gantry crane. The combination had to weigh 800 to 1000 pounds, I bet. But he got it done, and now only has to build a little gusset under the steering box mount, and do a couple of minor things, then we can start smoothing the frame for powdercoating.

Here are some pictures of where he ended up Sunday night.

Don

Here is the straw that broke the camels back..........or at least it's winch.

And here is the frame all welded up and boxed.

 

[sgo70]

Back to work eh? That's too bad, I have to go back next week as well. It's hard after having so much free time.

I was kinda wondering why the updates had slowed down.

Sean

 

[bob w]

I think you guys should build a duplicate frame so you can keep one bare for display purposes. What's a few thousand more man-hours?

 

[ratty 46]

Or powdercoat this one clear.......so all the hard work shows through.

Glad to see you back to the grind Don.......but I hope this doesn't slow the build from finishing for the TRR. Both Donna & I am looking forward to spin around the block.

Ratty 46/Paul

 

[donsrods]

Thanks guys. Yep Sean, while I am really happy to be working again, I have to admit there are a few things about being retired that weren't all that bad. I especially miss my afternoon nap on the couch with two cats for blankets. I think they miss it too because when I come home at night they can't get enough attention. I do like having money again though, times were getting very lean there for a while, and I am not the most penny pinching person in the world, I like to waste money as much as the next rodder.

Bob, that is a terrific idea.........or maybe we could build them to sell. Only problem is, we would have to charge $ 20,000 per frame and make 10 cents an hour on the deal. We were just talking about that Sunday night, how we started building the frame in December of 07 and 9 months later we are just getting it ready for powdercoating. We aren't fast, that is one thing for sure.

Paul, I think you and Donna might have to wait a year for that ride.....he isn't going to have it done in time this year. Maybe for Billetproof in March though. He has accepted that, and isn't too disappointed. To be honest, I would rather not take mine, but Don hasn't had his there yet, so I have to have mine there too. I really enjoyed those years of just spending the whole 4 days in the swap meet area, and not having to worry about my car sitting alone. That surprises me because for years I kept saying "next year I swear I will have a running car at Daytona", but I found out I actually enjoyed going as a spectator and shopper a lot more than I did as a participant. Weird, huh??

Don

 

[ratty 46]

Don...... I understand 100%.

I too am looking forward to driving my car.....next year. I'll keep my nose to the grind stone & get it done.

I'll see you again in Daytona.

Paul