583 replies to this topic

[JDWhiteWRX]

Some small progress.

 

As mentioned previously, to weld the top of the roll cage which is pressed up hard against the roof I need to drop the whole thing down a little.

 

To do this I had to cut the tack welds off the front rocker boxes and floor plates at the rear. I had already pre-drilled some large holes at the rear so the cage could drop through the floor.

 

 

The cage has dropped down a fair bit plus I can also move it back and forth a little to help get better access to some of the welds.

 

 

 

 

Next job is to weld the tops of all the joins then bring it back up into the proper position. After that I can completely weld the rear floor plates and front rocker boxes to the shell.

[El_Freddo]

I wish there was a like button. Awesome pics to explain the process too

Keep up the good work

Cheers

Bennie

[Niko]

Awesome, loving the detail going into this. 

[JDWhiteWRX]

Cheers guys, love the feedback.

 

I have finished welding the top of the roll cage now. I was having some difficulty getting flashed with bright light when doing the final welds. 

Turns out that because I was looking through gaps trying to get the last few welds that sometimes I was blocking the sensor on my auto-darkening helmet. Another rookie mistake I guess.

 

 

After I had finished I quickly ran over all the welds with a wire brush so they would be super clean for painting. I also wiped the whole thing down with some wax & grease remover.

 

 

Finally I gave the whole top part of the roll cage a coat of weld through primer so I don't have to worry about it rusting any more.

 

 

 

I ran out of argon today so I will have to go pick up a new bottle when the shops are open. Then I can get the cage back up into position and push on.

[JDWhiteWRX]

I got a bit done on Sunday and again today. The roll cage is now permanently attached to the chassis, all the tubes are completely welded and I have primed everything to prevent surface rust.

 

 

 

 

 

I will leave the door bars and main hoop diagonal off for now for easy access whilst I am building the rear suspension cradle.

[El_Freddo]

Awesome bit of pipe work going on there!

 

Cheers
 

Bennie

[JDWhiteWRX]

I spent today making some small gussets to attach the roll cage to the chassis and stiffen the overall structure.

 

Using CAD as they call it on Project Binky, the photos tell the story.

 

 

 

This is all the gussets I made, painted with weld-through primer on the back side only. There is 4 on the main hoop, 2 each side and another 2 for the lateral bars near the top corner of the windscreen.

 

 

 

 

I got the main hoop done but ran out of time for the other 2 gussets at the front. Basically there is a gusset on either side of the hoop.

 

 

[bigBADbenny]

As a fabrication engineering student, Im blown away by your endeavour. Amazing and as usual, inspirational.

I just reread the whole shebang on ft86 and the extra pics really joined the dots for me.

May I ask what is the split between MIG and TIG welds on the cage and subframe, and how do you decide which process suits each part or location?

[JDWhiteWRX]

As a fabrication engineering student, Im blown away by your endeavour. Amazing and as usual, inspirational.

I just reread the whole shebang on ft86 and the extra pics really joined the dots for me.

May I ask what is the split between MIG and TIG welds on the cage and subframe, and how do you decide which process suits each part or location?

 

Thanks mate,

 

The short answer is TIG wherever possible, MIG for everything else.

 

Long answer. For the roll cage I went with TIG as I am much more precise with this process and I know I am getting full penetration and fusion in all the joins and it looks much neater. An experienced welder can also achieve that with MIG too but I don't have enough experience with MIG to weld the joins in the cage with any real confidence.

The areas I have to use MIG are where I am joining the rocker boxes and rear mounting plates to the chassis. This is 3mm thick steel joined to 1.5mm sheet metal which is more difficult than welding metals of the same thickness. The main reason for MIG here is that TIG requires 100% clean metal and it is very difficult (almost impossible) to get the sheet metal clean enough in those areas. 

[JDWhiteWRX]

Hey guys, I finally got some work done on the car this weekend, last weekend I was sick so nothing got done.

 

I'm really happy with how things are going now, today I finished attaching those brackets I made to join the roll cage to the chassis.

 

Front of the car just above the windscreen on each side.

 

 

Primed.

 

 

Then I proceeded to removing the roof skin. It was pretty easy with a spot weld removal drill bit.

 

 

 

So the rear suspension jig has been removed from the car and is now on the bench ready for me to start fabrication of the rear cradle. I'm excited and also a little nervous to start this!

 

[El_Freddo]

Hey Joel,

Top work as always. I'm curious as to why you've removed the roof skin/panel?

Those spot weld drills are awesome!

Cheers

Bennie

[JDWhiteWRX]

Hey Joel,

Top work as always. I'm curious as to why you've removed the roof skin/panel?

Those spot weld drills are awesome!

Cheers

Bennie

 

Thanks mate,

 

2 reasons.

 

1. I still need to attach all the tubes from the rear suspension tubular cradle up to the top of the main hoop but I can no longer drop the cage down to weld the tops of those joints.

 

2. I am making a carbon roof for it anyway.

 

Joel.

[JDWhiteWRX]

Hey guys, I took today off work to get some things done on the car. I ended up spending most of the day going through my notes on the rear suspension and ride heights, trying to remember how I was going to mount the welding jig in the car so the chassis would be lowered without screwing up the geometry.

 

I started by designing the tabs from which all the control arms will attach. I have decided to go with 3 different heights which will change the geometry depending on the ride height I choose.

 

 

Looking at the chassis rail where the stock rear cradle usually mounts I have cut away the metal so I can mount my welding jig on top of the mounting point. Every millimeter I mount above this point is how much the chassis will drop by. The crush tube with captive nut in the rail is 44mm thick so my baseline chassis drop is 44mm, this will be the ride height correction of the middle hole in my tabs.

 

 

So I then put the jig back in the car to try and work out how the lower tube will pick up the trailing arm that attaches just forward of the wheel well.

 

 

 

The bent tube in photo was just part of the roll cage I bent incorrectly but it gave me an idea of how a bend in the tube would work really well to pick up that trailing arm attachment point.

 

I think once I actually start joining tubes this structure will come together very quickly but right now I need to do a lot of thinking, measuring etc. before I start cutting up materials.

[JDWhiteWRX]

I got a little work done this afternoon, I'm working on the bottom level of tubes in the rear suspension cradle as a foundation to build upward on.

 

 

I used a 29 degree bend to bring the tube around and parallel to the trailing arm pivot point.

 

 

I'm hoping to get a bit more done this long weekend but that's all for today.

[bigBADbenny]

So good, thanks for the explanations

[JDWhiteWRX]

Got a little more time on the car after lunch today. The base layer is complete and welded up. I'm very happy with how its going and I'm really enjoying welding comfortably on a bench again rather than cramped up inside a car.

 

 

 

[JDWhiteWRX]

Back on it today, things are going well.

 

Started by aligning the base layer in the perfect position in the jig so everything is where I want it. Then got some clamps on it to lock it down whilst I got to work making some tabs for the trailing arm attachment points.

 

Using some CAD to make the tabs.

 

 

Transfer the CAD to 3mm steel then drill and cut to size four times.

 

 

 

Then weld all four of them onto the base layer.

 

 

Now with these tabs on the base layer is locked in position giving a solid foundation for the rest of the suspension cradle.

 

 

Sounds easy but it took me all day to get that done.

[El_Freddo]

Mate epic work!

I bet you were nervous about lining the mount points up correctly to weld them right the first (and only) time. If you weren't nervous, I was for you! Looks tops as always and the to welding - well, I want a tig welder now!

Keep up the good work. I'd love to have half the skills with bending and welding that you have so I could easily make up some front and rear bar work on my L series - and some bash plates to help protect the driveline

Looking forward to future updates. I wish it was Easter every weekend!!

Cheers

Bennie

[JDWhiteWRX]

Mate epic work!

I bet you were nervous about lining the mount points up correctly to weld them right the first (and only) time. If you weren't nervous, I was for you! Looks tops as always and the to welding - well, I want a tig welder now!

Keep up the good work. I'd love to have half the skills with bending and welding that you have so I could easily make up some front and rear bar work on my L series - and some bash plates to help protect the driveline

Looking forward to future updates. I wish it was Easter every weekend!!

Cheers

Bennie

 

Thanks for the kind words mate,

 

Lots of measuring and double checking then go for it. I think bending and notching tube is the most difficult part. I have not been welding very long but I find it rather enjoyable. It's all practice really, the concept is not that difficult, its the practice that makes you better.

 

cheers

 

Joel.

[JDWhiteWRX]

Last day of the long weekend and I managed to get a couple of hours in the garage.

 

I only had time to make two more tabs, these are for the rear lower control arm attachment points.

 

 

 

They will need a small corner gusset sitting horizontal on the inside just because the distance between the tube and bolt is pretty long.