Race Chassis Fabrication Classes

#21
Hang on a second! There are only two of you on this build? Holy heck I'm way over impressed at how much you have done.
All 2 both us.... We started Jan 8th. And we have had class time, a full day field trip to Clements Racing, a review day and then a test day and I have been late 2 mornings every week with therapy for my new knee... :shrug:

We just try to make progress every day.

Doug
 
#22
We got all the welding finished on Friday. It was still challenging even being able to turn the chassis up side down or on its side or the nose... No matter where you placed it there was always another bar in the way of seeing the joint you wanted to weld or you just couldn't get your head in far enough. We got it all done though. Installed the battery box and the rear wheel house's. It really looks like something with all the pieces installed. When it cooled we carried it over and set it back in the jig. Plop, it just feel right into place. The instructor was surprised that it fit back in the jig after all the welding. He said they usually move around a little. We took our time and spread the welding around so not to build up to much heat in any given spot.

I left the camera in the tool box again so I will post the final pics Monday evening.

Doug
 
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#23
Here are the finished pics of the chassis. I included some welding pics as well just for a reference as to how small this thing really is and how difficult some of the joints are to get too... The pics are of Bruce welding. Bruce is 5'10'' and a fit guy that plays racket ball 3 or 4 times a week. I say that because you should have seen my big arse at 6'2'' and 275 trying to fit inside the cage to weld the bottom side of some of these joints..... :eek:hmy:










Welding pics.....







I thought it was interesting catching the weld spatter pattern in these last 2 pics.





Doug
 
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#24
Nice work. Good idea spreading the heat around. I’m gonna do some reading on stainless steel. Great looking shrink/stretch mount you made.
Steve
 
#26
Doug, so what happens to the chassis after you are done?
LOL................................ You don't want to know............................

First we are going to take it to an open house for GTC and display it. Talk about the class and the project with whom ever stops and asks. Just a show and tell seminar.


Then................................................ We will cut it in 2...... Right down the middle front to rear and Bruce gets the left half and I get the right half. Then we will paint it and hang them on the wall. Sad but so....

I did all the work on the right and Bruce did all the work on the left. Some of the pieces did overlap. Like bending all the tubing, I did all the layout plus I operated the bender but Bruce read the bend angles with his phone. We both laid out all the sheet metal but he cut all of it because I couldn't operate the stomp shear with my new knee. I did all the dead rolling... So we will get graded on our work and then we can take it home.

We talked about making a second one and each taking one home. But Bruce doesn't have that much room. Me on the other hand I have enough room to hang a dozen of them from the ceiling beams...

Doug

I will post pics of the deconstruction when we do it.
 
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#27
I walked around today and took pics of the other 3 chassis..... They will not get finished or even come close to finish in time for their grade. They will be graded on the final day of the second block. They will be allowed to finish the project after they finish the current project at the time.

Here are the other 3 chassis. 2 guys working on each one. 7 days left until the grade will be given.

These 2 are just cruising along...



These 2 are a little faster...



These 2 are really trying the hardest....



Our chassis has turned into the go-by for all of them. They look at it more than the chassis on the wall which is what we built ours off of...

Doug
 
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#28
This is what I did all day today. TIG weld stainless...

3'' 304 Stainless mandrel bends and straight pipe all hand fitted. Nice tight joints. Lots and lots of time fitting each piece to the next piece. This is the right tailpipe going over the axle.







Those tight joints sacrificed to my lack of TIG talent...





The metal ruler represents the bottom of a floor brace exactly.... We will have to notch the floor brace for both tailpipes and also for the center of the rear axle housing. We will also wrap the tailpipes where they will be close to the floor.





Just a shot from just about ground level. Still have to install the gas tank behind the axle. That is why the tailpipes had to turn out under the frame and then turn back with the resonators. The one tube that runs across under the rear axle will be removed when we take it all apart again for paint.



10 pounds of stuff in a 2 pound sack.....

Doug
 
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#30
I wish I could tig weld that bad. Did you run an H or X pipe on it too?
We had to use an H pipe. With the chassis layout and the truck arm cross member there was not a practical way to run an X pipe. You have to remember this is a 1971 Blazer chassis and they are short...

The very first day it showed up at school back in late September.



I will have to measure the Jig again but if I remember correctly it is 16' long.....




Frame boxing and various stuff.








Custom inner fenders I built for it. He is running 20 x 12's on the rear and 20 x 10's on the front. First pic is the stock drivers side inner and the custom passenger side inner. You can also see the 4 inch widened rear inner fender if you look through the windshield. Second picture is the finish welded drivers side. Third pic is the passenger side after the welds were ground. Both pics were taken from a low angle to show just how big they really are. They are 6 inches wider across the top to clear the tire and the suspension. I had to hand fab the lower inner edges to clear the suspension and finish the fender edge. Lots of time on the shrinker/stretcher to get them right.







That's just a couple of the hundred or so one off pieces that were built for the truck. I made dies and stamped pieces of various sizes and shapes as we needed them.

Doug
 
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#32
Fantastic display of dedication to finishing the project. Just having all the tools at your disposal was great but they are just tools. You worked so hard to also show us the project. I for one salute you and will always call you a craftsman of so many trades.
 
#34
Fantastic display of dedication to finishing the project. Just having all the tools at your disposal was great but they are just tools. You worked so hard to also show us the project. I for one salute you and will always call you a craftsman of so many trades.
Thank you for the compliment Steven. I appreciate it.

I am just a hobbyist that try's his best to accomplish the task at hand to the best of my ability.

Doug
 
#36
Doug, so what happens to the chassis after you are done?
I know this is last years but I wanted to post one more pic of the 1/2 scale chassis. Evol asked what would happen to the chassis. I wanted to show it after I got it home, painted and up on top of the pallet rack. Better late than never I guess...

DSC04756.JPG
 
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