It's An OCD Thing, You Wouldn't Understand

[aw12345]

Well I guess you are reminiscing about that erector set lol. Plenty of holes in all that you are gluing together.
Cool welds and all, but have you looked for taller springs yet? That's a lot of thick steel you are gluing under there.
This Scrappy gurl is gonna have a phat @ss. When building strength and weight are an issue and a trade off

[inVERt'D]

Yeah I don't like adding weight, and the crossmember is a pig. I could have made the thing lighter if I had had the 1/4" plate to do it (the fork lift floor board has too many holes in the wrong places). I do hope to add some lightness eventually. All I lack to do that is money. Hopefully the axles will handle it until then--they will be getting some weight added too. The front HP30 will be sleeved and trussed. I have Superior alloys for the rear. One thing I've wanted to do since I built the rear truss is to make a rear bridge that ties into it. Again, just didn't have the material I wanted.

The springs I have in front now are a good bit stiffer (if not taller) than the TeraFlex springs I had on there. Got them new/cheap on eBay, knowing they'd fit, but not what they were intended for. I first put 'em on in '09 and I liked the way the way the Scrappy drove down the the ruts and whoopdie roads a lot better: solid, nose-up, and no diving or lurching. That was with no front sway bar. A little more like a trophy truck than before, I guess. Didn't seem to hurt it crawling or climbing from what I could tell, either.

[inVERt'D]

Where were we? Oh yeah--cowbell. Got those outer gussets mostly welded on here. MIG seemed convenient for these, but had feed problems with the .023 I had in there for thin sheet. After this I finally quit being lazy and swapped in some .030. The LCA bracket gussets posing here are more of that ancient 4x4” tubing scrap--because my jeep is all about recycling. Liberal chicks dig that! Or so I'm told...


Put some extra special cowbell into the LCA gussets, because it's all about saving weight! :homer:


A lot more welding on the bottom. Same old story--6011 root and 7018 cover passes. Except the LCA bracket gussets--just 7018 on those. Welded the crap out of this thing, but a couple of stitches at a time


Finally I couldn't take it anymore--some TIG! Once I got started, that argon bottle was doomed. Speaking of which, that MIG weld on the far left gusset is busting my eye. Guess I couldn't see what I was doing. I can only sleep because it got some TIG loving that made it all good.


Besides the TIG, a view of the front major laminate welded on with 6011. 7018 passes would be coming. Lots of plug welds there. I made it a little extra tall so I could shape it with the grinder later.


Rear laminate-gusset-thingies being welded on.


Got more, but I don't want to overwhelm your senses.

[daniel_buck]

dang, that's alot of welding! And drilling! So you're out of argon, and drill bits now?

[aw12345]

Scrappy will hang together from welds and Swiss cheese holes. Must be nice to have unlimited time on your hands

[inVERt'D]

dang, that's alot of welding! And drilling! So you're out of argon, and drill bits now?

I was amazed that the last bit of that bottle lasted as long as it did. I kept expecting it to run out, but it got me to a point of completion on the crossmember. God provides . I was out of argon for a couple of weeks or so. Currently have a full bottle that I haven't cracked open. Been busy with other stuff. Most of those cowbell holes were drilled with el cheapo TiN coated step drill bits. My dear ol' dad turned me onto those. I keep them lubed and cool, and they drill lots of holes for me.

Scrappy will hang together from welds and Swiss cheese holes.

Held together by the holes, actually. The welds are mostly for looks.

Must be nice to have unlimited time on your hands

Thank you Sir, may I have another? When life gives you lemons...

[aw12345]

Thank you Sir, may I have another? When life gives you lemons...

Drill some holes in it, or get the crazyglue gun out

[daniel_buck]

Most of those cowbell holes were drilled with el cheapo TiN coated step drill bits. My dear ol' dad turned me onto those. I keep them lubed and cool, and they drill lots of holes for me.

I've got a stepped drill bit as well, I use it alot! Works real good on sheet metal and thinner metal, I've never tried it on thicker metal!

[inVERt'D]

Thank you Sir, may I have another? When life gives you lemons...

Drill some holes in it, or get the crazyglue gun out

Actually yes. I tried the lemonade thing, and it did not go well. My stand got raided by the USDA, FDA, IRS, DEA, ATF, CHP, county Health Department, and Code Enforcement. There were also several librarians present in full tactical dress. After sitting in the hot summer sun for 9 hours, some spooks cruised up and told me I was facing 150 years in the pen for Lemonade Code violations, tax evasion, and ADA/ CALDAG violations (for not having truncated domes in front of the stand). Then they said they could make it all go away if I'd just sell sarin gas to some Mexican drug cartels. All I can tell you is that I get a little nervous nowadays whenever the wind blows from the south.

I've got a stepped drill bit as well, I use it alot! Works real good on sheet metal and thinner metal, I've never tried it on thicker metal!

I've drilled through mild steel 1" or more thick with those things. The trick to that is keeping them cool. My dad used them on a lot of thin stainless, and they served him well. One caveat emptor: I bought the pair of big step unibits at Harbor Freight, and they are completely worthless as far as I can tell.

[aw12345]

Actually yes. I tried the lemonade thing, and it did not go well. My stand got raided by the USDA, FDA, IRS, DEA, ATF, CHP, county Health Department, and Code Enforcement. There were also several librarians present in full tactical dress. After sitting in the hot summer sun for 9 hours, some spooks cruised up and told me I was facing 150 years in the pen for Lemonade Code violations, tax evasion, and ADA/ CALDAG violations (for not having truncated domes in front of the stand). Then they said they could make it all go away if I'd just sell sarin gas to some Mexican drug cartels. All I can tell you is that I get a little nervous nowadays whenever the wind blows from the south.

I've drilled through mild steel 1" or more thick with those things. The trick to that is keeping them cool. My dad used them on a lot of thin stainless, and they served him well. One caveat emptor: I bought the pair of big step unibits at Harbor Freight, and they are completely worthless as far as I can tell.

Dear leader Kim Yung Obozo and his clan like you better when you open a Motta stand, keeps the rabble occupied and to wasted to figure out his lies. Step drill, buy the real Unibits.
So when are we going to see this glued and Swiss cheesed jewel under Scrappy with some more related parts bolted, glued and Swiss cheesed on there?. I am anxiously awaiting the next step in this saga

[Toolman]

with all the money you saved making that bad boy out of scrap metal, it deserves to be nickel plated

WOW !! nice work

[inVERt'D]

Dear leader Kim Yung Obozo and his clan like you better when you open a Motta stand, keeps the rabble occupied and to wasted to figure out his lies. Step drill, buy the real Unibits.
So when are we going to see this glued and Swiss cheesed jewel under Scrappy with some more related parts bolted, glued and Swiss cheesed on there?. I am anxiously awaiting the next step in this saga

Yeah, the times they are a changin'. I wonder when was the last time Dear Reader toked up? I've almost pulled the trigger on some name-brand Unibits, but I figure they're in China one way or the other. At least in the case of the big ones, the real deal would drill holes.

I made the crossmember too wide--gonna have to widen the frame. Anyone got a porta-power I can borrow? Just kidding! Been back to dabbling with the Jeep here and there lately. Made some more parts for the crossmember too, because it's not heavy enough yet. No ETA at the moment, though.

with all the money you saved making that bad boy out of scrap metal, it deserves to be nickel plated

WOW !! nice work

Ha! Thanks! I was thinking of painting it gold flake and setting some rhinestones in it. I think that would really set the LEDs off. Maybe the LEOs too . Honestly doing this kind of stuff in heavily rusted metal is a false economy.

[RAT]

Ok, I can't compete. I would fall asleep at the drill press drilling all those freaking holes. Looks good man. If you're gonna do gemstones, go big and use emeralds or sapphires. Much prettier

[inVERt'D]

Ok, I can't compete. I would fall asleep at the drill press drilling all those freaking holes. Looks good man. If you're gonna do gemstones, go big and use emeralds or sapphires. Much prettier

Thank you! So I'm the uncontested hole drilling fool. I do like emeralds set in gold. With nickel plating I'd go with sapphires, though--good call!

[inVERt'D]

With the front and rear laminates welded on I had a width of 2-1/2 inches at the bolt holes. As I've mentioned before, I want a 3" width at the bolt holes. This will work out better for making fully plate-fabricated crossmembers in the future. So I made four little spacer laminates like this one; two for the front, and two for the back.


There are the front ones ready to be welded on. That front laminate really cleaned up nicely, didn't it. Frankly, it surprised me.


Welding on the spacer laminates. Since argon was so low, I was in a rush and also using some rather thick 1/8" TIG rod, but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.


Still had argon, so I welded on four more little gussets. Then I ran out of argon just as I finished up. Then I did some contouring with the grinder to help clear the driveshaft, exhaust, and bellhousing. Needs some finishing touches, but it's close.




Still had plans to do more, but didn't know just when I'd get more argon, and planned to shift to some other projects anyway. Since I'd rather clean off paint than rust, I primed and painted it.


I really like primer red


The big lumpy weld there is the result of a bunch of stitches of 7018 5/32" (I'd run out of 3/32"). No matter: will be covered up with 3/16" plate.



That brings us up to about a month and a half ago. Got a bunch more little parts I'm about ready to melt on, so that will be next.