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

[USMC 0369]

[COLOR="#800000"]I was mistaken brother...YOUR Jeep is going to whistle going down the freeway. [/COLOR]

[daniel_buck]

Holy mother of welds and speed holes, batman!

Looking good as usual

(the only prescription is more holes, BTW)

[inVERt'D]

Good lawd, Art, we've been over this rather exhaustively. I'ma gonna get back to that rear crossmember when I'm damnwellgoodandready, and by the time I'm done with it, there won't be any worries. Until then, we'll have to make do poking fun at my swiss cheese front 3-link. :cactus::cactus:

[aw12345]

David, you are funny, your front crossmember is built to hang a rockwell with 50's from and the rear is a bunch a holes that will die with 37's.
I like some of that engineering
. Wouldn't hurt to spend some of that welding and bracing in the rear where it's needed a lot more than the front

[inVERt'D]

Gussets upon gussets and holes within holes

Crossmember was getting too heavy, so I added more holes. Guess what, I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more ________!

Boxing off the bottom for increased rigidity and durability (i.e., keep the holes from falling out). This fine steel specimen is from Dave's Aerospace Materials, LLC.


Some more holes for increased strength and lightness. The steel is there to hold the holes in place.


Some holes with a TIG weave. Got a few pieces without holes to put back here too. If this thing gets any lighter it's going to blow away. :homer:



Ahh, Feng Shui!


Made some progress on the bottom plate.


Will be cutting some slots in it for the tabs underneath to fit through. Almost finished marking it up for that earlier. Still, it needs something, but I can't quite put my finger on it...

[inVERt'D]

Danks! Yeah it's not really light, and it's gonna get a little heavier, but not much. Welded on some more holes today in fact

[daniel_buck]

man that looks sweet! And heavy, haha

[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.

[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!

[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]

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.

[Toolman]

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

WOW !! nice work

[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

[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.

[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!