Cage Progress pics (10-28 update)

[mopowers]

I got a few more bars in today and thought I'd share some progress pics of my 66. 







It was amazing to me how well I could bend these 1/8" plates with a little heat and a BFH 



Here's how I've got the main hoop and A-piiler bars tied into the frame:

[Halfaed]

lots o fun, looks good!

[Mopartist]

Wow! Great job Evan! Are you just "tacking" them in, and then will take it somewhere to recieve NHRA "tech inspection" welds?
Hey; did you see the 66' in the new Mopar Muscle mag? Pretty nice 10 second car with a 426 inch smallblock.

[signet]

looks good.

what are you using to notch the tubing?

thanks

[Bakaruda]

Man how fast to you want to go?

[mopowers]

Man how fast to you want to go?

Right now I just plan on running 10s.  I tend to go overkill on somethings.  I think a cage is good to go overkill on in case I ever want to go faster.  When the car is done, I do plan on getting it certified.

Wow! Great job Evan! Are you just "tacking" them in, and then will take it somewhere to recieve NHRA "tech inspection" welds?
Hey; did you see the 66' in the new Mopar Muscle mag? Pretty nice 10 second car with a 426 inch smallblock.

Thanks Ken.  Yeah, right now I'm just tacking everything together to make sure everything is good to go.  I may have to break the tacks and drop the cage to get to some of the overhead joints with the welder.  I was planning on having a buddy weld it for me because my little 135 lincoln doesn't have enough juice to burn through the .135 tubing.  But now I'm thinking I'm just going to brake down and buy a 175 amp mig and weld the thing myself and sell my 135.  I see some pretty good deals pop up on ebay every now and then.

looks good.

what are you using to notch the tubing?

thanks

Thanks, I'm actually using a cheap harbor freight notcher with a 1 5/8" "RIGID" hole saw.



I bought it for $15 on craigslist and it's worked perfectly through the whole build.  I actually have it mounted horizontally in a bench vise.  I'm using a 1/2" milwakee drill to power it.  It looks like a pretty archaic setup, but it is definitely getting the job done.  There is quite a bit of trial fitting and adjusting with a 40 grit flapper wheel on the angle grinder though.  So far, I've been able to get the joints pretty tight.

[signet]

i have seen that one at a local tool place for $80 then they have a 300 dollar model and then the top job for 400 plus.

good to see the cheapest one lasts for more than few cuts.

i have been using just a vice and a piloted holesaw,it gets nasty.

thanks again.

[Bakaruda]

If you are going to make a mistake. Make it on the side of safety!

[doug 371]

great work

[JohnnyfromChicago]

Nice work! Do you just spraypaint the bars after it's all welded in? That must be a mess to do.

[mopowers]

Nice work! Do you just spraypaint the bars after it's all welded in? That must be a mess to do.

Some people paint them before they install them and just touch them up after the install.  Since my interior is gutted, I'll probably just shoot a couple coats of Zero Rust on them and top coat them with an interior enamel out of a rattle can.

[west]

mopowers,as you said the car is gutted,i would paint the bar with a good auto paint and clearcoat,maybe black or the body color.i rattlecanned my bars and it looked good til they got scratched up and worn from sliding in over the door bar.now it looks crappy. now i have to mask off my headliner,dash pull the rear window out and completely sand all the old paint off to paint it right.

I know your car is going to be badass,i would'nt skimp on somthing now that is a major pain to fix later. 2c

[Prodart]

POR-15 works great with a brush because it self levels. Juct make sure to put a top coat the regular stuff is U.V. sensitive.(turns grey)

[abqdart]

 

[mopowers]

I doubt I will shoot an automotive base clear on the roll bar.  This car is just a cool little cruiser that I am building on a budget and a few scratches won't bother me a bit.  My dad used some good rattle can enamel he got at the auto body shop for his dash and it is hard as a rock.  So that's probably what Im gonna use for a top coat on all finished interior surfaces.

[mopowers]

Got a jump on the front snout bars today.  I ended up cutting a hole in the dash for them to go through.  I wish I had more time to finish this damn cage.

[loiq]

I don't have any time either.

Your work looks great.

[abqdart]

what type of tube bender you using??

[mopowers]

what type of tube bender you using??

The cage was custom made by Alston Chassis works in Sacramento.  They have a measurement sheet you fill out, then they bend it up to your specs.  Pretty easy actually.  I did have to "adjust" a couple bends though.  My tool of choice was a vise and about a 10' pole.  Worked like a charm.

[rharveysr]

I am tempted to pull the front end off of my son's 68 to do both the cage and headers...sure would make it much easier to get those headers built... Run the cage stuff..(which we will bend up ourselves) and then we can take the inside fenders out,put the motor back in for header build..

Awesome looking work...

Rick

[bOb shingler]

may i suggest one more bar for the front. a bar from where the front strut bar attaches to the dash board bar down to the frame just behind the upper contol arm mount and in front of the firewall body seam.  you may have to cut the brake peddle off and use a the rubber pad off a stick car.

[dusterdarryl]

Got a jump on the front snout bars today.  I ended up cutting a hole in the dash for them to go through.  I wish I had more time to finish this damn cage.



[img]http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n101/mopowers/2007-9-29/P9290003.jpg[/img

I got told by a chassi shop that a good idea for strength is to have the snout bar come down on the chassi right above the front bolt of the k member, kinda tie's it together in that area better

[Mopartist]

WOW; good job Evan! I was wondering about those front "snout" bars and exactly where they attach. That car is gonna be bitchin when you get her all done! Yer makin good headway!

[rharveysr]

Bob...

pictures or drawings please...Cant get my mind around it..

Thanks
Rick

[mopowers]

WOW; good job Evan! I was wondering about those front "snout" bars and exactly where they attach. That car is gonna be bitchin when you get her all done! Yer makin good headway!

Yeah, it's getting there.  Slowly but surely.  No work this weekend though.  Time to go to Vegas baby! 

may i suggest one more bar for the front. a bar from where the front strut bar attaches to the dash board bar down to the frame just behind the upper contol arm mount and in front of the firewall body seam. you may have to cut the brake peddle off and use a the rubber pad off a stick car.

Thats an interesting thought.  I think the only problem I have with that idea is build the headers.  I think room is going to be minimal as it is.  I will probably end up adding a few more smaller support tubes though.  Thanks for the idea Bob!

Dusterdarryl:  Thats interesting also.  We just placed ours where it is now just because we wanted to make sure we had enough room for elephant ears.  We will probably tie the motr plate into the front cage bars.  The front tube will move a little towards the back of the car because we still have to notch the end where it meets the A-pillar bar.  I'm curious to see where the fron K-member hole is in relation to it now.  Thanks for the input.  This is the first cage my dad and I have built, so we're making sure to take our time and ask lots of questions.

[dusterdarryl]

I have Competition Engineering elephant ears, they join to the insde of the chassi rather than sitting on top, my front snout bars come down right on top of the K member bolt, since the suspention is all in the K member there is no room for any chassi flex between the snot bar and k member, also note how the bend in the pipe is close to the shock tower mount, (once again no room for any flex,) hope the pic helps,
Bobs idea of an extra bar is a good one too, I will ponder that myself but with fender exit headers its kinda hard,
   luv your work m8.

[bOb shingler]

actually the headers won't hit the bar at all, there will be plenty of room for your headers.

[4spdfury]

as nice as that cage is turing out i would tig weld it or have some one tig weld it. looks so much prettier

[dusterdarryl]

actually the headers won't hit the bar at all, there will be plenty of room for your headers.

ok, do you mean a bar on qiute an angle across the car? yes good idea, Iv offern wonderd about the strength in this area since we chop some much out
 Iv been planning a under floor master cyl with the brake pedel coming up from the floor, Id have a ton of room for a bar in this area

[mopowers]

Finally got the damn cage tacked together.  Next weekend, I'll be welding it up.