CableSrv Posted March 29, 2007 Author Share Posted March 29, 2007 oh damn that's a good point!! I had used dry ice for the interior... to bad I don't have a rotissery for it yet cause then I could just flip it and put dry ice on the bottom. Oh well... I'll try your method once I get down that road! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube80z Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 For materials, mild steel will be the easiest to work and learn with. To be safe, go with .120'' wall tubing (2x2'' square is very versitile). Perhaps use a pair of 2x3'' main rails and build up from there. If you pay attention to frame design, you can use some thinner wall tubing, but anything with a suspension pickup on it should probably not go below .095'' and even then should be reinforced. I'm sure it's safe but it sounds like you're trying to build a 3/4 ton truck rather than a sports car. Cary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CableSrv Posted March 29, 2007 Author Share Posted March 29, 2007 tube bender: $400 (1.5 od tubing die) tubing: $450 (front chassis 1.5x.095x8' DOM, frame 2.5x.12 A36, frame rails 2.5x1.5x.12 A36 including shipping) http://www.onlinemetals.com s&w cage: $400 (8 point cage DOM) ? might build my own... who knows shop crane: $150 engine tilter: $50 2 dolly's: $40 4 1/2 cutoffs: $20 (lots of them) miter: $70 10in cutoff: $10 Total: $1590 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 I do remember reading those threads, and how someone used 2 threaded couplers to help aid the bender but from what I remember that didn't work well for small DOM tubing. Here's another idea I ran across to keep from crimping thin wall TUBE in an inexpensive PIPE bender (such as Harbor Freight 12-ton, et. al.) Use angle iron pieces, to spread the pressure along the ouside of the bend. Similar to the shoe on a proper TUBE bender. Notice the angle iron on the rollers , this prevents putting crimps from the rollers into the tube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 My experience with that bender was not so good. I didn't use angle iron, I used a long section of pipe, but should do roughly the same thing. The problem that I had was where the tube bent it kinked on the inner radius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CableSrv Posted March 29, 2007 Author Share Posted March 29, 2007 JM lemme know how you like that bender once your tubing arrives! I'd like to know if I should get one myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 I'll no doubt be posting as my cage comes together, so you can bet that I'll say how it works out. Dr hunt has this bender already and he says its great, so I would expect my experience to be similar. By the way, you can probably get your square and rectangular tubing (and maybe the DOM too) locally and then you wouldn't have to pay to ship it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CableSrv Posted March 29, 2007 Author Share Posted March 29, 2007 I'm gunna have to source a good metal shop around texas, but I'll check it out first before I purchase online. Atm the shipping is like 110 bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustinOlson Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Metal Locally is usually cheaper then online metals from what I've seen. Regards, Justin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CableSrv Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share Posted March 30, 2007 woot my miller 140 with cart will be here tomorrow!! 675 was not a bad price!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boodlefoof Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Round tube will save some weight over square (because there is less material there), but square is much easier to work with. Tube80z - I used mostly 2x2x.095'' for my non-hoop main pieces and some .065'' for diagonals and other pieces without suspension attachment points. For non-structural body supports I went with 1x1x.065''. You're right that the .120'' is probably overkill... I suggested it to be on the upper end of safety. Would hate to have somebody just cut off the front snout, lay down two parallel rails of .095'' with no other support and then wonder why the thing bent all to hell when they hit a pothole. In total, I'm estimating that my frame (with cage) will come to a little over 300 pounds. After having cut away all of the unibody construction, I think I will actually not have put on any weight. I'm estimating a final curb weight of around 2000 pounds (hopefully less). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 JM lemme know how you like that bender once your tubing arrives! I'd like to know if I should get one myself Looks like its just what I needed. I'm finding that it takes quite a bit of effort to start the tube bending, then once it starts it's a lot easier to keep it bending. The bends look REALLY good. This is the first bend I did. It is the part of the shoulder bar that is going to go behind my seat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CableSrv Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share Posted March 30, 2007 wow not bad!! well then seems when I get cash I'll be buying one of those benders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbhsbZ Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Just remember to lube your tube (that sounded bad) and the dies before you bend it, makes bending it a little easier and a much nicer finish on the tube when you pull it out of the die. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadlydatsun240 Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 lol removing that tar stuff is a pain, but to tell you the truth, all i used was a scraper and a ruber mallet. Most of mine seemed to ahve big air pockets so it came of if big sheets but for the remains i jsut went back with a wire brush on my good ol dewalt drill lol. I ahve already compleated the the main hoops and now im "trying" and failing at how to proceed with the egine bay cage. I saw the nice one done on page one of this thread but, i was just wondering how you figured out the shock/strut angle for your mounts, wich i have to say is awsome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CableSrv Posted June 8, 2007 Author Share Posted June 8, 2007 well I got my tube bender which btw jm for some odd reason the spring doesn't hold that shelf tight... the bottle jack almost wants to fall off when there is no pressure... and that doesn't seem right. the cable the supplied with the spring seems to long... am I missing something here ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Nope, you're not missing anything. The jack does fall off, which is kind of a PITA especially when you have to move it from one place to another. I damn near dropped the bottle jack on my foot. When you bend something the spring stretches so the cable really is the right length for the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CableSrv Posted June 8, 2007 Author Share Posted June 8, 2007 ok so then I just have to deal with the damn bottle jack nearly falling off or rig some type of screw down for that shelf so that the jack doesn't fall off. Kinda crappy seeing as I just dumped 440 bucks on it and it has that bad of a flaw... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Well if that's the worst thing we have to deal with I still see it as a good investment. Mine makes really nice bends and other benders capable of the same are a lot more expensive, so I'm more than willing to deal with it. Just carry it the other way, so that the jack doesn't fall off the shelf. You'll figure out too that when you make a bend and you want to pull the tube back out you have to loosen the jack screw and compress it a bit to finagle the tube back out. Just spend a couple hours working with it and you'll figure out all the little tricks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Secret Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 J Mortensen, what kind of pipe bender are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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