I'm sure a home improvement place has some sort of stainless steel braces and runners.

 

Lol !! oh **** ! what are you smoking ??? stainless steel.
You just don't have a clue, do you ? sorry man. is it just me, or what ? just suggesting that some people have been down some of these roads alreaddy and know where they end, so you don't try the roads that fail
and you end up ******* off all effort and time. You might get away with round maybe 1/8 wall tubing, but i'd say square equel widths tubing welded to 'plates' then that welded. All of it,,STEEL !! under the car. start measuring
under the car and find out what your gonna need and how much of it. i'm done.

 

Don't attempt stainless.

B

 

Then help out, i'm throwing ideas and getting nothing but "don't do it" or "you're crazy" Tell me what i do need, not what i don't need.

 

We are telling you, are you reading this? You need proper tools, and some money. You need a nice MIG welder, some angle iron, some tube chromoly tubing and a few other things. You need a welding course, and a course in conventional body work. All In all, after about a year or so in training, you may attempt a 1/2 *** effort to doing this.

Look instead of you ******* the car up, want me to come and get it, Ill pay cash for a 1/2 decent car...If not, i still need some of the Se stuff for a changeover.

 

give mike the car and go back to school. when you have the money,time,skill and knowlage then try this. cause I goto tell you it looks like you have for-got-to read. the only thing that has not been given to you is the blue prints to do this. you even got a diagram though.

 

Perhaps i'll do temporary bracing to it of some sort and tow it to school for real bracing to be added.

 

I guess my situation isn't understood, i AM in school, i have access to a welder and body shop once i get the car tempoarily braced, i just have to make sure it will atleast get me to class so this can be done.

 

So you have access to the skills needed? Dont be offended, the guys are just trying to tell you that your ideas are un-realistic so far. They dont want to see you get hurt. Is there someone at school who could help guide you in this project? If you havent cut anything, then why put anything under the car temporarily? Bring it to school, let them have a look underneath and figure a safe way of bracing the car. You have the drawings from Avatar, why re-invent the wheel?

 

You're right, i can just wait and take it to school to have it looked at. It's amazing how sometimes the answer is right infront of your face and you still look right through it. I guess i was just so excited to get this started i defyed logic.

 

Well good luck and keep us posted. I'd be interested in what solution you end up with.

Just as an added idea. I was thinking of seam welding all of the floorpan along with re-inforcement to help with rigidity.

 

Right-on carl, at least someone got his attention.. hey man, why not take a welding class while your at school ?
and if you can't change your class's at least talk to the welding teacher, because you never know,,he just might let you spark some metal after school..as long as it doesn't cramp his style. ask'em. mikes right, a mig would be the ****...as would a tig, and a plasma cutter. IMO

 

I think you're in over your head, pard.
Don't feel bad, it happens.

I'm reminded of a guy from Nebraska who goes to Hawaii on vacation with his wife. They drive around Oahu and come to a beach (Makapuu) where people are bodysurfing. Nebraska man decides that this looks pretty cool and dog-paddles out into the soup.

-which is where I end up pulling him half-drowned into shore about 5 minutes later.

The moral of the story: Don't be like Nebraska Man.

 

Was that on the north shore wg? Damn huge waves nearly killed me when I was there. Nebraska man shoulda stayed on Waikiki.

 

To start, oh person with strange handle, brace the car transversely. I think that's pretty easy: you get a good rollbar of moly steel, or whatever, and make sure it's attached securely high above the pan as well as at the pan. That should take care of transverse loads, but you may want to add cross braces between the tops of the front and rear shock tower braces. All this is pretty easy.

The hard part is bracing the car longitudinally. The Avatar picture shows twp braces in the middle and two braces under the rocker panels. Look like channels, but I suppose they could be tubes too. I suggest you find a cheap source of stiff tubes, maybe rollbar material. the reason for welding is to spread the load so it's not at one point that breaks. But you can do something similar by having several bolts, but the problem is that boltholes weaken the material.

If you have an exotic metal for the longitudanal braces you will require exotic welding (mig, tig, etc).

So I think the big problem is the material and attachment of the longitudinal braces. I'd be tempted to try figuring out some novel under bracing, like multimember X-bracing, or a pleated pan, etc.

B

 

FYI if it's not braced enough the car will fold just behind the rear edge of the doors.

 

Makapuu is kinda on the Northeast side of Oahu.
I broke my nose bodysurfing there in about 1977.

 

wankelguy,,,,, your dick dale ??? Lol i know i love the way my 73 all stock stratocaster along with my showman head/music man 2x12 ported cabinet gives me that,,,big,fat,wet, dripping, tone.... wheres gidget ?

 

I bet thats the same beach I went to. Teh waves were like 20 ft high! Tossed me around like a rag doll. But the body surfing was fun when I wasnt getting pummeled.

 

What I would do to brace the pan is something like this: get under and measure everything and note the obstructions. Make a false pan of steel plate, maybe 3/16 think (bigger than 1/8, smaller than 1/4, justa WAG) and rib that with, say 1.5 inch ribs, preferably running longitudinal. Go underneath and weld that sucker in, whereever..

B

 

3/16? A huge boiler plate wont do anything for stiffness. Formed structural steel is what you need to use. Just what size shape and thickness needs to be engineered.

 

ok, listen up.
Get yerself a sawsall, some galvonised fence post frome home depot, and one of them welding machines from SAMS Wholesale club.

1.Cut the top off that hoe with the saws all.

2. don't even worry about cutting the doors out. Just weld that pipe to the out side of the car. It will work just as good.

3. get some car paint from PEP Boys that matches yer car and spray the fence post to match the car. (Check out the great selection of aftermarket parts from APC while you are there).

4. drive yo car wit pride.

Don't use too much bracing or you will add too much weight and it will slow you down. 1-2 fence post per side should be enough.

Gud luck dude. Post some pictures when yu are done. Thats gone be won tight ride.

 

 

lol, no, Dick Dale is the "King of Surf GUITAR", I'm just the King of Surf MUSIC.

This is a scanned pic from a newspaper article on my band, the Surfonics.



Sorry to 'jack yer thread, Zero.

 

I don't mind, i got the help i needed.