How did you jig your car I saw some using wood? I may try my build on my shop floor This is for us poor folk!!!!!!!! Thanks!!!!!!
As far as doing on your floor, it's alot easier to work on if it's off the ground, If your an old guy like me, I bought my bare frame tacked together , and did most off the work on a work bench type jig deal, for me I can see what I'm doing if it's in front of my face, As far as the wood jig goes, some of the old dragsters were buildt on wood jigs, as long as everything is straight and square and braced well should work fine Tim Jones
Some were actually built on th shop floor as well. I remember walking into shops clear up into the '70s with chalk drawings on the floor and a ch***is right next to them. If one doesn't mind crawling around on the floor a deck plate is a good idea or even a plateform that can be leveled. Having a level working surface is a must when building a ch***is or even doing ch***is work.
I might see if someone would tack me up a rear section and work from there! What is the opinion for mild steele it's just a bracket car and I want it durable and less likely to screw up some moly any thoughts Thanks!!!!!
.120 wall mild steel will measure .114 which is well below the .118 min. and will not p*** spec. . .125 dom is available but cost the same as moly
DRE how much different in weight between the 2! You buid cars all I want is durability cause my Local track is great but some of the others are a not as good not bad but ok Thanks!
Ch***ie built to minimum specs out of moly would be less than half the weight of a car built with mild steel to legal specs. Moly has to be TIG welded though, cannot be Mig welded
You can use .134" wall Electrical Resistance Welded (ERW) tubing instead of DOM tubing. ERW tubing is cheaper than DOM tubing.
Guys looks like my plans have changed I found a 23 Altered that needs finishing and the hardest part is done so my first love a FED will be on hold. Don't get me wrong I love Altereds also this one should look like no one elses I may do a build thread on if if any body is interested Anybody got any spindle mount front wheels for sale????? Thanks
When we build our super gas ch***is from art morrison, we built a wooden table out of 2x8's aprox 8'x14' and decked it with 3/4 ply. 4x4 posts in the corners, and middle, finished table was about 14" off the ground. Plumed it with air and oulets all the way around, made it level to the world. Could do layouts on the table, and plumbob alot of measurments, it worked super.
I have found that any .134 wall is mill-run , meaning that it is not produced on a constant basis and is not stock by everybody. Places like Ch***ie shop, S&W, Ch***ieworks , Morrison, keep inventory to service their customer base, but also at a cost. 1 5/8 x .134 erw sells for over $8 a foot and then you have to ship it, whereas .083 moly is $6.50 ft. The only saving grace to using erw is that if you only have access to a wire feed welder, you can build it yourself.
We continue to have this disscusion about tubing on the hamb. 4130 tube for the difference in price & durability is the logical choice. Its understandable that many folks dont have TIG welding in thier inventory of tools & skills so feel they cant build thier own ch***is but if you cut ,fit & fold all the tubing it would be worth it to take it to someone to finish welding after you tacked it together.
And will continue to do so because people ask the same questions every week or two. I dont reccomend tacking a moly frame and bringing to a welder to finnish or at least to me--- too much contamination in the tack weld for me to weld in properly and weather the builder really cleaned the tube before they installed it. I word on a car that was semi welded and sat for 2 years before it came to me. Surface rust was easily removed, but between the joints was imposable and was difficult to weld. Knowing that this was a car never to be raced (with waiver) I welded it.
I use ERW .134 wall for some "door slammer" cages, some Bonneville cars and these "HAMB" style dragsters, mostly TIG welded. One reason is, that if the car is to be completed by the owner, such as adding brackets, he can finish it up with a MIG. BTW 1.3/4 .134 wall sells here for around 3 to 4 dollars a ft.
When I was going to college in Tx., I went to as many dragstrips as I could. Talked to a guy at Hallsville who built his own FED, and used an ALUMINUM LADDER as a ch***is jig. I suppose it must have been braced and leveled before doing any actual work, but it was a good looking and running FED he wound up with. Butch/56sedandelivery.
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