clean and simple?? i think we are passed simple. beautiful fabrication and welding skills! Well crap. I’ll at least try to keep it clean. Thanks for all the comments Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Started on the column next. Want to keep it small so the tube is 1-3/8 and the top housing is only 2-3/8 dia. It uses a large sealed ball bearing. Several angles being cut here to get the shape then will blend everything. The hub is a 3/4-16 spline coupling shortened and welded to some round stock. It is held on by 3/8-24 flat head bolt that threads into a tapped hole in the end of the shaft. A shouldered sleeve was made that the bearing fits on and welded to the splined shaft. When the hub is bolted on it seats against the bearing to hold the inner race. A coupling will be welded to the other end to mate up with the steering box. Bearing is held in the housing with a snap ring. A button will be made to fit in the counterbore over the bolt and center the steering wheel. Like everything else the bore in the housing for the tube was small and it was heated up to install the tube. The tube is long and will be shortened when it is fitted with the seat and wheel. Just the steering wheel left then everything can be mounted.
To make a steering wheel a piece of 7/8 x .156 wall tubing was rolled into a 15-1/2 OD hoop. Then it was cut and welded. It will be powder coated semigloss black. The spokes were drawn and water jet cut from 3/16" 316 SS. 1/4" pieces were welded to the ends so 10-32 flat heads could be countersunk flush to attach it to the hoop. Spokes were laid out on the hoop then pockets were milled. 1/4" pieces were welded flush then milled flat. The spokes were clamped in place and holes transferred to pads. Wheel installed with steering box mocked up.
A few folks like you on the HAMB just make me feel like my work is pretty shabby. It's the kind of work I wish I could do. Thanks for the motivation.
Gotta love CAD! I've always used Solidworks for a variety of projects, even used it to design the passive solar home that I built.
@hotrodfab32 I hope you didn't mention it and I over looked it, but why did you use a spacer in the exhaust bracket, looks bitchin', I just wanted to be educated on it.
Sway bar link bushings will be used for vibration. Spacers that are the same height as a compressed bushing are used while fabricating to locate things more accurately and they don't melt when tacking.
Amazing build - this kind of quality is a real inspiration for those of us who don't have the same skills and knowledge.
Thanks. It's the guys that knock this stuff out day after day and can make a living at it are the ones that impress me. To mount the box a 3/16" base plate was made that fit against the floor. Holes were drilled to clear rivets and spacers welded to the bottom . Body bolts are used to fasten it and the spacers make sure its tight against the frame and not just the floor. To attach it to the door pillar a 1/4" plate with 3 drilled and tapped holes was made that goes inside the the pillar. An angled bracket bolts through the pillar into the 1/4" plate so the pillar is sandwiched between them. Its stronger than welding tabs and if I don't like the steering its easy to take out. A piece of aluminum was used to make a pattern and figure the bend angle. I want to be able to put carpet and a kick panel in without them sticking out. The body bolts will be flat heads. The vertical plate was cut out of 3/16". 2 more pieces tie into the firewall leg. A shim was used to account for floorboard thickness. To add strength to the top front corner, a lip was added between the firewall tabs and extended on up. Flanges for the box were cut from 3/16". The mount was slotted and holes drilled in it. A gusset was added in the corner. A piece of 2" tubing was used in place of the steering box when mocking everything up. With the box tacked in and everything tight it seemed to turn pretty easy even sitting still with no flex in the mounts. About 3-1/2 turns at the wheel. I won't weld the flanges until the column height is checked again after its chopped and seat height determined.
Skills combined with the vision..what's not to like? Impressed, this car is a stand out. Thanks for posting your project.
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