Hot Rods Modified Murray - Race to the road! Progress in Review!

Fuck yeah scooter!!! I love your work man, makes all of us wanna get busy!!

the stand is killer man!!!

 

The stand you built for a POS HF roller is cooler than 75% of the shit I've ever laid a welder on. Thanks for making me feel accomplished Scoot...

Start small on the overspray (depending on how bad it is) with a clay bar, if no then some compound and polish, if still no then some 1500 and polish will take it no doubt. I would take care of those boo=boos before assembly though while they are fresh in your head. JMO.

 

Is California all out of Ford rear axle trumpets and 20 inch truck wheels? What happened to tradition?

 

Thanks bro!! And are you KIDDING??? Been watching your chop jobs thru FaceBook... Talk about wanting to do some metal fab! Makin' me want to get to work on my Poncho, sooner than later! HAHA!

HAHA! Thanks man! And yeah, the overspray is pretty bad on one piece in one place. And I MISSED one spot on it too! GAH! I was thinking I would wait because I'm afraid of what kind of chaos is going to go down during the chassis build up. But yeah, you're right about it. It's something I could work on here and there as well.

Bob! HAHA! No, we're not out yet, but since this is what I had here, I thought I would work with it. Maybe the actual owner of the roller will want to make a change. I think he's got a few steering wheels layin' around.

Speaking of the tubing roller. I'm actually hearing pretty positive thigns about the HF tubing roller. The only complaints I've heard is that they don't offer larger square dies for them and the lower wheels are a little closer together. SO! Someone on-line actually sells the larger square dies AND replacement side plates that widen the stance of the lower rollers. Might even be adjustable to different positions.

BINGO! Here's the guy here...
http://www.swagoffroad.com/Harbor_Freight_Tubing_Roller.html

He offers weld-on wings, but there is someone else out there offering actual replacement sides.

 

The actual owner was just going to bolt it to his welding table and use it like that.

But now that it has grown this bitch'in stand, I will have..I mean he will have to make room in his already over crowded garage.

Thanks Scott.

.

 

Guy thinks he's doing you a favor and just ends up wasting floorspace in the shop!

 

You Scott are my hero

 

Ya, I know. now I have to cut it up and disassemble it to get it into the knock and or cranny it came out of..

.

 

Dammit! HAHA! Should I go ahead and cut the legs off to make it easier to store? I actually was thinking about where you would put it. Thus the skinny legs and open bottom. We may have to come up with something else...

BTW... Takes FOR-EV-ERRR to roll this tubing!!!!! We never would have been able to just roll a couple hoops in your garage in one night. I'm 3-hours into rolling tubes and still 25% of the way there for the FIRST HOOP!! CRAZY!!

 

No, don't cut it up !!!!!!! I'll find room for it. probably here at work.

Besides, I want to keep it as is. That way when you are a world famous fabricator with a TV show I can say I have something Scooter made.

.

 

BOOO!! What's a "TV"?? HAHA!

Damn... I already went and cut the legs off. I'll put them back on...

 

"skinny legs and open bottom".....huh huh huh....

 

Getting an early start for breakfast, huh? LOL!

 

Hows it coming along?

 

Okay... Sorta slow going, but going, none the less!

I'm in the final stretch of frame prep before primer. Been working on the hoops for the rotisserie a little bit each night after work. The hoops are really starting to come together now....





The 1-1/4" tubing will also be rolled to match the radius of the two halves and I will cut off about 6-inches or so to use as a plug to join the two halves together. Should make the joints really stong when full welded together.



The last 5 inches, or so, of each hoop halve has to be cut off. It does not see the full radius of the bend because of the distance between the top driver die and the two lower dies. So I had to roll just slightly past a half-hoop.



Then the v-groove wheels I picked up will be modified slightly, on a lathe, so that the tubing will ride in them a little better. I think each wheel is rated for around 700 pounds, so that should be more than enough capacity once it's all together and assembled for anything I will use the hoops for...




For awhile now I have been thinking of building a planishing hammer for some up-coming pieces that need to be made/finished. That "unmentionable store" had them on sale for cheap and then I had a coupon. So for $80 I got something that I can modify, build a stand for, etc.. For that price it was worth it just for the pedal assembly and the dies. The air hammer will eventually get replaced with a good quality 4X riveter, and I'll make some more dies for it as well. 90% of the frame will probably get junked.

 

Not a huge update, but something, none the less. It was a ton of work rolling these hoops to such a tight radius, but they are finally done and ready to be welded up...

The smaller diameter curved bar is the tubing that will be used for plugging each welded joint...









Going to try and do the final fit tonight and weld them up, if I have time.

In other news, while I was finishing that up, my girlfriend made the plywood bases for the seat that will get the foam attached to them for the cushions. Originally I was going to send the seats out to be covered, but she feels pretty confident that she can sew up some stuffed rolled cushions and covers for the seats herself! SWEET! I'm definitely going to let her do it! Anytime I don't have to source something out, it only saves money! I'll post progress pictures of those as it happens...

 

^giant steel hoola hoops?

 

Alright... I haven't had too much to report, even though I've been spending about every minute I can get in the shop. Have been busting ass finishing up the rotisserie (giant hoola hoop thingy) and then trying to get the filler work done on the front portion of the frame so I can get the primer laid down. Here's how things are lookin.

Finishing up the rotisserie. Hoops welded, pieces all cut out and holes drilled...



Mocked up the roller bases for welding...



Welded the foot pockets...



Welded the cross bracing that keeps the side-angles form collapsing when tighening the roller axles...



Tacked the feet...



Finished welded everything...



Spent the rest of the time making the mounting spokes and supports to put the frame in. It was such a hussle I didn't even take pictures. Had to get that frame in the hoops by Saturday night so I could move on with the finish work and prep for primer. SOOOO... the mounts I made are pretty gnarly looking because I made them with what scraps I had in the shop and are enough to support the frame in a rotating position....

With the spokes and brackets as complete as they were going to get, I used the forklift to work on getting a balance point in the frame...



Then clamped it in place and gave it a whirl!



SUCCESS!! Came in the next morning fresh and drilled the holes for the bolts. DONE!



Spent the rest of Sunday putting blisters on my fingers sanding in tiny pockets to get everything smooth looking. Then skim coated the front portion of the frame with Quantum. I'll work on blocking it out during the week and should primer either later in the week or this weekend at the latest! I'm ready to order the final color for the car too! As soon as the paint gets here I'll block the epoxy primer down and lay down the final color....

Getting there guys! That rotisserie was a HEAP of work, but has already helped a ton, just getting it up to a good working height and less stress on my back trying to flip it over.

 

You are an inspiration, Scott! That thing is so cool. One question, when working on it, is it stable, or do the hoops want to "roll"?

 

I got it pretty well balanced, so it rolls easy and doesn't take off on its own too much. There is one position (in either direction) where it does want to swing a little bit. For now I'm just wedging a screwdriver in the roller. Takes very little to stop it. For now that's all I'll do. I will add a "scrub brake" to it at some point that will be more perminent. I just didn't want to spend anymore time perfecting this now that it's functional.

To keep the hoops from "swaying" it really needs a little more triangulation. This will steady it for caster wheels on the feet as well. But in the mean time it works the way it is and will get me through the paint process.

 

Dude, I'm super happy for you and the progress that you're making. It's awesome and I want one!!!!

COLOR!!!

 

Looks good Scott. Did you get your Quatum issues figured out?

 

Yeah! I bought the "low temp" catalyst (low to mid 70's ambient right now) and it's perfect! That Quantum skim coat RULES!!!!!!! I love it!!

 

Awesome glad it worked out for you!!

 

Thanks for the help on that!

 

Awesome!

 

that's AWESOME!!!

 

Anything new on the seats? Did you get the foam and what about material? Any ideas?

 

Now that is genious!

 

Nothin' new. Got a couple foam samples in the mail. The composite stuff looks like the ticket. I'm going to go check with a local place and chat with them when I get closer to the time. I'm fine sittin' on a pillow if that means more time to get things finished. So I'll worry about that later.

Thanks Fellas!