66 Pro Street Build (Domeringer)

[Gary V]

Originally Posted by azdude1964

very interested in the cage , nice work as always.

Originally Posted by mud.man.rj

I agree, nice work..

Originally Posted by 66-PMD-GMC

Beautiful

Thank you much!

Ok... another weekend comes to an end. kirkey seat arrived so spent the weekend getting the dash and seat mocked in place so I could get the position of the remaining inside cage tubes.

[Ronzo]

I love following this build, thanks for the updates.

[azdude1964]

sweet

[chad64chevy]

man I really like how the cage is coming out! looks almost hidden in the pillars

[tinydb84]

I just reread your thread for inspiration. I was trying to make my 4 link mounts like your chassis.


[/QUOTE]

Where do you get the ideas for the frame layout? Any books or videos you would recommend?

This is where I am at:


I am going to drop my crossmember/link mounts in soon and want to tie in everything in together and have it look decent and clean. Obviously it wont be like yours but any feedback would be great!

Thanks!

[Gary V]

Originally Posted by Ronzo

I love following this build, thanks for the updates.

Originally Posted by azdude1964

sweet

Thanks guys!

Originally Posted by chad64chevy

man I really like how the cage is coming out! looks almost hidden in the pillars

Thanks Chad! No matter how hard I try... always bang my dome and shins on roll cages... ouch! Try to keep them tight and out of the way if possible.

[Gary V]

Hey bud glad I could help out with the inspiration! I'll try to answer your questions...

Originally Posted by tinydb84

I just reread your thread for inspiration. I was trying to make my 4 link mounts like your chassis.

Read through your thread... your getting the hang of that tig eh. Great job!


Where do you get the ideas for the frame layout? Any books or videos you would recommend?


Having been around racing stuff for a long time it kind of comes easy for me to see what I like and don't like about other builds. The internet is loaded with them. I think the best book you can buy if your interested in doing fab work is the (link) Metal Fabricator's Handbook by Ron Fournier


I am going to drop my crossmember/link mounts in soon and want to tie in everything in together and have it look decent and clean. Obviously it wont be like yours but any feedback would be great!

Again your doing a great job! The only advice I can give you without seeing a sketch of what you plan to do is.

1. Tack weld the whole assembly and triple check the dimensions before final weld. Ask on your build forum for opinions once you tack stuff up... think a lot of people are not comfortable with critiquing someones work without being asked. You will get some good feedback that way.
   
   2. Once your satisfied with the tack welded setup... weld slowly an inch at a time. If you can't touch it with your bare hand... weld somewhere else! Keep the gaps between the two or more pieces your welding together very tight. If you do this the frame will come out as planned. If you don't you will end up with a twisted, pulled mess. You can always change things if you don't like by simply cutting the tacks and starting over.

I will make it a point to get get over to your build. If you'd rather... you can PM with questions if that's better for you.


Thanks!

[tinydb84]

Thanks for your time. I just bought the book. I have been on here, C10forum, Yellowbullet, and Protouring looking at other peoples builds.

When you say weld one inch at a time are you talking tig or mig? With mig wouldn't that create a cold start issue? I usually limit my mig runs to a 4-6 inches on something structural. I don't get to tig as much on my truck because I am doing it all in my driveway.

Also with your rails and crossmembers, what size material are you using? I did my notch in .188 but ended up with .120 for my crossmember. Any recommendations where to get mandrel bends?

[Gary V]

Originally Posted by tinydb84

Thanks for your time. I just bought the book. I have been on here, C10forum, Yellowbullet, and Protouring looking at other peoples builds.

When you say weld one inch at a time are you talking tig or mig? With mig wouldn't that create a cold start issue? I usually limit my mig runs to a 4-6 inches on something structural. I don't get to tig as much on my truck because I am doing it all in my driveway.

Also with your rails and crossmembers, what size material are you using? I did my notch in .188 but ended up with .120 for my crossmember. Any recommendations where to get mandrel bends?

Very good! I think you will enjoy the book. Ron Fornier has been around for a long time and does awesome work. A cold start can usually be attributed to technique, amperage and wire feed speed. Try turning your machine up and starting a little ahead of your stop position and coming back... you can weld hotter if your not traveling so far. It can be difficult to weld heavy structural steel with the low cost tig machines on the market today. They are more suited for bodywork than doing structural. The new small inverter tig machines have a low duty cycle (The number of minutes you can weld in 10 minutes expressed as a percentage, eg. 20% duty cycle = 2 minutes in 10 where the machine is holding the current you originally set) We have a 300 amp Lincoln running .041 wire at work... there is no cold start.

Not a big fan of tig welding unless I have a big machine at my disposal. Having been an arc welder for many years... in my worn out flash burned eyes the penetration you get is far superior to tig. It does take some crazy skills to weld all positions... which is why tig is so popular.

All of the framework on the truck aside from the 4130 tube is 1/8 wall.

[Gary V]

Well busy weekend but did manage to get a few bars in place ...

[azdude1964]

looking good . Do you plan on welding the patch back in that you cut out of the back wall.

[Gary V]

Oh yea! That back panel is very beat up to the point where the lower window seat is bent inward from stuff sliding into it over the years. Got something trick in mind...

[azdude1964]

update please SIR.

[ptc]

Gary, great build man! so much information too, thanks for all that you. Also glad to see your recommendation for Ron Fournier, read that book myself so many years ago and hes is a great talent to the fab industry.

Working on my roll cage right now too and very frustrated with the NHRA rule BS.... I decided to keep mine more street than strip by keeping my cab removable, but it will be roll cage safe. (whether or not the NHRA tech board believes so).

Anyway great job, keep it up!

[Gary V]

Originally Posted by azdude1964

update please SIR.

Not much to post... got a little side tracked with my brothers turbo fox body. Shortened and back braced his 9" rear... wish there was more time for fun stuff. Will go back to work on the truck Saturday and Sunday and post some updates Sunday night.

Originally Posted by ptc

Gary, great build man! so much information too, thanks for all that you. Also glad to see your recommendation for Ron Fournier, read that book myself so many years ago and hes is a great talent to the fab industry.

Working on my roll cage right now too and very frustrated with the NHRA rule BS.... I decided to keep mine more street than strip by keeping my cab removable, but it will be roll cage safe. (whether or not the NHRA tech board believes so).

Anyway great job, keep it up!

Thank you! Yea that NHRA rule stuff can be a pain in the butt. The faster you want to go the more so. I'm liking the Outlaw events run without the NHRA sanctioning more and more.

Hummm had a chance to read a post I put up early one morning... seems I got my tigs and migs mixed up... here's the corrected version.

Very good! I think you will enjoy the book. Ron Fornier has been around for a long time and does awesome work. A cold start can usually be attributed to technique, amperage and wire feed speed. Try turning your machine up and starting a little ahead of your stop position and coming back... you can weld hotter if your not traveling so far. It can be difficult to weld heavy structural steel with the low cost mig machines on the market today. They are more suited for bodywork than doing structural. The new small inverter mig machines have a low duty cycle (The number of minutes you can weld in 10 minutes expressed as a percentage, eg. 20% duty cycle = 2 minutes in 10 where the machine is holding the current you originally set) We have a 300 amp Lincoln mig running .041 wire at work... there is no cold start.

Not a big fan of mig welding unless I have a big machine at my disposal. Having been an arc welder for many years... in my worn out flash burned eyes the penetration you get with arc is far superior to mig. It does take some crazy skills to weld all positions... which is why mig is so popular.

All of the framework on the truck aside from the 4130 tube is 1/8 wall.

[Gary V]

Small update... finished the main hoop cross bracing. Hope to get the seats set in place this coming weekend.

[Modges'66]

Ha! Funny about the corrected version of your post!
I was assuming that this was what you originally meant...Initially I was pretty confused, but was pretty sure that you may be having an adult beverage moment...LOL!
All good!!!!

[azdude1964]

awesome gonna start tweakin mine just dropped off the 540 at the machine shop

[Gary V]

Originally Posted by Modges'66

Ha! Funny about the corrected version of your post!
I was assuming that this was what you originally meant...Initially I was pretty confused, but was pretty sure that you may be having an adult beverage moment...LOL!
All good!!!!

Funny it all made sense when I wrote it in the morning LOL.

Originally Posted by azdude1964

awesome gonna start tweakin mine just dropped off the 540 at the machine shop

Saw your post in the racing forum and am very interested in where your taking the beast. Will post there for details. Big blocks rule! It's a real struggle for me to go this LS route. The more I read about the LS and big horse power the more uncertain I become... we'll see.

A little progress... bought a dated harness for mock up. The final purchase will be a for a 7 point. Still lots of fab work to go.

[chad64chevy]

looking good, Gary! question how are you going to weld behind the bars between the back wall?

[Gary V]

Originally Posted by chad64chevy

looking good, Gary! question how are you going to weld behind the bars between the back wall?

Thanks Chad, Very soon the cab will be removed for the last time and the cab portion of the cage will be finish welded. Then the cab will go back on and the body/floor will be finished around it.

Off to the shop... updates soon

[azdude1964]

looking awesome I'm taking notes

[Gary V]

Originally Posted by azdude1964

looking awesome I'm taking notes

Very good thanks!

Ok been pretty busy with it and figured it's time for an update! Bent up a funny car cage and removed it for time being. Maybe some day I will put it in permanently... not good for the dome for street use. Think I will be happy with the 8.5 trap time... but who knows I may win the lottery and want to go faster LOL

Also repositioned and changed the seat mount after I discovered that the funny car cage was a little too close to the top of my head.

Started working on the rear frame fab

[mud.man.rj]

Don't worry about the cage, as you get older you shrink and get shorter, so sooner or later you will fit
Really nice work, coming together as a killer build.
Waiting for more and more.

[Gary V]

Originally Posted by mud.man.rj

Don't worry about the cage, as you get older you shrink and get shorter, so sooner or later you will fit
Really nice work, coming together as a killer build.
Waiting for more and more.

LOL yea that gravity thing!

Well still working on the chassis... some progress

Replaced the rear cross member after finding that at full bump stop the driveshaft would just tag the loop... didn't like that thing anyway.