Roof is off. Just need to separate the T Top piece from the B pillars and remove the reinforcement piece from the windshield frame. That black goo is terrible stuff. Got to get the windshield trim off and I'm afraid I will destroy t getting it off. It appears that when they installed the T Top, they used plenty - plus of the goo and it's stuck pretty good. Looks like a lot of work just cleaning it up.
More later!
P
[This message has been edited by LornesGT (edited 02-18-2014).]
Looking good. I was going to recommend you go through the frame reinforcing before you cut the roof off but I see that is a bit late....
When you start your reinforcing, take LOTS of measurements in the door jambs and cross corner in the cockpit area. I had a few issues with my convertible back in the day when I was doing the reinforcing. I ended up with a slightly off cockpit on the passenger side to begin with and had to fix it. Support the rear frame behind the strut towers on each side with some sort of jacking devices and adjust the gaps and cross cockpit with those.
Good luck and have fun Don
Thanks for the tips Don. I thought about welding in some sort of bracing but - as always, got ahead of myself. I did take about 1000 measurements before I cut the roof off. I do have a jack under the trunk now. There was about 1/8" movement in the door frames when the roof was cut - the doors would not open. Raising the rear of the car slightly brought it back. I will hit all my marks as I build the roll cage and tie it all together. I hope!
Looking good. I was going to recommend you go through the frame reinforcing before you cut the roof off but I see that is a bit late....
When you start your reinforcing, take LOTS of measurements in the door jambs and cross corner in the cockpit area. I had a few issues with my convertible back in the day when I was doing the reinforcing. I ended up with a slightly off cockpit on the passenger side to begin with and had to fix it. Support the rear frame behind the strut towers on each side with some sort of jacking devices and adjust the gaps and cross cockpit with those.
Yep, me too! Uneven door gaps... I had the frame built and installed but it wasn't enough... I boxed the B pillar internally to correct it. but it slightly limits the seat from going all the way back...
Good luck and have fun Don
[This message has been edited by Mark A. Klein (edited 02-20-2014).]
A little "glass" work done today. I was struggling with the urethane glass sealer for the rear window. As cold as it is, that stuff is (was) near impossible to remove. I was digging around my garage and remembered a Dremel vibrating tool that I had bought when I was remodeling the kitchen. One of the blades has a razor sharp hook - I used it to cut carpet at the doorways. Anyway, I went to Lowes and bought a new blade. Cuts the urethane like butter. Keep it "lubed" with some WD40 and go to town. Got all that nasty stuff cleaned off the rear cross member in about 10 minutes.
I moved to the Windshield and used it to remove the outer windshield trim then used it to remove the windshield. I would not use it if I were planning on reusing the windshield as it chips the glass if you get to tight to it. It took me about 15 minutes to remove the trim and the windshield.
Also got the T Top roof section ready to ship off to Joe. Have one more piece left - the windshield frame stiffener. It's riveted and glued in the frame and will take some work to get it out with out bending the crap out of it.
Been a little while. Work has once again taken up all my spare time and the cold weather took it's toll on my garage. Got after it some today though as it's 65 degrees. Got the old Duke separated from the cradle and loaded in the trailer to head to the scrap yard.
Anyone need any Duke parts? Speak now before it goes to scrap!
Save the belt tensioner. They aren't making any more. Someone is always needing one in the mall. Only 87 n 88 Dukes had them. Someone will be needing the AC hose soon as the weather warms back up.
[This message has been edited by josef644 (edited 03-15-2014).]
Here you go Jose! Got it crated up and ready to ship. I'll get it sent out by Friday. All that's left it the reinforcement piece that fits in the windshield frame and 2 small filler pieces. I've been working on getting that piece off the car but it's being a PITA. Lots of sealer and rivets. I'm getting close though!
Get to big work!!! I need to see some cool stuff out of the Kat house!
Should be making progress weekly now John! I just need to learn how to use this tubing bender so I don't waste 100 feet of tube. Bought a computer program last night to help - "Bend Tech EZ 3D". I think it will be harder to learn how to work the program than bend the tube!
Its been a day, so I was expecting to see the roll cage done! Once you are done with the bender, feel free to send it to me for storage. I have been wanting to get one of them for quite some time.
A hint: take the tube, put two marks on the tube 12" (or some other precise distance apart), line the first mark up to the start of the die or an area that you can routinely use for a locating position. Then bend a 90 degree bend. Measure the distance from either the center of the new bent leg or the outer edge to the 2nd mark. Now compare the 12" measurement to the new measurement - this is the bend offset that can now be used to layout where your locating mark needs to be to end up with 2 bends that are X distance apart. You have to do this for each tube diameter and wall thickness, but it is a fairly simply method once you get used to using it.
Thanks for the tip Guru - I plan on doing some test bends this weekend. I found this bracket / adapter from SWAG Off road to convert my 105 HD bender into an air over hydraulic bender. I ordered the bracket yesterday and will run to Northern Tool this weekend to pick up the 8 ton air / hydraulic ram. That will make the "bending" so much easier.
In the mean time, it's time to start cutting and welding. First order of business is to build a new cradle cart. I left my old one in Texas. I dug out the old cut off saw and started after it. It was great to burn metal again. Other than the little bit of sheet metal work I did on the door, it's been a long time since I did any serious fab work. I cut out all the parts for the cart and then started fitting up and welding.
Then - just when I was getting in the grove and laying down some nice beads, I ran out of wire!
No worries - I have several back up spools! One of these days I'll get a new welder that can handle a "real" spool of wire.
Base frame complete. I'm going to bolt the uprights on this one so I can use the base as a dolly and make it easier to store when not in use.
Took a ride over to Harbor Freight last night. Needed some casters for the Cradle Cart, an 8 ton air/hydraulic ram, some welding "magnets" and a tubing notcher. I was going to buy a high end tubing notcher but after researching all the different ones out there, I decided to give the cheap HF model a try after watching a video on Youtube.
First order of business today - check out the Harbor Freight Tubing Notcher. Based on the video linked above, I shimmed the tube holder with 3 washers - by eye it looked to be close but after the first notch, it has to be shimmed some more. It will need longer bolts for that so I will have to run down to ACE and get some.
Out of the box
Flat washer shims
Needs a bit more shim
But it does fit pretty nice. I used a Lenox Bi Metal hole saw blade. I have used this blade for a long time cutting holes in sheet metal. It did a great job cutting through this 1.5" X.120 DOM tubing. I think I'll build a shim plate out of 1/8" steel like the guy in the above video.
Next on the plan for the day was to finish the new cradle cart. 36 degrees in the garage this AM - had to bundle up but once I started welding, it was not too bad.
Around 11:00 the sun was out and it was warming up so I moved outside to finish up. I'll have to paint it when the weather warms up some more and I will build a removable shelf for the inside / bottom. I used 350 LB capacity wheels. I don't think I'll ever put 1400 lbs on it. It will however work as a dolly that I can set under the back of the car and roll it around if I need to.
Still waiting on the hydraulic ram adapter for the Pro Tools 105HD Tube bender so I have not bent any tube yet. I thought it would show up today but no such luck. I'll have to wait until next week to get it setup but I did do a little playing with the bender this afternoon.
More later!
Pat
[This message has been edited by katatak (edited 03-29-2014).]
The Air over Hydraulic kit showed up for the bender today. Spent the evening putting it together and dialing it in. This setup is the only way to go! It's so easy to turn on the air and let the ram do all the work. If anyone is looking into getting a Tubing Bender, this mod is a must have!
As unpacked
Ram Bracket mounted to the bender
Harbor Freight 8 ton ram mounted in the bracket
Making the first bend - one complete stroke of the ram gets about 68 degrees.
Re clocking the die and I was at 90 degrees in about 3 minutes.
Then I flipped the pipe and made a 45 degree bend. From start to finish, I was able to make these 2 bends in under 10 minutes
There are a few issues. The block die is a little "rough" on the inside - leaves some gouges in the tube. I'll get some Emory cloth and give the block die a good polishing before I go into production.
Attempted my first hoop bend today. After a lot of measuring and laying out straight edges and more measuring, I'm happy to say that the rear hoop came out near perfect. It had a light "twist" - about 1" from one side to the other. It was easy to fix. I clamped one leg to the deck of my utility trailer and leaned on the other leg. Now I'm with in 1/4" from one side to the other and I can pull that out when I weld the hoop into the car.
It's definitely a 2 man job though as wrestling the hoop in the bender is a bit of a challenge. That's where the "twist" came from. It's difficult to keep everything level and square. I'm going to invest in a couple of pipe stands so I can set it up properly. The other thing I have to do is get everything out of the shop - seems like everything in there interfered with the process at one point or the other.
The front hoop will be a big challenge. Several odd angles and bends will not be fun. I did use "Bend Tech EZ3D" software once I had all the measurements for the rear hoop. It works very well, gives you the layout and the bend sequence from the start. I laid out the tube as the program showed and followed the sequence. The width and the angles came out perfect.
I have a few little "tweaks" to make to get the rear hoop to fit the way I want. It needs a bend on each of the lower legs to match the firewall angles. I'll need to finalize the cuts on the B pillar before I weld the hoop in place. Before I go any further, I need to finish cleaning out the interior and build the floor plates for the rear hoop.
Ready - set - Bend
After taking the twist out
More to come!
Pat
[This message has been edited by katatak (edited 04-05-2014).]
I stopped by Darkwing's home yesterday and got a good look at his convertible.
Your work looks great Pat.
Thanks Joe! Got the roof section sent off today. I'll PM the tracking number. Coming UPS and should be there on the 16th. Was cheaper than I expected. I think we are square. I have a few small pieces and the windshield stiffener (part 1 on page 9 of the C&C manual). I hope to get it removed tomorrow. I can put it and the small pieces and seals in a tube and get it sent sometime next week.
Got a surprise when I got home today - been out of town for the week and came home to find that my Garage Fairy had cleaned the garage and hauled off the old Duke, trans and junk to the scrapper. My Garage Fairy even left me a 50.00 bill for the scrap value. I'm going to have to leave town more often. Maybe if I stay out 2 weeks, the roll cage will get done?
Thanks Joe! Got the roof section sent off today. I'll PM the tracking number. Coming UPS and should be there on the 16th. Was cheaper than I expected. I think we are square. I have a few small pieces and the windshield stiffener (part 1 on page 9 of the C&C manual). I hope to get it removed tomorrow. I can put it and the small pieces and seals in a tube and get it sent sometime next week.
Originally posted by katatak: Maybe if I stay out 2 weeks, the roll cage will get done?
I can help the garage fairy clean out errr... I mean clean up your garage. When are you next going away for two weeks? Seriously though, it's lookin' great!
I can help the garage fairy clean out errr... I mean clean up your garage. When are you next going away for two weeks? Seriously though, it's lookin' great!
That would be a bit of a drive Blooz but you are more than welcome to come on over and "clean" out my garage. Then I would have no reason to go back out there. Thanks for the positive words.
The weather was finally great today so I decided to get some work done. I managed to get the front hoop bent. It was a PITA because of the compound angles and twists and I only ruined about 8 feet of tube (building / bending short pieces to make sure I had the angles and twists correct) but it turned out pretty good for my limited tube bending experience. I'm to the point now where I need to mount one of the low profile seats so I built a "template" to drill holes in the seat bottom to bolt the stock seat rail too. I had to do some tweaking and after the first attempt, found the front of the seat too low and the seat was slightly twisted. Took it back apart made some more tweaks and fab'd up a couple seat risers for the front mounts. Got the seat all mounted so now I can start fabing the side bars and front & rear crossbars.
From the back From the left From the right Mocked up floor plate
Seat rail template fab Finding the right place on the seat bottom to mount the seat rails Modifying the seat rails for the new fastners Seat rails bolted on Seat riser fab Mounted
Decided to make some changes to my bender setup. I need to make a few bends to the rear hoop and I do not have enough room between the bender and the shop ceiling to get it done. So today I built a portable stand for the bender. I had an extra engine stand that I have been dragging around for years - made a perfect roll around stand for the bender. Now I can take it out in the driveway and have plenty of headroom to make the bend son the rear hoop.
Left over steel from making the first stand
Dismantled Bender
Fitting it up - it's offset to one side so I can spin it and bend tube in the vertical plane - helps in getting the angles right and keeps the potential "twist" out of the bends.
Mounted up and ready to go. I'll be able to roll this outside and level it up to make perfect bends and keep everything square.
More progress on the cage today. Got the rear hoop bent to fit the firewall and fab'd up the floor plates. Also trimmed the B pillar some more and started working on the "caps" to tie it back together. The portable bender setup worked great. Plan to have the rear hoop and front hoop installed tomorrow then will start building the crossbars.
So in the middle of working on the roadster today. My lovely wife asked me if I would get the lawnmower ready to go. I say - "I suppose I can take 15 minutes out of my bust Fiero schedule to get the lawn mower going (I still think it's too early to be worrying about the lawn). So I get he mower out and set it up on the bench, pull the air cleaner, blow it out, check the oil - changed it when I put it away last Fall, checked the gas - full tank and then I pull the blade off to sharpen it up. Get one side sharpened, flip it over - start the other side and catch the edge of the disc on the edge of the blade. Grinder jumps out of my hand. I grab it with the other hand, it "bite's me and then winds up in my t shirt. What a rodeo! Got a couple good slices on my hand and it looks like I got in a fight with a Bob cat on my belly! Fricken Lawn Mower............ The Fiero would never treat me like that.
I'll feel better tomorrow - going to look at this Fiero tomorrow. If it is what I think it is, I will be bringing it home tomorrow! The Herd grows once again. This will make number 12!
Got a little work done on the Roadster today in between selling my Honda and smoking some pork for our Memorial Day feast. Built some mounting pads for the floor board for the roll bars and made some "feet" for the roll bars. Also pulled the fuel tank, AC lines and Heater lines. I will use the AC and Heater lines on the Wide body as those are crushed beyond being useful. Need to go pick up some gas for my MIG welder as all welds on the roll bar will be done with solid wire/gas.
I need to do some major garage cleaning as I need to move the Roadster to one side so I can get the Wide body in the other side. Will need the Wide body on the flat garage floor to put the motor back in. I need to weld some braces in the Roadster before I move it and build a rear axle / wheel setup that I can bolt to both cars to aid in moving them around. Seems like I spend more time making things to use to work on the cars than I do actually working on the cars.
.jpg)
I get it!.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Seriously though, it's lookin' great! 
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
