BUILD THREAD “The Juggernaut”

[Rktpwrd]

At this point I don't even know that I am qualified to properly hold the ladder

 

[mclellan83]

View attachment 192470

I was going to use that one in my post, ahahhaha. But decided I didn't want to flaunt my skills too hard on your build thread

 

[Texas82GP]

Well shortly after my last update, the rear floor crossmember decided to kick my everlovin’ @ss. I’m not kidding, this crossmember project has been straight from the deepest darkest bowels of hell.

After mocking up the long welded piece to the short one, to my dismay I found I had gotten a critical measurement wrong somewhere and the center part wasn’t dropping down as far as I had intended. It looked ok initially, but was deceiving because the long section was actually running downhill and it didn’t become apparent until I had the other side in place.
You can see in this picture that the center hump doesn’t line up with the floor sheetmetal, it’s up too high:

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So that meant cutting it up and sectioning in pieces to the kickups to make it drop down lower. And of course because we’re dealing with angles, the longer the kickups, the shorter the straight sections have to be too.
All wasn’t entirely lost though, I was at least able to keep and reuse the curved/bend sections I had put so much time and effort into. Still 3 cuts and 3 seams to weld up per side tho.

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Finally got all that redone and sorted out and figured I was home free. Just mock up the two halves and mark where the excess could be trimmed from the short side right?

Haha. This thing had other ideas.

I mark and cut it to length, get the two halves clamped to my fixture in preparation for welding them together, and wait a minute, something doesn’t look right. If you look closely at the right side of the crossmember in this picture, you’ll see that the kickup is lower than the other side, the angles had changed on me somehow. Most likely pulled out of shape from welding heat.

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Out came the sliding T-bevel, and I started checking angles. The driver’s side was better than the passenger’s, I was able to confirm what the actual angle was supposed to be in three spots. So I locked down the T-bevel at that angle and started comparing it to the other bends. Passenger’s side was WAAAY off. Dismayed but with no choice, I resigned myself to the fact that relief cuts would have to be made in the offending corners and welded back up again.
Faaack.

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Still managed to get the outer faces looking half-assed ok though.

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Good to go now right?
Haha. Not yet sucker.

Remember that I had now already trimmed the short section to what I thought was correct, but after adjusting the angles and mocking it back up, the overall length had changed. And not in my favour, no no, that would be too easy. I was now SHORT by a half inch. Oh goody, more cutting and welding. Here it is somewhere in the middle of the process:

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But tonight, finally, FINALLY, I have good news. It’s done, it’s correct, and it fits as intended. Still on the fixture…

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…I took the opportunity to fine tune the hump arc with the hammer and dolly. Looks pretty uniform now and should work just fine:

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After cutting out a little more of the stock crossmember for clearance, I finally got the satisfaction I’ve been wanting for near on a month now. It’s in and it fits!!

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The center hump now lines up with the floor sheetmetal like what was planned, it shouldn’t take much to get this part lined up, welded in and done:

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That will have to wait tho, as I now have a crap load of other things to get done first. The pass-through patch pieces that are going to be the outside lower quarter panels have to be finished welded in on both sides, the inner pass-through pipe on the driver’s side has to be welded to the inner wall, and then I have to start building the body mount pedestals that will attach to the floor crossmember.

View attachment 192469

So yeah, still a sh*t-ton of work to go, but at least I’m finally done with the infernal floor crossmember!!!

D.

Beautiful workmanship on that crossmember Donovan. It'll kind of be a shame to cover it up.

 

[Streetbu]

Damn Donovan, that thing kicked your arse, but you still won!

 

[Injectedcutty]

Totally badass buddy seeing that crossmember finished up! I've been slacking lately, you definitely have been hammering down and getting it done. Looks awesome brother!

 

[melloelky]

Totally badass buddy seeing that cross member finished up! I've been slacking lately, you definitely have been hammering down and getting it done. Looks awesome brother!

 

[Wraith]

Once again your attention to detail reaffirms that I shouldn't be on medication for mine....

 

[Rktpwrd]

Beautiful workmanship on that crossmember Donovan. It'll kind of be a shame to cover it up.

Thanks Jared. It looks a little scabby in the latest round of pictures, but that’s just the inside and no one will ever see that again once the new floor pans get welded in. I’ll be slathering it in epoxy primer before that happens just to make sure it’s protected.

I should’ve posted pictures of the other side, it looks a helluva lot better.

Damn Donovan, that thing kicked your arse, but you still won!

Too stubborn to know when to quit?
😅

Totally badass buddy seeing that crossmember finished up! I've been slacking lately, you definitely have been hammering down and getting it done. Looks awesome brother!

Thanks Scott. Nice to have you caught up on the progress again!

Once again your attention to detail reaffirms that I shouldn't be on medication for mine....

OCD can be beneficial if you know when and how to apply it.
😉

 

[Flyers9928]

And your not a full time fabricator for what reason? I know people that work in custom/hot rod shops that you put to shame! Very nice work, your skills are amazing man.

 

[bruisedbanana79]

And your not a full time fabricator for what reason? I know people that work in custom/hot rod shops that you put to shame! Very nice work, your skills are amazing man.

Agreed! I am surprised we don't see him working for Kindigit Designs