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Posted by: McMark Apr 19 2016, 06:59 AM

We just finished the last pipes on this STIFFENING cage. Everything is 1.75"DOM, bent on a hand powered JD2 bender. Top of main hoop and windshield bars curved on a Harbor Freight tubing roller with SWAG-Offroad 1.75" dies to match the body curve. Gussets were omitted by request. Tied to front and rear shock mounts, and the owner and I discussed reinforcement plates and opted to not use them on the shock towers.

We spent a lot of time getting the bars as tucked away as possible. When the top is on and the doors are closed, you can only see the main hoop. Tight clearances made the assembly a jigsaw puzzle to refit and weld (after mockup, all bars were removed and epoxy primered). There was a very specific order of how the bars went back in and the order they were TIG welded. All welds to the body were completed last to avoid any twist/warp transmitting to the body. Oh, and all the notches were done by hand, even though I have a JD2 Tubing Notcher.

This car is getting a 3.2 engine, so we had to make the rear shock bars clear the oil tank. The front shock bars went through the dash vent holes and I had to remove the washer tank and move the brake fluid reservoir.


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Posted by: Krieger Apr 19 2016, 08:22 AM

Good work!

Posted by: Blue6 Apr 19 2016, 09:14 AM

Nice work, just don't drive it on the street....

Posted by: Elliot Cannon Apr 19 2016, 11:19 AM

QUOTE(Blue6 @ Apr 19 2016, 08:14 AM)

Nice work, just don't drive it on the street....

Posted by: Elliot Cannon Apr 19 2016, 11:24 AM

The "screaming yellow zonker" had the front tubes welded to the windshield frame. I don't know if it really helped. All I know for sure is that damn car provided me with three trips to traffic school.


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Posted by: Chris Pincetich Apr 19 2016, 01:15 PM

Nice work!
Did you do the extra seam welds around the front camber plate mount? Awesome
I've seen pics of that same strategy of seam welding on the upper rear mounts too.
And lots of other places...
Thanks for sharing

Posted by: r_towle Apr 19 2016, 01:23 PM

QUOTE(Elliot Cannon @ Apr 19 2016, 01:24 PM)

The "screaming yellow zonker" had the front tubes welded to the windshield frame. I don't know if it really helped. All I know for sure is that damn car provided me with three trips to traffic school.

Posted by: Elliot Cannon Apr 19 2016, 05:15 PM

QUOTE(r_towle @ Apr 19 2016, 12:23 PM)

QUOTE(Elliot Cannon @ Apr 19 2016, 01:24 PM)

The "screaming yellow zonker" had the front tubes welded to the windshield frame. I don't know if it really helped. All I know for sure is that damn car provided me with three trips to traffic school.

Should have just painted it black after the first trip to school, may have been cheaper in the long run.

Posted by: RobW Apr 19 2016, 05:37 PM

Where did the Zonk end up?