Yeah, I went ahead and tightened up the rest of the wires.
I've been practicing my Tig. I have a ways to go. But it isn't bad. I really like it. I filled in the gap along my rear bracket and used a poly fan on it. Across the top, you can't tell it was welded. My fillet beads look great. But when I fill gaps it looks a little rough in spots. No porosity though. One nice thing, It's easy to smooth things out if needed.
Later, Wes
Well I'm still plugging away. I took a picture of that bracket that I TIG welded on earlier. I still have to get the bottom, but that will have to wait till I get it up on my bench.
I decided to recycle some pieces off of the snowmobile skies that I got the springs from. They aren't exactly what I need, but they'll work:o)
First I cut the ends off with my bandsaw.
I then cleaned up the ends and rounded them off. I used a hand grinder with a poly fan on it.
Now I need to make some spacers that will get welded underneath this bracket.
Seems like I keep making extra parts. Those last brackets were the wrong ones. Those were the ones for the top of the springs. I needed the ones that go on the bottom. They were still on the skis. They were welded on pretty good, But I managed to get them cut off pretty cleanly.
Here you can see the cuts I made with a thin cut. It's like a grinding wheel that is .040" thick.
Here you can see what is left of the weld on the bracket.
All cleaned up.
Here are the 4 brackets that I need to mount the springs. I have some spacers to weld on them. the ones on the right have some bronze sliders that are held in place with the pins.
more later, o/ Yeah o/
I started TIG welding the spacers under the mounts. Check out this welding:o) I never thought I'd ever be able to do this nice of job welding.
I am about ready to weld the mounts to the frame.
Wes,,,that TIG weld is just about perfect, you've come a long ways in a very short time, most people it takes a long time to get the laps that smooth and the fill that flush, not only does it look nice but that's a very good weld.,,Good Job.
Thanks for the compliment.
I have the body sitting back on the frame. Something is fishy? The springs hit the top rails. I'll have to trim the mounts more than expected. Oh well, that's what they made grinders for:o) At least they're too long....
More fishiness? The springs are curved slightly different. I had 2 sets of springs. All of them were slightly different. I set them up so they were the same height with the body off. With the body on there is a good half inch difference from one side to the other. The high side has 4 leafs and the low side has only three. ( but they were the same with the body off ) In the 2 sets of springs there was one medium long spring. I'm going to use a thin cut and make a second one, out of a longer spring, for the low side. Hopefully this will make up the difference. I want to get the springs right before I start on trimming the mounts. I'll be sure to get pictures.
Wes
Here is the spring I need to make a copy of for the other side bolted to an extra longer leaf that I have.
I used a thincut and trimmed the longer spring to match the one I need.
I cleaned up my new leaf and bolted it to the other side. The two sides are with in a 1/4" now. Now I can trim my mounts.
I'm thinking the added spring leaf will make for an uneven spring rate from side to side. It is a live spring and will function as such.
Have you considered adding a very short leaf (or shim) under the flatter spring group to even things out?
Lonnie
Thanks Lonnie,
I'm adding one, So both sides will have the same number of leafs. I have the mounts ground to length and I am pretty happy with the way they turned out. I'm off to get pictures now. I can now tack them to the frame:o)
Wes
Here is a good picture of the spring perch. I even found some snazzy new pins to hold the springs on:o)
Notice on top of the spring hanger there is about 1/8" of clearance. I think this will be perfect when I get the rest of the body built.
I now have to come up with something for the front. I have a couple of Ideas:o)
As usual, nice work. Regarding your spring mounts. I see that the spring end is held firmly by the rear mount and pin. Is the front of the spring free to float back and forth as the spring compresses and increases in length? Maybe I missed seeing that part of the spring mounts.
This is truly the thread that will not quit! LOL.
Wes,,it looks like both ends are solid mounted, if that's the case the spring won't be able to work, one end has to be able to move weather it slides or is on a shackle that pivots it must move to be able to get longer as it's compressed.
No, no. The Front of the spring slips under the pin. Thanks for the tips:o)
Are they the sliders you show in your post 44065?
If so just add some Bear grease and you're good to go without shackles. lol
Lonnie
