Flatlands #1

[FlatlandFSJ]

Bought myself a new lil welder so that I could do the aluminum interior work myself. With 0 experience and being a broke mofo I decided against a Miller and got a 185 everlast

Dashboard and center console getting fit

Switch panel deal

Lil gauge cluster idea, this is taking a bit to get ironed out the way I want.

More panels , this one is spaced out from the inner foot well, hoping this air gap can knock down on some of the heat from the header.

Inner foot well for reference

Rocker guard/fancy foot hold

 

[FlatlandFSJ]

Sway bar link mounts, these have a top plate as well, just don't have a picture right now.

Trued up the mid ship shaft andbearing, didn't have a dial indicator so I rigged up something for a reference point at least.

Stuck a real motor inband accessories on it, had to change a few small things between the mock up and real block nothing major tho.

And then immediately started pulling parts that weren't needed for mock up once I knew it all fit.

Welding..

Head mounts

 

[FlatlandFSJ]

Before the trans went to be built we decided to chop it for the ultra bell.

Never done this before, so I made 2 cuts and then final fitted with a 40grit flap wheel.

 

[ridered3]

Glad to see some updates on this build.

The rocker guards/fancy foot cutout with your name cut into it is a nice touch.

 

[FlatlandFSJ]

Stripped it all the way down for final welding and some work on the bottom.

Need more room in the shop already...

Flopped it over to get to the hard to reach spots.

Decided that wasn't easy enough so I put it on it's lid and put the roller table under it.

Ahh..much easier to finish the boxing plates on the link mounts

As well as welding out this kinda stuff.

Patterns for the skids, got it all tabbed out for the skids when it was flipped

And back right side up...

This gets us pretty much caught up

Chipping away at the aluminum tonight, still trying to figure this Tig thing out

 

[FlatlandFSJ]

Trying something different with the shoulder harness tabs...hopefully they keep Ray in the buggy.

Winch mount and bump stops, ended up leaving them in boarded for now, if we start hurting shocks or bending bolts I'll address it down the road.

It clears... barely

This particular spot is proving to be a lil tricky, had to make a lil extra room down here for activities.

 

[FlatlandFSJ]

Random aluminum work, this part is taking a bit to figure out, first time doing any kind of real work with aluminum.

Found that masking tape works pretty good for getting stuff tacked together in the buggy.

Got a little further with this thing tonight as well

 

[FlatlandFSJ]

Re: Re: Flatlands #1

Glad to see some updates on this build.

The rocker guards/fancy foot cutout with your name cut into it is a nice touch.

Thanks, those took way to long to cut out and will end up getting ripped off at some point.

 

[ridered3]

Re: Re: Flatlands #1

Thanks, those took way to long to cut out and will end up getting ripped off at some point.

That always seems to be the case for little details like that, but it's a neat little signature piece.

 

[twostep]

Great to see an actual build thread again with active photo links! Also love to see someone else still using the old school fab techniques.

What ultra bell are you using?

 

[FlatlandFSJ]

Great to see an actual build thread again with active photo links! Also love to see someone else still using the old school fab techniques.

What ultra bell are you using?

Thanks, I enjoy making the little brackets and junk by hand, some say it's not worth it and they are probably right....but it doesn't bother me thumb.gif


It's an older one that we picked up in the forsale section. It's JW's standard th350/th400 ultrabell so we will still need to run the conversion spacer and flexplate.

 

[twostep]

Thanks, I enjoy making the little brackets and junk by hand, some say it's not worth it and they are probably right....but it doesn't bother me thumb.gif

No doubt that some tabs and such aren't worth it but for all of the custom parts what choice do you have unless you've got 10g's to drop on a plasma table. Besides, there is a lot of satisfaction to be had from doing it yourself.

 

[AEH]

Looking good. Is the front sway bar mounted to the front axle and linked to the frame or am I seeing things? There is no good place on my buggy for a conventional installation and I have been considering just that. I haven’t seen it done, but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work.

 

[FlatlandFSJ]

Looking good. Is the front sway bar mounted to the front axle and linked to the frame or am I seeing things? There is no good place on my buggy for a conventional installation and I have been considering just that. I haven’t seen it done, but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work.

Yup, it's attached to the front plate/truss on the upper link mounts. It's been done a few times, screamin' blue had one mounted this way in the front a while back and you'll notice alot of the bouncer guys have started mounting them axle side in the rear as well.

 

[onetoncrawler]

very nice work. :smoke:

 

[1tonyj]

very nice work. :smoke:

Thank you....Dillion is doing a great job!


Roof panels are coming together

 

[1tonyj]

early stages of the hood getting roughed in

 

[FlatlandFSJ]

Don't know how this will turn out, but I'm giving the fancy hood thing a shot as you can see from Rays post.

First cut and roll.

Little bit closer

Fitting it the best I can, some spots are better then others...

Hoping that this works, usually I'd make a cardboard template and use it to figure out the bends

Turned out decent I guess, I left it a bit tall so I could fine tune the angle.

I'm still unsure of how I'm going to attach this lil scoop, I bent a flange into it with the plan of maybe using rivets.. worse case I'll hack the flange off and weld it on there.

As of now I'm working on laying out the center bit on the hood, it's a bit bland being flat across it,trying to figure out something to break that up. Scoop is down at the right height..give or take a fuzz.

 

[AllGoNoShow]

Don’t take this wrong, I appreciate the work that went into that hood, the fab is top notch. But I don’t think it fits the build. Just my humble opinion.


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[Forbanger]

I like it

 

[FlatlandFSJ]

Don’t take this wrong, I appreciate the work that went into that hood, the fab is top notch. But I don’t think it fits the build. Just my humble opinion.


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Hold your judgement for a day or two while I finish it out, it's still pretty far from what it should look like...still to early to know if I'm gonna be able to make it do what I want.

I like it

Thanks thumb.gif

 

[rugger99]

I think the rivets would look good as a method to attach the scoop, plus would be easier to replace if it ever gets wadded up.

 

[1tonyj]

valley in center of the hood taking shape....more trimming on the front to fit the tube still but its getting there!

 

[1tonyj]

moved the chassis to the paint room and Dillion finished up the roof

 

[AllGoNoShow]

The roof looks great.


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[mcutler]

Looking great! I can appreciate all the hand made effort in this unit.

Enjoy learning tig, it'll change the way you look at all forms of welding.

Keep hammering on the aluminum, tighter the joints the better... just need a bead roller now to spice things up????.

Matt Cutler

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[FlatlandFSJ]

Looking great! I can appreciate all the hand made effort in this unit.

Enjoy learning tig, it'll change the way you look at all forms of welding.

Keep hammering on the aluminum, tighter the joints the better... just need a bead roller now to spice things up????.

Matt Cutler

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

Thanks man, it's been a learning experience for sure.

A bead roller is on the list for sure. I scored a couple decent sized arbor presses the other week, going to pick up a set of shrinker/stretcher jaws for future sheet metal work as well. thumb.gif

The roof looks great.


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appreciate it :dblthumb:

 

[FlatlandFSJ]

Steelit...

My pics won't really do justice to the color or finish, I'm sure Ray will post a few next time he stops by.

Prepped the chassis with wire wheels and scratchpads, no one wants to see pics of cleaning tube..so we will just get into it.

It's been a bit chilly lately so a slight preheat in the sun for good measure...

Spraying it out of a cheapo harbor freight gun. It's worked well enough, it's a bit thick for the standard filters.

I'm sure they make a different filter that would work...I found taking it out works just as well though.

Stuck a couple bolts in the lower link mounts to hold it up while I put the final coats on it.

 

[duallydees]

thumb.gif Flatlands Fab.

 

[Beerj]

Were you able to get everything painted with one gallon? Looks great!