Pure stock is taking shape.

[JVMopar]

That's exactly what I did. I took 2.5" out of the center to make it easier to mount to the floor. And used 12" of tubing inside of each splice. I didn't drill holes though just turn the stick welder up some and it plug welds just fine. I'm waiting on the MIG to finish the splices though. I got a Lincoln 180HD.

Keeping it cheap is what I'm trying to do. Having a buddy that owns a scrap yard helps. I do want it to look good though and I've got another buddy who does autobody and is gonna paint it for me. It's gonna turn out like this but it'll be blue like the camaro not purple.

[adodgemann]

Cheep, ya thats me too, my first cage for my enduro car I had a whole 25 bucks to built it. I'm kind of lucky, A friend, in the next town over, who owns Allmark tube bends up Howe's tubing for his cages and builds Howe's headers. So I went thru his scrap dumpster....LOL Ed Howe's is about 30 miles from here too. Sounds like the cage is coming together. You will be real happy with the linclon welder. Nice Dakota......

[chrisII]

Originally Posted by adodgemann

Whe ya buy a mig make sure you get the 1 for gas. Bare wire is cheep compared to that flux core wire. Plus it welds so much better. I just have a little 110 volt 125 amp Lincoln, have been a great welder. Welds 1/8th inch and under just fine. One of these days I will get a bigger 1. Car looks good so far. Depending on how the width of the cage works out with the width of the car. If it is too far off I think I would cut the cage right in half.Make it the right width, in half it would be easy to get in. Splices are safe if done right. I use a 6" inside tube, leave about a 1/16 to 1/8 gap in the outer tube, to fill with weld. You can also drill a few 3/8ths or so holes in the outer tube to plug weld to the inside tube .... Let the fun begin.....

I know you have the welder ordered, but I prefer one that does both mig and flux. for anything more than bodywork i like the flux core. yes its expensive but it is better for anything that isnt new. with very little practice you can make some really nice welds wit a flux core. after i built a car with a 110 flux core I had a guy tell me the welds would be weak. the same night the car got wrecked hard. when the frame shop pulled it the metal around a couple welds tore, but not one weld gave. the problem with the 110 was duty cycle. so I bought a 220v century, wish i had spent a little more cash on the linclon

[adodgemann]

Just turn off the gas to run the flux core, but ya get better looking welds with the flux core with the gas on... I still like the bare wire better, .023 for the thin metal, .030 for the rest...

[chrisII]

on my welder you have to switch from DC to AC and vise versa to fo from flux to solid wire. if I hit the welds with a power wire brush you wouldnt know the difference. I run .035 flux or .030 solid

[JVMopar]

The one I got will do both MIG and Flux. According to Fedex it's somewhere in Kansas. Supposed to be here Wed. It makes it seem like an eternity.

[JVMopar]

Well I've been burning alot of wire lately. I've got the sub frame connectors completely welded in and some patches welded in on the trans frame. The roof is off and cage is setting in there. I've gotta cut it down another inch or so to get it back on. But things are comming together. I'll get some more done tomorrow.

[JVMopar]

Well I made more progress this week. The main cage is welded in and roof is back on. Just have to weld in one more mounting pad and then add some more bars and I'll be done with the cage. Here are a few more pic's.

[JVMopar]

I haven't updated this in a while. Since it's been so nice outside I've went ahead and started making some progress again. Stripped the subframe down and started welding up all the seams that are just spot welded. I'm also gonna reinforce around the steering gear mount.

The 8 1/4 that I got from another diplomat I tore apart, and it's a mess inside. All the bearings are trash and lots of metal inside. So I've got it all tore down degreased the inside. Even took my bore brush and ran it down the axle tubes to help loosen up all the debris. Got a bearing kit comming for that.

Made my own solid k-frame mounts today. Turned out real nice too.



Took the RF spindle and put a few washers between the spindle and ball joint bracket. Didn't even need new bolts. They were long enough to have all the threads engauged with 2 washers.

Replaced the balljoints, cleaned packed wheel bearings, new rotors, etc.

Just picking away at it slowly. With the weather getting warmer things will start picking up.

[JVMopar]

Finally got something accomplished this week. Too many interuptions. It's amazing how much you can get done if you are just left alone to work.

Got the kframe all bolted back in, and suspension bolted back up also.

I went ahead and reinforced the shock towers that are suppose to bend up easy. So I added some pieces that should help out. I also went ahead and reinforced around the steering gear. That turned out really nice. Probably better metal work than anything else I've done in a long time. Too bad you won't be able to see any of it.

I'm thinking of going back out after dinner and finishing the front end up. Pictures to come.

[cageman]

I would have just deleted the bushings and welded the frame in solid

[JVMopar]

I thought about just welding some plates from the kframe to the frame like in your pictures. But I was bored more than anything else I guess. They still turned out nice. And it's all bolted in and sitting on it's tires.

I put all new bearing in the rearend. Man that was the toughest crush sleeve I've ever had. My IR impact is all I've ever used. But it just wasn't cutting it. So I had to use cave man tools. One of the axles needed a saver bearing or to be replaced. And just my luck the saver bearing won't fit. I can't get the c-clip in. Of course I tapped gentely on the axle and wrecked the seal on the saver bearing. So gotta find an axle next. And of course it's FMJ body specific. BUT 91-96 jeeps use an axle 1/16" longer so should be able to find something that will work.

The rest of my tubing should be in sometime this week too. So I can get the doors on and cage finished up. Got a used fuel cell so I can get that in too. Give me something to do this week since I'm bored.