Sharp Motorsports 4600 Class Early Bronco

[maverickconner]

Another option if you can find someone is dry ice blasting

Easy on the metal and the only thing left over is paint dust

 

[LSharpNM]

Another option if you can find someone is dry ice blasting

Easy on the metal and the only thing left over is paint dust

I have experience with this process at work, but I didn't realize there were shops using it on the automotive scale. I'll have to ask the local shop that claims "dustless" blasting what their media is.


I finally got the tubing in to re-tube the Dana 44. I ended going with some 3.5" OD .375" wall DOM.

I guess I got lucky and got an extra strong piece of DOM; 100,105 PSI yield strength Minimum spec yield strength is 65,000 PSI for reference.

 

[LSharpNM]

Nothing too exciting again, but I finished getting the frame stripped last weekend before the "Snowpacalypse" hit. I am hoping to get it hauled over to a shop to do the media blasting tomorrow since the weather is supposed to finally break (I don't like driving my truck and trailer on icy, salty roads).

Next step will be building a body dolly so I can take the tub in to get blasted too. I think I'll probably copy what Halogrinder did, but instead of attaching it to a rotisserie, just build some legs with casters.

 

[LSharpNM]

I decided to build the body cart out of 3"x3" .120 wall square steel tubing. I drew up a quick design based on this frame drawing which I included below to maybe help someone else out who might want to copy what I did.

I bought two 24' sticks (48' total) of the 3"x3" .120 wall tubing from a local steel yard for $286 Jeez, when did steel get so stinkin' expensive? I also bought four 5" casters, 9' of 7/16" all thread, and a few pounds of bolts, nuts, and washers to bolt everything together.

Laying out the frame

Welded together

Drilling the feet for the casters

What's a build thread without weld pictures? ;D

And here's the finished cart

I have a few more small things and the windshield to remove from the body before I take it to get blasted. The frame should be done pretty soon and I can start working on putting things back together.

 

[Yeller]

Yeah steel has doubled in the last 8 months

 

[LSharpNM]

Yeah steel has doubled in the last 8 months

It's robbery I tell ya!

 

[Yeller]

It's robbery I tell ya!

At least scrap increased with it this time. The coil that everyone makes tube and pipe from is up an incredible amount. Another increase was announced last week and we’re expecting 1 more before it levels off for a while. There is starting to be pressure from imports so it will come back down some by years end. I follow steel pretty close since it’s a major part of my livelihood.... this is just a small portion of one of our yards;D

 

[LSharpNM]

I guess I should have bought the tubing for my cage last summer when I was calling around to see who had DOM

 

[Yeller]

I'm with ya, I should have bought the 4000' of tube I need for my fence last year too. its right at double what it was last spring when I laid it all out....

 

[LSharpNM]

I got the frame back from the blaster, and it was definitely worth the money I didn't realize it with all the dirt and rust that was on it when I took it apart, but apparently this was originally a 6 cylinder frame that someone did a V8 swap on. The V8 frame mounts are very obviously added by one of the previous owners, and I think their placement is a little sloppy since it seems like the passenger side motor mount bolt hole was hogged out a bit to get things to go together.

 

[BanditBronco]

Haha I know that feeling, makes you wish you just wheeled the whole Bronco over there. Don't forget to do the tires!

You going to work on a roller next or keep plucking away at the body?

 

[ssray]

While it likely isn’t as critical here, there is also plastic media for blasting bodies. A guy I know here uses it in his shop and says it doesn’t make a mess like soda. Said its work to make sure you get all the residue removed so it doesn’t ruin a paint job.

I need to pick up a little more 3”x3” and some sheet steel to finish a plasma table so I suppose I’ll have sticker shock. Not good timing but at least I don’t need a lot of tube.

Good thread, I’ll be following and thanksl for the tips on COG, I was making it harder than it is. Those scales you used are sweet. Makes me wonder if you could take a brake cylinder, weld up one end, add a gauge and mechanicals and build your own scale. Would have to calibrate it of course. Or else make friends with the local DOT guy. The coop here is a few blocks away and I could probably use the scale after hours as long as they leave it on like they use to.

A lot of helpful folks keep popping up in the threads I’m researching! I keep seeing this guy with the yellow bus everywhere. Lol

Scott

 

[LSharpNM]

Haha I know that feeling, makes you wish you just wheeled the whole Bronco over there. Don't forget to do the tires!

You going to work on a roller next or keep plucking away at the body?

I am planning on making it a roller next starting with the front end. I've been taking a lot of measurements and running things through a link calculator to try and get a plan of attack, and I am currently working on chopping off all the mounts and brackets I wont be using. I also need to cut up my front axle and weld it back together.

While it likely isn’t as critical here, there is also plastic media for blasting bodies. A guy I know here uses it in his shop and says it doesn’t make a mess like soda. Said its work to make sure you get all the residue removed so it doesn’t ruin a paint job.

I need to pick up a little more 3”x3” and some sheet steel to finish a plasma table so I suppose I’ll have sticker shock. Not good timing but at least I don’t need a lot of tube.

Good thread, I’ll be following and thanksl for the tips on COG, I was making it harder than it is. Those scales you used are sweet. Makes me wonder if you could take a brake cylinder, weld up one end, add a gauge and mechanicals and build your own scale. Would have to calibrate it of course. Or else make friends with the local DOT guy. The coop here is a few blocks away and I could probably use the scale after hours as long as they leave it on like they use to.

A lot of helpful folks keep popping up in the threads I’m researching! I keep seeing this guy with the yellow bus everywhere. Lol

Scott

The shop I am using uses "Garnet" for a media. Supposedly it doesn't heat up sheet metal as much as sand and cause warpage. Honestly I am not looking for perfection on this rig, so I am not really concerned about anything other than stripping all the paint and crap off to give me nice clean metal to work with. This rig is going to get beat up racing, so I am just planning to make it good enough to look nice in pictures (at least while it is fresh ).

I am glad I could help you with you C.G. question. Corner scales are stupid expensive, so you probably could build your own hydraulic scales similar to the ones I used for a fraction of the price. Truck scales aren't too expensive, but I think it might be hard to find one that would put up with you raising one end after an initial weight to measure weight transfer.

Yeller is definitely a wealth of knowledge and a real asset to the community Even if the only thing Bronco about his rig is the body

 

[Yeller]

Thanks guys. I truly enjoy helping others build better rides, they are more enjoyable. I’m just a humble guy that believes he can’t build them all and can have a larger impact sharing knowledge and helping people enjoy their passion

 

[Rustytruck]

if you need a cheap scale I use a sherline hitch scale. it uses a 1-inch piston for direct reading. put it on your floor jack and pump it up. not as great as fancy floor scales but gets it done close enough for grenades.

https://www.amazon.com/Sherline-LM-...t=&hvlocphy=9031207&hvtargid=pla-493401034024

 

[BanditBronco]

if you need a cheap scale I use a sherline hitch scale. it uses a 1-inch piston for direct reading. put it on your floor jack and pump it up. not as great as fancy floor scales but gets it done close enough for grenades.

https://www.amazon.com/Sherline-LM-...t=&hvlocphy=9031207&hvtargid=pla-493401034024

Can you explain how you would use this to find your corner weights? I am curious if it is actually feasible.

 

[ssray]

if you need a cheap scale I use a sherline hitch scale. it uses a 1-inch piston for direct reading. put it on your floor jack and pump it up. not as great as fancy floor scales but gets it done close enough for grenades

That’s a good idea...could be other uses for weighing as well. Thanks for the link!

Can you explain how you would use this to find your corner weights? I am curious if it is actually feasible.

Blocks the same height as the scale, take your floor jack around and swap scale for block, rinse and repeat for all corners. Or ramp stands and block to get the scale to the same height. I would be careful to ensure the vehicle is really stable though. That scale looks small and setting a tire on it is sketchy so I’d keep the floor jack under the axle, just drop it enough to get the weight off.

 

[Rustytruck]

I put the tires on 2x6's laying flat put the scale on the floor jack and lift at the axle as close to the tires as possible. until the tire just lifts off the 2X6. the other 3 tires are still sitting on the 2X6 so the truck is level at lift height. it close enough for me. just weighed my sand rail this way and the weights were 250 right front, 253 left front, 500 left rear, and 550 right rear. the scale is a good thing to have if your dealing with trailers. finding other uses is up to out of the box thinkers. the nice thing is it has a very work able 2000 pound scale range. if your truck is over 2000 pounds per corner its a pig and needs a diet. Like i said close enough for grenades.

 

[ntsqd]

Corner weight scale that can be built in the shop:

In use:

If you make the ratio of the total length of the lever, including the the length of the torque wrench, to the length from the rim tab to the pivot 10:1 then the reading on the wrench is easy. 100 ft-lbs indicated is 1000 lbs on that wheel.

Best practice requires a helper. Set the pivot height such that with the tire just barely off the ground the beam is level. Lift the tire off the ground and put a piece of paper under it. Set the tire down and then while the helper is gently pulling on the paper you slowly push down on the wrench. When the paper slides free is your corner weight. Two of us, skilled in using this tool, could weigh a car, in the hot pits, and adjust the spring seats in less than 10 minutes.

 

[Rustytruck]

well that looks easy enough. almost all old guys have a beam torque wrench just sitting around doing nothing.