Todays Project - What did you do today?

[zmotorsports]

I don't know what the postal delivery person did the other day but I came home to find my mailbox door was damaged.  By the looks of it, they got a little close with their Jeep and maybe caught a mirror or something on it.  The mailbox door is pretty thin sheet metal so it wouldn't take much.

I made a template of the opening to start with, then the side profile including the riveted hinge arrangement.


After cutting the main portion and the side profile pieces out of some 14 gauge P&O I clamped them to an aluminum block on the welding bench.


More clamps because I wanted to perform an autogenious weld (without filler) so I could blend the area easier.


Welds completed.




Small TIG tacks around the radius.  I try to keep them as small as possible so when welding I can merely go right over them and not have a large bump where the tack was.


Welding completed and the edge was radius and blended.


Next was the lathe to create a couple of small spacers to act as a hinge.


I drilled out the door to .375" for the spacer to slip into.


I then machined an aluminum rod to the inside dimension of the underside of the mailbox (6.200") and drilled tapped each side to accept a 1/4-20 threaded screw.


Mocked up with hinge, spacer and screw in place.


I then bead blasted the cover/door, primed it with a metal etching primer (rattle can) and painted it with some Rustoleum extreme weather Gloss White paint.  Actual "extreme weather" is yet to be determined.


Completed and installed along with the brushed stainless steel knob.




After the paint dried and I installed it I had the wife give it her approval.  Another job she approves of.:thumbup:

Mike.

[EdK]

Nice welding job Mike.

Ed

[DaveH]

Very nice Mike, I like your attention to detail   and the care you take. Good craftsmanship 
 
DaveH

 

[aRM]

Hello there Mike
I like the way U illustrated each of the progressive steps and finished off very neat and professional like, maybe lots better than the original.
As long as the Boss is satisfied, U will be happy !!!
Well done and keep 'em rolling
aRM

[zmotorsports]

(06-12-2015, 12:12 PM)EdK Wrote: Nice welding job Mike.  

Ed

Thanks Ed.

(06-12-2015, 12:35 PM)DaveH Wrote: Very nice Mike, I like your attention to detail   and the care you take. Good craftsmanship 
 
DaveH

 

Thanks Dave. I appreciate the compliment.

(06-12-2015, 01:24 PM)aRM Wrote: Hello there Mike
I like the way U illustrated each of the progressive steps and finished off very neat and professional like, maybe lots better than the original.
As long as the Boss is satisfied, U will be happy !!!
Well done and keep 'em rolling
aRM

Thank you. I agree, keep the Boss happy.

Mike.

[zmotorsports]

Thought I would throw up some pictures of a set of windshield mounting brackets for a friends HD that I machined last week.

I made the bore and squared up some stock a couple weeks ago.  Now I just had to turn the radius and complete them.

Started by making a mandrel to mount the blocks on my rotary table.


Boring to fit over the morse taper/mandrel.


Test fit before removing from lathe.


Now test fit into the rotary table.


Set up on the rotary table.


Dialing in on center.  That little modified NOGA test indicator holder sure comes in handy.


Plunging away around the radius.


I made a climb milling finishing cut.


I then flattened off the ends where the fastener will be.


One down, one to go.


Setting up the second one on the rotary table.


Ready for the next step of removing the center portion.


Center portion removed and deburred.


I didn't have any .625" stainless steel rod so I had to improvise and use some stainless steel bolts.




Getting closer.


Set up in the collet block to drill the .380" hole through the head.


Completed and ready to be picked up by the owner.


All in all a pretty straightforward and fun little job.

Mike.

[zmotorsports]

I know I am new here and I don't want to hop up the whole thread but here is a project on my Jeep that I did about a month ago.

I need to fabricate some new suspension links/control arms for my Jeep.  I have a BDS long-arm suspension system on it but the bushings they used are proprietary and I have had to replace them twice, this will be the third time, in less than 50k miles.  Not acceptable so I am building new links to accept the OEM style Clevite rubber incapsulated bushings at the axle and then I am going to use Currie's Johnny Joints at the frame connection.  These are proven to be a much more durable setup.  

I started by cutting some thick walled mild steel tubing to size with the horizontal bandsaw before chucking it up in the lathe.


Boring the I.D. to size.  This will also have a .039" step machined into it as the bushing itself has a two step ridge.  I have calculated for a .002" interference fit at both ridges.


Now that the inside bore is to size I will turn the O.D. down to 2.750" giving me a little over .200" wall thickness.


Two down and two to go.


All four are completed.




Next up is to get the uppers machined and then I am ready to measure out some tubing and get to fabricating the new links.

Mike.

[zmotorsports]

Last of the link ends machined.

These are a bit smaller and will reside at the upper rear axle location with similar Clevite style bushings.


Sleeves completed.


All six sleeves completed and ready to start measuring, cutting and fabricating new suspension links/control arms.


Mike.

[zmotorsports]

Last of the Jeep long-arm suspension build.

I put the Jeep on the lift and removed all front upper and lower control arms/links for duplication with Clevite bushings at the axle ends and Currie's Johnny Joints at the frame ends.  The Clevite rubber incapsulated bushings will be installed into the sleeves that I machined earlier in the week, shown above.

Here is my lower link.  I threw together a quick make-shift fixture to ensure setting the new links to the exact same length.  I just used a piece of .750" square tubing with a .500" shaft welded at each end which the link slipped onto.


I then mocked up my new sleeve/Clevite bushing and Johnny Joint to calculate the length of the new tubing.


It was at this point the light bulb came on.  I had new 1.750"x.250" DOM that I was going to use but where I was going to be using less length than what the original BDS links measured, why not just cut the ends off the BDS links and weld my sleeves and threaded bungs to.  This would save me from wasting tubing plus eleviate me from having to bend up the links which would actually save some time.  

That is what I did, cut the BDS bushing ends off and re-used the DOM tubing.


Link clamped in my mill to drill a hold all the way through the tubing for rosette/plug welds for the threaded bung/sleeve.


Mocked up on the fixture for a test fit, to ensure I cut enough tube to allow for some adjustment.


Threaded bung welded into tubing.


Few pictures of the front lower two links ready for prep and paint.






I opted to TIG weld the uppers due to the close thinner wall tubing of the Currie weld-on narrow JJ ends.  


All front links sanded, prepped and ready for paint.


After allowing the POR-15 to dry overnight I then pressed the Clevite bushings into the machined sleeves on the lower links.


I then applied some anti-seize into the threaded bung as well as on the threads of the Johnny Joint and assembled then placed on my fixture to set to the correct length.


Front upper and lower links assembled and ready for installation back into the Jeep.


Before installation I noticed that on the front lowers the OEM are actually adjustable a small amount buy using an eccentric.  This required the through holes to be slightly over-sized for the 14mm bolts.  Although the bolts will be tightened and thus eliminating the slop I wanted a little more surface area on the shank of the bolt to eliminate any fore and aft movement once installed.  This will give extra support so it is not merely relying on the friction of the clamping force of the fastener.  

I machined four spacers that were 14mm inside diameter for the bolt and 1.5" OD by .125" thick.  I then placed them onto the lower mounts using the bolts to hold in place while I stitch welded a couple of welds to secure them to the lower mounts.




Front suspension installed.  I tightened the frame ends (Johnny Joints) but left the axle ends loose.  You do NOT want to tighten the incapsulated rubber style bushings unless you have the vehicle sitting down at ride height, otherwise you will preload stress into the bushings and cause pre-mature wear/failure.  I actually set the vehicle down with the nuts threaded on hand tight, drive the vehicle around the block bouncing it to let the suspension "settle in", then pull it back into the shop and tighten the axle ends.


Pictures of the rear following.

Mike.

[zmotorsports]

Moving onto the rear links/control arms.

I clamped the rear upper links into the mill vise and used a large end mill to cope/fishmouth the link to accept the newly machined bushing sleeve.


I then chamfered the end to allow good penetration as the upper links are solid and not tubing.


The adjustable end for the upper is threaded tube so I coped/fishmouthed it the same way to accept the Currie Johhny Joint weld-on narrow joint.


Rear upper adjustable ends TIG welded and ready for paint.


Few pictures of the lower links all welded and ready for sanding and paint.








All of the old BDS link ends cut off and the pile of remnants.


While the Jeep was on the lift I decided to scuff the frame rails down and freshen up the paint on the frame to match the newly fabricated and painted suspension links.






And lastly after taking it for a spin around the block, I pulled it back into the shop to torque the axle end down.


After tightening the axle ends and double checking all other fasteners I took it for its test drive.  Now that all the play or slop is gone in the suspension it feels like a completely different Jeep.  I hated pulling up to stop signs because I could feel the clearance and then again at take-off.  Now nothing.:rocker:  I even hit reverse and forward while power braking (well as much power as a Jeep has:bounce:) and no slop at all in the suspension.  I hope to get many trouble free miles from this setup unlike the past 40k+ miles and several bushing replacements.

Mike.