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'72 K5 - Greg's @MightAsWellK5 Build

This is the build description. I will improve this later. (GB)
Overview Gallery Discussion
2017.03.29- UPDATE!!! 12/12THS COMPLETE AND ANOTHER 12.5 LBS... LOST.


Well, as of midnight last night it's official. The CNC cagefloor project is complete! :waytogo:

IMG_5835e.jpg



I also ran out of welding wire on the 11th plate while I was welding on the squared squarenuts. By my recollection, that is the 3rd spool of 12.5Lb welding wire that I've consumed since this project began in 2009.

Luckily, I had a backup roll that I could install... and it gave me an opportunity to clean up a small amount of green corrosion and dust that had accumulated in the drive rollers / guides over the last year(s). The welder seemed to work even better after that, but I'm sure it was placebo-effect. :)


SO..... before anyone asks "What's Next?" my plan is to do something kind of fun as a reward for all of this repetitive recent work. I'm going to figure out an overhead pulley system (finally!) so that I can lift the rollcage out from inside my truck. I want to get it up in the air high enough to push the truck outside from underneath it. Then wheel the caster-wheeled bedfloor under the cage....and lower it down onto the CNC cageplates to check fit, etc. and start welding them down. That should be fun, and will make for some really interesting photos as well!!!


-G
 
Doesn't most of it need finish welded yet? That's another couple rolls lol
 
shady said:
Doesn't most of it need finish welded yet? That's another couple rolls lol
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I'm sure you're right.... still got a couple years of welding to go!!!

If things start to move too quickly, I could always switch from MIG to TIG on the cagework and weld it that way instead.

I also need to think about how to run wiring inside the cagetubes for things like LED lighting, rear speakers, etc. Don't want to forget that stuff and end up with zipties and wiring harnesses all over the outside of the tubes instead. :)


-G
 
Greg72 said:
I also need to think about how to run wiring inside the cagetubes for things like LED lighting, rear speakers, etc. Don't want to forget that stuff and end up with zipties and wiring harnesses all over the outside of the tubes instead. :)


-G
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Don't do this plenty of nice sanitary ways to run wires. I've done this. It takes me way less time to figure out a way to run the wires cleanly with proper clamps.

Also changes are hard. Also it's rarely nice looking to see wires exit a tube, the whole point is to hide it all, so the exit has to be hidden too.
 
blazinzuk said:
Don't do this plenty of nice sanitary ways to run wires. I've done this. It takes me way less time to figure out a way to run the wires cleanly with proper clamps.

Also changes are hard. Also it's rarely nice looking to see wires exit a tube, the whole point is to hide it all, so the exit has to be hidden too.
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not just that but the inside of many tubes (even DOM or welded seam) have sharps in them that will debraid wires and cause shorts.... don't ask me how I know about this :flipoff9: the worst part is that you spent all of that time putting it inside to protect it then get to redo it because you can't get to the short....
 
blazinzuk said:
Don't do this plenty of nice sanitary ways to run wires. I've done this. It takes me way less time to figure out a way to run the wires cleanly with proper clamps.

Also changes are hard. Also it's rarely nice looking to see wires exit a tube, the whole point is to hide it all, so the exit has to be hidden too.
Click to expand...


....Like through a hole milled into the bottom of the cage plates?? :dunno: :)


-G
 
Fiberglass "fish" kit like you use to fish wires through walls. The kit I got has three foot sections with brass threaded ends to make any length. They're flexible enough to bend around most curves, and come with a couple hooks and loop ends and such to grab the end inside the tube.

This is how I fished a wire for my dome light through the B pillar when I installed the hardtop onto my '74.

-- A
 
I'd be worried about chaffing wires and shorting out where it goes from one tube to another. If you entered one and exited the same tube it wouldn't be horrible... But what I'd worry about is the wires aren't fastened inside the tube. Meaning they are free to rub on whatever all the time inside the tube. If you fished 'tray cable' through there it may help some.
 
You could run the wiring harness external to the cage, but borrow from aerospace to make it pretty:
IMG_20151002_153841.jpg IMG_20151002_154002.jpg IMG_20151002_154029.jpg

We use tin plated copper braid for EMI protection whenever a harness has to run external to the fuselage (or is especially EMI sensitive) but the braid has a side effect of being very pretty indeed.
Ever since I spent some time working in the wire shop at work I've wanted to fabricate my own engine harness for my Fairlane using braid underneath clear heatshrink to make it easy to clean.

Of course, covering your entire harness in braid is going to make it rather difficult to change the harness if you wanted to add new wires, so good planning would be essential. For some reason I don't think that would be an issue for you though lol
 
I guess since you did the frame changes you can't run wire in the frame channel anymore either. Maybe run as much as you can underneath the body and just come up where you need to. Lights mounted on the inside of the bed side could be hidden and not need wires run inside the tube. Guess you wouldn't have them when you remove the bedsides in that case though.

With some planning, I suspect you can run wire inside tubes for a short distance so they don't pass through a welded joint and cause a problem, but feeding wires through those new cage plates might be a pain.
 
Yeah, I'm not 100% sold on the wiring inside the cage, but I really want to have an overhead switchpanel for a number of accessories so I don't clutter up the "stock" dash. :) I can run those up inside the factory A-pillar and sneak them out near the sunvisor... or I can run them up inside the rollcage itself. In that case, the factory A-pillar probably makes more sense anyway and is super easy to snake wires down to the fuseblock, etc.

I wanted to have some dome lights up high in the back areas of the truck since it gives really good light when setting up a sleeping space, or rummaging through a cooler or duffel bag. Maybe I can do a "good enough" job providing light by mounting some lighting at the bedrail height instead. That would certainly make my life a lot simpler.

So... tomorrow (if the snowstorm doesn't screw it up) I'm supposed to get a delivery of an electric 110V cable hoist from Amazon. It will be installed up high in the rafters and should give me plenty of lifting power to remove the rollcage.... and also to lift the new bedfloor into position when the time comes. Techincally, it's got enough power to pull the engine or transmission too... but I'll need to think about how it's attached to the ceiling pretty carefully before I put THAT much of a load on it. :thinking:


-G
 
Are you thinking about sleeping area between the rear struts or up on top of them with a temp flat area? I wonder if they make LED strip lights that could run on the outside of the cage tube up top if your sleeping area is raised up over the struts?
 
bp71k5 said:
Are you thinking about sleeping area between the rear struts or up on top of them with a temp flat area? I wonder if they make LED strip lights that could run on the outside of the cage tube up top if your sleeping area is raised up over the struts?
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I could probably sleep between the struts if I were travelling solo... but realistically, by the time I packed a cooler, and tools and everything else into the back it would make more sense to just set up a sleeping area at bedrail height (and full-width)....


-G
 
Greg72 said:
I wanted to have some dome lights up high in the back areas of the truck since it gives really good light when setting up a sleeping space, or rummaging through a cooler or duffel bag. Maybe I can do a "good enough" job providing light by mounting some lighting at the bedrail height instead. That would certainly make my life a lot simpler.
-G
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maglight.jpg
 
Greg72 said:
Techincally, it's got enough power to pull the engine or transmission too... but I'll need to think about how it's attached to the ceiling pretty carefully before I put THAT much of a load on it.
Click to expand...

Having lifted an NP205 from ceiling joists, I would respectfully submit you also want to be sure that the joists can handle the load. Mine were bending down more than... well, certainly more than they should have been. :eek:

-- A
 
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