The fancy new mid plate gets pucks too?
Looks like it's currently resting directly on the cross member.
Looks like it's currently resting directly on the cross member.
CK5
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'72 K5 - Greg's @MightAsWellK5 Build
- Thread starter Greg72
- Start date
This is the build description. I will improve this later. (GB)
The midplate isn't actually "connected" to anything yet. I just wanted to shoot a photo of the area before I quit for the night and went to bed.
I will have to trim it to line up with the other foot-style mount, then integrate both areas into the mounting flange that will sit on those pucks.
All these questions make me want to get back out there and finish so I can post up more photos, but I'm exhausted and need some coffee!!!
I will have to trim it to line up with the other foot-style mount, then integrate both areas into the mounting flange that will sit on those pucks.
All these questions make me want to get back out there and finish so I can post up more photos, but I'm exhausted and need some coffee!!!
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The midplate isn't actually "connected" to anything yet. I just wanted to shoot a photo of the area before I quit for the night and went to bed.
I will have to trim it to line up with the other foot-style mount, then integrate both areas into the mounting flange that will sit on those pucks.
All these questions make me want to get back out there and finish so I can post up more photos, but I'm exhausted and need some coffee!!!
Yeah figured it'd be something in that area, more fab.
An easy way to combine the two might be to make a bend in your mid-plate so lands under the factory foot.
Cut/drill & shape the mid-plate to your liking and utilize the pucks where you already have em.
I'm thinking exactly like you but after the new "mid mount" were to get bent and attached to the rear feet of the original adapter i would make the rubber mount attach somewhere between the original feet and the new mid mount.
It's Saturday morning.... I have 5 hours to play in the shop today. That may be enough to finish the crossmember. 
I don't know what the average person would consider a reasonable amount of hours to spend working on something like this, but I'd guess between head-scratching and fabrication it will be about 20 hours total.
Good thing my time is free....
I don't know what the average person would consider a reasonable amount of hours to spend working on something like this, but I'd guess between head-scratching and fabrication it will be about 20 hours total.
Good thing my time is free....
20 hours? I hope I can change my fuel pump that fast.
Fuel pump done
BUDDY
1/2 ton status
2008.07.26 - UPDATE! THE CROSSMEMBER IS DONE !!!
I was able to get the crossmember done today, even though there was still quite a bit to do. The crossmember had to be tack-welded to the C-channel side plates in the correct position, then the entire thing had to be unbolted and moved to the welding table so that I could add the plating on the underside and the bracing on either side.
Here's a teaser shot of the welds during this phase:
After a LOT of welding, and once I let the parts cool down for about 30 minutes, I was able to move them into the driveway for a photo...
It came out pretty sweet!
The real "magic" of the design (and one of the reasons it took so long to build) was that I wanted it to be removeable...
Here's the shot where you can see how that is possible.
Basically, I built a hinge in the middle of the crossmember so that the entire thing could collapse once I puled out the locking pin (bolt). I also plated it in such a way to prevent the hinge from "overextending" itself and sagging. This also takes some of the load off the bolts...though they are 1/2" Grade-8 stuff, so they are more than adequate for the job.
With that part completed, I still had the lingering issue of connecting the midplate to the "foot" of the intermediate adapter with some kind of shared mounting point. Once finished, the mount looked like this:
There was nothing particularly clever about it, basically I just squared-off the mounting plate to the existing mount that the adapter was already using....then added a couple of triangular gussets for good measure.
And now........"The Money Shot":
It works perfectly. All I do is fold the mount to get it up and over the C-channel framerails, then straighten the mount until it lands on the rails. Insert the extra locking pin (bolt) to keep everything level, then add the through-bolts from the frame to secure the mount at it's correct distance.
I was able to get the crossmember done today, even though there was still quite a bit to do. The crossmember had to be tack-welded to the C-channel side plates in the correct position, then the entire thing had to be unbolted and moved to the welding table so that I could add the plating on the underside and the bracing on either side.
Here's a teaser shot of the welds during this phase:
After a LOT of welding, and once I let the parts cool down for about 30 minutes, I was able to move them into the driveway for a photo...
It came out pretty sweet!
The real "magic" of the design (and one of the reasons it took so long to build) was that I wanted it to be removeable...Here's the shot where you can see how that is possible.
Basically, I built a hinge in the middle of the crossmember so that the entire thing could collapse once I puled out the locking pin (bolt). I also plated it in such a way to prevent the hinge from "overextending" itself and sagging. This also takes some of the load off the bolts...though they are 1/2" Grade-8 stuff, so they are more than adequate for the job.
With that part completed, I still had the lingering issue of connecting the midplate to the "foot" of the intermediate adapter with some kind of shared mounting point. Once finished, the mount looked like this:
There was nothing particularly clever about it, basically I just squared-off the mounting plate to the existing mount that the adapter was already using....then added a couple of triangular gussets for good measure.
And now........"The Money Shot":
It works perfectly. All I do is fold the mount to get it up and over the C-channel framerails, then straighten the mount until it lands on the rails. Insert the extra locking pin (bolt) to keep everything level, then add the through-bolts from the frame to secure the mount at it's correct distance.
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Yep, that's thinkin' outta the box alright. 
bp71k5
3/4 ton status
Looks pretty cool. Keep it up.
Is it just me or is that stacked structure over the tranny a little well...I dunno I guess I was expecting a more clever solution. Maybe I don't understand what your doing in that area, but I thought a single section of tube notched and angled up and over the top might work just as well and look a little more planned out. Then your future tranny cover could extend all the way back and fasten to the angled portion.
Is it just me or is that stacked structure over the tranny a little well...I dunno I guess I was expecting a more clever solution. Maybe I don't understand what your doing in that area, but I thought a single section of tube notched and angled up and over the top might work just as well and look a little more planned out. Then your future tranny cover could extend all the way back and fasten to the angled portion.
Geez, I thought by now you'd know me a little better than THAT...
The bridge in those photos is merely a temporary way to hold the dimensions of the floor in place until the driveline was completed. I didn't want to risk caving-in the floor by standing on it during the mock-ups.
The "real" solution will be of the same quality as the rest of the work I've completed thus far.
By the way, I put the Atlas back into position this morning and have already figured out how the put the stock passenger seat back into it's original location (and installed height) even though there is a massive transfercase in the way now....
bp71k5
3/4 ton status
That's good. I had a feeling maybe something else was going on, which is why I brought it up. Carry on!
Yukon Jack
1/2 ton status
That t/c crossmember just impesses the hell out of me! Very well thought out.
Thanks!
It's probably no surprise to hear that I tend to really go overboard and think about the solutions for a long time. I'd like to think it will save me more time in the long run.
That tube conduit on the passenger side was a good example. It will make my life easier later on, but I had to think of a clever way to do it. Also, it's pretty hard to see, but the two vertical gussets on the side plates are NOT symmetrical. The one on the passenger side is quite a bit more upright than the driver's side. This is directly related to the location of the header collectors. To get a straight shot to the back of the truck, the driver side needed about 7" of clearance from the framerail, but the passenger side only needed 5". If I'd made them identical, there would have to be an extra "jog" in the exhaust to clear the crossmember gusset.
Stuff like that takes more time to notice and design for. I'm still hoping that there will be adequate room to clear the front driveshaft past the exhaust on that side. Under full compression, things could get dicey!
It's probably no surprise to hear that I tend to really go overboard and think about the solutions for a long time. I'd like to think it will save me more time in the long run.
That tube conduit on the passenger side was a good example. It will make my life easier later on, but I had to think of a clever way to do it. Also, it's pretty hard to see, but the two vertical gussets on the side plates are NOT symmetrical. The one on the passenger side is quite a bit more upright than the driver's side. This is directly related to the location of the header collectors. To get a straight shot to the back of the truck, the driver side needed about 7" of clearance from the framerail, but the passenger side only needed 5". If I'd made them identical, there would have to be an extra "jog" in the exhaust to clear the crossmember gusset.
Stuff like that takes more time to notice and design for. I'm still hoping that there will be adequate room to clear the front driveshaft past the exhaust on that side. Under full compression, things could get dicey!
Quick update:
With my recent inquiries in "The Garage" about front driveline angles, I am now playing with the idea of clocking the Atlas slightly to reduce the angle of the front driveshaft. Here is a shot indexing it by 1 hole, which equals about 10.5 degrees of slope across the flat bottom plate.
The tradeoff is that I'm slowly stealing the inner framerail space where the exhaust was going to go.... so I need to be careful about this. I'm almost certain that I'll be using a 2-piece front driveshaft, so indexing the Atlas may prove to be completely unncessary once I do that. Really I'm just playing around with ideas.... and that's a big part of this build.
I also started to make the cover for the massive hole in the floor. Since the driveline angle was changed pretty severely (and setback 3" from stock) a factory cover won't fit anymore.... however, a factory cover with 2" of extra metal on both sides gives me great clearance and will barely be noticeable once everything is completed.
Since the shifters will all be mounted on this cover, it's not a bad thing that it will end up a bit taller than stock. Ergonomically, I need to insure that I can reach the shifters easily...even with my seat belt fastened.
With my recent inquiries in "The Garage" about front driveline angles, I am now playing with the idea of clocking the Atlas slightly to reduce the angle of the front driveshaft. Here is a shot indexing it by 1 hole, which equals about 10.5 degrees of slope across the flat bottom plate.
The tradeoff is that I'm slowly stealing the inner framerail space where the exhaust was going to go.... so I need to be careful about this. I'm almost certain that I'll be using a 2-piece front driveshaft, so indexing the Atlas may prove to be completely unncessary once I do that. Really I'm just playing around with ideas.... and that's a big part of this build.
I also started to make the cover for the massive hole in the floor. Since the driveline angle was changed pretty severely (and setback 3" from stock) a factory cover won't fit anymore.... however, a factory cover with 2" of extra metal on both sides gives me great clearance and will barely be noticeable once everything is completed.
Since the shifters will all be mounted on this cover, it's not a bad thing that it will end up a bit taller than stock. Ergonomically, I need to insure that I can reach the shifters easily...even with my seat belt fastened.
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2008.08.09 - Saturday morning, 7:16AM.....
Sipping a little coffee, and getting ready for two glorious days in the garage!!
I think the plan of record will be to mock-up the front 2-pc driveshaft to get a better feel for how that will work, and then work on building the cover for the transmission tunnel / transfercase area.
This work directly affects things like the front seat mounts, and the location of the triplestick shifters, so all of those considerations need to be factored in as I work. In any case, it's set to be a rainy weekend so this will be a perfect way to spend it.
Progress photos will be posted up later on. Stay tuned!
Sipping a little coffee, and getting ready for two glorious days in the garage!!
I think the plan of record will be to mock-up the front 2-pc driveshaft to get a better feel for how that will work, and then work on building the cover for the transmission tunnel / transfercase area.
This work directly affects things like the front seat mounts, and the location of the triplestick shifters, so all of those considerations need to be factored in as I work. In any case, it's set to be a rainy weekend so this will be a perfect way to spend it.
Progress photos will be posted up later on. Stay tuned!
NEK5
3/4 ton status
Sounds good, now get your butt out in the garage!
Time for coffee break. Now get your ass back in front of the monitor and post some updates already Gregory! 
Time for coffee break. Now get your ass back in front of the monitor and post some updates already Gregory!
Update....a 12" straight section of driveshaft is almost pointless.
I've tried a 16" section mock-up and like it better (good clearance!), and I'll bet 18" would be better still.
I just came inside to run the calcs on the 16" and 18" variations to make sure that the operating angle (at droop where it's most likely to bind) are acceptable... if they are, I'll probably cut up the front DS one more time to mock it up with an 18" straight section.
That's all for now.
