i love the cage its really awesome... gives me great ideas for the future.
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.
87 K5 Build...Hmmm, whats that Ryoken up to? stay tuned...
- Thread starter ryoken
- Start date
Time to update the sig pics! 
thanks, i'm very happy with it.... i had to make some compromises, but it all worked pretty well... I think that lower b-hoop wall got a little overkill, but i was trying to make up for the "climb thru" window..
some of the design features that I'm really pleased with are the a-pillar over the door style, thru the dash, the grap handles... how the side seatbars kinda mimic the seat shape.... the console flow and I'm very pleased with how the back turned out with the angles up top..
Time to update the sig pics!
thats usually the kinda thing i do when i'm up in the middle of the night... we'll see how much of an insomniac i am this weekend....
stoked.... my hood is ahead of schedule... i should/ hopefully, have it by x-mas...
revved about building that airbox... think that could turn out to be very cool and quite functional as far as a CAI goes....
magik235
Still Alive
Outstanding project.
it figures..... paint the cage last week... then come up with a brilliant idea for my overhead console that involves messing with it..... 
not gonna do it now, really needed to plan on this one from the beginning probably.. I'm working out the wiring for the overhead, and the issue of maintenance... as i've mentioned i'm going to make it so the overhead console drops down to a reasonable level, then has a disconnect harness...
started thumbing thru some boat photos i had, and let out a "you focking idjit"
what i should have done was made the front edge of the panel hinged... that way you unbolt the 6 countersinks and it swings down from the front... probably could leave the snaked harness thru the cage hardwired right to the buss bars i'll have on the backside of the panel.. instead of coming up with some way to have a longer harness, that disconnects..
the problem at this point is the only moderately easy way to do that now with the way the composite panel sits on the tubes, would be to have an exposed hinge.. they do make some pretty cool marine hinges in black that once you open them, you can just shift them over and one 1/2 seperates from the other 1/2 of the hinge.. made for like removable engine doghouses and such...
kinda like these chrome ones... i think you can get ones with a narrower mounting surface too, like 3 holes straight across... neat, hinged for controlled opening and quickie work.. yet easily removable for more involved projects...
but i really, really don't like the idea of an exposed hinge.... now to do a hidden one somehow would/will have been tough... here's why.. the panel comes over the tube about 1/2 way to sit on a flush part.... you can kinda see in this photo
if i had completely planned this out in the beginning, i could have gotten a hidden hinge out at the pivot point, hidden under the panel, by cutting rectanguler recess holes in that tube, than plated em, mount hinges, yada... little late for that (plus it woulda been a fockton of work!) but now, any hidden type setup is moved back too far from the end of the panel, the pivot point...
see...... this is the stupid design sh8t that bounces around in my brain.....
as of now... i'll avoid it till it comes time for that initial wire harness snake run thru the tube...
and kinda go with what i planned originally with a long detachable harness..... i'll figure something out....
anyway.... should have the cab prepped for copper and black today... sucky job this morn.. gotta 320 the ceiling for the black... hate that overhead cr*p! 
hey, you can WAKE UP now! sorry for the rambling coffee-driven hypothesis...... 
not gonna do it now, really needed to plan on this one from the beginning probably.. I'm working out the wiring for the overhead, and the issue of maintenance... as i've mentioned i'm going to make it so the overhead console drops down to a reasonable level, then has a disconnect harness...
started thumbing thru some boat photos i had, and let out a "you focking idjit"
what i should have done was made the front edge of the panel hinged...
that way you unbolt the 6 countersinks and it swings down from the front... probably could leave the snaked harness thru the cage hardwired right to the buss bars i'll have on the backside of the panel.. instead of coming up with some way to have a longer harness, that disconnects..the problem at this point is the only moderately easy way to do that now with the way the composite panel sits on the tubes, would be to have an exposed hinge.. they do make some pretty cool marine hinges in black that once you open them, you can just shift them over and one 1/2 seperates from the other 1/2 of the hinge.. made for like removable engine doghouses and such...
kinda like these chrome ones... i think you can get ones with a narrower mounting surface too, like 3 holes straight across... neat, hinged for controlled opening and quickie work.. yet easily removable for more involved projects...
but i really, really don't like the idea of an exposed hinge.... now to do a hidden one somehow would/will have been tough... here's why.. the panel comes over the tube about 1/2 way to sit on a flush part.... you can kinda see in this photo
if i had completely planned this out in the beginning, i could have gotten a hidden hinge out at the pivot point, hidden under the panel, by cutting rectanguler recess holes in that tube, than plated em, mount hinges, yada... little late for that (plus it woulda been a fockton of work!) but now, any hidden type setup is moved back too far from the end of the panel, the pivot point...
see...... this is the stupid design sh8t that bounces around in my brain.....
as of now... i'll avoid it till it comes time for that initial wire harness snake run thru the tube...
and kinda go with what i planned originally with a long detachable harness..... i'll figure something out.... anyway.... should have the cab prepped for copper and black today... sucky job this morn.. gotta 320 the ceiling for the black...
hate that overhead cr*p! hey, you can WAKE UP now!
sorry for the rambling coffee-driven hypothesis...... 
nosman778
Registered Member
i just wanted to say all your custom work is sweet.
thanks man, it's loads of work, but I really have a passion for coming up with this stuff...
I'll be 320-ing ALL day today prepping for black and copper....
doorless for floor painting, jamb work, etc....... I can dream.. freakin NJ Nazi's..... I should at least make em quick release......
I'll be 320-ing ALL day today prepping for black and copper....
doorless for floor painting, jamb work, etc....... I can dream.. freakin NJ Nazi's..... I should at least make em quick release......
well.... I came up with a solution to the hinge dilemma, i think....
what I'm gonna do is mod the panel... pretty sure i can make the panel 2 piece.. cut it right behind the cb, like 4"s from the front.. hinge it at that seam... from up on top, hidden...
the end, small piece will have the last 2 countersinks securing it, and the back big section will be secured with the other 4...
what I'm gonna do is mod the panel... pretty sure i can make the panel 2 piece.. cut it right behind the cb, like 4"s from the front.. hinge it at that seam... from up on top, hidden...
the end, small piece will have the last 2 countersinks securing it, and the back big section will be secured with the other 4...
nosman778
Registered Member
man that roll cage is so sick looking...
truck look great by the way. i have the factory burnt redish on mine and have not see another like it so i am going to run with that...
truck look great by the way. i have the factory burnt redish on mine and have not see another like it so i am going to run with that...
thanks man... should turn a few heads... I love that color... kinda deep, classy.. original looking too...
what a daunting day trying to get all the stuff ready for black... it's soooo much. the whole frame, the whole underside, the bed, ceiling, floor... firewall for copper.. didn't even come close to prepping it all... didn't even get 1/2 done..
then ya have the fiberglass... it's like 15 friggin pieces.. they easily take up a whole bay when ya lay em out.....
plus i just found/forgot about some work i wanted to do underneath towards the back..
oh well, just keep plugging away....
maybe I'll squirt the black that week between x-mas and new years..tho i was kinda hoping to have my hood and be fabbing/mocking up the airbox...
Hey Paul, one thing I've found out through working on any type of project is when its finished there is always something you wish you would have done different. Change is good, just don't let it derail your progress.
As everyone else has mentioned, this thing is friggin' flat out cool.
As everyone else has mentioned, this thing is friggin' flat out cool.
I think my 2 piece solution will work.. just the build flowing... on the fly baby!
back down for some more sanding... fingertips are gonna be bleeding after this one.... or bankrobbing time as i joke.... i'll have to do the old electrical tape trick...
back down for some more sanding... fingertips are gonna be bleeding after this one.... or bankrobbing time as i joke.... i'll have to do the old electrical tape trick...
supersize75k5
OrganDonorRacing.com
so are you routing the wire through the tube? If so what about ribbon wire? Those are all switches anyway so the small gauge wire should handle the load?
neat idea, but shouldn't be necessary..... it'll be mostly small gauge control wire, but it will have 3 10 gauges and a couple 14's too...
blazininthe73
1/2 ton status
well.... I came up with a solution to the hinge dilemma, i think....
what I'm gonna do is mod the panel... pretty sure i can make the panel 2 piece.. cut it right behind the cb, like 4"s from the front.. hinge it at that seam... from up on top, hidden...
the end, small piece will have the last 2 countersinks securing it, and the back big section will be secured with the other 4...
I'm pretty sure, if the only regret you have on this project is not putting a hinge on the panel, you're still doing pretty good.
Paul
If you want to save the existing switch panel without cutting you could run a set of shackles along those longitudinal tubes (on the inside) so that they're hidden. Play around with lengths and pivot mount positions so that the motion of the shackle will allow the entire panel to arc down to provide access without binding where the plate overlaps the tube.
If the shackles are long enough the entire panel should be able to hang down vertically, giving you access to remove the harness plug, then pull the pins holding the shackles in place...voila! Completely removeable and serviceable, and no new visible screws or hinges.
Shouldn't even be much work either. If you can't imagine it from my description I can do an uber MS Paint illustration.
If you want to save the existing switch panel without cutting you could run a set of shackles along those longitudinal tubes (on the inside) so that they're hidden. Play around with lengths and pivot mount positions so that the motion of the shackle will allow the entire panel to arc down to provide access without binding where the plate overlaps the tube.
If the shackles are long enough the entire panel should be able to hang down vertically, giving you access to remove the harness plug, then pull the pins holding the shackles in place...voila! Completely removeable and serviceable, and no new visible screws or hinges.
Shouldn't even be much work either. If you can't imagine it from my description I can do an uber MS Paint illustration.
I'm pretty sure, if the only regret you have on this project is not putting a hinge on the panel, you're still doing pretty good.
you ain't sh*ttin.....
there are a couple things I woulda done a little different looking back, but I've managed to work around them so far...my biggest potential regret I think might be the choice of not going doubler... but we'll see once I get to wheel her..
Paul
If you want to save the existing switch panel without cutting you could run a set of shackles along those longitudinal tubes (on the inside) so that they're hidden. Play around with lengths and pivot mount positions so that the motion of the shackle will allow the entire panel to arc down to provide access without binding where the plate overlaps the tube.
If the shackles are long enough the entire panel should be able to hang down vertically, giving you access to remove the harness plug, then pull the pins holding the shackles in place...voila! Completely removeable and serviceable, and no new visible screws or hinges.
Shouldn't even be much work either. If you can't imagine it from my description I can do an uber MS Paint illustration.
i get the general idea.. tho i'm drawing a bit of a brainfart on the logistics of it... one thing i'd like to avoid is anything that could potentially rattle when in the up position... if ya get a minute, a pic would be great... no rush at all, it's a backburner issue...
well..... looks like my hood will be here about jan 5... i said screw it, they're closed the week going into x-mas, me the following week... shipping tag......
it's not like I don't have anything to do that week off....
****** Current Line on me getting pissed at this current satin black and just shooting it in tried and true Imron ********
3 to 1
you ain't sh*ttin.....
my biggest potential regret I think might be the choice of not going doubler... but we'll see once I get to wheel her..[/quote]
depending on what diff gears you run, I think lo-lo would only be needed for steep rock and the like. If you got a torquey 383 coming, I think you'll be fine. You got a lot of rocks in NJ?
