Gotcha, makes sense, can’t wait to see how it turns out!
CK5
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'88 K5 - Running Down A Dream
- Thread starter jimmyleetn
- Start date
Ground up restoration of my '88 K5. The plan is to go through every inch of the truck and fix or replace pretty much everything that needs it. This will also be a full vert conversion and I plan to make the vehicle look more like a 73-75 than 88.
Alright, hibernation's over. I didn't get to work on it too much today, but I'm picking up where I stopped last September. I'm about to work on these B pillar brackets and I have a question. For those of you that know more about fabbing things. Should I have the bracket go on the side of the bar towards the center of the cab or on the side of the bar towards the b pillar and bed rail? A friend of mine said did not do either of those and weld it straight in the middle and then just gusset it from there with the proper gusset as we discussed last summer. I guess that gives me three options, and I don't know which one is the strongest or if it even matters.
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First day back at it. Decided to work on the rear floor plates. They're done for now until I put the break away stems in. This was the first day I got to use my new drill press. Sold my other one on FB marketplace in the early spring. This one is substantially better than any of the harbor freight ones I've owned or used. I'll be interested to see how it does when I start drilling 1-in holes into 1/4 in steel.
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Well it's my second day and no one was home today so I was wide open. I have to be honest, I'm getting tired of this roll cage and I'm ready to be done with it. That being said, I made a decision on the b pillar brackets and decided to flatten them a little more with the the shop press. A lot of my time was spent sitting and thinking. Took a few goes before I came up with a gusset that I think will pass. @kennyw and @imiceman44 how does this look? I only made one out of four so if it's trash I'll try again.
I don't see anything wrong with it. Run it
Looks good.
I do have question. How close to the edge of the brackets can these gussets be placed? It's 3/16in thick steel.
If you want a fillet weld, AWS standard is weld size plus 1/16" minimum from edge. If you want a groove weld, you can be flush to the edge.
Minimum weld size for 3/16" plate is 1/8", so 3/16" minimum offset for a fillet weld.
Minimum weld size for 3/16" plate is 1/8", so 3/16" minimum offset for a fillet weld.
Interesting. I hadn't even thought of doing a groove weld. That leads me to another question: if I do a groove weld, do I still need to weld on both sides of the gusset?
Welding the groove side first and backing it up with a fillet will make the weld area stronger than the base material.
Almost done with this bracketry for now. I had to move these seat belt brackets as well as flatten them out and make more gussets. The plasma table would have made sure work of this, but I don't have that kind of money laying around. I won't weld everything all the way until the whole cage is done.
Not had much time lately, but I'm inching along. These are done for now.
It took hours to get all the tape of this tubing and it was a miserable job. Started the mock up of these rear bars once they were cleaned up. I hope I can get the notch right since it'll attach in the b pillar hoop's bend. I had to shorten them too. That picture with my wife is after I took about 4in of height out. I will have to have help next week. Getting these in there is two man job.
Today was weird. Had a hard time getting started. Once I did, I didn't have a quarter inch bit long enough to do the notches. Went to Lowe's and of course they didn't have one long enough so I had to cut a 12-in bit in half and make my own drill bit. Notch came out okay with my 1 7/8-in hole saw. Fits a little looser than I'd like but I think it will work. Neighbor came and held some stuff so I could mark the first family bar so I should be in a good place when I start back up Wednesday.
I got one side mocked up pretty good. I'm kinda torn because there's a slight kink in the rear bar in the rear most bend causing it to kick towards the bed. I took a picture of it, I'm curious if anyone else even notices it. I think I could get it out, just not sure if it's worth the trouble since you won't see it with the tailgate closed. Other than that it looks pretty good. I'm hoping to getting the other side cut tomorrow. Getting everything in there square will be tedious, and I'll probably overthink it.
It looks like the bar moved just a tiny bit between making the first and second bends. I can see where that’s annoying but I’d probably run it. Chances are once the tailgate is on and you put other stuff back there around it (ice chest, spare tire, whatever) it won’t be noticeable anymore.
I think I would angle the bottom of the tube out more so it's not right in the way in the cargo area.
But it looks safe to run if you like it where it is.
I like your side profile, I was thinking of doing a same thing on mine so it clears the soft top folding down.
But it looks safe to run if you like it where it is.
I like your side profile, I was thinking of doing a same thing on mine so it clears the soft top folding down.
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@nvrenuf I am leaning hard toward running it. I think I'll end up chasing my tail if I start messing with.
@folkenheath I had entertained the idea of moving the rear out, just not sure if I will like the aesthetics of it all. It's a good suggestion though because then it less of a battle to make it all square if it's supposed to be angled towards the bed more on each side. Once the interior bedside panels are on it won't look like I killed as much space, but you do make a great point. We will have to play with that today. It took a lot of measuring and thinking to get it to clear rear passengers heads, still look good, be safe, and be functional. If I ever own another K5 or restore my dads Jimmy I will put another one of these in it. I do like it, but boy I've grown a new found respect for fabricators. Stuff takes forever to dream up and make.
Your tuition pile will grow and then get reduced when you add chassis braces and stuff using the "scrap".
Do you have the "golden tube", that makes it much easier.
I did a lot of my first bars twice, because after I finished them and tacked them in place I thought, I can do even better.
Do you have the "golden tube", that makes it much easier.
I did a lot of my first bars twice, because after I finished them and tacked them in place I thought, I can do even better.
