colbystephens' '73 blazer build!

[colbystephens]

OK, so the battery box build is under way. There are two qualities to these battery boxes that are very important to me:

1. It securely holds the 2 batteries in place.
2. It has a non-conductive lid. Since these batteries are in the cargo space, I need to make sure that no tools can fall across the two terminals and arc out.

I spent the day thinking on the design for this, and after alot of thinking I've come up with a design that I think will be pretty freakin cool. It will be a plain old steel box for the bottom 5 faces of the box (a box has 6 faces). The lid will be made from red translucent resin.

What you see in this picture is the resin casting process I'm using to make this lid. Conveniently, this red drawer from my plastic craftsman tool chest fits over the top of the two batteries very nicely, and since it's a nice smooth surface, it is perfect for casting the resin lid. The red I'm using is similar in color to the drawer I'm using as a mold, so it's kind of hard to see in this picture. I decided at the last minute to cast the Silverado emblem permanently into the resin lid, so it should be pretty cool when I'm done.

I've been using resin to cast some parts for a sculpture I got commissioned to do and have some left over, so it made sense and it should look really nice. I'm pretty excited about having that emblem permanently fixed to it as well. The red color I'm casting is similar to the red I used for some of the hemispheres pictured below:

The lid will be framed with angle iron so it will be nice and strong, and will be removable by way of a couple/3 wing-nuts. The batteries will be rigidly secured in the box, the box to the floor. The lid will cover any access to the terminals from tools/etc.

 

[NorCalKid]

That looks like its going to be badass! cant wait to see how it comes out

 

[bensub90]

that will look awesome that's like what were talking about yesterday

 

[colbystephens]

ok, so the lid turned out KILLER. i'm really excited about it. It still needs to cure a bit, but I should get to finish this project up on Tuesday... possibly Monday. Then the cage mounts begin.

goofy pic of me w/ lid. I wanted to be in the pic so you can see how translucent it is - you can see the shadows of my hands/arms behind it:

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Coool. Is that the lid or the.........uhmmmm....mold thingy for the lid?

Excuse the dumb question but I was thinking you said the lid would just have the shape of the emblem on it.

 

[Craig Artzner]

Excuse the dumb question but I was thinking you said the lid would just have the shape of the emblem on it.

That's what I thought too. But it looks badass the way he has it. Nice work Colby.

 

[colbystephens]

Coool. Is that the lid or the.........uhmmmm....mold thingy for the lid?

Excuse the dumb question but I was thinking you said the lid would just have the shape of the emblem on it.

yeah, i wasn't very clear. this whole red+emblem is the lid.

 

[bensub90]

any more progress this week on your k5 waiting to see the battery box done maybe i will swing out this weekend

 

[colbystephens]

No, I got kind of held up on the truck progress because of finishing up a sculpture commission for the chemistry dept. at the school, and then we had some plans today. My spring break kind of got shot to hell with other commitments, so i couldn't work on my truck and it really kind of irritates me. oh well. it is what it is.

hopefully i'll get some free time next week to work on the rig. school starts next week tho, so we'll see how that works out. i'm reserving this sunday for myself tho... should be able to get the batt. box done sunday.

 

[colbystephens]

OK, so I have a slight change of plans. I decided to move the batteries in order to open up some cargo space. I really like their new location, and the battery tray I've built into the tank cover is really stout. Next step is to do some sort of lid to prevent cargo from falling across the terminals.

You can see in this pic, kinda, how I gained alot of space behind the wheel well by moving the batteries to this new location. This new location isn't good for storing much stuff, but the larger flat space behind the wheel well is a great place to put gear.

Recovery gear fits really nicely right infront of the batteries, so I think I may build a basket in that space to hold the straps/d rings/etc.

I still need to add a lid to my fuel tank cover as well as get the high lift mounted up.

Here's how it should look, for the most part, after I get everything mounted/bolted/etc.

 

[bensub90]

better location for sure are you still going to use that top you made ?

 

[colbystephens]

I think I won't be using that lid. I'd like to, but I'm a bit concerned about the lid's durability. Since it's really in the cargo space now, I think i might throw some kind of gear on top of it and have it crack out.

 

[JDNobodi]

I would pick something better than a strap to hold the batteries down. I thought a strap was good enough once till I lost my battery.
I’ve spent hours looking for my battery till I found it buried in the sand and after it was ran over a thousand times.

 

[colbystephens]

what are your exact concerns with the strap?

as it is now, they are unmovable in any direction. they have no side-to-side/forward-backward motion, as the battery tray holds them tightly in those directions, and the strap goes over the top of the battery in 4 places, so they have no up-down motion.

I can definitely see the strap being a concern in a stock tray where the strap would have to hold the battery down and keep in in place during lateral motion, but here all that lateral motion is taken care of by the cage around them.

I'm definitely open to your critiques, but I'm curious more specifically what issue you see.

 

[JDNobodi]

Truth be told, I don't know what failed when my strap did, but it did fail. Yes, it was in the factory tray, but I've cinch the battery down tight. Granted I wasn't driving my blazer easy by catching air over a dune. I guess with all the momentum, something stretched, flexed enough for the battery to work loose and fall out of the tray. I don't have inter fenderwells, so the battery had no place to land but on the tire which threw the battery against my remote transmission filter, then to the ground.

-edit-
As for your set up, it looks real nice how you have your strap going back and forth, and it MAY work. I just don't like the idea about using a fabric strap.

 

[Greg72]

CS,

I can think of a number of reasons why a nylon strap is an unacceptable battery hold-down....

Chafing - Regardless of how it feels during a "tug test" the strap IS going to shift around and slowly chaffe at the corners where it breaks over the batteries. Eventually it could snap there

Weather - Rain & sun will slowly weaken that strap...making it more brittle and less like to hold tension

Single-point-of-failure clasp - 'Nuff said. You've got about 50 lbs worth of batteries all counting on a single tension clasp to hold them in down during a rollover or violent crash. It doesn't sound like a fair expectation.


You obviously know how to weld and you've got angle iron around, so the normal excuses don't apply to you. Build a simple angle iron frame with 4 pieces of all-thread as close to the corners as you can fit them without hitting the battery terminals. Maybe one extra metal strap across the middle for an extra measure of safety. (To prevent "bloating" of the top frame if you ever rolled)

The rest of your build is solid and impressive.....the nylon tie-down is not in keeping with everything else you've done. My vote is to spend a few more minutes on it, and make it right.

 

[colbystephens]

Truth be told, I don't know what failed when my strap did, but it did fail. Yes, it was in the factory tray, but I've cinch the battery down tight. Granted I wasn't driving my blazer easy by catching air over a dune. I guess with all the momentum, something stretched, flexed enough for the battery to work loose and fall out of the tray. I don't have inter fenderwells, so the battery had no place to land but on the tire which threw the battery against my remote transmission filter, then to the ground.

-edit-
As for your set up, it looks real nice how you have your strap going back and forth, and it MAY work. I just don't like the idea about using a fabric strap.

I don't have inner fenders either - that's one of the reasons I moved the batteries to the bed of the truck.

CS,

I can think of a number of reasons why a nylon strap is an unacceptable battery hold-down....

Chafing - Regardless of how it feels during a "tug test" the strap IS going to shift around and slowly chaffe at the corners where it breaks over the batteries. Eventually it could snap there

Weather - Rain & sun will slowly weaken that strap...making it more brittle and less like to hold tension

Single-point-of-failure clasp - 'Nuff said. You've got about 50 lbs worth of batteries all counting on a single tension clasp to hold them in down during a rollover or violent crash. It doesn't sound like a fair expectation.


You obviously know how to weld and you've got angle iron around, so the normal excuses don't apply to you. Build a simple angle iron frame with 4 pieces of all-thread as close to the corners as you can fit them without hitting the battery terminals. Maybe one extra metal strap across the middle for an extra measure of safety. (To prevent "bloating" of the top frame if you ever rolled)

The rest of your build is solid and impressive.....the nylon tie-down is not in keeping with everything else you've done. My vote is to spend a few more minutes on it, and make it right.

Good points there, Greg! Thanks. I will do something about the hold downs.

I appreciate the warnings, guys!

 

[BGKYK5]

I'm with Greg and JD on this.

It shouldn't take long to fix, and is easy insurance.

 

[colbystephens]

Ok, quick update on the Fuel Tank Cover. I started building a lid yesterday, still need to finish welding it tho. Been using a Hobart at the school that gives me lots of trouble with kicking and such, and my Miller seems to always operate nice and smooth, so I brought it home to finish.

The Hi-Lift foot fits real nice in that pocket and will be held down with a couple of wing nuts. Only problem is I built the drop-box slightly too wide for the frame of my tunnel, so I have to shave the tunnel slightly.

I'm real excited about this tho. I think it'll look and function real nice. Still need to put a couple bolts through the body of the tunnel to mount the high lift, paint the lid, bolt it down and I'll be good to go.

I used a Miller plasma cutter to build this thing.... kinda makes me a bit turned on to use that thing.

 

[supersize75k5]

Ok, quick update on the Fuel Tank Cover. I started building a lid yesterday, still need to finish welding it tho. Been using a Hobart at the school that gives me lots of trouble with kicking and such, and my Miller seems to always operate nice and smooth, so I brought it home to finish.

:

Colby I had a similar issue with a welder kicking.

What wire are you using and what argon mix ?

with 100 percent argon and .023 wire I had zero issues while working with body panels/sheet metal, for heavier thickness it would weld it I would just have to keep on the heat and watch the penetration. On the flip side when I switched to .030 and 75/25 to weld some thick plating it started kicking !

With the same voltage the smaller wire will have a higher current density. Each wire size has a minimum voltage and amperage level. Do you have a dedicated line to the welder? That cured my issues of kicking.

Your not messing around with spray arc or pulse spray?