My Latest Build...UPDATED 1/30/09.. Softtop

[chulisohombre]

i need one of those cage thingies.it might save my life or something.it looks awesome.how much did all that tubing cost?looks expensive.

 

[GEORGIA GABE]

the tube was about $1100, the brackets, tabs, flanges, ect were about 250... Yes it will save your life, and more importantly whoever is riding with ya.
gabe

 

[SHAPER]

Very nice job on the cage. Stylish yet functional. I want to build one soon but I gotta wait until I can find a good truck cab to swap onto my k5 first.

Keep up the good work!

 

[GEORGIA GABE]

Well the cage is pretty much done. I have it in the truck and only have to tie the a and b pillars to the frame underneath. I also built some front shock hoops, I have not finished them yet but will post pics this week. here are some current shots.

 

[stockk5]

wow looks really good.. and damn.. that truck went from MINT to smashed.. back to sweet... almost truggy time it seems

 

[GEORGIA GABE]

wow looks really good.. and damn.. that truck went from MINT to smashed.. back to sweet... almost truggy time it seems

Thanks, Im not going to keep much more body than the skins. I have a big event to do on the 4th (Save Tellico Spring Fling) and have to get it ready by then... I still have an entire drivetrain to assemble and install, Then driveshafts and exhaust. After Tellico I am going to cut the rear fenders off and get some fresh front and rear fenders to skin and install with aircraft fasteners.
Gabe

 

[blazin_blazer]

looks good, can't wait until i have a bender

looking good tho, but i have a few questions...1st off

next 4 pics, how come the center bar in the rear of the cage is so much higher than the sides?

next 2 pics, the shock hoop connector is in the way if you have to pull the motor, whats your plans there, just cut the crossover out if the engine needs to be pulled?

in this next 2 pics could you have raised the bars coming from the rear corners of the cage, up on the center bar, so the middle doesn't look like it is so much higher than the sides w/o hurting the cage strength?
and i think this would make it look like they were close to the same height. i really like the cage and may copy alot of your design, but that rear middle bar looks to high from the rear to me and raising the bars from the side up to the top of the center bar would make it look more level....is there a reason the center is higher and needs to be like that?

i like how you did the diagonal door bars....

what kind of bender is that in the pics? i'm in the market and have been told that you can buy plans to make a better bender than you can buy.

 

[GEORGIA GABE]

The center bar going to the back is taller to keep the rear passangers from hitting their heads. It is also level with the front section of the cage. The side bars are the level they are to match the a pillar where it comes back to meet the b pillar hoop. I wanted to keep the cage as head friendly as possible. I have hit my head on some other peoples cages. I also really like how the rear looks with the center bar raised. Too many K5 cages look like boxes. As to the engine crossmember I dont plan on pulling the engine any time soon. If I do have to pull it I will just cut the bar on either side and insert some of kerts staked flanges to put it back togeather. The Bender is a JD2, Justin (my service writer) bought the bender from them and added his own hydro unit and stand.

gabe

 

[gmc4cw]

how did you run it through the dash? can you take some pics of your rad support. I want to lose my stock one and cage the front of my truck now that I have the cab done.

 

[GEORGIA GABE]

I havent gone through the dash yet. I am actually debating that right now. When i did the narrow job originally I made those two bars going back the the firewall to help support the radiator hoop. I will get some pics for you. It worked, but I might change it in the future. I have actually tied the two outer bars in the front coming off of the radiator support into the shock hoops right now. I am planning on doing some outer bars to connect the a pillar and the front like Bowties front.

 

[projectfreedom]

I noticed you are running a TBI with a fuel cell. Can you tell me what fuel pump you are running?

 

[GEORGIA GABE]

I noticed you are running a TBI with a fuel cell. Can you tell me what fuel pump you are running?

I researched this a bit and found that there are a couple that will work ok, but all the oem pumps seem to have issues. The ford pump will not self prime because it was designed to be used with a supply pump. I just bit the bullet and bought a carter. Here is the link to it.

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=CRT-P5001&N=700+115&autoview=sku

 

[GEORGIA GABE]

Ok, the saga continues..Last night I cracked a bearing retainer while putting a seal in. Evidently they are the weak link in the 205... Custom differentials doesnt make bearing retainers anymore, so I am having them overnighted from Northwest Fab. I was assembling the cable shifter setup and it would not fit. I finally got Kyle (owns Northwest Fab) on the phone and we figured out that I have the oldest style 205 made... 1972, after 1973 the shift rail for the front drive range was made 1.5 inches longer. The one I have comes up short by 1.5 inches from hooking up with the cables. So I called up john at jbconversions, He sells the shiftrails and has them in stock.. but does not take Amex and will not ship till wed. So I contacted jkwoffroad and they have them in stock, they dont take amex but they do take paypal, but will not ship till wed. So then I called OffRoadDesign... the Grandaddy of cheby parts.... young lady answers the phone and says hi, is this gabe from J&L Auto...pause... I realize that she has caller ID... I ask about the shift rails and she says yes, we have them, yes they will work, yes we take Amex, and yes we can ship next day air so you will have them tomorrow... I told her that I love her and to SEND THEM NOW!!!

Billet Bearing Retainers shipped overnight $180
Twinstick Shift rails shipped overnight $175

Solving a problem like I was Bill Durham....Priceless
and fock the guys who only take visa

 

[mrdrinksalil]

Hahaha. Nice. Yeah, those bearing retainers are cast aluminum or something. Leave the 50lb hammer in the tool box while changing seals. lol.

Thanks for getting crawfords to call me back. Supposedly my messages cut out in the middle of me leaving the # part. I got campsite 29 so see you at tellico.

 

[GEORGIA GABE]

Hahaha. Nice. Yeah, those bearing retainers are cast aluminum or something. Leave the 50lb hammer in the tool box while changing seals. lol.

Thanks for getting crawfords to call me back. Supposedly my messages cut out in the middle of me leaving the # part. I got campsite 29 so see you at tellico.

yeah, try small ballpeen hammer with a snapon seal installer on a wooden topped workbench... I was so pissed... especially since matt at NWF asked me if I wanted the bearing retainers when I ordered my doubler.

No worries, If you need anything just gimme a call. When I talked to him he gave me the first 6 numbers of your phone... said it cut out on the rest.
gabe

 

[muddermilitia]

yeah, try small ballpeen hammer with a snapon seal installer on a wooden topped workbench... I was so pissed... especially since matt at NWF asked me if I wanted the bearing retainers when I ordered my doubler.

Thanks for the tip, I tore my 205 apart yesterday and will be installing seals this weekend.

 

[GEORGIA GABE]

So I have been working alot of late nights to get the K5 ready for the save Tellico spring fling. I also killed my camera, so the only somewhat competed pic I currently have is this one. This was yesterday coming down the ledge on upper two. I will do some more updates later in the week when I get another camera.
gabe

 

[mrdrinksalil]

I got some pics of the rockcrawl comp I'll post up for ya tonight. Nice to meet ya by the way.

 

[GEORGIA GABE]

I got some pics of the rockcrawl comp I'll post up for ya tonight. Nice to meet ya by the way.

Great to meet you and your family, Your kid was awesome. I would love to have any pics that you have, I think I welded while having my camera sitting to close to me, so I gotta get another one soon.
gabe

 

[mrdrinksalil]

I got a funny pic im gonna post up of Jaron on Pirate tonight too in the spring fling thread so check it out.