Thread: Stirlsilver's Disco Ute Project

Originally Posted by disco2hse

Woohoo Stirling. You got a linkback from mudclub.com

Discovery tray back project with 3d models

Alan

Hey Alan,
Yeah I got the update stating that. I really need to get back on to this project! The stage 1 is almost finished. I actually took it for a test drive today!

Anyway, I am REALLY looking forward to continuing with this project when the stage 1 is out of the way!

Stirling.

Alright, the Stage 1 has sold. So it's time to revive this project

I spent some time today in the workshop doing a general tidy up in preparation to get back to work on the car. The next step is to start building up the structure for the rear wall and tying it in to the B pillars & chassis.

I'm so happy I can finally get back to this project!!!

Well, i've continued from where I left off. Way back in mid 2009 I had basically completed the rear wall design. So i've gone and pulled the dimensions of the assembly and parts in order to fabricate the frame from the 40x40 and 40x60 sections.

The assembly dimensions:


And the part dimensions:
Horizontal beams


Lower & mid lower Pillars


mid upper pillars (Going to be fun cutting these)


upper pillars (again nasty dimensions for cutting)


All going well, i'll buy the material on saturday and get some work done over the weekend.

Well, upon calling the metal supplier, I discovered that 60x40RHS doesn't actually exist. So I had to re-do the drawings (the ones above have been updated) to use the nearest section (65x35RHS).

Once again, amazing

Originally Posted by klappers

Once again, amazing

Thanks Klappers, while the dimensions I get from the model are not 100% accurate it definitely does help to have some ballpark figures to work with when making the angle cuts!

Well, I physically started working on the car again this weekend. Work done is as follows:
First thing I did was set up a horizontal reference line across the base of the B pillars which I could use to take measurements from when building up the rear frame


Before cutting the Lower pillar, I took some preliminary dimensions off the car and compared them to the drawings. I discovered that in some places there were discrepancies of up to 30mm. Which, in hind sight is to be expected. There is no way the model I build can be 100% accurate with the build. So knowing this I did the bottom cuts of the lower pillars.

I discovered that when I cut the back off the car, that I cut the lower sills too far forward, which left me nothing to weld the bottom of the lower pillars to! So I had to use some angle tack welded on to give me a location to sit the lower pillars.

Anyway, I tackwelded the lower pillars on with the the top section uncut, and then ran a string and the elevation where the angle in the back wall was located.




By using the string I realised that the length of the lower pillars needed to be a little longer than those which I drew. So I simply added this on and cut the angle I had marked on the drawings.

I then did the cut for the Mid Lower pillars as per the dimensions shown on the drawing, and tack welded them on to the top of the lower pillars.




I then took the measurement between the pillars, discovered that it is actually 10mm shorter than that which I drew, so I cut the 40x40 hollow section to suit and tack welded the lower horizontal brance in place jus above where the angle in the wall is.


Next, I cut out the Mid Upper Pillars, again I did the bottom angle cuts as per drawing and then determined the required length for the top cut on the car. This was easy to determine because these sections stopped level with the top of the rear doors, so all I needed was to run some string from one side to the other to find the right height to do the cut. Again once I knew where one elevation was, I used the dimensions on the drawings to the angled cut and tack welded on the result.

Of course, once that was finished I cut and fit the Mid Horizontal Brace according to the actual dimensions between the pillars, again ended up being a little shorter than drawn.




before cutting and welding in the upper pillars, I figured I should do the finishing work to the brace which I had built a few years ago with the gutter. The main work was to close off the ends to make the inside sealed to prevent corrosion. Also I did a little bit of tidying up while at it.






And finally I did the upper pillars, using the same method, this one was a little fiddley because I had to get the angled pillars to fit inbetween two existing pieces. But I got there in the end and tack welded them in place.






I wanted to do the Upper horizontal brace, but I simply ran out of time. I may get a chance to do it tomorrow if I can get to the workshop. If not, it will need to be next week.

In anycase, over the course of the week I'll start working on the design of tying in the rear frame in to the B pillars.

That's it for now! Feels good to be back on this project!!!!

Right,
I updated the model to more closely represent the car in the as built condition. I figured I better spend the time now to ensure it is reasonably accurate for the later stages of the build.

I also worked on the concept on the side braces which tie in the rear frame in with the B pillars. Basically the concept is to make up an angle out of 6mm plate and drill holes to match the bolt pattern of the original hinges for the rear door and just have 40x40 RHS running out to the joints on the rear frame.

Below are a couple of screen grabs (I'm highlighting all items yet to be constructed in green):




Later in the week I will demonstrate my concept on how I would hold what is left of the rear doors in position.

Next time i'm in the workshop, I will try to get some better dimensions of the B pillars in the areas where the hinges are located. So then I can refine the concept to something I can create some drawings from and build the parts.

When i was in the workshop, I did take some photos in these areas... but they were only really good enough to make up the concept and nothing more: