gearbox crossmember

[Landy Smurf]

hey i have to make a new gearbox crossmember for my chassis i was going to make one out of one piece of steel and fold it up but i might now just weld one up i belive that will be easier and just as effective if i was to fold it up i could easily make duplicates as i would program the folds into the press, anyway i was just wondering if anyone was interested in one if i was to make them.need to know probably by the end of the weekend
by the way im not sure if it is called the gearbox crossmember but thats what i call it im assuming you will know what i am talking about
cheers tony

[Psimpson7]

Hi Tony,

Despite our difference of opinion in the other thread , it is definetley possible:

Hope these give you some ideas. Good luck. Cutting out the bend area will make it far easier to fold at home.







Rgds
Pete

[Landy Smurf]

all forgotten mate.if i fold it up i will do it at tafe if i cut and weld it i will do it at school.this might sound abit weird but can you explain those photos abit more just so i can fully understand it

[Psimpson7]

Cool. Yeah Sure.

This is for a series 3 not a 1, but it should give you some ideas.

I spent ages playing about with this, umming and ahhing over whether it was worth doing and so on, so I modeled it up on Solidworks and got it laser cut. (Cost me about $90 from memory in total)

Basically in the first picture you can see the parts as received from the laser cutters. The large piece is the top and front and rear and ends of the crossmember, and the other thin flat piece up to the right is the base section of the cross member. (ignore all the other bits and pieces)

I was trying to make it out of one piece but its not possible to do as it would overlap etc. Two was the best I could manage. (well one may have been possible but the sheet metal useage in the one direction was a bit much!!)

The second picture shows the top/front/rear and end section folded up and tack welded. (with the bottom section also folded, and just sitting beneath it)

the next pic shows that upside down with the lower section placed in.

Not having any presses at home I cut out the majority of all the bends to make folding far far easier, and I just welded them all up afterwards.

Let me know if this doesn't make sense.

Rgds
Pete

[Landy Smurf]

100% umm yeah i was thinking along the lines of a series one so i couldnt quite work out some of it so now i know it makes sense.i would probably charge what ever the material cost and about $20-$40 on top of that depending on how long it will take me to do and if there are any other fees for me to pay such as contribution to tafe or tafe teacher.but i thought while i was going it would not be much harder to make a few extras and get a bit of money to help pay for the project.

[Aaron IIA]

I made one for my SI that cost me about $10 worth of materials, using only an angle grinder and welder. It also looks far more original. I will post some pictures when I find them.