mrblaine... progress?

[-=Alien=-]

Do you have any recent progress pics of you build? We'd love to see 'em!

[mrblaine]

[Iceman]

and you're still planning on NOT rolling it ... correct?


That cage looks real nice

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by Iceman
and you're still planning on NOT rolling it ... correct?


That cage looks real nice

Thanks Ron, no, I'm not planning on rolling, but as often as I get it tippy, I figure it's the law of averages that my number is coming up and I want to be as safe as possible, but it's darn sure a compromise getting everything in there.

I will tell you that I understand why all the aftermarket CB racks don't have diagonals in them. They are a giant PITA to get in there, get halfway decent looking and actually clear your head.

Got a few more gussetts to cut in, the mounting pads for the bottoms of the A pillars and then I can start on the rockers, tub, and suspension.

[yellowcolumbia]

Blaine, you do some absolutely amazing work. I wish I were closer so that I could see it in person. You're giving this dreamer something to aspire to.

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by yellowcolumbia
Blaine, you do some absolutely amazing work. I wish I were closer so that I could see it in person. You're giving this dreamer something to aspire to.

I appreciate the kind words, but in truth a couple of things are evident. I'm basically a hack that just gets by at fab stuff. There are some true artists out there that are awesome and I won't even pretend to hold a candle anywhere near them.

As much as I'd like to take all the credit, this is a collaborative effort with me using the services and knowledge of folks like Chris F, Drew, Ryan and Dave at Poly, Robert, and several others.

Here's a pic of a clean cage that I wish I had built.



That was done by Drew Burroughs. He's good.

[chef]

I've been trying to be patient waiting for these pictures. I like the looks of it. Functional, fashionable and simple.

I've been holding off on the cagework on mine. I remember how much work it was to finish the last one, but I've got a lot of work to do that will be easier without the tube in the way. Doing 12 hour overnights right now so that hurts work time as well. Just cleaned a large amount of junk out of my garage and picked up a nice Rockwell bandsaw from my old boss, it's nice having so much room in there. My first task is the skid plate. I'm having trouble with the mounting of it. I'm about to post some sketches on JU's fab board, I'd appreciate it if you could look at it and tell me what you think.

I'm supposed to be heading to Oceanside soon to pick up a welder from my cousin. Just found out he tig's everyday at work and just finished up a 7 second 1/4 mile Olds chassis constructed of chromoly for a friend. I'd like to stop by and look at your work if you're around.

[Paradiddle]

Originally posted by mrblaine
That was done by Drew Burroughs. He's good.

So I gotta drive to Bakersfield for that cage? I want a cage like that.

PS - I've seen it in person at it looks great to me - very tight fit to the TJ while being effecting and easy to live with - Blaine, IMO, is much better at this stuff then he takes credit for

Jeff

[-=Alien=-]

It looks great. I'm impressed with your attention to detail. Very nice work. What size Krawlers are you going to run?

[Dukes69]

Damn peewee! Looks like you and the bender had some alone time? If I remember, I'll call you tomorrow. I have some criticism. Constructive, or course.

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by Dukes69
Damn peewee! Looks like you and the bender had some alone time? If I remember, I'll call you tomorrow. I have some criticism. Constructive, or course.

You don't have to call to give me some pointers. I'm well aware that when you work too close to something it's very easy to overlook something obvious.

Don't be shy.

[Kiwi]

Blaine, that looks fantastic. A couple of questions, no criticism intended or implied (heck I can't even weld) but I'm interested in your thinking here 'cause I still need to do some work to my cb rack.

Why did you keep the stock main hoop?
Are you/how tieing the cage to the frame under the tub.
It doesn't look like the seats are attached to the cage, are you planning to and if not, why?

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by chef
I've been trying to be patient waiting for these pictures. I like the looks of it. Functional, fashionable and simple.

I've been holding off on the cagework on mine. I remember how much work it was to finish the last one, but I've got a lot of work to do that will be easier without the tube in the way. Doing 12 hour overnights right now so that hurts work time as well. Just cleaned a large amount of junk out of my garage and picked up a nice Rockwell bandsaw from my old boss, it's nice having so much room in there. My first task is the skid plate. I'm having trouble with the mounting of it. I'm about to post some sketches on JU's fab board, I'd appreciate it if you could look at it and tell me what you think.

I'm supposed to be heading to Oceanside soon to pick up a welder from my cousin. Just found out he tig's everyday at work and just finished up a 7 second 1/4 mile Olds chassis constructed of chromoly for a friend. I'd like to stop by and look at your work if you're around.

Stop on by anytime Adam.

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by Kiwi
Blaine, that looks fantastic. A couple of questions, no criticism intended or implied (heck I can't even weld) but I'm interested in your thinking here 'cause I still need to do some work to my cb rack.

Why did you keep the stock main hoop?
Are you/how tieing the cage to the frame under the tub.
It doesn't look like the seats are attached to the cage, are you planning to and if not, why?

This project is under a huge time crunch. I suck at bending tube. Therefore I had to make a few compromises based on some educated guesses.

I needed a base point to start from, the main hoop is thicker than .120 wall and 2.25" in diameter. It's stronger than the stuff I added. The feet for it are well designed and now sit over two body mounts because I added one at the end of the tub.

The back end of the cage is attached to the frame via bushings in 4 places with 9/16's grade 8 bolts. The front is the stock hoop and the A pillar I built that has floor plates. It's my opinion that the stock TJ has a pretty stout mounting system of tub to frame and until it's get's all rusted out like the old CJ's, I don't think it will easily separate.

I don't have time to locate and acquire seat sliders at this point and I'm fond of the tip feature the stock bases have for access to the area behind the seats.

Doing the tube work for the seat mounts would be too time consuming given the amount of work I have left to do. But, I've done nothing design wise that would prevent me from adding it later.

This cage is a compromise between safety, comfort, visibility, and ease of construction. It is by no means the ultimate TJ cage. I needed something much safer than the current CB rack offerings out there and with zero experience bending and notching tube, I had to do the best I could.

[-=Alien=-]

Originally posted by mrblaine
zero experience bending and notching tube, I had to do the best I could.

You're doing a heck of a job! I built my cage without bending/notching experience... it can be a nightmare!

[Kiwi]

Originally posted by mrblaine
This project is under a huge time crunch. I suck at bending tube. Therefore I had to make a few compromises based on some educated guesses.

I needed a base point to start from, the main hoop is thicker than .120 wall and 2.25" in diameter. It's stronger than the stuff I added. The feet for it are well designed and now sit over two body mounts because I added one at the end of the tub.

The back end of the cage is attached to the frame via bushings in 4 places with 9/16's grade 8 bolts. The front is the stock hoop and the A pillar I built that has floor plates. It's my opinion that the stock TJ has a pretty stout mounting system of tub to frame and until it's get's all rusted out like the old CJ's, I don't think it will easily separate.

I don't have time to locate and acquire seat sliders at this point and I'm fond of the tip feature the stock bases have for access to the area behind the seats.

Doing the tube work for the seat mounts would be too time consuming given the amount of work I have left to do. But, I've done nothing design wise that would prevent me from adding it later.

This cage is a compromise between safety, comfort, visibility, and ease of construction. It is by no means the ultimate TJ cage. I needed something much safer than the current CB rack offerings out there and with zero experience bending and notching tube, I had to do the best I could.

Thanks, doesn't make me feel quite so bad about what I have now. Its all welded in and gusseted but I think I'd still like a little more triangulation. We also welded the joins in the main hoop. I didn't realize it was thicker than .120

[Robert J. Yates]

Blaine - that looks damn nice. Your Jeep is going to rock out there this winter. I'm very jealous

[Kiwi]

Originally posted by mrblaine
As much as I'd like to take all the credit, this is a collaborative effort with me using the services and knowledge of folks like Chris F, Drew, Ryan and Dave at Poly, Robert, and several others.

So which bit did you do Robert

[Robert J. Yates]

....held the tube for the bender and chop saw on the some of the rear cage construction and donated a tore up tailgate

Seriously, I have no fab talent and make no bones about it. Blaine was being generous in naming me and while I can wrench on some things ok, my real objective in helping out is to spend time with my good friend and try to learn something in the process. I wish I could get down there more as I did in the past but thats life these days.

[William]

How did you seperate the body and the cage in the rear? Poly bushings, but I can't see clearly how it was done. Any thoughts on how to "float" the cage above the body and still retain the rigidity?

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by William
How did you seperate the body and the cage in the rear? Poly bushings, but I can't see clearly how it was done. Any thoughts on how to "float" the cage above the body and still retain the rigidity?

I'm not sure what you are asking. The cage is attached to the body, the body is attached to the tub via rubber mounts. Therefore any other parts of the cage should attach to the frame with flexible connections. No floating allowed.