lots of TIG/GTAW welding later i have the frame pretty much done-over 300 seams-

layed up the ram and used carver welding clamps to hold it all together-may have to drop the bottom ram mount as this angle looks to be a bit shallow-ANY ADVICE ?

once this is fitted i can desighn my fuel tank-position my air tanks and mount the battery box.it looks as if the air tanks [brakes] will have to go right to the back of the chassis,this will mean removing and re-thinking the two 45 degree braces that brace the rear cross memember and tow hitch to the two side rails of the chassis,i also hope to leave as much room in this area to fit my fuel tank-this will be a custom fabbed job in stainless steel.

while we have good weather here and before the winter gets set in i hope to get as many jobs done on the rear end of the truck as i can,then i plan to build a big car port-a truck port? and get some done on the motor end of things.

the cab will have to come off for final welding of the cab mounts and any bracing associated with the bottom ram mount.i hope to be to the blasters by march or sooner next year-the last picture is of the bed landing spikes-the bed will have the female counter part [where they belong] and there are NYLATRON washers to stop the bed rattling

 

The welded frame looks good. I would run as much angle as possible for the lift ram to work properly and to reduce stress while lifting.

The project is looking good. Thanks for the link to the Rat Rod, did you make that custom steering wheel?

 

no bert, we scored that at a swap meet,but it does have a date with my next aluminium pouring session in my backyard foundry.....to make clones
got the final settings for the tipper cyllinder,all clamped up and tested,great,then noticed that the bottom of the 3/8" x 14 " x12 " plate that mounts the bottom ram brackets was going to foul the winch cable as it laid across the drum-GRRRRRR
simplest fix was to raise the whole mess 3 " so it is just 1 inch below the truck bed,there may be some clearance issues with the underbody bearers,but i planned to re-work all these anyhow,as the factory spot welding comes apart way too easy for my liking.
few pics-ALSO scored a LOAD of these trick german made 316 stainless steel , oil damped , 0 - 150 PSI boost gauges at the local scrap metal yard.going to save the rest of them tomorrow.

 

Backyard Aluminum foundry, That would be fun. Do you sand cast or plaster cast? I've played around with plaster casts to pour aluminum Vacuum form tooling so that I could make custom plastic console panels for gauges and filler panels.
I like the new angle that you have the cylinder set at, should work much better like that.

 

HEY, plaster moulds hold too much moisture for any thing over tiny sized moulds-i use lost foam or sand pattern .
got the bottom ram mount finnished-after many hours of jigging up and fekking about we got done here-
caught first sight of the wheel stations on this truck today too-
new wheels are way better-
look what turned up below-

 

gotta blast n paint wheels first-no rush to get these on-

MICHELIN XZL,s 12.50 x 20

 

the rain stopped and the sun shone long enough to allow me to cut some hunks of 3/8" plate steel and lay some 6013 beads

this is the start of the top ram mount-4 x 4 " angle iron gives lateral strength , the top plate and gussets are welded to the angle and bear down onto the box section of the frame , there are to be turned inserts to stop the box section crushing as the M10 bolts that hold the 4 x 4 " are tightened.

hope to get the hydraulic pack plumbed in temporary this week and cycle the frame a bunch of times before deciding if i need to add any more strength.

i just know that one day i,ll fill this with a few tons and see what it,ll do-

 

Nice tires, I bought 5 Michelin XL 9 x 16 a while back for my Mistress (M37).

That bracket looks like it will do the job. Are you going to put a bolt and nut thru the cylinder pivot pins or continue to use the hairpin clips?

 

bert-fat split pins and washers will retain the ram pins-when im done rigging it all up-

got the top cross member alighned, rigged,drilled and painted-

used two M12 bolts to drive the drum off the hub-looks good,no scoreing or ridges and nice even wear,will clean the shoes and cylinder area and see what we have in there-first sight of the brakes was not a bad one-makes a nice change!

as soon as i get time back on the truck im gonna rig the hydraulic pack

 

It looks surprisingly clean inside the drum. I hate when they are packed full of dry mud and or gear oil.