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Dark Earth Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2015 Posts: 1054
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 5:07 pm Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version |
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Brian wrote: |
what are you using for making your wiring schems? |
I'm just using Microsoft Paint mostly. I always save changes as a bitmap image though. The bitmap is so much cleaner than a jpeg or png. I also use another free paint program called paint.net. I like it because it has more functions like a "magic wand" to highlight certain areas I want to clean up by deleting fragments from the old jpeg. You can see the fragments in this blown up left headlight from an original schematic.
Those are all wiped away in my saved bitmap by highlighting an area with the magic wand and hitting delete.
Here's a jpeg snip of the same headlight from my bitmap. It's won't show as clean as the bitmap I have on my laptop because TheSamba won't allow uploading bitmaps because they are such large files. It has a few fragments from converting from bitmap to jpeg, but I just wanted to show the difference.
_________________ My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version
~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ |
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Dark Earth Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2015 Posts: 1054
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2021 8:15 pm Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version |
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I finally installed the front carpet. I bought this empi kit such a long time ago. I went with black carpet to match my seats. The rear carpet is a TMI oatmeal kit and the TMI door panels will be beige. It'll be a true Frankenterior. I had to cut few spots to get around the seat mounts I made. It's not perfect by any means, but it looks alright. The part I worried about the most was the hole for the emergency brake.
I made a template through trial and error.
I ended up centering the template on the carpet and measuring back about 7 3/4" and cut the pattern out.
The door panels and quarter panels still haven't shipped, so I'm kind of at a stand still with the interior. _________________ My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version
~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ |
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Dark Earth Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2015 Posts: 1054
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 1:06 pm Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version |
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Not much of an update, but ...
I didn't like the "dog ears" on the front kick panel carpet, so I cut them off. I also re-installed the shifter.
The dog ears are useless to me anyway. I'm not running the remote cable operated heater levers, I'm using these manually operated ducts.
_________________ My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version
~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ |
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Dark Earth Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2015 Posts: 1054
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Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 4:31 pm Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version |
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Rust. Why does it always have to be rust ?
I bought a '72 wiper assembly and wiper motor. I took the windshield wiper mechanism apart, sanded the pieces down to bare metal, then primed and painted them.
I bought these little pivot bushings.
They pressed into place easily with my thumb.
I bought a wiper kit. The two spring washers and two brass nuts are extra. The wiper shafts came with their own spring washers and nuts.
I installed the wiper shafts.
Here's the wiper assembly ready to install.
And here's the wiper assembly installed. While testing the wiper motor with my 12 volt power source, without the wiper arms installed, the motor would start off sweeping left from the parked position. I rotated the drive bracket on the motor 180° to get it to sweep right initially. Through trial and error I got it dialed in where I want it to be.
I decided to just go ahead and install a 12 volt washer system.
It installs with a longer fender bolt and nut. Forgive the ghastly unpainted inner fender wells.
I installed the Cole Hersee 75228-03 wiper switch. To eliminate any interference with the wiper mechanism, I used flag terminals. I soldered them to the wires coming out of the wiper motor and they were plenty long enough to reach the switch.
The wiper switch knob doesn't match but I'm okay with it.
I mean, It's not perfect, but it's just a baja bug. _________________ My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version
~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ |
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Dark Earth Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2015 Posts: 1054
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2021 6:37 pm Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version |
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Since I'm not installing a dash pad, I bought a '67 ash tray from TheSamba classifieds.
I bought a '67 ash tray because it doesn't have a knob like '66 and earlier bugs do. (picture borrowed from TheSamba gallery) The knob just doesn't match my later style switches.
The only problem, it's a bit rusty ... of course.
The seller told me she sells parts for an elderly gentleman and he suggested that I soak the ashtray in vinegar then neutralize the vinegar with water and baking soda afterwards.
I thought I'd give it a try. I immersed the ash tray in vinegar. There's a tiny piece sticking out of the bath but it's not rusted.
After soaking over night, most of the rust was gone except these two corners.
I removed the nut holding the front face on and found a little bit of rust hiding underneath.
I made a new vinegar bath and put both pieces back in for a final soaking.
After scraping and sanding away the remaining rust leftover after the second bath, I primed the inside of the ash tray and the front face with rusty metal primer. I then painted the inside of the ash tray and the front face with white enamel. I left the rest of the ash tray bare metal.
I bought some 9/16" and 5/8" rubber grommet plugs.
I'm using them to plug some holes for the time being.
The ash tray is just a minor detail, but I like the way it looks.
The original ash tray just sticks out like a sore thumb. _________________ My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version
~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ |
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Dark Earth Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2015 Posts: 1054
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Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2021 9:48 am Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version |
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I gave up waiting for the door panels to ship and just decided to install the seats anyway. Now they're not taking up space inside the house anymore.
The back seat has issues. I never really noticed (or didn't know what I was looking at), but one of the previous owners installed seat covers over the original back seats.
Here's a picture of the interior in the Craig's List ad when I bought it.
I've looked at that picture many times, and passed by the seat many times as well, and didn't think anything of it. Looking closer at the upper part of the back seat, it still has the original fold down bar mechanism and the metal piece for holding the carpet down to the seat back carefully tucked under the seat cover. That was a pleasant surprise. I'll probably run with the back seat down after discovering those little nuggets. I'll remove the seat covers and re-do the original back seats later. I even have the carpet for the back of the upper cushion that came with the rear carpet kit I bought. _________________ My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version
~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ |
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Dark Earth Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2015 Posts: 1054
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Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 5:15 pm Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version |
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Here's another small update ...
I sanded the dash grills down to bare metal then primed and painted them. I decided to go with khaki to break up the solid white.
I bought some .060 styrene plastic and made some pieces to go behind the grills. I traced out some paper templates and cut them to fit the grills. I then transferred that shape onto the styrene. You can cut styrene with scissors too.
Here they are installed
This is what it looked like before I fell down the rabbit hole.
_________________ My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version
~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ |
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Dark Earth Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2015 Posts: 1054
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2021 10:53 am Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version |
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Another small update ...
Since I'm going without a dash pad, the glove box door is too small for the opening in the dash.
The hinges pivot inside these little pockets behind the dash. To remove the glove box door, you just remove the screws and slide the door out of the hinges.
But first ...
I made a rough template out of poster board and stuck it to the glove box door with magnets.
I then transferred the shape onto a piece of thin gauge sheet metal.
I bought a 24 mm hole hawg.
I used the template to trace the opening from the original glove box, transferred that center onto the sheet metal, and drilled the hole with a drill press.
The hole is actually bigger than the latch, so the latch fastens to the original door.
I drilled holes in the sheet metal and countersunk them.
With the original door installed on the car, I set the sheet metal on top of the original door, made index marks with a sharpie, and plug welded all the holes closed.
I sanded everything down fairly smooth.
I gave it a coat of primer using a rattle can.
I then painted it with a can of Khaki Brown enamel.
I bought some rubber bumpers.
I have some adjustments to make, but overall it fits pretty good.
_________________ My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version
~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ |
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Dark Earth Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2015 Posts: 1054
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Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2022 5:19 pm Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version |
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I don't have much of an update, but I did buy this hot wheels baja bug.
I also bought a Husky work bench, a Wen 8 inch drill press, and an Evolution chop saw. The drill press I was using before didn't drill true enough holes. The chop saw I had wouldn't even cut square. The abrasive blade would wander. With the Evolution chop saw and Diablo blade, it cuts nice and square, doesn't throw a bunch of sparks everywhere, leaves almost a mirror finish, and the metal is cool to the touch after cutting. I also bought three 26 inch harbor freight single bank roller cabinets. That gives me 78 inches of tool box space with 24 drawers of different sizes. I've been spending money on making the experience of working on the baja more enjoyable. Looking for tools piled into an under sized tool box setup was driving me crazy.
I also want to start building bumpers and don't want to work on the floor anymore. _________________ My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version
~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ |
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Dark Earth Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2015 Posts: 1054
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Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2022 4:02 pm Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version |
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I decided to purchase another work bench, a gladiator this time, to corral the three roller cabinets. And, in usual fashion, I had to install some omniwall metal pegboard panels "while I was working on it"
I cut a little off the bench top and moved the legs in to pinch the boxes together. I'm not sure what I'll do with the VW sticker. It may end up on one of my rear windows.
I need to weld together a rogue tubing bender before I build bumpers, and the more space the better. _________________ My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version
~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ |
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Dark Earth Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2015 Posts: 1054
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Posted: Wed May 18, 2022 9:26 am Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version |
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Years ago, I bought a Rogue Fabrication weld together tubing bender to build bumpers for my baja. I'm finally getting around to putting it together.
Here's what it looks like after painting and assembling. I opted for a 1.5" x 4.5" CLR die and will be using .120" wall DOM for the front and rear bumpers.
I may get a one inch die to build a roof rack. I also might buy a 6" CLR die to be able to bend .095" wall 1.5" tubing if I want to add a cage. _________________ My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version
~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ |
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dustymojave Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2007 Posts: 5802 Location: Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
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Posted: Sat May 21, 2022 9:26 pm Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version |
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Dark Earth wrote: |
Years ago, I bought a Rogue Fabrication weld together tubing bender to build bumpers for my baja. I'm finally getting around to putting it together.
Here's what it looks like after painting and assembling. I opted for a 1.5" x 4.5" CLR die and will be using .120" wall DOM for the front and rear bumpers.
I may get a one inch die to build a roof rack. I also might buy a 6" CLR die to be able to bend .095" wall 1.5" tubing if I want to add a cage. |
4.5" radius is rather sharp bends. 5.5 would be better. ESPECIALLY for .120 wall.
Any particular reason for .120 wall DOM for bumpers? Sounds more like battering ram material for a Baja Bug. And awful expensive tubing for a bumper.
My Baja, my Hi Jumper and my Chenowth all have bumpers made of 1.5" x .095 wall CREW tube. Once its' painted nobody will know it's DOM unless you tell them, and then only 1/2 will believe you. Because you really CANNOT tell most of the time. I could tell people all the time that my bumpers are 4130, several people have asked if they are.
But I see using expensive material for bumpers as foolish. I don't want my bumpers to be particularly strong. I want them to give some before the frame is damaged. It's a BUMPER! Not bling. The flexural strength of CREW is nearly the same as for same wall DOM. They are similar material worked differently. DOM typically has a somewhat higher carbon content, but lots less than 4130. And it's still mild steel with no chromium, vanadium, molybdenum or other alloys added. _________________ Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet. |
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Dark Earth Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2015 Posts: 1054
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Posted: Sun May 22, 2022 3:29 pm Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version |
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dustymojave wrote: |
4.5" radius is rather sharp bends. 5.5 would be better. ESPECIALLY for .120 wall.
Any particular reason for .120 wall DOM for bumpers? Sounds more like battering ram material for a Baja Bug. And awful expensive tubing for a bumper.
My Baja, my Hi Jumper and my Chenowth all have bumpers made of 1.5" x .095 wall CREW tube. Once its' painted nobody will know it's DOM unless you tell them, and then only 1/2 will believe you. Because you really CANNOT tell most of the time. I could tell people all the time that my bumpers are 4130, several people have asked if they are.
But I see using expensive material for bumpers as foolish. I don't want my bumpers to be particularly strong. I want them to give some before the frame is damaged. It's a BUMPER! Not bling. The flexural strength of CREW is nearly the same as for same wall DOM. They are similar material worked differently. DOM typically has a somewhat higher carbon content, but lots less than 4130. And it's still mild steel with no chromium, vanadium, molybdenum or other alloys added. |
I mainly chose the .120 wall because that was the recommendation from roguefab for a 4.5 CLR die. They show on their website that .095 is too thin to bend at 4.5 CLR.
https://www.roguefab.com/tube-capacity-chart/
I originally should have bought a 6 inch CLR die, but I saw a recommendation somewhere that you should shoot for a minimum of 3 x the tubing diameter, which is 4.5.
Now, In the real world ...
Since you make this suggestion to use .095 CREW tube, and I don't even know what that is, I will have to do some more research.
As usual you are spot on and I trust your expertise, so I'll be heading in that direction.
Thanks Dusty !!!
I think I'll work some overtime at work and just get myself a 6" CLR die. Live and learn. _________________ My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version
~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ |
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dustymojave Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2007 Posts: 5802 Location: Lake LA, Mojave Desert, SoCal
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Posted: Tue May 24, 2022 2:27 pm Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version |
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OK: Today's Seminar is Basic Steel Tube for Fabricating -101
CREW tubing:
- C = Cold
- R = Rolled
- E = Electro
- W = Weld
It's steel tubing made by 1st forming a strip of cold rolled (formed when the metal is room temp, not heated) flat bar stock of the desired wall thickness for the tubing and of the correct width to form the tube. Then the strip of flat bar stock is pulled through a forming die/rollers (many decades ago I saw some videos of the tube being formed and one video showed it being formed by rollers, another showed it being formed by rollers) As the 2 edges come close to each other, there is a welder that welds the 2 edges together. The outside comes out smooth and rounded to the surface of the tube, and the weld area is a dark bluish color line, but it leaves a thin raised bead inside the tube.The raw tube ready to make something with is identifiable by that dark line along it.
Some people think the tube is weak at the weld line. but I've NEVER seen CREW tube fail along the weld seam.
I just repaired a home built buggy made of 1.5" x .095 CREW tube. The basic frame is a fine design, but it lacked proper diagonal bracing between the upper and lower frame tubes. So where the vertical frame tube under the roll cage met the forged VW rear shock tower, the frame had flexed until the end of the tube was crumbling from fatigue (like bending a can back and forth until it breaks) and both sides of the car had broken completely off in that area. I could not weld it because the tubing inside was like a spider web of tiny cracks. The car is decades old and has finally failed, not because the tube was bad or not right, but because the design was incomplete. If it had been made of 4130 chrome moly tube, it would have failed quite quickly because 4130 is much more brittle and fatigues much quicker than mild steel.
Some people selling Cold Roll Electro Weld steel tube these days call it "HREW" which is Hot Rolled. If the outside of the tube is shiny and silver color with a dark stripe it IS CREW. If it were HREW, the outside of the tube would be dark bluish color and rough surfaced, like new angle iron. That's because Hot roll steel is rolled when it is between orange hot and white hot. The rough blue surface is scale that has come to the surface and has been oxidized by the air around the nearly molten steel. Cold roll steel is smooth. No scale and is harder and stronger than hot roll from the process of rolling it when it's cool. That rolling of cool metal compresses the metal and forms the grain structure of the metal along the direction it is rolled.
DOM and 4130 chrome moly steel tube is formed into tubing from strip and welded like CREW, but it's formed in a spiral. It's then drawn over internal and through external dies to make a smooth surface inside and out. Sometimes, with new pickled DOM or 4130 tubing, you can still see that spiral. Pickling is putting the tube in a chemical solution that protects the surface from corrosion. Some DOM and some 4130 come pickled. Some does not. The pickled surface is dark brownish/charcoal gray, almost black. Non-pickled DOM or 4130 will be silver color like CREW tubing.
Many fabricators these days are taught to grind that dark surface before welding because they have been taught by someone who was taught to work with hot rolled steel for buildings and such and they think the dark surface is scale like on hot roll. Grinding the surface to remove that dark surface makes tiny scratches in the surface which actually weaken the completed structure by making a place for cracks to start forming when the metal is subjected to stress loads. Yet the pickled surface is not a problem to the strength of the weld AT ALL! If you're welding rusty crap steel that's been laying around outdoors for years, by all means, remove the junk from the surface. If the tube is pickled, leave it.
As for the 3Xs the tube diameter for minimum bend radius... In various sources, I've run across different numbers for that. Some say 3X, some say 3.5X, some say 4X. As a kid learning Technical & Safety Inspection, I was taught to look for roll bars and cages with a bend radius tighter than 3.5 X tube diameter. That info came from Aerospace people like my dad (who worked for Lockheed Aircraft's SkunkWorks and later for NASA and the Department of Defense) and others around race cars who worked in aerospace, and from world leading race car fabricators. I've used 6" CLR (Center Line Bend Radius) dies working with other people's machines, and since the mid 1990s, I've owned a JD2 bender with a 5.5"CLR die set. In all my years of professional fabricating, I've never encountered a failed tubing bend in anything I've built.
I've many times used tighter radius bent tubing of thinner wall and CREW tube, like exhaust bends, but those were made with fancier equipment than I have.
When you go to a steel supply, order CREW tube and you will save about 1/2 the price of DOM.
And .120 wall is very stout tube for a bumper on a Baja Bug. My Hi Jumper buggy, my Chenowth buggy, all the bumpers I've ever made or bought for a Baja bug or buggy were ALL made of 1.5" x .095 tube. Most all of the VW-based offroad buggies are built with 1.5 x .095 tube. From the originator Funco, to Hi Jumper, to Chenowth, and all the other companies that used to build buggies, these days not much more than Berrien that's big time into tube frame buggies, but they STILL build with 1.5" x .095 wall CREW tube.
Now my old '61 F100 pickup has a rear bumper made of 3" x .250 wall tube. That took a hit from a car going about 45mph when the truck was parked. The truck was moved 12' sideways and over a curb, and about 25' forward and the tube was undamaged, only the 1/4" plate brackets were very SLIGHTLY bent. The car that hit it was completely totaled.
Guys who build stuff for 4,000 to 6,000lb 4x4 trucks and like to bash them into boulders might need stouter tube. But your Baja shouldn't need a battering ram like that. _________________ Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet. |
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Dark Earth Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2015 Posts: 1054
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Posted: Tue May 24, 2022 7:22 pm Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version |
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Great stuff Dusty !!! Thanks !! I appreciate the thorough explanation. _________________ My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version
~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ |
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jimmyhoffa Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2014 Posts: 1047 Location: St. Louis
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Posted: Thu May 26, 2022 6:01 am Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version |
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Dark Earth wrote: |
I mainly chose the .120 wall because that was the recommendation from roguefab for a 4.5 CLR die. They show on their website that .095 is too thin to bend at 4.5 CLR.
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Dusty covered this liberally but I wanted to chime in and offer additional support: My 90" 70's Chenowth as well as my buddy's 100" 80's Chenowth were built entirely with a 4.5" CLR 1.5" tube die and it's all .095 CREW and looks great. I bought a 4.5" CLR die for my bender and did significant amounts of work with .095" tube and it aslo looks great! _________________ 1974 Chenowth 2RL #1244 Street Legal
My other car isn't ridiculous. |
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Dark Earth Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2015 Posts: 1054
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Posted: Thu May 26, 2022 8:13 am Post subject: Re: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version |
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jimmyhoffa wrote: |
Dusty covered this liberally but I wanted to chime in and offer additional support: My 90" 70's Chenowth as well as my buddy's 100" 80's Chenowth were built entirely with a 4.5" CLR 1.5" tube die and it's all .095 CREW and looks great. I bought a 4.5" CLR die for my bender and did significant amounts of work with .095" tube and it aslo looks great! |
Thanks jimmyhoffa !!! I appreciate your insight.
What I think I'll do is make some 90° test bends with the 4.5" CLR die and the 6.0" CLR die with 1.5" x .095" CREW and compare the results to see if there is any kinking or collapsing with either. I might not even use 90's on the rear bumper. I might just go with a couple of 45's. _________________ My Build: '69 Baja - Dark Earth Version
~I'm almost done. I just lack finishing up.~ |
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