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8.5outlaw/x275 57 chevy first try at building roll cage


jay8allday

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Just got the evergreen rods ive been trying to build the roll cage

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test fitted it and the front was bowing out the window lol a question on how you guys get the rods to stay in place while trying to glue them together thats been the hardest part by far learning process but im getting the hang of it sorry for the crappy pictures guys my ipod doesnt have any zoom

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i use MEK to weld the stuff together. drys fast and not to your hands if you get it on you. as for getting the bars to stay, 2 things you can do. 1 is use heat (lighter) to make the bend and it will stay, the other is to over bend it by a few degrees to compensate to the spring back. i personally dont use3 heat because i mess up more styrene than anything.

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Just got the evergreen rods ive been trying to build the roll cage

post-8845-0-23377700-1325958926_thumb.jp

post-8845-0-81019700-1325958936_thumb.jp

post-8845-0-48856200-1325958953_thumb.jp

test fitted it and the front was bowing out the window lol a question on how you guys get the rods to stay in place while trying to glue them together thats been the hardest part by far learning process but im getting the hang of it sorry for the crappy pictures guys my ipod doesnt have any zoom

Like others said fishmouthing works to make a better fit, I used thicker CA glue that takes 10 to 15 sec to dry. Test fit your parts a couple times to make sure they fit where you want them to, I also hold it where i want it before i glue and mark it with a marker where it is attaching to make lineup easier. I would also suggest if you plan on using the stock dash try to get that fit in there then work you cage around that, With a 57 chevy i think your A-pilliar bars should run down just ahead of the front door. Another thing is goto google and type in 57 chevy roll cage pictures and you will get alot of reference material. Here's a link to some good roll cage pictures to help you.

http://autoweldchassis.com/57chevy.ivnu

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two things that will greatly help with building rollcages, Tenax 7R and fishmouthing all of your joints.

if you can't find the Tenax a lot of people like the Ambroid Pro-Weld? which is very similar.

if you don't have a set of needle files, get some and use the round file to fishmouth the joints

Drew Hierwarter, a member here, used to write the Bench Racer column for Scale Auto magazine and did an excellent article on building chassis and rollcages that's worth looking up and reading if you can find it, not sure which issue it was in though. since Drew is a member here, maybe he can help with that.

I agree with Double D use Tenax or Ambroid. I use the latter and find this stuff better than CA glue because it welds the two pieces together. CA glue will break apart and you would need to do the fishmouth. Using a styrene weld will actually mold the two pieces together because of the chemical reaction. And a plus of not sticking your fingers together.

As for your A pillar bars the top portion is to long pushing you to far forward, giving you that bowing issue you are talking about. can't tell, but is there a reason you are not building directly to the stock chassis?

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That's my vette, and reason for the floor is because the chassis cert requires a good amount of bars and the floor can't be saved. Here is a build I started last year that is a bit more like what your doing. Though the bars aren't totally accurate for a real car, is close to what a standard 8 point cage would look like, I just added a funny car cage to it.

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=39167&hl=%2B66+%2Bimpala&fromsearch=1

Edited by Dom87SS
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Another method for test fitting pieces together to get everything just right before applying glue is to drill out both pieces to be glued and use small pieces of pins or straight wire. For one thing, it adds a bit more surface area for the glue to hold when you do glue it and secondly it makes for a stronger joint once glued.

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That's my vette, and reason for the floor is because the chassis cert requires a good amount of bars and the floor can't be saved. Here is a build I started last year that is a bit more like what your doing. Though the bars aren't totally accurate for a real car, is close to what a standard 8 point cage would look like, I just added a funny car cage to it.

http://www.modelcars...la&fromsearch=1

thanks for the help cant wait to see the vette finished those pictures of your 66 really helped me and gave me a good idea on what i need to do

thanks everybody hopefully ill have some new pics of a new roll cage up

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moving at a snails past but its getting there roll cage almost down just need to do the funny car add on it looks bad compaired to you guys build but ill keep practicing to get this technique down better painting the cage black i might have to cut one of the front seats off because the funny car part wont fit in betweenthem

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Much better looking good, The only thing i might change, You look to be pretty far back compared to where the front seat will be , I'm judging this off your inner door panel line. The rear cross bar should be right at the back of the front seat or pretty close to it.

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I noticed that as well. Another thing to help out so you aren't having to do all that dancing around to go around the dashboard, if you drill a hole through it and go down at an angle it will help with that.

I know you are just starting out, but I would really encourage you to do some searching on the internet to help you out. Like the old saying, "A Picture is worth a Thousand Words"!

Reference Pictures are your friend, I would never try and attempt something without reference pictures to build off of. For one, I know nothing about these cars, but love to build them. So I have to do a lot of research, just to get up to speed with some of these guys that have 1:1 Drag Cars or do this kind of think in their free time.

Here is a 10.5 car, and you can see what Joe is talking about. Now this isn't a 57 Chevy, and sure you can find one pretty easy. I did a quick search and pulled this up in just a couple minutes. But it is a great reference of how the front A Pillar bars should come down and meet up with the chassis of your 57 Chevy Interior Tub.

74.jpg

Edited by eviltwincustoms
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