Today I got a little more time to strip down my Fug a bit further.
I got the floor off to see how bad the frame was after having a wooden sponge bolted to the lower rails. Why would you use wood for a floor and bolt it against the frame?

It's not looking so good. :(

Here is a pic of it's sorry tubes (There were a few places where I could push a screwdriver through)





Think I'm going to have to get busy with a grinder and welder :(

Anybody know if you can buy new frames and how much?
Getting prices for 1 1/2 inch tube, 1/10th wall tomorrow.

Steve :(

Yep new chassis are available cost around is £690.00 from USA any bugpack dealer can supply.
You need to weld them up though as they are knock down kits i.e flat pack.#

Having said that most roll bar manufactures can bend this sort of tube or repair sections.

Or you can do it your self the tube is nothing special ESW 2.5mm 1.5""
can be bought at most metal mechants for not a lot

I didn't expect the tube to cost a lot and I'm OK with a MIG welder - I fear the tricky bit will be trying to cut the tubes off the braces and other bits and weld the new ones without gaps here and there :P

ouch!! good luck mate B) B)

take your time with a grinder and some quality 1mm cutting discs and you should get those tubes seperated fine ;)

Yep what he said.
Make sure you get flat discs not raised centre ones, and make sure they are for stainless/inox or you'll be changing the disc every minute ;)

New tubes in FTW :D

What the hell is FTW?


More pics of the rusty nastyness being removed.
Is anyone interested in me posting pics of my progress? or shall I keep them to myself?

For now here are some more...

I opted to splash out and get myself a 9 inch grinder - OMG it's so smooth and cuts the tubes like butter. I have a little 4 1/2 inch that takes ages and chews up discs in no time. The 9 incher used about 1cm off the disc to do all this (and all the cuts were done in one cut so are nice and clean.


Getting started:
Axle stands under the front and rear tubes to hold the frame square (noticed it wasn't before I started and wished I'd taken a pic of that now... :huh: )


Cutting throught the tube just where the braces are welded on.
I planned to leave a little too much to stick the new tube in where the old one was, then once it's been removed clean it up to allow the new one to sit snug. :huh:


The cut done at this point. Trolly jack underneeth to gently support the floor. ;)


All 4 tubes cut 1cm in front of the rear tube and both cut just behind the 1st brace at the front, so as to only need one bend. There is a second just forward of this point to come up to meet the lower front beem.


The floor removed - argh what have I done!!! :o


Looking at the state of the floor without laying on my back for a change. :(


Anyone fancy guessing how much it weighed? :rolleyes:


That's all for today.
I hope to get the steel tomorrow.
approx 30 quid for a 6M length of 1 1/2 inch with 2.5mm wall.
getting 2 lengths - I need 2M for each of the outer rails, 1.5M for each of the inner rails, some cross bracing and some for the roof bars.

I'll keep you posted if anyone's interested.

:)

Well,that's what needed to be done. They don't weigh a lot,but even so make sure it's nicely lined up when it's welded. It's looking good though. Pretty good advert for double glazing as well,you should get commission for that. :D :D

No commission, just (friendly) regular abuse!

good work!!

keep the photos coming steve!!! B) B)

the way i see it, any pics of our progress can only help each other out (i'll be posting as many of mine as i can ;) ) B)

gar

Nice work Steve, glad to see you getting stuck in, it's the only way. ;)

New tube in FTW (for the win) :D

Anyone know how much money powder coating would cost?
I expect to spend hours with a Zip wheel then use a litre of POR15 on it, but powder coating would be so much easier :D

Steve

yep! might be looking to get mine powdercoated too...... :ph43r:

all info gratefully received :D :D :D

Non stop rain and the steel didn't get delivered by Arinastock.
Bugger all happened for the last 5 days.

Boooo!

Steve

Any progress Steve? :huh: :)

Nope nothing yet :(
Kids room is being decorated and it doesn't seem to have stopped raining.
However, steel has finally arived and I have found someone who will bend it to match the old floor tubes I have laying around.
I do 1/2 days on Fridays - so that's the day. Time to pray for the rain to go away.
Will post pics when done

Steve

steve - good luck with the weather on friday ;)

my fuge is in a barn which is only dry if the wind is in the right direction so hats off to ya for doing the thing outside :huh: :blink:

keep the photos coming and i'll try to do the same :D

gar :ph43r:

Looking good Steve_vfr :P

A local firm powder coated mine satin black.. £300 cash sounds about right if I remember....

You will need to shop around though although they were local it was more luck than judgement that they had an oven big enough to get the frame in B)

I've just sanded every speck of paint off my Fug body,it took 8hrs non stop and 30 sanding discs. Now all I have is the gel coat finish ready to 320 and spray. I hate to imagine what some of these things have been painted with over the years, think mine had some Dulux. What I'm meaning is,think I'd have sooner done the frame welding Steve has to do,it may be a pain but at least it's creative and a challenge.

If you want to do it for me Bob, I won't stop you. :P
I finally have the steel here now.

If it's not magically done befor Sat morning, and it's not raining I shall probably have to start doing it by myself.

I'm counting on you Bob100! :D

:D he he he :lol: :lol: it's like the tooth fairies or something.

I could do with a few of those(not teeth or teeth fairies, the magic overnight mechanics). That sounds like a name for a band! :wacko:

:lol: better name than some of the bands i've been in :lol: :lol:

I seem to do that quite a lot.
There was this one time when me and a mate of mine were getting drunk and having a bit of banta and we came up with a whole double album of names for songs. :lol: :wacko:

sounds like a normal night out down here!! :D B)

Saa..weet

any song titles we should now about? :D

Well one of my favs is bubble gum tarts! ;)

Truthfully I really wouldn't have minded a go at that. There's lots of little bits on these that could be done better,having it in bits with the top missing is the perfect time to do just that. Don't get me wrong,I don't think for a second I could build anything as good from scratch with no plan,but I really think I could copy and inprove one. Bit scared to try it though as you do see some hidiously badly built specials and I'm sure they all thought the same. :blink:

How's yours coming on Bob? :)

Latest update:

I got fed up of looking out the window every morning to find that 100Bob hasn't done a thing to my Fug, so I have had to make a start myself. Shame on you Bob.

The steel was finally delivered (ended up £50 for 2 * 6M)
I borrowed a pipe bender off a mate at work.

Put the steel in the bender then pump it till it's bend enough.


Checking it's bent the right amount.


Offered it up, cut it to size then started bending the braces going to the top frame rail, because they don't seem to bend in the right amount. (bloody tough to bend by the way)
Tacked it in place:


All looking good so started welding




Cat says it's OK so it musty be.


Not very clear as it got dark by the time I finished.

Steve - good work fella - wait for it........looks like you got your work cut out there!..... :D :D :D ........taxi for knighty :ph43r: ........seriously - when I saw the pics of the rot I thought it was a gonner, but looks well on course for a clean bill of health.........whats the plan for the top cage?........did you get the old tubes with it or have you got to re-create those from scratch?........looks like your well capable of sorting it B)

seconded!! good work steve keep it going! B)

Thirded, well done dude nice touch with the photos B) :)

hi

where did you hire the pipe bender from ?
I could have done with one of those early

what it the greatest angle you can bend the pipe ?

I borrowed the pipe bender off a friend at work.
They cost around £100 so I assume you could hire one from a hire shop for £20 for the day or something like that. Second hand on Ebay they seem to fetch £60 ish
It really is very simple to use and very easy.
I will have a play tomorrow but I would think you could do just over 90 degrees. Probably a bit more if you tried.

I have the original windscreen and tubes around it but not the bit between windscreen and frame top rail, or the bit above your head.
I do plan to go back to pretty much original, but I want to make the "roof" a little higher ensure there is no contact between it and my nogin. I'm 6'1"

I'm keeping my eyes open for a torpedo style LPG tank that I can modify to use as a petrol tank, just behind the steering linkages, but all the way across. That way it would be as far forward as possible, nice and strong and not too high.

Any other suggestions anyone?

Does anyone have any very rough idea what the 2L twincam with adaptor plate and gearbox & rear suspension would be worth? Next autumn I plan to find a more exciting power plant. (Though maybe just dreaming). :o)


Steve

Steve
The price would be your decision,but Iwouldn't mind at least the carbs,I've got a twin webber to keep your engine complete so it'd be sellable if that suited or I'd buy engine etc. complete.

Steve, any progress on the fug?

Am itching to see the roof and screen tubes go back. :)

hi steve, going the right way ;)


but just a little tip for you (experienced myself) before you're going to make a "roof" first fit you seats and imaginge where you are going to put your pedals and the steering wheel, and kind of things. so you can make it perfect for yourself.

I think you already thought of it but just in case...


I've had enought problems with this "little" problems :rolleyes:



if you tackweld it like this, you can get an idea of the looks and your "comfort"

isn't a lpg tank to heavy <_< ? because of the pressure and safety of it ?
you can go to a metalcompany and let them custom made it of stainless-steel or alloy/alli/aluminium (dont know the right word)


and... respect for your work :o . really a big job !

hey steve !

got any further with your fugitive ???

:unsure:

Hey Rutger is that a sheep in your workshop? or are you just pleased to see us? :lol:

no, it's a fake cow :lol:

it is in grounding-paint...

today it has the black spots on it as well :D



sometimes put it in someones backyard ! "wtf is landed in my garden :o ? "




:lol: :lol: :lol: