Budget street legal rail (re)build (WARNING: pic heavy)
- GoMopar440
- Posts: 258
- Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:56 am
Re: Budget street legal rail (re)build (WARNING: pic heavy)
I was feeling beat physically after my PT appointment today. When I pulled up in my driveway I saw the new canopy ripped to shreds and the frame folded over and laying halfway on the roof. I guess we must have gotten some pretty strong winds while I was out today to say the least. Tomorrow I'll disassemble the remains and get it out of the way. I'm too sore to do anything about it today.
Home made rail (street legal), 1600 DP, 34PICT-3, T3 brakes, 4-1 glass-pack exhaust, 31's in back and 7.00x15's up front. Link to build thread: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=147561&p=1227553#p1227553
- GoMopar440
- Posts: 258
- Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:56 am
Re: Budget street legal rail (re)build (WARNING: pic heavy)
Well, so much for that idea...
Home made rail (street legal), 1600 DP, 34PICT-3, T3 brakes, 4-1 glass-pack exhaust, 31's in back and 7.00x15's up front. Link to build thread: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=147561&p=1227553#p1227553
- GoMopar440
- Posts: 258
- Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:56 am
Re: Budget street legal rail (re)build (WARNING: pic heavy)
I was poking around the web a bit tonight and came across this FG seat. (Style C)
http://markvfiberglass.com/seat-c-unive ... hell-only/
It looks like almost a perfect match for the seats I have in my rail right now. I'll give them a call on Monday to see if they can recommend a place to find a seat cover that fits these seats.
http://markvfiberglass.com/seat-c-unive ... hell-only/
It looks like almost a perfect match for the seats I have in my rail right now. I'll give them a call on Monday to see if they can recommend a place to find a seat cover that fits these seats.
Home made rail (street legal), 1600 DP, 34PICT-3, T3 brakes, 4-1 glass-pack exhaust, 31's in back and 7.00x15's up front. Link to build thread: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=147561&p=1227553#p1227553
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Re: Budget street legal rail (re)build (WARNING: pic heavy)
I like the bead style stiffeners in it. Without seeing and handling it I think it does look like a good find.
- GoMopar440
- Posts: 258
- Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:56 am
Re: Budget street legal rail (re)build (WARNING: pic heavy)
Except for the two seat belt pass through slots in each of my seats, the seats I posted the link to are identical to what I already have in the rail now. Maybe that was an option with an earlier batch of the seats, or possibly a PO mod, I can't be sure. I don't plan on using the slots in mine anyway, so I'll most likely just fill them back in with FG when I repair the holes in the seat bottoms.
Hopefully I'll be able to get back to work on the rail soon, as long as I don't have too many more days like today. The honey do list from yesterday (helping my wife build another chicken coop) kicked my butt pretty bad and I haven't been able to get out of bed all day today as a result. The pain meds the VA gives me are about useless when my back gets to be this bad. At least it's not rainy and humid out, that's almost just as bad to deal with.
Hopefully I'll be able to get back to work on the rail soon, as long as I don't have too many more days like today. The honey do list from yesterday (helping my wife build another chicken coop) kicked my butt pretty bad and I haven't been able to get out of bed all day today as a result. The pain meds the VA gives me are about useless when my back gets to be this bad. At least it's not rainy and humid out, that's almost just as bad to deal with.
Home made rail (street legal), 1600 DP, 34PICT-3, T3 brakes, 4-1 glass-pack exhaust, 31's in back and 7.00x15's up front. Link to build thread: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=147561&p=1227553#p1227553
- GoMopar440
- Posts: 258
- Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:56 am
Re: Budget street legal rail (re)build (WARNING: pic heavy)
I recently decided to put the rail on the back burner for a little bit while I build a two car carport attached to the barn. After this last tent fiasco I decided to just bite the bullet and build something a bit more substantial. That way I wouldn't have to worry about it every time the wind picked up and the leaves rattled a little bit. I'll attach it to the barn's North wall which is the one with the three windows visible in my latest pics. The West and North carport walls will be solid except maybe for a few windows. The East side will be open for now, but I'd like to get some big doors on that side before winter if possible. Most of the winds we get are from the North and the West anyway so it should be fine for a while with the East side left open. It will be the same width as the barn (20') and it will be 20' wide. There's a 100 year old tree in the way of the NW corner, so I'll have to zig zag the carport around it. I'll only have to move it over 4', so one parking spot will be 10' x 20' and the other side will be 10' x 16'.
Home made rail (street legal), 1600 DP, 34PICT-3, T3 brakes, 4-1 glass-pack exhaust, 31's in back and 7.00x15's up front. Link to build thread: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=147561&p=1227553#p1227553
- GoMopar440
- Posts: 258
- Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:56 am
Re: Budget street legal rail (re)build (WARNING: pic heavy)
Even though the rail hasn't been getting as much attention as I would have liked to give it lately, I still have some small parts trickling in every now and then. I just received my speedometer/tachometer in the mail today and I'm still waiting on a windshield washer bottle kit to get here.
Here's a link to the speedometer on Ebay. It had a BIN price of $26.41 with free shipping.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/282020995994?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT .
For the windshield washer bottle kit they didn't have a BIN at that time, just an auction. I got lucky and was able to get it for the opening bid of $0.99 with $14.99 for the shipping. Since I got mine, the seller has since changed their Ebay ad to a BIN format with the kit now going for $9.99, plus another $9.99 for shipping.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-Inter ... Ro&vxp=mtr
Here's a link to the speedometer on Ebay. It had a BIN price of $26.41 with free shipping.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/282020995994?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT .
For the windshield washer bottle kit they didn't have a BIN at that time, just an auction. I got lucky and was able to get it for the opening bid of $0.99 with $14.99 for the shipping. Since I got mine, the seller has since changed their Ebay ad to a BIN format with the kit now going for $9.99, plus another $9.99 for shipping.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-Inter ... Ro&vxp=mtr
Home made rail (street legal), 1600 DP, 34PICT-3, T3 brakes, 4-1 glass-pack exhaust, 31's in back and 7.00x15's up front. Link to build thread: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=147561&p=1227553#p1227553
- GoMopar440
- Posts: 258
- Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:56 am
Re: Budget street legal rail (re)build (WARNING: pic heavy)
I was too worn out from my physical therapy appointment today so I skipped working on the carport project. Instead I did some design layout work for the dash to figure out the shape I wanted it to be and where I wanted the gauges to go. I had a thick old cardboard box laying around so I cut that up to make a pattern for the dash. I cut a two cardboard disks out of the scrap cardboard. I used a couple of hole saws that were close to the size of the two gauges I will be using. Those will be the LCD speedo/tach and the PLX DM-6 multi gauge. I'll be using idiot lights for the alt and oil, just like the old Bugs do. I put the shifter in the tunnel and slid it all the way forward. Then I moved the shifter all the way forward as well to check for clearance between the handle and the dash. So far so good. To place the circles for the gauge placement I sat in the drivers seat and held them up in front of the dash until I found a position that was easy to see. I stuck the circles on with some small nails to hold them in place until I could get the circles traced onto the dash pattern. On the pass side I'm planning to make a small glove box (not shown in pic yet) for registration, insurance and other misc stuff like that. It's not much progress, but it's more than I expected to get done today.
Home made rail (street legal), 1600 DP, 34PICT-3, T3 brakes, 4-1 glass-pack exhaust, 31's in back and 7.00x15's up front. Link to build thread: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=147561&p=1227553#p1227553
- ajdenette
- Posts: 717
- Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 1:18 pm
Re: Budget street legal rail (re)build (WARNING: pic heavy)
Looks good, is the shifter all the way forward in the pic?
Alex
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/ /__/____[_____\
I I======[]IIIIIII[]
()_)-----()_)----)_)
|_________oo_oo
/ /__/____[_____\
I I======[]IIIIIII[]
()_)-----()_)----)_)
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- Posts: 17731
- Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2006 10:17 pm
Re: Budget street legal rail (re)build (WARNING: pic heavy)
An observation: you have an awful lot going on in the one area where the guages will be. Steering wheel, what looks to be a turn signal handle, etc. which block or slow down the reading of your multigauge. Your idea of making a layout/template is a great idea but if you are going to make a glove box then I would mock it up the you and your friends get in and out assuming the condition of having a "snoot full". In my biggest getting into the buggy, with the steering wheel in place, you have to be a contortionist.
If I did it again I would mount the gauges higher and not to the center of the buggy but then I am not driving my buggy on the street anymore where jerks can damage things in a pique of selfishness and stupidity (you should hear them squeek if someone does it to them).
I don't remember if you have a steering wheel disconnect or not but they make getting in or out a lot easier (and yes, there are a couple of drawbacks that can affect your manhood but if your careful...) plus, unless the have a pair of locking pliers, it would make it harder to hop in and drive away.
Anyway, something's to think about for at least 2 seconds.
Damn spell check! Changed the bushes to guages
If I did it again I would mount the gauges higher and not to the center of the buggy but then I am not driving my buggy on the street anymore where jerks can damage things in a pique of selfishness and stupidity (you should hear them squeek if someone does it to them).
I don't remember if you have a steering wheel disconnect or not but they make getting in or out a lot easier (and yes, there are a couple of drawbacks that can affect your manhood but if your careful...) plus, unless the have a pair of locking pliers, it would make it harder to hop in and drive away.
Anyway, something's to think about for at least 2 seconds.
Damn spell check! Changed the bushes to guages
Last edited by Ol'fogasaurus on Fri Jul 08, 2016 1:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Marc
- Moderator
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Re: Budget street legal rail (re)build (WARNING: pic heavy)
My 2¢: Just looking at the pic made my leg hurt. I suggest (at minimum) that you make the lower "leg" of the console narrower, then slit a length of thinwall conduit to go over each side which'll give you a place to attach padding. Preferably actual rollbar padding, but even foam pipe insulation would be a big inprovement.
- GoMopar440
- Posts: 258
- Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:56 am
Re: Budget street legal rail (re)build (WARNING: pic heavy)
The layout pattern I made is just that, a rough temporary pattern so I can get an initial idea where I want things to be placed. I'm going to make an upper sub frame for the dash to support it, similar to the frame I made for the tunnel. The edges will all be rounded over, just like the center tunnel top piece. I will also have flat pieces of diamond plate running front to back in there when done. That will give the dash some solid sides to the middle part, and a bottom for the upper part. Be patient and you'll see what I mean if you can't visualize it yet. There will be no hazards to the occupants when it's done.
The shifter, blinker lever arm and the steering wheel spokes were all placed so they were giving me the worst possible combination of visual interference before deciding where I would put those two circles. The pic shows the shifter all the way forward, but the blinker arm has been moved to the up (left turn) position when I took the pic. The steering wheel spokes are shown aligned with the wheel in the straight ahead position, where the wheel will be most of the time while driving on the street.
The steering wheel has a quick release hub on it, which is a good thing. I would have a VERY hard time getting in and out of the rail right now without it.
As far as the crowding of the gauges, turn signal arm and the shifter go, that was intentional. The smaller multi gauge will be reachable with my finger tips with my hand resting on the shifter in 1st or 3rd. The multi gauge has a few resistive touch points like on a smart phone or tablet screen. You just touch those areas on the face of the multi gauge to move through the display options instead of hunting for buttons. Resting my hand on the shifter should help me to be able to hit those areas on the gauge easier. In 2nd or 4th I'll just have to do the best I can without the extra support. lol
EDIT: The windshield washer kit arrived in the mail today. That's the last of the parts I was waiting on (for now).
The shifter, blinker lever arm and the steering wheel spokes were all placed so they were giving me the worst possible combination of visual interference before deciding where I would put those two circles. The pic shows the shifter all the way forward, but the blinker arm has been moved to the up (left turn) position when I took the pic. The steering wheel spokes are shown aligned with the wheel in the straight ahead position, where the wheel will be most of the time while driving on the street.
The steering wheel has a quick release hub on it, which is a good thing. I would have a VERY hard time getting in and out of the rail right now without it.
As far as the crowding of the gauges, turn signal arm and the shifter go, that was intentional. The smaller multi gauge will be reachable with my finger tips with my hand resting on the shifter in 1st or 3rd. The multi gauge has a few resistive touch points like on a smart phone or tablet screen. You just touch those areas on the face of the multi gauge to move through the display options instead of hunting for buttons. Resting my hand on the shifter should help me to be able to hit those areas on the gauge easier. In 2nd or 4th I'll just have to do the best I can without the extra support. lol
EDIT: The windshield washer kit arrived in the mail today. That's the last of the parts I was waiting on (for now).
Home made rail (street legal), 1600 DP, 34PICT-3, T3 brakes, 4-1 glass-pack exhaust, 31's in back and 7.00x15's up front. Link to build thread: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=147561&p=1227553#p1227553
- GoMopar440
- Posts: 258
- Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:56 am
Re: Budget street legal rail (re)build (WARNING: pic heavy)
I just went ahead and started to make the aluminum version of the dash to show what I was thinking a little bit easier and more clearly. I still need to make the framework behind it to support it, as well as the gauge and glove box cutouts, but the basic shape is pretty much there now. I drew 1" wide flaps on the lower edges and then made the bends by clamping the aluminum between some pieces of steel angle iron. I clamped the angle pieces in the bench vise to hold it along the bend lines. I added some vise grips as well for the long bends. A big rubber mallet knocked the flaps over most of the way and I used a smooth faced hammer to tighten up the bends a little bit more. I had to get creative with the clamping in order to get the small diagonal bends in the middle. However, it turned out fine with a little thinking to figure it out.
Home made rail (street legal), 1600 DP, 34PICT-3, T3 brakes, 4-1 glass-pack exhaust, 31's in back and 7.00x15's up front. Link to build thread: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=147561&p=1227553#p1227553
- CentralWAbaja
- Posts: 4278
- Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:05 pm
Re: Budget street legal rail (re)build (WARNING: pic heavy)
Nice work!
It is not Mickey Moused.....It's Desert Engineered!
- GoMopar440
- Posts: 258
- Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:56 am
Re: Budget street legal rail (re)build (WARNING: pic heavy)
Thanks CWB. It's funny how after saying I'm going to put this on the back burner for a little bit I'm now back to tinkering with it again.
Today I cut the holes in the dash for the two gauges using a carbide hole cutter and my mill. Side to side placement of the gauges was transferred to the aluminum from the cardboard template. Then I marked them so the top edges of both gauges would be level with each other and the same distance down from the top of the dash. That required figuring out the OD of the bezel as well as the OD of the gauge body where it passes through the aluminum. Then I used those figures to find the centers of each hole. I had to support the dash with step blocks to keep the chatter to a minimum during the cutting process. After a little tuning with a half round file, the gauges fit snug in the holes, but not too tight. I also used an angle grinder to carefully trim back the raised diamonds that interfered with the bezels being able to sit flat on the front of the dash. I'll make the gauge retainers as part of the steel dash frame when I build it.
The glove box will be very small, but I don't plan on keeping anything other than registration and insurance paperwork in there, so that's fine with me.
Today I cut the holes in the dash for the two gauges using a carbide hole cutter and my mill. Side to side placement of the gauges was transferred to the aluminum from the cardboard template. Then I marked them so the top edges of both gauges would be level with each other and the same distance down from the top of the dash. That required figuring out the OD of the bezel as well as the OD of the gauge body where it passes through the aluminum. Then I used those figures to find the centers of each hole. I had to support the dash with step blocks to keep the chatter to a minimum during the cutting process. After a little tuning with a half round file, the gauges fit snug in the holes, but not too tight. I also used an angle grinder to carefully trim back the raised diamonds that interfered with the bezels being able to sit flat on the front of the dash. I'll make the gauge retainers as part of the steel dash frame when I build it.
The glove box will be very small, but I don't plan on keeping anything other than registration and insurance paperwork in there, so that's fine with me.
Home made rail (street legal), 1600 DP, 34PICT-3, T3 brakes, 4-1 glass-pack exhaust, 31's in back and 7.00x15's up front. Link to build thread: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=147561&p=1227553#p1227553