Stoffregen Motorsports Posted February 19, 2021 Report Share Posted February 19, 2021 It scares me to see hidden batteries. A dead short somewhere big could cause the whole truck to go up in smoke. Whenever possible, I install a battery kill switch as added protection. An old friends of mine, whom you guys may know as darius240z or Darius Khashabi, had a 510 with shaved door handles and poppers to open them. They were battery operated. His battery was hidden in the trunk which also had poppers. After a track day, his car was on his trailer outside our shop at Sears Point and something shorted out and he could not get into his car to disconnect the battery. He finally smashed a window to get in and hit the battery kill switch. Such a helpless feeling when something like that happens. 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted February 19, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2021 3 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said: It scares me to see hidden batteries. A dead short somewhere big could cause the whole truck to go up in smoke. Whenever possible, I install a battery kill switch as added protection. An old friends of mine, whom you guys may know as darius240z or Darius Khashabi, had a 510 with shaved door handles and poppers to open them. They were battery operated. His battery was hidden in the trunk which also had poppers. After a track day, his car was on his trailer outside our shop at Sears Point and something shorted out and he could not get into his car to disconnect the battery. He finally smashed a window to get in and hit the battery kill switch. Such a helpless feeling when something like that happens. I remember Darius I think I still have one his video's in my DVD collection, his crew came to San Diego, and one his buddies showed up at our motorcycle stunt spot..... cant remember his name but damn the things he could do on a motorcycle..... I have a curcuit breaker disconnect at the battery so hopefully nothing happens.... 2 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted February 19, 2021 Report Share Posted February 19, 2021 Oh, I forgot you were into that stunt bike stuff. Crazy shit. I've seen Darius go over backwards at 60mph. Broken wrist, road rash... Cool, I know I'm old and grumpy, but I hate to see people lose their vehicle because of something stupid like a smoked battery. 3 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted February 19, 2021 Report Share Posted February 19, 2021 Darius was kind of hack back then. He used to use two worn out motorcycle tie downs and a brick to secure his 510 on his car trailer, which he pulled behind his "fire chief" Dodge Diplomat. 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted February 19, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2021 10 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said: Cool, I know I'm old and grumpy, but I hate to see people lose their vehicle because of something stupid like a smoked battery. Trust me I don't wanna see something like that happen either.... 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted February 19, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2021 21 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said: Oh, I forgot you were into that stunt bike stuff. Crazy shit. I've seen Darius go over backwards at 60mph. Broken wrist, road rash... Never did that, i kept most of my screwing around to industrial parks down by the Tijuana boarder.... You could see the lights of Mexico at night.... It was good till spectator's ruined it for us with trash..... the security guards would actually watch us on their breaks, but once they had to clean up after people we were asked not to come back..... I did go down twice once at 70 with a backpack and long sleeves.... someone hit a plastic bed liner insert and sent it in front of me like a wall... not cool... but I rode it home.. 2nd time was my fault, got to aggressive getting on the highway, ended up with a speed wobble at 90+... thankfully I had leather on and a crash cage on the bike .... road that home too.... Lucky for me no one hit me, but sliding down the 5 freeway on my back was quite the adrenaline rush... 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted February 19, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2021 22 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said: Darius was kind of hack back then. He used to use two worn out motorcycle tie downs and a brick to secure his 510 on his car trailer, which he pulled behind his "fire chief" Dodge Diplomat. I miss the days in California driving my 521 with my stunt bike on the back both flat black.... 2 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted February 20, 2021 Report Share Posted February 20, 2021 7 hours ago, Crashtd420 said: Never did that, i kept most of my screwing around to industrial parks down by the Tijuana boarder.... You could see the lights of Mexico at night.... It was good till spectator's ruined it for us with trash..... the security guards would actually watch us on their breaks, but once they had to clean up after people we were asked not to come back..... I did go down twice once at 70 with a backpack and long sleeves.... someone hit a plastic bed liner insert and sent it in front of me like a wall... not cool... but I rode it home.. 2nd time was my fault, got to aggressive getting on the highway, ended up with a speed wobble at 90+... thankfully I had leather on and a crash cage on the bike .... road that home too.... Lucky for me no one hit me, but sliding down the 5 freeway on my back was quite the adrenaline rush... San Ysidro. I've been to TJ more times than I can count. These stories are great now that we've survived them, but in the moment, it felt a whole lot scarier. What is a crash cage? 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted February 20, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2021 (edited) 17 hours ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said: San Ysidro. I've been to TJ more times than I can count. These stories are great now that we've survived them, but in the moment, it felt a whole lot scarier. What is a crash cage? Darius had a bar that wrapped around the bike and attached to frame slider for protection if the bike falls over ..... Some guys around the corner from the junkyard I worked at developed crash cages ..... I believe they were called racing 905.... They bolted on using the engine bolt points and they jointed together at a 3rd point usually in front of the motor .. .. I was trying to get a job with them but just couldn't get in.... small family shop.... they also made 12 o'clock scrape bars and were making dual rear brake calipers... so you can can control a rear brake with a hand lever.... I did help them with the dual calipers, they would buy caliper brackets from the junk yard, they were cutting and welding 2 brackets together, due to my suggestion they machine them as one piece now, then i was just letting them borrow brackets to scan and copy.... I talked them into a cnc plasma table and mill with the hope I could run them for them.... it didnt work out for me but it did help them grow.... Just looked them up to see how they are doing....these are how there brackets look now..... I did manage to get the cages, scrape bar and caliper bracket for free for helping out, so atleast I got that... http://racing905.com/catalog/ Incase anyone wanted to check them out, cool guys and solid fabricators... Talk about a trip down memory lane.. Edited February 20, 2021 by Crashtd420 2 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted February 20, 2021 Report Share Posted February 20, 2021 Very cool Neil. 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted February 20, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2021 I was able to get the battery box mostly finished today.... Added a L bracket underneath for strength... All welded in place.... From the side..... I plan to add a couple bars to help hold everything.... Also started adding some extra support to the gas tank.... I also added a L bracket to the 3 verictle bars, I plan to connect to the horizontal bars with an angled piece but got called away by the family.... This should be the last of the fabrication I need to do..... 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted February 20, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2021 Almost forgot to put the battery in and open and close it.... Luckily everything was good and worked like I thought and hoped it would... 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted February 20, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2021 Also added some horizontal support.... 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted February 20, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2021 And some to the gas tank mount... 3 Quote Link to comment
pidge Posted February 21, 2021 Report Share Posted February 21, 2021 Lookin good Crash.......maybe I missed it, do you got some custom brackets made up for those rear bumperettes? -Pidge 2 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted February 21, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2021 42 minutes ago, pidge said: Lookin good Crash.......maybe I missed it, do you got some custom brackets made up for those rear bumperettes? -Pidge Yes I had made brackets a while ago.... they are pretty crude but they do the job.... Last winter I made another bracket that holds all the lights and license plate and tied them into the bumper brackets.... I plan to work on the bed next which is why I did that.. I'll be able to still drive it while I cleanup the bed, I'll be stripping it completely and painting it.... 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted February 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 Progress has been slow, during the week, but I have been trying to tie up some loose ends.... almost forgot to make a tabs to accept the hydraulic brake lines.... I did manage to spend some money on some new welding gloves and some brake fittings and tee I'll need to finish things.... as well as some extra hardware I needed.... This arrived today.... 2" metal tube will be the new inlet for the gas tank, I bought a short rubber connector while the bed is off, I have a longer piece on the way to connect it back to the original spot on the bed..... Also picked this up.... Supposedly works really good, and in tight spots.... we shall see if it's better than the older tool I have, which was 50/50 if I made a good flare..... 3 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted February 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 Decided to go after the gas tank tonight..... Made a cardboard template to get the first cut done on the pipe.... This allowed me to visualize it.... Cut and started to get the hole done.. I plan to recess the pipe slightly into the tank, I'll still need to probably trim a little off the end .... All the time I had today.... 3 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted February 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2021 Managed to install the new filler neck into the gas tank.... need to clean out the inside and make sure I have no leaks but it's done. . . I have a sealer on the way for the inside after.. the tank was cleaned and coated about 4 years ago, I just want to recoat the bare metal that's exposed to the inside...... Old location vs new... 3 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted March 1, 2021 Report Share Posted March 1, 2021 Pinholes in MIG can be hard to chase. If you want to be sure that weld doesn't leak, hit it with some metal etch to clean it and then make a dam of masking tape around the weld and smother that bitch with JB weld. 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2021 42 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said: Pinholes in MIG can be hard to chase. If you want to be sure that weld doesn't leak, hit it with some metal etch to clean it and then make a dam of masking tape around the weld and smother that bitch with JB weld. Hopefully I'm good but I will store that idea away if I need it..... Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2021 (edited) Hey stroffgren, since you haven't commented on anything else being wrong lately do you think I'll be good to move forward with final welding? Did anything else stand out as needing attention? Also any suggestions on final welding the brackets to the axle is appreciated, my plan was weld in small sections and move around so I dont concentrate to much heat in one area for too long... Please if anyone has a comment or suggestion now is the time... I have to add two brackets to secure the 2 hydraulic brake lines and I think I'm done with all of the fabrication work...... Edited March 1, 2021 by Crashtd420 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted March 1, 2021 Report Share Posted March 1, 2021 I know, I hate to always be pointing out things that need attention... Weld opposing sides - weld one side of one bracket, then do the same side of the same bracket on the other side of the axle. Without an alignment bar, that's the best you can do. 1 Quote Link to comment
Crashtd420 Posted March 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said: I know, I hate to always be pointing out things that need attention... Weld opposing sides - weld one side of one bracket, then do the same side of the same bracket on the other side of the axle. Without an alignment bar, that's the best you can do. I'm thankfull you did speak up in the beginning... I'd rather have you point it out now vs later. I dont mind listening to experience.... Thanks for tip on welding the axle.... I debated on taking it to an axle shop to do the finish welding, but I would like to do it myself, as long as I dont screw it up..... Would it be better to leave the axle and differential installed? Would that help or is it a stupid idea? I had planned to weld it without the axles or differential attached... 1 Quote Link to comment
Stoffregen Motorsports Posted March 1, 2021 Report Share Posted March 1, 2021 It might be best to have the diff at least bolted in, but the shafts should come out for welding, so you can inspect the seals after and make sure they didn't get overheated. Just do it yourself. A nice hot bead, weld top down (not bottom up as some folks recommend), make some nice swirls and fill in the gaps. I do a large swoop to make the circle, then move back into the gap to fill the hole. Make sense? 1 Quote Link to comment
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