Justin's LS E46

[Mikestokman]

That's the same bender we used to build my cage, one issue we had was that it kindof ovalled the tube in the corner. For bash bars that won't matter though

[beat328i]

Thank you for continuing to make me super jealous of people w/ shops and fab equipment... Also, why did you get rid of the guibo? I was under the impression that it was there to reduce strain on driveline components.

[protomor]

"reduced strain" == softer and better regular people driving experience. In drifting, you want to be as direct to the wheels as possible.

[Novablue454]

Thank you for continuing to make me super jealous of people w/ shops and fab equipment... Also, why did you get rid of the guibo? I was under the impression that it was there to reduce strain on driveline components.

The guibo was also a slip joint. The driveshaft guy didn't want to reuse it in the new 1 piece, and the T56 has the slip built in to the trans, so there was no reason to keep it. It has to be there on the BMW one since bmw bolts to both the trans and diff, leaving the slip to the driveshaft

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That's the same bender we used to build my cage, one issue we had was that it kindof ovalled the tube in the corner. For bash bars that won't matter though

weird, I actually opted for this one specifically because of how many cage builders both in drift and off road have been saying they prefer it over the JD-2

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"reduced strain" == softer and better regular people driving experience. In drifting, you want to be as direct to the wheels as possible.

also, the thing just sketched me out. I know the Driveshaft Shop one retains the slip joint, but I just didn't like how thin the driveshaft became there, especially for future power goals.

[Mikestokman]

I'm pretty sure it had more to do with our dies then the bender itself. The guy who owns it is a cheap fuck and may have bought the wrong die or a cheap one that allowed it to crush/oval

[Novablue454]

Started on the rear today.
Before:




radiator / water pump / battery out



first cuts





framerails off



Cleaned up where the old framerails mounted



rough mockup of the new quarters

[doktor b]

damn! i saw the one pic on IG of the whole ass off. that's a lot of cutting!

[protomor]

Whats that heat exchanger?

[Novablue454]

Whats that heat exchanger?

You mean on the diff cover? That's the factory E46M3 diff cover. I actually sort of hate it, its the lowest part of my car now and absolutely going to get broken

[protomor]

No where those big ass lines are going to in the back. or is that a fuel cell?

[Mikestokman]

You're slipping up man, he's been rear rad since the start..

[Novablue454]

Those are my coolant lines haha, 4 -12an to/from the engine.

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damn! i saw the one pic on IG of the whole ass off. that's a lot of cutting!

I was real nervous to start cutting, then It got fun

[protomor]

Oooooh yea. Sorry I looked at it super quick and didn't see the details :-p

[Novablue454]

Nothing has been going on with my poor car. Hopefully once we finish up this G35 I can get back on it.

Had an open house party, and the BMW club thought it would be fun to do a mannequin challenge. It actually turned out pretty good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTxY1v5bYeg

[TeXJ]

nice job

[Novablue454]

I am sort of stalled out here
E2C614E7-0992-4A14-8451-9BD8191BD2E6_zpsibkb6vhn.jpg

I was planning on making plates to match the areas that are cleaned up in this pic, welding them on, and then building off them. After making them, I realized that the metal I cleaned up was super thin, and in no way could support the weight of the tube rear alone, and def not a fuel cell, so it's back to the drawing board. I need to figure out a way to box them in so they can not only handle the weight of the fuel cell, but also survive some impacts. Any ideas?

[Press22]

I'm more idiot than fabricator so all I would say is look at Denofa's car. Or Essa/Bluss

[ButteDorFrank]

I'd say tie in to the frame rails ... weld a box on the rail on the car, then bolt the rear tube area on to it ... but I can't tell how the rear of the e46 is made from these pictures .

[Novablue454]

I'd say tie in to the frame rails ... weld a box on the rail on the car, then bolt the rear tube area on to it ... but I can't tell how the rear of the e46 is made from these pictures .

there are no frame rails left. They bend where they came out of the body so that's where I had to cut them. The remaining metal in that area is like a single layer of 16ga.

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I'm more idiot than fabricator so all I would say is look at Denofa's car. Or Essa/Bluss

That's not a bad idea. The only issue is usually those cars are tubed before they were wrecked so they had the framerails to work with

[doktor b]

what if you made a mini-jungle gym out of the trunk area and then hung the tube frame (and the rest of the rear) off of that?

i.e.
weld in plates at the old chassis leg stubs, shock towers, and upper chassis legs.
then, cobble together a series of tubes to link those 6 points.
then you'll have a solid base from which to hang the rear end.

this may be overly complicated/heavy...but it'll hold and distribute the loads across a lot of the car instead of localizing it. then, whatever you bashbar you make can be totally disposable as it'll absorb all the impact and leave the aforementioned structure intact.

**i am also not a fabricator. but i do like puzzles.

[welchct]

You should plate the floor above the sub-frame, with 3/16, in several places. Then weld and stitch the perimeter of the plates to keep it from cracking all the way around. Then build your tube structure from there. The area above the rear sub-frame is decently strong. From there triangulate to the shock mounts and forward to your cage. Then hang your rear tube work off the boxed frame section you originally were planning to build off the rear of the car. Once everything is tied together it should be ample support for the 300 lbs you plan to hang from it.

I believe you'll want to build your tube structure with some designed weak points that will fold under impact. You're starting to play with sizable if not irreversible amounts of damage if you allow the energy from a hit be absorbed by the cage or the chassis area above the sub-frame

[Novablue454]

You should plate the floor above the sub-frame, with 3/16, in several places. Then weld and stitch the perimeter of the plates to keep it from cracking all the way around. Then build your tube structure from there. The area above the rear sub-frame is decently strong. From there triangulate to the shock mounts and forward to your cage. Then hang your rear tube work off the boxed frame section you originally were planning to build off the rear of the car. Once everything is tied together it should be ample support for the 300 lbs you plan to hang from it.

I believe you'll want to build your tube structure with some designed weak points that will fold under impact. You're starting to play with sizable if not irreversible amounts of damage if you allow the energy from a hit be absorbed by the cage or the chassis area above the sub-frame

Sorry, I'm having a hard time picturing what you're saying. So you think I should tie in the subframe like this?



Then plate the points I cleaned in my above photo, build off of those and tie in supports to the shock tower bar?

I think this is what doktorB is suggesting as well.

And yeah, I know overbuilding it is a concern as well. I like the plan outlined above. What if I were to:

Plate framerail nubs where noted in above photos. Then weld on something like these AAF-ALL60107_ml.jpg

Make my new rear frame "hoop" with mounts to bolt to those ^

Secure with strong, but not too strong of bolts.

Then, box in my subframe mounts to the strut tower like shown above.

make tubes come from the rear frame "hoop" up to connect to the strut tower cross bar

fully weld those tubes to the frame hoop BUT attach them to the strut bar via weaker bolts or even hose clamps

My only concern then is the whole thing coming off too easily in an impact.

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Obviously these measurements are random guesses as my car is at my shop and i'm at work, but heres a rough example of what I am picturing. Is this what you're talking about?

[welchct]

Yes, sorry if my explanation was not clear. I actually had to walk away from that reply several times last night to tend to other things. DoktorB suggested doing basically what I was recommending. His post just wasn't up when I started mine.

The sheer bolts are probably a bad idea for something you'll have both your fuel system and cooling system mounted to. I would make the frame assembly very ridged and then hand the body work off something that crumples and absorbs the energy, not something that breaks free.

Maybe build your main inner structure from 1.5 .120 and then hang the body from 1" .095.

I'd recommend looking at some of the structures the Baja guys and stadium trucks incorporate into their trucks to support their body work.

[Novablue454]

Yes, sorry if my explanation was not clear. I actually had to walk away from that reply several times last night to tend to other things. DoktorB suggested doing basically what I was recommending. His post just wasn't up when I started mine.

The sheer bolts are probably a bad idea for something you'll have both your fuel system and cooling system mounted to. I would make the frame assembly very ridged and then hand the body work off something that crumples and absorbs the energy, not something that breaks free.

Maybe build your main inner structure from 1.5 .120 and then hang the body from 1" .095.

I'd recommend looking at some of the structures the Baja guys and stadium trucks incorporate into their trucks to support their body work.

I used the wrong terminology. Rather then actual shear bolts, I was more meaning a weaker bolt (but not that weak) something like a grade 5 (I will need to do more research), in a "double shear" type of mount. The radiator weight is taken by the subframe, so just the fuel cell will be on the rear. I don't want the rear to come off easily, but I would prefer to replace it and a fuel cell over replacing the chassis. The plan for the body work was to use like 1/4 or 1/2 steel rod off the tube rear going out to meet the 1/4s with dzus fasteners, and then the rear bash bar will bolt to the rear frame hoop using something like 8 grade 2 bolts.

[welchct]

You absolutely do not want the fuel cell to detach from the car. The fuel lines could rip loose and cause the whole cell to drain. That would be a terrible fire if it ignited.