fordcortina.com.au
Tuning & Tech Center => DIY: Do It Yourself articles => Topic started by: Oscar of Markoz on March 25, 2008, 09:55:13 PM
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Tools needed for this are :·
* Strong welder (must do at least 6mm)
* Cut Saw
* Drill
* Grinder
* Square file
* Multiple Drill Bits
* Cuting disc and grinding disc
* Flap disc or Seaweed Disc
* Engine crane or a few mates
Materials needed:
* 40mm square tubing
* 50mm square tubing
* 65mm square tubing
* 30mm square tubing
* 25 x 50mm rectangular tubing
* Spare set of Bumper Bar Brackets (Front and Rear)
* 8 bolts (10mm thick and about 40mm long) with suitable nuts
Ok, 1st things first. Strip the car. Engine, gearbox, diff, fuel tank, brakes and suspension, steering rack, booster and master, bonnet, boot, doors and all interior except the dash. The more weight you take out of it, the easier it will be to rotate and lift of course. Place the car up on jack stands at the highest setting
If I mention welding a part onto another, make sure the areas are both clean and free of all paint. I found the flap disc or the seaweed disc best for removing the paint of parts.
Step 1:
I got onto ebay and bought a pair of heavy duty engine stands. These are the ones that have 4 castors and are rated at about 400kg each. I managed to pick up a pair delivered to my door for $160.
Once they arrive, build them up.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota1.jpg)
Step 2:
Cut the base of the neck at the right angle bracket. The reason for this is because the neck angles back slightly. You want to make it straight though. So place it on the Cutsaw and cut it off straight. There will be excess material on the right angle bracket, just grind it back so that its flush and smooth.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota2.jpg)
When you weld it back on, it’ll then go on straight and at a perfect 90 degrees.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota3.jpg)
Here you can see the difference with the stand that hasn’t been cut and the stand that has been.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota4.jpg)
Step 3:
Now to start bracing it further for more support. I used 40mm square tubing here. Cut the tubing one end at a 45 degree angle on the cut saw. Make the length of the brace to start at near the edge of the stand at the bottom corner near the legs and then see how far up the neck it goes. Mark it off and then cut again at 45 degrees. I found the GMC cutsaw to not have the best fence or clamp, so you might have to go slow and cut carefully. I had to adjust the angle and make them exact by grinding with the flap disc.
Now weld them on.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota6.jpg)
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota7.jpg)
Step 4:
Weld a piece of 50mm square tubing to the plate on the engine stand (the one with the tube that rotates inside the neck). I made these bars just wider than the width between each bumper bar bracket. The brackets Iam talking about are the main ones which attach to the front chassis rails. This should be the same for TE’s as TF’s.
I decided to weld it to the bottom of the plate. Make sure the 50mm bars centre is in the centre (across) of the plate for good balance.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota8.jpg)
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota9.jpg)
Step 5:
I then used a spare set of TF Front Bar Brackets to use to add further support to the bracing for the rotating section of the Rotisserie.
I marked them as such to cut.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota10.jpg)
The reason for that is so that I could insert them into the 25mm x 50mm tubing.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota11.jpg)
I then drilled a few holes into the tubing for some plug welds. I turned the piece of bracket and marked out the tubing to mark exactly where the bracket bolts go. I then drilled them out just bigger than the size of the nut (which is welded to the bumper bracket).
I inserted the bracket piece and put the bolts into and did them up tight, this made the bracket go hard against the tubing side, then I plug welded it in place.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota13.jpg)
This is what the tubing looks like in place.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota12.jpg)
I then placed the bar in place and put the bumper bar bolts onto it. I then marked the bar with a spirit level at a perfect vertical position. You can see the line in the photo above. This line is where you will be cutting the tubing to attach to the 50mm tubing that’s welded to the rotating plate. Allow enough distance to so the 50mm bar that runs across will clear the most forward point of the car, which is the radiator support. I made it clear by about 100mm. I then marked the bar 25mm further back from the vertical cut I just made. This is the depth that the tubing will be placed into the 50mm tubing.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota14.jpg)
Step 6:
I then cut a perfect trench into the 50mm bar at the face that faces the radiator support. Cut the trenches at the exact distance between the 2 brackets.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota15.jpg)
Step 7:
Then place the bar onto the bars which are attached to the bumper bar holes which should still be in place. This part is tricky as you’ll have to make up something to hold the bar in place for you to weld. And you have to make sure the rotating plate is dead vertical. This could be a job for 2 people. One to hold the bar in place and another to weld it.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota17.jpg)
Step 8:
I then started on the rear bumper bar supports. I did the same to the rear bumper bar brackets and cut them to suit the 30mm tubing. I found the 30mm was the only tubing to fit inside the rear bar bracket cavity. Again make sure that the 30mm tubing sits out past the rearest point of the car by about 100mm
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota18.jpg)
I did the same as the front bar supports and marked out the holes on the rear bar brackets onto the tubing, drilled them out larger than the nut holes on the rear bar bracket. Drill more holes for plug welds, bolted the brackets inside the tubing tight and plug welded them to the tubing.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota19.jpg)
They look like this once in place
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota20.jpg)
Step 9:
I then marked out the 50mm tubing so that I could insert the rear bar supports straight into the 50mm tubing. Again make sure the distance apart is exactly the distance that the brackets stick out at. This trench took a fair amount of work, with multiple little holes to get the main hole done and then the square file to make it the perfect shape of the 30mm tubing. Maybe a metal hole-saw could be used here but I didn’t have one.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota21.jpg)
It should look like this in place.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota22.jpg)
Step 10:
Now you need to mark the rear of the 50mm bar. Mark it as if you were thinking of making the 30mm bar go straight through the 50mm bar. Now drill out just the 4 corners directly into the 30mm bar (if it were there of course).
The holes should look like this
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota23.jpg)
Now plug weld them and weld the bars from inside too. You should have access from the side of the 50mm tubing.
Step 11:
I then welded the other Rotating plate to the 50mm tubing. Make sure its level with the height of the other rotating plate at the front. They should be the same height from the ground (if your car is level front to back, measure this from the sill panels, if not make the necessary adjustments to the rotating plate height)
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota24.jpg)
Step 12:
Now we need to extend the neck of the stand. I made the necks height to be 1010mm This is from the ground to the bottom on the round tube on the neck. It clears pretty easy.
Extend the neck by cutting the necks tube about 100mm from the top with the cut saw at dead horizontal. Then extend it with the 65mm tubing. Make sure you have at least 100mm of neck at the bottom and the top inside the 65mm tubing to add further support. The 65mm tubing in my case is slightly bigger than the neck, so I tacked it, then hammered the 65mm tubing to sit hard up against the necks tubing and then fully welded it. Make sure the tube at the top of the neck gets welded on dead horizontal again.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota25.jpg)
Step 13:
This is the last piece of the puzzle. Get 2 lengths of 40mm tubing which are about half way up the bottom legs of the stands at each end (as this is how far into them you’ll be inserting them, for me it was 3500mm in length). Drill 2 holes on each leg and then insert the tubing. Mark where the holes will be on the 40mm tubing. Take the tubing back out and drill out. This is where the bolts get used. Drill out the holes in the tubing, bigger than the nuts that suit the bolts.
Weld the nuts to the top of the 40mm tubing above the holes you just drilled into it.
Slide the tubing back into the legs. Line up the holes and bolt the tubing in from the outside (on top of the legs).
This keeps the stands from moving individually. And allows everything to move as a unit.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota26.jpg)
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota27.jpg)
And this is what it looks like once its completed from both ends.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota30.jpg)
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota31.jpg)
Step 14:
Getting the car up onto the Rotisserie is alittle tricky if doing it alone. The front is light enough to lift up onto the front stand, but the rear is heavy as. The rear I end up using an engine crane and chained it to the rear bar support and lifted it that way. But I reckon with about 4 blokes it should be a piece of piss to lift onto both sides.
When rotating it, just be careful and do it with 2 people as the centre of gravity isn’t quite right and it tends to want to rotate to the right on its own, for the added weight of the steering column etc. Slowly does it. But once its on its side, you can push it easy as around the garage.
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota28.jpg)
(http://www.exodus-online.com/uploads/oz/rota29.jpg)
If anyone needs other measurements of certain parts, just let me know. I haven’t included some measurements to allow for personal differences and any differences in tubing or the engine stands that you acquire.
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Nice job oscar. This is definatly an easier approach than building it from scratch like I did. The only thing I think that would make it easier in terms of getting the car up is to have it adjustable.
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yeah i was thinkin rather than welding the upright solid to have a set of bolt holes so you could load the car onto it at standard jack stand height then just a few mates to lift it straight up and bolt the upright to height
also with the plates from engine stand to car if ya turned them the other way you could prolly get the pivot point better just need to run some more bracing at the middle i guess to stop the plate flexing
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Sorry Guys, the actual height from the floor to the bottom of the neck is 1110mm not 1010mm as I have written.
Thats not a bad idea with the upright there pcman.
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hey Oscar,
if I email you a pic, can you put it up in this thread?