Getting there slowly it is looking better. Seamless CDS tubing is the stuff but years ago a builder of quality buggies built a rail from new scaffold tube and had the clamps welded on for the front axle mounting I will say it took some serious abuse but was heavy.

For some reason (and it could be unwarranted) but I have an alarm bell ringing in my head about scaffold tube and being brittle ?

Could be wrong and hopefully someone with a bit more knowledge of metals will correct me 

Not so! it has a lot of spring to it. I have seen a race car that was built using S-P hit a wall and come back into the track. Where you want a hit and just stop and it has hard spots and been! hot dipped. The seam can split why bending and You never really know what strength it has as well. I all ways used steam pipe as CDS was big money for autograss car building but some 4x4 events will let people use S-Pipe..

Evening mate , the plan is now rolling forward nicely . I had a cracking couple of afternoons notching / scalloping , and tomorrow plant to start fitting some of it .

Hope your keeping well down south 👍🏻

The tow balls not very useful then....

Wow glad you've got an idea of how to sort it out,
looks like its gonna be very warm in there with all the welding that's gonna be going on 

Cheers H

Hi Paul , Admittedly my pillar drill was cheap but I only ever used it for wood work and the gearing was a poor selection from fast to stupid fast , so no real use for metal work above 7/8mm as the drills would just overheat .

Managed to get a good batch of scalloping done but it's easy to tell when the hike saw blunts as it snatchs the tube and cuts an oval more than a circle , so the scallop is slightly wide .




Out of 2 cheap holes 44mm hole saws I've easily cut 16 scallops , with some life left in 1 . And an old 67mm hole saw made two scallops for the tubes notching over the rear beam .

I am now in the market for a new pillar drill , as also with all the shaking from trying to core onto tube , the NVR switch no longer stays locked in , so have to hold it in while drilling ..

I was warned many years ago by a record rep , and he said there was a difference between the bearings in a wood pillar drill and metal drilling pillar drill . Along with just crap quality machining tolerances .

My problem is that I don't have the room for another floor standing machine , but a decent bench one is hard to find aswell .

I am admittedly using 44mm seamer tube for my rework of the floor pan , purely as I don't intend it to be road going and keeping the cost on this practice run down .

I don't doubt scaffold tube is strong as —— and served well , but I have a strong aversion of welding anything galv as I have had two rounds of welders flu , along with always questioning the real strength of the actual weld as I am trying to keep the welds looking pretty and not "have" to grind them due to ugliness .

Getting there slowly it is looking better. Seamless CDS tubing is the stuff but years ago a builder of quality buggies built a rail from new scaffold tube and had the clamps welded on for the front axle mounting I will say it took some serious abuse but was heavy.

Evening all , not much on the progress side as of late but did manage to get some new seats that I got on eBay fitted .I ended up giving up on the fibreglass rework as time isn't to surplus at the moment .

It's a simple frame made of 20x20 and built with the angle I wanted into it so the seats have a nice tilt back to them .

The frame completely unbolts , all captive nuts welded in and actually used the two 10mm threads in the castings of the rear torsion beam , I am guessing we're originally body mount locations . Once finished properly , not only will I bolt them down via the threads but also add some locking nuts .





It's been fun sitting in it looking like a lemon as the neighbours watch 😂 packing it up and down .

so here are the rest of the pics as they were on the laptop .
whilst the angle looks severe , once mounted its not that much , so fittedwith 2 M10 bolts at rear and 8 x M6 at the front ,4 legs 2 in each








heres the final look







pleaed so far , next is the harness brackets and setting up the gear stick and shaft , as the original is "shafted" with rust and two inchs short .and 22mm tube is not off the shelf .

  somebody may have a shift rod

somebody may have a shift rod

If somebody did that would be awesome , as i only need 600 with front fitting / cup , the non pin ball of the   stick type and the gear box end seperately as mine is not only too short but also wrotten horrible plus bent to buggery

beer tokens awaiting

It's been a bit quite for me recently , due to unwanted time from work ! So i have had a chance to do a bit more to the rail .

I've managed to get the bulk of the roll cage and other frame work done , although there are still some niggely bits to do along with the rear frame and engine protection cage .









I've been using a very handy free web page that you add in tube sizes , angles and then print out a template , cut it out and wrap round the tube . Cut the line and sand internally to create the perfect scallop .

Also , I've been building the front "nudge" bumper as bull bars seem frowned upon in law ....











And now have been toying with the idea of side paniers , so decided to mock one up using 40mm solvent waste pipe , just to see if I liked the idea .










Overall , going well , next on the agenda is steering set up , which I need to get a UJ into as cant get it to where I need it cleanly . And also the pedal set up , which I made a separate request about .

Also hand to admit I will be getting a nylon "bush / bearing " made up as the one in the steering column is seized and I'm not into paying £25 for one , especially as it isn't sealed , and will be in the outside elements , so won't last long .

Cheers for now .