Got me a blank canvas.

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Cope

Cope

Fusing with fire
Joined
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San Jose, Ca.
Customer brought his car in for a cage. Well it's a good enough looking car on the out side but the inside is destroyed.

I hope when he sees my car, what we can do with aluminum I'll get the OK to just fix the entire interior. (My car wasn't at the shop today, I drove my daily) so when i get his money for the cage I'll bring my car down and let him see just how nice I can make the interior.

Fingers crossed, I'd love to be able to run with this project.

My buddy is building him a blown big block Dart engine so I'm guessing he has the cash.

Don't worry it's not a real super sport.

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Heres why some folks should not work on there own cars...

This is a car running a 15.5×30 rear tire. When my buddy is done with the engine it will make over 1,000Hp.

This is a crack in the frame right where the back half meets the old frame. (This is not what I was paid to fix but I already welded it up.) Not to mention all the garbage welds on the rest of the chassis.

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Here is a big gap in the frame cap right where the main hoop attaches. Yes I'm fixing it at no charge.

(For some reason these pics wont up load.)


When I see this **** I cant just leave it.
It's only his life, hell just dont look that hard and do what I'm quoted to do...

This car need to go on the lift and be fully gone over but that's not happening so, I'll just fix what I can and build the best cage I can because my cage is all that will be holding this car together..

:soapbox:
 
Cope said:
Heres why some folks should not work on there own cars...

This is a car running a 15.5×30 rear tire. When my buddy is done with the engine it will make over 1,000Hp.

This is a crack in the frame right where the back half meets the old frame. (This is not what I was paid to fix but I already welded it up.) Not to mention all the garbage welds on the rest of the chassis.

View attachment 1715282744


It's only his life,

:soapbox:
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Starting over comes to mind. Its's hard to tell from the pics Cope but it looks like a lot of incipient failure with the initial project. Do What you can do? Sorry you are subject to that position.
 
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I'm just going to take a lot of pics and save em to my hard drive.

My welds are nice. If this car has a failure it wont be my work.

The sad thing is, this guy wants a nice and fast car but all this BS compounds into a chassis that is garbage. Its tolerance stacking. All the crap adds up.

The problem is the owner built the car and is very proud of it. So its gonna be hard to convince him it all needs to be redone. Let alone the cost of rebuilding it.

I can make it look good but its gonna take a lot to make it safe.
 
I understand from an everyday perspective. Frustrating. Where do we draw the line?
 
If I was lucky enough to have a Chevelle, I'd go with one of those complete chassis ready to go from art Morrison. Or the other company that makes em.
 
mopardude318 said:
If I was lucky enough to have a Chevelle, I'd go with one of those complete chassis ready to go from art Morrison. Or the other company that makes em.
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An Art Morrison chassis is a good way to go with some compromises. There are O.E. platforms that can fit the bill vs. aftermarket chassis depending on the application.
Don't get me wrong, Art Morrison and the like manufacture good pieces but a lot can be had from good old hot rodding practices with an O.E. chassis.
 
If I had my choice I'd build the entire chassis out of tube and toss the rest in the scrap bin.

It's the save a nicke and spend a dollar problem.

The floor pan is rusty, I cut the floor pan to drop the cage onto the frame. So now I'm patching the pan and why not just pay us to build a new pan section Vs patch the cut?

I guess the reality of it is, if I wanna run a Race car fab shop this is what I have to deal with. Until I can afford to just say what goes and what gets worked on this is my life.
 
Cope said:
If I had my choice I'd build the entire chassis out of tube and toss the rest in the scrap bin.

It's the save a nicke and spend a dollar problem.

The floor pan is rusty, I cut the floor pan to drop the cage onto the frame. So now I'm patching the pan and why not just pay us to build a new pan section Vs patch the cut?

I guess the reality of it is, if I wanna run a Race car fab shop this is what I have to deal with. Until I can afford to just say what goes and what gets worked on this is my life.
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It's a vicious circle. It's hard for sure. Few people are self-made these days. It's hard to compete with the bottle fed competition who think they hit a home run when in all reality they hit a stand-up double. I wont blow smoke up your *** Cope. Good luck.
 
Bodyperson said:
It's a vicious circle. It's hard for sure. Few people are self-made these days. It's hard to compete with the bottle fed competition who think they hit a home run when in all reality they hit a stand-up double. I wont blow smoke up your *** Cope. Good luck.
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I too have earned a living welding, I think what you are facing is a never ending issue in our trade regardless of venue. Whether it is putting a roll cage in stretching a semi or a Harley. We see that kind of stuff and you just can't look away. But at some point the harsh reality of economics swats you. You try and explain the safety aspect and some folks think you are just trying to gouge them. Documentation is your best friend. I think you are being smart keeping a photo log. Once the guy sees your car he may very well turn you loose.
 
Sublime one said:
I too have earned a living welding, I think what you are facing is a never ending issue in our trade regardless of venue. Whether it is putting a roll cage in stretching a semi or a Harley. We see that kind of stuff and you just can't look away. But at some point the harsh reality of economics swats you. You try and explain the safety aspect and some folks think you are just trying to gouge them. Documentation is your best friend. I think you are being smart keeping a photo log. Once the guy sees your car he may very well turn you loose.
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Its a dam chevy, dime a dozen around here. U should take the pics /before and after, show him what a piece of garbage it is .
Never had any interest in any kind of Chevelle myself------------vega, chevy 2/ 66-72 maybe .
 
I would show the customer what is wrong and how unsafe it is and if he refused to have the problems fixed I would turn him away, I know its hard to turn away work but you are fixing things that were not discussed on your own dime and if something go's wrong when he is driving it he is most likely to blame you. The world is full of people who do not take responsibility for what they know they did wrong. Be carful. I do hope after seeing your car he will let you redo his.

Jeff
 
Finished the cage. Keep in mind this is a "street" car. The owner did not want a dash bar or door bars, also the shoulder bar is an inch low because he wanted it below the window line.

It's not the fanciest cage I've ever built but it's real clean. If he desired I could easily put door bars, a dash bar and front legs to pass 8.50 tech.

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I also got the go ahead to do a full aluminum interior, this thing is gonna look great. To bad he dont wanna fix the dang frame but that's not my call.
 
There is only one way to do it right. Too bad some folks don’t understand that.

Good enough just isn’t a real choice when it come to this kind of stuff. There is no grey area between right and not right.
 
I fully agree. When the 1,200HP blown big block hooks those 15.5 slicks, **** is gonna get real interesting for him....

:steering::realcrazy::rofl:
 
Cope said:
I fully agree. When the 1,200HP blown big block hooks those 15.5 slicks, **** is gonna get real interesting for him....

:steering::realcrazy::rofl:
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There are no words to prepare you for the sheer brutality of a hard launch with big meat if you have never experienced it. I am not talking about a "street" 500 HP car but a full on beast which is what that build will end up being. Guys say they want it, then it literally scares the crap out of them (as it should). Some guys turn into track junkies and some go a different way.
Until a mere car has tossed you all over in your seat imposing its will upon you, and you in equal measure strive to impose your will upon it, ya just haven't lived!
 
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