--=BIRTH OF A SAND/DESERT CAR, The First Bend=--

THE FIRST COUPLA BENDS First we mark the complete tubing in 1 inch increments

Below is a pic of the tubing bender in action. Its a PRO TOOLS air over hydraulic tubing bender. Pipe benders will not work. Cost here is $1500... A cheaper PRO TOOLS MANUAL BENDER can be used that costs around $600 with a fairly good size protractor for accuracy. And must be solidly mounted.I've seen both in action. Both are excellent for accurate bending. Both come with 1 set of tubing dies. Any size. I ordered mine with the 1.5 inch tubing die. Marking the complete tubing in 1 inch increments is a must for the start/length/finish point of each bend. Plus everything has got to be level. And last, the angle of the bend. I think seeing both benders in action I would prefer the cheaper manual bender with the really good protractor. I will have to figure out how to accurately measure each degree of bend with this air/hydraulic bender. And then duplicate on another side rail...... They can be found at WWW.PRO-TOOLS.COM

Last bend and below is the completed first side lower rail. Now I must duplicate the exact bends for the piece and then do 2 sections for the upper rails- slightly different..... Starting to get the hang of bending this stuff. Cause once you bend it there's no turning back.

The width of each siderail is not critical yet. So I compensated buy making the end pieces a little longer. In the above picture you can see the centerline (between the seats) used to align the frame and parts. The engine/trans is ready to pull from the 76 Chevelle. Seats can be moved around a little and I guestimated on the overall length of the engine trans combo... Should be DAMN close. Gotta leave space for other things in there. But, work tomorrow. I won't do anything for the next 5 days but drive to and from Las Vegas, work and sleep.

The last pic is a view from the front. Everything is still adjustable as far as placment. The first prototype has started. Model 1a has begun. Who would watch this and buy a type 1b production. Modifications will still be adjusted for and put into the build. The second model will be made with ALL the compensation found in the first(this 1a) build. What I will market and price I am not sure just yet. Lets see what happens! ONWARD!

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