Thread: 1996 Blazer VL100 Restoration to Crappie Chaser

I still had the old Weldcraft TIG torch I took off my machine. Fixed Head, no swivel, no flex, I miss the Radnor torch already.



Tacking was sure easier this afternoon welding without antifreeze contamination.



Measuring the back leg lengths could be tough except there is a trick to make it easy. You clamp a straight edge along the top of the pipe you want to line up to then measure down to the weld point of the bottom of the leg. Works like a charm.



Rolled in the crown to exactly match the forward bow.



Now setting up for a perfectly positioned rear bow is no easy feat. The reason some tops look crokked is because the fabricator will not take the time to get it perfect in each step. Eyeballing is not a practice here, I measure and remeasure till I'm satisfied it is the best position it is going to get. Makes progress very slow.



I have clamps all over this project. Ended up using bungees too to hold everything perfect for tacking.



I take one side at a time, I get one side tacked then I move to the other side.



Talk about threading a needle, just enough room to access the rod holders but nothing extra.



All tacked up and ready to remove from the boat and continue with bracing. Looking from the front it is perfectly square and square with the boat.



This is when you know you're putting down some good pipe bending work when your layout marks align after welding like these did.

I spent all morning doing the dirt work repairing and sculpting the yard where the stumps were ground cleaning up after the tornado. All the old shavings had to be dug out and removed from the yard before the sculpting could start. I earned my wine today.

I started the day pressure washing the side of my shop that was damaged by the tornado. A tube of caulk later all the needed caulking was done. After that I got back on the Arch. Tomorrow morning I will be on a paint roller painting the side of the shop before the heat gets ramped up.



I welded out the bases first. My old TIG torch a Miller Weldcraft WP-20 still welds if I can. The fixed head of the WP-20 puts me in way more "Out-of-Position-Welding" than the Radnor Flex Head (it also swiveled) does.



Before I went any further I put the Arch back on the boat, pulled the back bolts, and laid in down forward to see if there was any binding. All good.



Thinking I needed at least one stabilizer cross pipe I decided on two 3/4in Pipes instead. These are 1.06 inches OD and a 1in clamp-on rod holder fits perfectly. If I want to troll at some point I will just need to add the rod holders. Using a framing square I laid out the location of the pipes then used my angle finder to get the setting for the coping tool.



I cut the 4 pipes I needed first then coped the 37.5 degree side of all four. Then fitted the 25 degree side to get a perfect fit on all 4 pipes.



After tacking all 4 pipes in place I started welding them out.



It was much easier to sit in a chair to finish all the welding. By laying the Arch down it was a cake walk. I'm a bit rusty so sitting also helped me hold the TIG torch steady.

That looks really good. Looks very sturdy and well made. Awesome work.

Originally Posted by SuperDave336

That looks really good. Looks very sturdy and well made. Awesome work.

Painting it is next but this morning I'm painting the side of my shop then going to see if I can catch a few Sac-a-lait.

Originally Posted by Rojo

Painting it is next but this morning I'm painting the side of my shop then going to see if I can catch a few Sac-a-lait.

Hope the painting goes smoothly and you load the boat with good eats! Have fun.

Onward, I'm looking to get this finished. Bending the frame bows today as well as locating all the mounting for the hardware.



Figured out where the bottom Bimini mounting base was going but couldn't find my tap handle. I had to order a replacement. So I drilled the holes and used sheet metal scews to tack the hardware on till I can thread the aluminum.



I buy this aluminum Bimini frame material in bundles of 10, I have 3 left. If you make a full sized bow that is a joint used. Switched out the 1in pipe dies for the 7/8in OD Tubing dies. You can see a joint is quite long, there is a long leg sticking out the other side of the bender too.



Using a digital angle finder keeps my bends of as perfect a plane as possible. It takes a lot of adjusting to stay within a 1/2 degree of bend. My bender didn't come with any kind of gauge so I made one out of scrap floorboard material (glad Slab got one with his Jeep or he may be hunting mine LOL) and a old steel ruler.



The radius in the 7/8in bending dies is 4in so the curve of the bends won't match the 6in radius of the 1in pipe dies. I would have ordered all the same radius today.



After bending and rolling the crown in the forward Bow I laid it on top of the Bimini Arch where it will be mounted, clamped it in place, then used the mounting hardware to determine exactly where to cut each leg.



I put a slight bend in the bottom of each forward leg so the hardware will clear the upper bow mounting hardware & the upper bow. You can see everything is lining up nicely. The bows have a little slack in them till you get the fabric on.



Now the fun begins. I have to figure out where the Mid Bow mounts & how long the legs need to be so when it folds the bows are even (the mid bows are always a inch longer) and when unfolded the two bows are parallel. I start with setting the height of the forward bow. It is 2inches lower than the back bow so when on a plane it doesn't catch air.



Now that I have the height of the forward bow it must be squared. This is done with clamps, some 1x2's, a good measuring tape, and patience. Also the center between the bows is located, a straightedge is clamped in squarely.



Matching the angle of the forward bow I clamp a extension straightedge to the angle finder, slide the angle finder down the aft bow till the straightedge just touches the center straightedge. I put a mark on the aft bow, this is the center of the mid bow mount location.



After fabricating the Mid Bow I drop it in the mounting hardware to see how it falls in place. Well I added 1in to the legs before cutting (you can't make them longer) but you can see in the picture the legs are 1 in too long.



You can see after trimming it fits perfectly. It needs to be a little higher to prevent water from puddling on top.



The frame is finished, the 1x2's are again engaged as the frame must once again be all squared up then clamped very well in place so I can make the pattern for the new canvas.

Wow, beautiful work!

Very nice!