The fact that you have literally welded the two parts together is also of concern, because welding is a very inconsistent process.
Rubydist, I was all fired up to slam you because of this statement, but then I realized I agree with the basics of most of what you said in your post. I do have to say, though, that welding (as a process) is pretty well established as being consistent, safe, and the best method of fabricating custom frame components. Look at pretty much any hot rod shop- "Z'd" and "C'd" frames, camaro front clips grafted to early fords, not to mention full tube frames, NASCAR, and pro-street rear subframes. I don't see these guys bolting sections of bar together. They weld, and in many cases it is worlds better than the original, if designed and executed properly.
That being said:
This for Joeynovak-
It looks like the brackets that tie the P/U frame stubs to the SHO subframe are fastened (welded?) to the front frame horns of the SHO clip. This is a crumple zone, designed to fail in case of an accident, and probably not the best thing to have in the middle of a frame. I would suggest also running some rectangle tubing from the narrow "box" section of the frame, to tie into the P/U frame directly to reinforce across this weak area. Also, you might consider adding some cross-bracing diagonally from each front corner of the "box" sections of SHO frame to the stubs of the P/U frame.
I'm a little concerned with the steering setup- it looks like the "steering fixator" holds in place to the body pretty well, but what holds the steering column to the "fixator"? It seems to me like the best way to deal with steering is to ditch the entire setup and replace the steering rack with a solid bar fixed to the SHO front clip.
Now for the gas tank. I'd possibly think about relocating it under the center rear of the new cab section, if it were not for my best guess that a rear end collision would probably crush the crumple zones on the SHO subframe, pushing a hot exhaust manifold right into the tank. I'd say leave it in front, but turn it 90 degrees and tuck it as close to firewall as you can, and replace that yellow rubber line (air hose?) with hard line for the long run under the vehicle and as close as you can get to the pump.
Last, I would seriously recommend finding a local weld shop to look at your welds for the brackets joining the P/U stubs and the SHO frame. It's hard to tell in the pictures, but it looks to me like you ran pretty cold beads, judging by the pics under "viola!" and "I'm not so sure..." in your album. This means that it may look like there's a solid weld there, but it does not go deep enough into the parent material to be structurally sound
I hope you take all this as constructive criticism. It does not look to me like you are doing a half-assed job. I think you are putting a good deal of planning and ingenuity into building a fun project. Even with my above comments, I think I'd feel safer riding in or driving next to your project than I would in many of the heaps of junk I see driving on public roads down here in Florida.
Oh- and don't count on the state "inspection" to tell you if your vehicle is safe. You may have a few good guys in the inspection centers, but a lot of them won't have any clue what they are looking at if it's not stock. Why do you think they are working in the inspection center instead of a real garage?
Congratulations on having the cojones to tackle such an ambitious project, and jumping right in with both feet.:woohoo:
You inspire me to continue my plans for a SHO-powered... nope, it's gonna be a surprise.
Josh,
Mechanical Engineer
this thread rocks.
