(Click on any image to enlarge)

I opened my lock-up and stood staring at all the steel tubes laid there. My right arm biceps, (pumped up like Popeye`s would be if he'd parachute landed in to a field of spinach), was still throbbing from cutting the 10mm flat plate that I `d used for the front kingpin cradles. Looking at the plans, all these tubes needed cutting at the correct angles & lengths if the frame was going to look anything like a good job.

A plan was hatching in my head. I went to our local wholesale warehouse and come back with this...But that is a wood saw I hear you scream!! Quite right, but with a little modification (and nulling the guarantee) I fitted an abrasive cut off disc in place of the wood blade!!. Top dolla!! The machine is worth its weight in gold. It's possible to cut any angle you need with this. And, to be honest, it was a lot less money than buying a "proper" metal saw. I used a total of 3 abrasive discs for the whole project - at about £2 a disc...

Anyhow, back to the job in hand. After a couple of hours cutting (with the new saw) , welding and measuring I had this. This is the bottom part of the frame. The main problem I had with making this, was keeping everything square. It's very easy to get carried away with the welder you see. When you weld a joint, the heat generated tends to pull the frame into twist!! This is why car manufacturers use jigs!! So I found it a lot better to just to tack weld every joint (less heat) and get all the bracing in. That way the frame can't twist. I did not fully weld all the joints until the buggy was complete. I then stripped it back to the frame & seem welded everthing.,

I also had to bend some tube for the roll cage so I hired an hydraulic pipe bender for the day. This really is the only way to do this. It is really easy to get the right shape bends with this tool. In fact the kids did most of the pipe bending, with me just keeping an eye on the measurements.

I got so paronoid about keeping the frame flat and square, that I went out and purchased big board to lay the tubes on. This turned out to be a good idea because you can draw on the board the shape that your frame should be. So I started the top frame. Not long before I had this. A little trick to get the angles right is shown. Mark the centre of all the cross bars, and line them up with a length of bar before tacking all the joints.

With the top and bottom frame done, a couple of uprights where cut and the thing gets bit of shape.

Throw in the first part of the roll bar, the back swing arm supports, the front wishbone supports, and the rear spring support...

and it now really starts to look like a buggy!

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