D96-97: Front End Rebuild + Radiator Mounts

I've never been happy with the front uprights I had, so I decided to rebuild these. Below is the new set. Now, both uprights are 1 1/2" square 1/8" tube instead of the normal 1" 16awg. This should provide plenty of strength to the upper a-arm mounts. If (big if) I keep the upper mounts in single shear, these will provide a much stronger mounting point and should hold up better to the torsional load created.

I haven't added the 3/4" DOM tube yet, but the front and back will now be in-line. I haven't figured out how to modify the upper a-arm yet. With the two mounts being in-line, I need to figure out the best way of using the heim joints without maxing out their travel. With the old design they were already close to being maxed out. I might just have to settle for less points of adjustment.

I've also got the radiator mounted to the new uprights. I'm still using the factory BMW radiator and mount points. However, I'm mounting from the rear instead of the front of the radiator.

The last piece of progress was finally adding some supports to top level of the frame in the engine bay. This is also a better view of the radiator upper mounts.

D93-95: Floor + Welding + Update

I'm back! After 3 months of training, Ride the Rockies has come and gone. Turned into a shorter week than planned because of a knee injury, but still had 4 good days and 300 miles on the bike.

Here's a pic of my brother and I at the top of Independence Pass. This was after 6000 ft of climbing, most in the last 15 mi. I've been wanting to climb this pass for years and was excited to finally get the chance.

On to the build progress. I've spent a little time over the past few days getting the floor finished and working on finish welding the frame. I'd say I'm 95% complete on welding... but I keep finding more that needs to be finished.

I'm also working on the upper a-arm support to eliminate the "single shear" in the current design and figuring out where the shocks are going to mount.