Surfer Rack Makeover Thread

[LUV2XCLR8]

Well as some of you know my jimmy has the Surfer rack on top, well what
some of you don't know is where I work. ( Tennalum ) Today I scored 4-6'
Aluminum rods. It is a newer alloy we produce and has a very high corrosion
tollerance, the old rack was cheesy chrome tubing, this polished billet stuff
aught to make a vast improvement, though it will be heavier overall. Here is
the beginning pic's, and hopefully in less than a month we will have finished
pics oh and by the way, I scored all of them for a whoping $10. Before
you ask, I CAN'T sell any due to company liability issues, sorry, the pic's

[LUV2XCLR8]

Set screws removed, rack off the roof, all in pieces now, one small
issue, the damn long rods ends are still stuck in the bullets, damnit.

[Ron 586]

Craig, if you have a steady hand and the tools needed you can make this problem go away. Cut the long rod and leave about 1/2 inch sticking out. Use a die grinder, Dremel tool, or a jig saw and cut a line just to one side of the setscrew hole. Be careful not to cut through the long tube wall. All we want is to weaken it until you can use a pin punch through the screw hole and collapse the tube and use a chisel to collapse the end inside the tube and the 1/2 inch you left sticking out. After you get it collapsed to where you can get a pair of needle nose pliers or vice grips hold of it you should be able to work it out. Make sure to keep these parts soaked in a good penetrant while all this is going on. If you don't have any luck bring them up when you return the trailer and we'll do it here. Any questions you have my number.

[see ten]

Hmmm, Looks like both your babies are in the garage.........you must have done some sweet talkin! PB 80 or PB blaster is a good penetrant for those stuck parts. Don't give up, the roof rack rocks!

[LUV2XCLR8]

Originally Posted by see ten

Hmmm, Looks like both your babies are in the garage.........

She came home last night, opened the garage door, and there "we"
were, working on her rack she blew the horn and I gave her a dirty
look, she got out and said "That's in my spot" to which I replied "It's the
weekend" so she was not happy, but got over it, tyvm for the tips

*Ron, hope to be bringing the trailer back the week of 11/12 if it's ok?

[Ron 586]

Originally Posted by LUV2XCLR8

She came home last night, opened the garage door, and there "we"
were, working on her rack she blew the horn and I gave her a dirty
look, she got out and said "That's in my spot" to which I replied "It's the
weekend" so she was not happy, but got over it, tyvm for the tips

*Ron, hope to be bringing the trailer back the week of 11/12 if it's ok?

11/12 is fine as far as I know now. Things change quick around here. Got to have a picture of your garage full of blazers. Good luck with your roof rack job. Things like that just take a little time and patience.

[71SWBChevy]

Originally Posted by LUV2XCLR8

She came home last night, opened the garage door, and there "we"
were, working on her rack she blew the horn and I gave her a dirty
look, she got out and said "That's in my spot" to which I replied "It's the
weekend" so she was not happy, but got over it, tyvm for the tips

*Ron, hope to be bringing the trailer back the week of 11/12 if it's ok?

the first thing I thought when I saw those pictures was both blazers are in the garage that sucks... its to damn cold for craig to be sleeping outside!

[vtblazer]

Originally Posted by see ten

PB 80 or PB blaster is a good penetrant for those stuck parts.

I'd soak em for a couple days then try again.

[watahyahknow]

if its realy realy impossible to get it out you could try this : get a piece of threaded rod a ring that will fitt inside the bullet but on the edge of the pipe youre trying to get out and a piece of pipe that slides over the pipe you get out and buds against the bullet .
the idea is to use the treaded rod to pull the old pipe in too the other bigger pipe with help of a bolt at each end turned tighter .
from wat i see on the pics you can get to the end of the old pipe inside the bulletfrom the side .
soaking it might be enough though

[BOSS]

that doesnt look like it will be fun

[bouncytruck]

I thought you were going to ditch the roof rack?

[LUV2XCLR8]

ALREADY OUT, soaked them yesterday with "Slick 50 one lube" it was all I
had in the garage, one had to be punched, torn, ripped, chiseled out, the
others slid out with a lil grunting and alot of cusing I hope to get the
billet rods cut & drilled tomorrow after church, and I might get finished

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by LUV2XCLR8;

.... I hope to get the
billet rods cut & drilled tomorrow after church, and I might get finished

What condition are the bullets in? You gonna re-chrome them?

[LUV2XCLR8]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

What condition are the bullets in? You gonna re-chrome them?

Hotrod, no idea maybe try Evil Bay ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Trux, not right now, this is a driver and not a show truck, they
are in 8 out of 10 condition, very small pitting and haze on em.

*Added a pic of how it looked before I destroyed it Friday

[hotrodhomi]

Can you still buy these racks?

[hotrodhomi]

whats it look like on the inside of the top? How does it bolt up?

[LUV2XCLR8]

Didn't get to work on it at all this weekend, did a lil cutting at work
today, I got all of the rods measured and cut, still need to drill the
holes to mount it, I guess I will have to arch the front and rear, on
the original rack those two had a slight arch in them, is it needed?

*I still have not used the scotch bright on them yet, these are raw.

[watahyahknow]

i think they made the arc to prevent the rods from sagging through and hitting the roof itself .
eeeh it has an upwart arc and you put a load on it it will try to straighten and become wider but because its wedged inside the bullets screwed in the roof it cant move out so it keeps its shape.
when its a straight bar and it bends down it would pull itself out of the bullets because it gets shorter ........... hope you can see it in youre mind like i doo

[LUV2XCLR8]

LMAO @ Drew, and whataya that's what I figured also, the old TUBE
rods are pretty flimsy, these BILLET screw machine stock rods are tuff, If I
choose to arc em I will have to do it with or conduit bender at work, yes it
is that tuff, I am going to test fit them as is, if I like it it will stay that way.

[Yukon Jack]

That's going to be one sweet rack! Good and beefy!

[LUV2XCLR8]

Originally Posted by hotrodhomi

whats it look like on the inside of the top? How does it bolt up?

I'll try to get ya a pic this week, can you say HOLES, lots of them

Thanks YJ, it's gonna be a slow week, I'm on Kaizen at work all week and
do not get home early like normal, got my screws today, had them order
them through work, they are a 1/4" longer than the OE ones, but they've
got a cap head using a allen wrench vs. the old phillips style, I ordered
them just a lil long since I will probably step bit the holes to flush mount.

[5150]

Hate to beat a dead horse and not talk about the thread topic, but Craig I have an extra bedroom here at the house. Of course that offer only stands if you bring BLOCLVL and GQ with you. I can strip, errrrr, clean them for you while you are at work.

[Ron 586]

Good job on the rack. Can't wait for road trip shot going down I-40 with turtle top strapped on.

[LUV2XCLR8]

95% Finished, just need to Polish the old ROD(s) a bit more

Most of you probably cannot see the differance from the pictures

[see ten]

I'm diggin the rack! Glad you decided to save it!