C-notch.....a Pic-by-Pic tutorial...not for those with a Broadband deficiency

Spdrcer34 · August 23, 2005

I know ALOT of guys WANT to do this to their X, but don't have the 1) Tools 2) Know-How 3) Cajones

Hopefully, I can atleast take care of 1 of those.....the first one you have the buy, the last one, you'll have to grow....lol

Here we go:

jimbo74 · August 23, 2005

is there supposed to be more to it? i thought c-notch was cutting the frame as well

Spdrcer34 · August 23, 2005

In the FIRST pic, I have removed just about ALL the req'd sheet metal.

2nd Pic is a pic of the nut/bot that has to be removed. It belongs to the forward-most bolts from the tie-down rings.

3rd Pic is just a pic of me dry-fitting the top bridge portion of the C-notch kit.

jimbo74 · August 23, 2005

ahhhh... ok, just i got ahead of myself when you were posting pics

Spdrcer34 · August 23, 2005

1st pic, Welding the Top Bridge, and Side together off the vehicle.

2nd pic, Dry-fitting the Top Bridge/Side Assembly on the Frame, checking for any warpage.....NONE!

3rd Pic, READY TO WELD!

Yes Jim, there is more....

jimbo74 · August 23, 2005

is there anymore thickness to that part? to me, it doenst seem in that configuration anyways to be the same strength as stock of the framerail

Spdrcer34 · August 23, 2005

1st Pic, Welds are good, so are bolts......so BOTH must be GREAT!

2nd Pic, that would be yours truely, cutting the frame, photography by my wife Kim aka Trixie

3rd Pic, Ready to come out.....

Spdrcer34 · August 23, 2005

Here is where I ended today.....got the side and top attached, cut the frame, and tomorrow I'll get the bottom part welded on there to complete the install on the pass. side.

Ryan

Trckmagik · August 23, 2005

Looks great sir. I wish you didnt have all the interuptions you had while you were posting these pics.
Bravo.......

Spdrcer34 · August 28, 2005

In that last pic, you can see the exhaust heat shield.....it needs to go. And the exhaust that is UNDER there (the tail pipe) needs to be re-routed.

In the first pic, you can see that I cut the heat shield along the first 'rib' behind the muffler/tailpipe hanger.

2nd and 3rd pics, I am dry-fitting, and welding the bottom support into place.

And THAT's about it...... other than trimming the bottom of the last piece I attached, it's all done....

My C-notch kit (from Cando Specialties ) is an 8 pc. kit, made for the Ranger (because OBVIOUSLY, nobody bothers with the Explorer! lol).....I only used 6 pieces though....I didn't bother with the inside pieces....nothing really to attach them to on the inside of the frame, as our frames (and 90% of the factory frames out there) are a C-channel type frame, not a fully boxed.

Ryan

BeauJ · August 28, 2005

It's nice you can do stuff like this in your driveway now. A few years back a custom shop and about a grand of cash was the only way to go.

Once you had all the parts, how long did it take you to complete it?

Spdrcer34 · August 29, 2005

Technically, I had all the parts way back in March......

But I haven't had time to do the actual install.

But once I got the time, it was a 1 1/2 day long project.

Ryan

Nick26 · August 29, 2005

cool project, althought the only thing im worried about is those welds don't look to have penetrated too well... are you using a MIG? what setting do you have it on? maybe think about pre-heating the metal?

2many · September 7, 2005

birdie, birdie in the sky

i believe those are called bird **** welds (no offense...). a bunch of blobs floating on the surface like bird **** on your windshield. as usual, penetration is the problem.

i would SERIOUSLY consider having a qualified welder redo those welds as a safety precaution. good luck.

blueox · September 7, 2005

Your horizontal welds didn't look to bad but your vertical welding is kinda

it can be difficult on something thin like our frames so take the gun and weld from the top down and make sure you tilt it back slightly and keep the electrode feeding into the leading edge of the weld. By the picture it looks like you are varying your speed and the amount of stick-out so try for consistency with your hand movement and the distance the tip of the gun is from the frame and your welds will improve drastically.

Spdrcer34 · September 8, 2005

I was having difficulties on the second half of the project with a pinched gas line, and grease/rust on the frame.......that's why some of the welds look good, and others......NOT SO GOOD.....

As soon as I get my gas tank situation fixed (too much suspension drop damaged the fuel filler neck) I'm gonna grind off alot of the nast welds, and re-do them.........it all takes time......time I don't have! lol

Ryan

racinjason68 · October 19, 2005

dont feel bad i have been working on my back end for about 5 months now... LOL
Cutting the back end out... I have to notch mine a bit more.... Should look good when you get it done....

phatx · October 30, 2005

thats so cool, i was planning on ow to lift my body off to do this mod but seems like you are onto a winner here. maybe i can do the same....

so have u had any problems with this at all since you did it?

and have u got picks of your car now? not thats its reallt relevent to the mod but i'd like to see it.

is it worth buying the kit or just making it myself u reckon? just seems to be a whole buch of flat metal peices!

anyone else done this without takin the body off?

Spdrcer34 · October 30, 2005

No problems other than the issue with rubbing the rubber fuel filler neck, and breaking it....this WILL NOT be a problem on the 2nd Gens. The tanks are slightly different in shape, but where they are MOST different is @ the filler neck, and the fact that they are Steel, instead of Plastic.

Buy the Kit. It is just plain steel, but it's THICK steel, already cut, and the bridges are already pre-bent. I bought a 6" Ranger C-notch, for the 1st Gen X, just get the C-notch for the 92 and earlier Ranger. I bought mine from Cando Specialties, and they were AWESOME...I bought my Rollpan from them as well.

In NO WAY do I feel it is better to do this with the body off. If your serious about getting as much drop as possible, I'd cut the wheel wells off the body, and the 'floor' inbetween the wells....because if you go anymore than the 4.5" c-notch that I ended up with, your gonna have to cut that stuff out anyway. Might as well leave the body on the frame, and save the hassle.

Ryan

phatx · October 31, 2005

even tho mine is a 98 model?

C-notch.....a Pic-by-Pic tutorial...not for those with a Broadband deficiency

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