11-26-06

I've been working on my buggy design for, well, a long time.
Finally got around to starting it.

What I've collected so far:
97' 350 Vortec w/ 4L80E, painless wiring harness, other parts from the truck
2 Front Rockwell 2.5 ton axles
Random electro-hydraulic valves and electronics to run them
8 1" heims from ebay that don't look too quality...
A pile of tube for a chassis

Will get:
NP205 (a couple leads right now)
Probably 47 LTBs
Coilovers
More heims, and link tubes

So far, I've got the rockwells dissambled, soon to replace a few missing bearings, new boots, etc.

After hundreds of hours of solidworks time to get the profiles right, a buddy of mine that works at a laser cutting shop cut the tubes for the chassis:

Chassis Design

12-3-06

Haven't got to work on it a whole lot. Here is the updates from about a half day of work.

12-14-06

More updates

Got the 205 in:

Today's work: Roof tacked into place.
Had to clamp the jigs straight to the chassis, worked surprisingly well.

12-21-06

After a couple long days of welding I'm getting pretty close to being done.
I would say I'm 98% done with the premade bars. I still have a few others to put in later. (Under the engine, etc)

I put them next to the solidworks pictures for comparison.

2-12-07

I homemade the adapter/clocker I needed to connect the NP205 to the 2wd 4L80E. Its a little ghetto, but I think its pretty good considering I only used a drill press and a chop saw to do it. One day I'll have a cnc machine, but got to work with the tools you have now. The mounts are from Poly Performance.

Had to murder the TH400 adapter with a plasma cutter and grinder to get rid of the old mount and make it clear the new one.

Bolted on:

T-case on:

I'm going to put another bar across the bottom to support the brackets. I'm also going to put some other kind of mount at the top or bottom of the back of the transfer case. I don't like the 150 lb cantilever on tapped AL.

Here is the drivetrain in, close to its final position.

Next step is suspension:

Got these in from Expert Offroad.

Not rebuildable, but at less than half the price of the fancy ones, I figure I will just replace them as they wear out. 4130 links should be in this week. The tube adapters are also 4130; I plan on TIG welding with 4130 rod, and then heat treating the whole thing. The mounts are designed (and way too complicated), but the plate won't be in for a few weeks. Getting those laser cut too! :D

3-2-08

Engine Mounted:

Pretty close to the front:

Transmission mount (1 of 3)

Seats in:

I debated this one forever. After getting the seats mocked up, I just felt there wasn't enough leg room. The seats were thicker than I had planned. I decided to cut the bar out from behind the seats and move them backward about 6 inches.

I'll cut the tube off flush, and weld a plate on there to cover the hole. Not really a big deal, except they now take up the space the radiator was going to use.

After taking a 7 month break doing other things, I started cutting the mounts.

I added a mill to my garage over Christmas, and it helped making those 3/4" holes for the heim joint mounts. (4 at a time :D) I had a heck of a time drilling the 4130 with new drill bits. I increased the attack angle with a drill doctor, and it made a huge difference. Still, its a pain.

Rear links going in: Bottom are 2.25x3/8" 4130 Top are 2.00x1/4" 4130

All mounts are 1/4" 4130.

Front link mounts.

Note: All mounts will be receiving gussets after I am confident there will be no clearance problems.

I'm a bit worried about the clearances under the tranny.

Just did shocks today.

Here in the front a full droop.

Rear, 90% droop

Tires! (700 lbs of them)

Wheels from stazworks will be in within a couple weeks. I'm going to cut some cool rockrings, and then power coat them.

4-20-08

It took awhile, but I finally got my stazworks wheels in. 16.5x12 7.5 BS

I ordered them bare steel, and they were a bit rusty, so I had to sandblast them.

I REALLY hate sandblasting. This took forever.

I cut my own rock rings, so the next step was to weld them on.

I ground a nice bevel in them for a good weld, since I would be sanding them afterwards.

Tacked on:

I welded in a star pattern to try to avoid any warping:

Welded up:

Afterwards I just sanded them flat with a flap wheel.

Time for powder. I sprayed them in my booth, and then put them in the oven. It was quite a test of finger strength to hold onto the wire and rehang them in the back of the oven. I did drop one, but the good thing about powder is you just blow it off and start again.

After baking:

Color is iron gun metal glimmer.

I wanted to do the ring itself in silver, but I tried masking it off, and it would have been way too difficult, so I just left it a single color.

Time for installation.

I did the first one by myself, and it took forever. (seriously like 5 hours). I didn't use RTV and it leaked like crazy. I enlisted a buddy's help for the rest and we did the next three in the same time it took for the first.

Getting the insert in. Its a highly technical operation.

The second one is a little trickier.

They were slightly ovaled, so getting the grooves to snap together was a pita.

The tire over the back side:

I RTVed the crap outta it. I don't want any leaks.

The wheels aren't symetrical, so you have to find the right allignment:

We used a couple long bolts to pull the halfs together, and then put a few of the short bolts together to squeeze the oring in place.

Getting the insert in. Its a highly technical operation.

Then we stood it up and started putting the rest in. Thats a lot of bolts.

Went around the circle twice with the impact to make sure they are all tight.

I'm going to let the RTV dry, and then check for leaks tomorrow. I still have to redo the first wheel with RTV. This was a two week proccess. I underestimated the amount of work these dang wheels would take. I didn't take a finished pic. I'm going to mount them on the chassis next. One step closer to a roller!