Well there was a bit of a delay, due to an incorrect part being sent, but all has been taken care of now and the t-case is all back together.



Here you can see how much bigger the new LoMax gears are compared to stock.




The kit comes with a new input shaft and this clocking ring that replaces the stock input retainer.




You only have to do a little grinding to the case to get the new idler in through the bottom. You can see the notch that I cut out of the left side of the opening here. As it turns out I didn't quite take enough out the first time So i had to come back with a file to get the last little bit.


All finished and ready to install.


Dallas

Dallas,

Looking good man. Man if Joey could see his Engine's host rig now. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Well now things are starting to move, and actual fabrication is beginning.

Yesterday I started by putting the Jig back together, then assembling the motor, tranny, and t-case and mounting them to the jig.


Today I got a few new parts, first the cutting brake handles. Dustin Webster had these leftover from one of the competition buggys and didn't need them, so I'll be using them in my rig.


and here are all of my suspension joints and some of the link mounts. The joints are Polyperformances version of the RE joint. Same dimensions and design, but the washer is a bit thicker and they use a different style bushing. This will be the first time I've used these so I'll let you know how they compare to the original RE joint. The link mounts are also from Polyperformance and are the perfect thing for anyone building their own link setup. They are laser cut and formed to fit the RE style joint and come in 0, 5 and 10 degree offsets. At $15 a piece they are totally worth the cost in time savings alone.


I started off today by building these. Thats all my lower links, built out of 1.5"x.250 wall DOM sleeved with 1.75x.120 wall DOM. They should be able to take just about anything I can do to em.


To finish off the night I got out the torch and started cutting all the brackets off my axles and grinding them smooth. Unfortunately the oxygen ran out before I could finish the rear end, so I'll have to do that tomorrow.


Tomorrow I've got 200' of tubing arriving, so I'll be able to start bending. I'm also working on something new for the design of this rig. Its something I've never seen done before, and if it works it should save me a ton of work.

Dallas

Good to see progress! Can't you give us more of a teaser than that! Come awn <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" />

-Rob

I would, but without pictures its kinda hard to explain. I cant take pictures yet, because the pieces have yet to be created. Right now its all just a big sheet of steel sittin in the corner of the local waterjet cutter <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> I should have all the pieces in a day or 2 so I'll post up then.

I did get this today though...


Its all .120 wall DOM in 1.25, 1.5, and 1.75 diameters, about 220' total. I gotta say, if you're in southern California and need tubing, Danny at Tube Service is the man to call. Great prices, everything in stock, and awesome service. They also stock all sorts of exotic metals as well. We got all of our Cromoly from him for the new RedBull RockIt.

Dallas

Well as it turns out my Waterjet guy works a lot faster than I expected, and my parts were ready this afternoon. Pretty good since I just emailed him the drawings last night, and dropped off the steel this morning. So now I'll explain what I'm up to.

First, for those that aren't familiar with buggy construction you'll need to understand the more typical style of building. Very generally speaking most people start out with 2 parallel frame rails, like your trucks frame, only tube. Then they build a subframe that extends down from these rails in the center of the rig to support the drivetrain and provide mounting points for the suspension. Heres a pic of Jason Paules rig to demonstrate.



As you can see there is a lot of tube in there with a fair amount of complexity. Plus you also have a number of fabricated tabs for the suspension links to bolt to. What I'm doing is replacing that entire subframe with fabricated plate steel. I designed up side plates in AutoCAD and had them cut out on a waterjet. Each side of the chassis will have 2 identical plates that sandwich the suspension joints, and form that side of the chassis subframe. The nice part about this is I dont have to bend much tube, I dont have to make any brackets, and locating the suspension links is as simple as running a bolt through the plates. It also allowed me to easily build in multiple upper link mount locations for some adjustability. Heres a pic of the plates I had cut, there are 2 of each of these. The ones with the 6 upper holes are for the passenger side, the others are for the drivers side.





and here is roughly how the passenger side plate will be positioned in relation to the drivetrain.




After picking up the plates I also finished up torching off all the brackets on the rear axle. There had been a bunch of extra tabs for traction bars and shocks added so it took a while, but its all nice and clean now.




Dallas

Got another special delivery today. My new seats from PRP. They came out even better than expected. Nice thing about ordering from PRP is you can get any color combination or fabric you like. They have a lot of stuff on their website, but tons more than that if you call. You can get zebra stripes, shag, crushed velvet, etc. and if they dont have what you want already they'll get it for you. I ended up having them use a marine grade balistic nylon for the seating surfaces (not listed online but they do offer it), and the standard vinyl around the back. These are the standard lowback with separate headrests. The headrests and custom fabrics cost a little bit extra, but the cost is still VERY reasonable for a quality custom suspension seat.



Dallas

Keep posting updates -- this is fun to watch!

Randii

Wow, just checked the website, if I can save enough pennies, those seats look like GREAT alternatives for my sammi...!!!!

They really are great seats, especially for the money. I've yet to notice a difference in comfort between the PRPs Mastercrafts and Beards, which are all very similar in look and design. They might be a bit wide for a sami, but I know the Roadster model is narrower, and if you want I think they will customize the frame if you need it narrower. After years of dealing with stock seats that just aren't that comfy I'm finally gettin a set that I can ride in all day and not wanna leave <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I'll definitely be continuing to update this thread. The plan is to start bending tube this weekend, so we'll see how that goes. I still have a little to do on a customer project, and I just got another rig in that needs to have the cage cut out and replaced, so that may slow me down a little, but not much. Its hard to build a buggy if you're not makin any money to buy parts <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

Dallas