I love my PRP seats... can't wait to replace my rear bench with two more!

-Rob

Well I just got home from a 13 hour day of fabbing on the buggy and I'm beat. Spent the first few hours centering up the front axle, then repositioning the motor/trans/t-case to get the correct alignment. Then I stated assembling the subframe and crossmembers. The front crossmember here (on the right) was just tacked in to get everything positioned right.





After the rear one was welded in place I broke the tack welds, and lined the subframe up with the drivetrain.





Once everything was aligned I was able to bend this front crossmember to wrap around the front of the tranny pan.





Now that the subframe was in place I was able to connect the lower links to both axles which starts to give an idea of the dimensions of the new buggy. The target wheelbase is 103" BTW.





Now the real building can begin. The first tubes I built are the front frame rails. The drivers side is a simple straight tube, but the passenger one is bent slightly inward to provide space for the upper suspension link to compress. If you're wondering why the bumper is so far forward, its because I'm planning on making this rig legal for the W.E.Rock Limited class. One of the rules is that the front bumper must extend to the front edge of the tires or farther. Because the engine is so far back it leaves me a ton of space for the radiator, fan, winch, etc.



I probably wont get a lot done for the next couple days, as I've got another buggy in the shop thats gettin a new cage and customers take priority. I'm pretty happy with what I got done today though. I didn't expect to get nearly this much done in one day.

Dallas

coming along great, man. Great work so far <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

It's hard to see all of the detail in those photos, but Dallas is doing some very nice work on this buggy. I'm really looking forward to seeing it progress in the newt months. Looks like it will be a quick build actually.

He was building so fast that he had to stop as we just plain didn't have the materials for the next step.

-Wayne

Looks like it will be a quick build actually.

Yeah, and I think Randii started with that exact same quote... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

m

Nah, I was never THAT deluded. I said it would *only* take a year. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

Randii

Time is relative in the Burelson household.

Quick: compared to an ice age
Soon: before the second coming...
Tomorrow: next year/decade/century
Now: never
One more: one more DOZEN reiterations of a bracket

See the pattern? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Michael

Funny, Wayne only had to redrill the tranny mount plate twice <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Unlike Randii however the few times I've set goals for completion on a project of my own I've met them. Getting the StinkBug running for ZuZoo IV may have run down to the last minute, but I did make it to moab on time. I hope to do the same on this one. I'd love to have it at least in the testing phase for EJS, but regardless of that I plan on having at this years ZuZoo. I think the biggest helper in this project is that I've collected the majority of the parts beforehand. My list of parts still needed is quite short, and a few of the items are on the way already.

Dallas

Yeah, I'd bet money on Dallas being ready. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/mrt.gif" alt="" />

I no longer bet money on myself being ready! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shiner.gif" alt="" />

Randii

Over the weekend Wayne came down to the shop and helped get some work done on the buggy. He's been a huge help, and seems to enjoy doing tasks I simply hate. First thing on the list was tranny and motor mounts. Until these were done we had to be really careful around the chassis, because if we bumped anything it could get knocked out of alignment. Now everything is bolted together and fairly stable.

Heres the tranny crossmember:



and the motor mounts


While I was fitting the motor mounts Wayne trimmed and fit up the upper link mounts and tacked them in place, I then bent up the rear bumper and frame rails





Next I started bending up the rocker sections. These will form the main shape of the floor and will be the base for the cage. They span from the motor mount back to where the cage cross bracing will land.



The last thing we got done, late sunday night was the front shock mounts on the axle. The passenger ones were pretty simple, but on the drivers side it was a lot more of a PITA. In addition to forming around the inner knuckle it also had to conform to the diff housing and upper link mount, as it will also serve as the track bar mount and gusset for the upper link tower.





and here's how it sits right now, wedged in the back of the shop waiting til I have more time to work on it.



Dallas