Ulysses

I'm a big fan of this build, thanks a lot for posting it. I actually really like the look of the narrower bed, a bit like a scaled down version of this haha! All the best with it.

Yeah cycle wings are the ones mounted to the axle not the body.

Looking good Riccy, chopped Jimnys look ace. Surprised how rusty it was for a 2006, must have spent its life somewhere with a lot of salt!

Wasn't sure about the narrow tub on the back at first but think it would look good once it's got some arches fitted

Good old machine mart where having one of their VAT free deal days today, so nipped in this morning for some new toys.

Top of the list was a gas mig welder. Nice little clarke 135turbo welder bought, along with some gas and wire. Excellent little machine, much neater welds than the no-gas mig I was using and much better weld penetration. Not as much need for grinding, with practice maybe even no grinding :laugh: Forgot to take a pic of it but suffice to say im happy with it.

Also on the list was a clarke 12ton pipe bender with dies from 1/2 inch up to 2 inch. Another great, simple machine.



Had some 3/4" tube in stock so messed around with making some rear mud guard rails. Pretty happy with the results so far. Will mean theres a nice step behind the rear wheels (big enough for a 20L jerry can, although I dont think its legal to strap a can of petrol to the outside of the car in the UK).

It's going to look well with those 16s.

Looks great Riccy, I've seen some jerry cans converted to lockers with a keyed door way cut into them. Be great for shackles and strops.

You could even house a compressor in one, mini bar.... the possibilities are endless..... They certainly would look the part on that rail.....

An ammo box and a jerry can......

sniper

sniper wrote: Looks great Riccy, I've seen some jerry cans converted to lockers with a keyed door way cut into them. Be great for shackles and strops.

You could even house a compressor in one, mini bar.... the possibilities are endless..... They certainly would look the part on that rail.....

An ammo box and a jerry can......

sniper

Now your talking! Thats a cracking idea (especially the mini bar!). Jerry can cupboards and ammo box's, Im off to get googling :laugh:




Need to source (feel free to let me know if anybody has any of this to sell)...
ARB compressor for lockers/airline
R7me gearbox (from 2001-2005 m13 engined jimny, complete with shifter linkage and mounts)
Extended brake hoses (probably just get new from llama4x4, not keen on used braking stuff!)
New battery
Snorkel (have ordered this already from fleabay) and wader kit (to source still)
Steel stock (pipe, box, etc - local steel merchant in the van for that)
and of course some Jerry can lockers!


Jobs to complete for MOT...

Finish body filler and paint
Refit interior, seats, belts etc
refit rear glass, front lights/bumper and all wipers/squirt's
Get trailer body lights working and fit a reverse light
Refit exhaust back box
ABS light and Airbag light on, need to investigate, think Airbag is because seatbelts are removed currently, ABS is probs a damaged wire
Check all steering arms, panhards, arms, shocks, etc for loose nuts and missing cotter pins
Fit extended brake hose to rear as minimum, preferably all while at it
Tighten them wheel nuts and book it in

As I cant really see the point of booking it in for MOT until the rest of the off-road mods are done, it will probably be into the new year before that happens, Hopefully it will be plain sailing on that front :dry:

Oh yeah, and I still havent decided on the paint colour. A nice army green might work well with the ammo box look, whatever it is, it will likley end up being with Upol Raptor paint, which is a rough bedliner type finish (though i will be getting it a bit smoother).

Not far off then? Crack on!

Decided the front bumper looks daft now that the wheel arches are going to be all different, so started making one :silly:

Had a couple of bits of big heavy 5mm wall box section, so after much fiddling about managed to shape it like this:





Then a trial fit with a clamp...





Need to put another bend in each side to make the sides tighten up to the wings, but pretty happy with the shape so far. Planning a trapezoidal bit of checker plate to go below it and wrap under the chassis end rails which should finish it below nicely.

Bumper was a distraction because the steel tube i'd bought for the sides/roll bar turned out to have too thin of a wall section to work properly in my pipe bender (made really naff, weak bends). Need to source some scaffold tube as this works well in the bender and is very strong. Whatever the pipe i used for the side bits is also works well (galv gas/airline pipe i think), so maybe some of that would be good instead of huge, heavy scaffold pipe :laugh:

Oh yeah, and as you can just see in the last pic, the new snorkel eventually arrived from china. Its a copy of the one on J999MNY, but without the JIMNY embossed on it (which i prefer). J999MNY might be gettting a new snorkel and Ulysses getting the cast offs again!

More fiddling with bumper...

Did the extra bends needed and got it stuck on for a test. Bent a bit of tube to see how it looked...





Decided it looked daft so tried with less of an angle and happier with it so welded on...









Sticks out a bit more than I wanted at the bottom, but thats needed to miss the chassis outriggers. After a suggestion of some mesh from Dave rather than the checkerplate Ive bought some of that as well. Radiator in there needs some air :laugh:

A laser cut panel with "ULYSSES" cut across the centre and some fancy vent holes would be cool, a bit pricey but very cool..... A big shackle either side with fabbed tow points behind them, fixing it all to the chassis.

Keep it all in mild steel, spray it with battery acid and leave it for a few days, wash down with soapy water, rinse, dry for a few days, lacquer. A bit Mad Max but it would look ace, all orangey rust with two bright shackles, matt black mesh behind. Would look good no matter the body finish.

sniper

That's looking great Riccy! Love the recesses in the bumper for the headlights! And the toob looks much better at than angle

Wish I had a 'garage' that big!

Dave