Dave's la(te)st buggy build...

Ahh!... with S200KYS ' MOT out of the way, and he's polished and ready for Sunday's greenlaning trip. I can at last turn my attention back to tinkering with the boogie in the garage

A quick tidy up first, and with the buggy rolled out to brush the floor, I thought I might as well start with the pipe bender?...



Pipe bender, tube, cardboard template and bend-ometer

Many years ago I found the following article very useful - www.pirate4x4.com/articles2/tech/bendin_tube



Remembering all that and past experience, I bent slightly past the bend-ometer and then released the jack to test the bend again...

Many thanks to Riccy for his advice based on his excellent work on Ulysses too, as he helped with tube, former and roller positions



There we go, matching the cardboard template

Then, BAH! it wouldn't route through from the back and through the firewall?!



So I had to go from the front to the back instead... sorted!



Lined up to the centre of the winch drum



And then Mr. Angry IV is called in for his first job (sadly my trusty angle grinder number III passed away on Sunday gone ), to cut off the excess before I maim someone passing on the pavement! :lol:



Might as well put him to good use then! Next the JimnyBits rock sliders are on the bench... you may remember I managed to procure two driver's side bars from the end of a production run, and just needed to mirror the mounts from one to another...

So I lined up the encapsulated nuts and marker where to cut...



Whipped the section out with new Mr. Angry...



And then flipped the panel over ready for re-welding...



Repeat with the end mounts...



And the smaller mount needed an extra cut for an infill to get the mount at the end of the sill bar's box section runner...



Weld, grind, sand, paint... and an opposite is made and ready to mount soon... I set it to one side to dry, and got on with...



Drilling and bolting the JimnyBits front recovery points...



And added some box section between them, making the front bolt holes encapsulated in the box.... this will be used to form the front lower grill section on top, and the...



... donut fairlead for the end of the winch rope guide tube...

So that it ends up like my earlier sketch -



So I then started cutting out the bumper from a huge piece of 6"x4" ox section I bought to make some Vitara steering idler arm braces from, but couldn't be bothered in the end... too much work for very little profit, based on the prices others are selling them for on eBay, so it's getting recycled into the front bumper



I started the shape of it, but ran out of time... it will have slots cut for the recovery points to protrude through, and a recessed front number plate, when I get some more time... but that might be a while?! Saturday I'm off to Oxford for our eldest daughter's Masters Graduation Sunday we're greenlaning and next week I think I've lost most of my time off as the wife is working in the theatres, and next Thursday is my birthday, so I'm planning on having the next Sunday off I'll try and squeeze some tinkering in soon though!

DAVE its looking good ,

Remember Dave it's only in the dictionary that success comes before work!

The more I see of this, the more I like the central winch idea. The tube bend is nice and mild, meaning the rope will have an easy time of it. The mounting point takes a huge weight off the nose and neatens up the front no end.

Front bumper looks well too Very impressed mate!

Thanks Guys!

There's more to come on the wnch setup Riccy

There's a tubular loop going around the roofline like S200KYS to ac as tree scraper bars and to protect the soft-top... on the back of that there's going to be another small hawse fairlead pointing front to back, again a loop can be pulled out between the front of the drum and the donut fairlead on the back end of the guide tube, and that can be pulled up and out through this additional hawse fairlead on the roofline to either steady the buggy if it's getting tippy, or god forbid, to right it after a "little lie-down"...

Also... I plan to use a U-shaped shackle on a rod in front of the winch, with a handle off the top of it, to be able to guide the rope evenly over the drum, as the donut fairlead infront oof the winch might mean the rope would spool mostly onto the middle of the drum... As the back of the buggy will be open (a bit like a trayback) the "winch bitch" / passenger (Alan?!) could wiggle the handle in front of the drum and wind the rope back on evenly after a tug...

Just need more time to put these ideas into effect... winter soon! and I'l be hibernating in the garage

I managed to get an hour in the garage yesterday, so I was wondering what I could do without getting dirty?

A bit of boring





Blummin' iPhone! Wrong orientation, but you get the idea! :lol:

Drilled all the holes ready for cutting out the holes for the recovery points to pop through and the number plate recess...

Took some drilling as ut's 6mm thick! A bit weighty then, but most of the metal is getting removed!

The chassis bumper brackets slope inwards at the bottom, so with the numberplte mounted vertically it should also tunnel more air at the radiator too...

And they reckon my eyesight is bad? :ohmy: - nothing wrong with the alignment of them holes... by eye I've rubbed out the guidelines to redraw them ready for cutting with the slitting disk next time I have some freetime...

The edges need cutting most of the way through too yet, and then bent, welded up and shaped with the angle grinder...