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

Yes, my right arm hasn't been that sore since I was about seventeen!

Should be durable as it's pickup bedliner... It'll have some deep "mud" mats over the top as well though...

WooHoo! Started painting today!



All the stuff is here... Paint, (Radiator) Rollers, Brushes, Tea...



Painted all the tube work with a brush (five hours!), first coat, in JCB Yellow Agricutural Enamel Paint, and then brushed the awkward bits and then rollered the rest of the re-shaped bonnet in Hammerite Smooth Blue...



More of the tube work...



View from the rear! The whole of what's left of the Jimny cab will also be Blue...

Let that all dry now, and a second coat on Sunday...

X8GGY wrote: Back to the buggy today... after first fixing the Gold daily driver (replacement panhard rod bolt for the MOT retest) and S200KYS (new JimnyBits front panhard rod fitted to go with the re-affixed panhard bracket!

Front axle casing ready to go back under... freshly painted (a few weeks ago!), JimnyBits front shock guards, SuperPro poly bushes, breather elbow tapped and fitted, shocks are Monrow Adventure Grand Vitara rears which are +1.5" over Jimny ones...

Radius arms reattached, with JimnyBits guards...

Front suspension fitted... fresh new standard front springs with spring spacers on top, bump stop spacers and poly bump cones, Monroe shocks as previously mentioned... and SuperPro castor correction bushes set to push the axle forward rather than re-align it..

All in place with a JimnyBits front adjustable panhard rod...

Next step will be the transmission, so a later VVT diff is painted and ready to go in to adjust the gearing for the bigger tyres - 4.3 rather than 3.9's, new bearings and seals everywhere, and get the wheels and tyres back on... push it out to get the feel of it, where to cut the front body panels off etc, and tidy the garage and push it back in again...

Transfer box then needs to come out and get armoured, new brackets and a bucket...

And then spend the winter fettling it into a buggy shape

Dave hey hows it going. Dave reading the build again and I see you mixed and matched the polybushes orange and blues is this something you found over the years works and keeps the budget reasonable?

Dirtbird wrote: Dave hey hows it going. Dave reading the build again and I see you mixed and matched the polybushes orange and blues is this something you found over the years works and keeps the budget reasonable?

Hi! On this build the radius arm bushes are all blue "SuperPro", as they were some I had left in stock from the days of Bits4Vits... The panhard bushes are "Poly Bush" brand that came with the adjustable / HD panhards from jimnyBits...

I have no problem with mixing different brands of Poly Bushes...

Lambert wrote: Love the yellow! That blue reminds me of my first polo when I first got mobile at 17.

Chris (GustheGorilla on here) pointed out on facebook that the colours are the same as the Ukrainian Flag? Intrigued, I googled it...



Blimey! There's a coincidence!!!

Looks amazing so far!

Dave why didn’t you reinforce the axels. Just asking.

Lesmondo wrote: Looks amazing so far!

Thanks Les'... Yes, it's starting to look like the image I have had in my tiny warped mind for ages...!
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Dirtbird wrote: Dave why didn’t you reinforce the axels. Just asking.

I thought about it... I even bought the gussets from JimnyBits... but then, I've been offroading Suzukis (Vitaras before I "upgraded" to the Jimny) for nigh on 30 years now, and I've never managed to bend / break an axle casing yet!... And I don't drive as hard as I used to (no pay'n'play these days), just concentrating on some gentle (!) scenic greenlaning these days...

So I didn't think the Boogie needed it, and recently sold the gussets on on eBay...

Dave

Ok that’s good enough for me thanks man . J

Dirtbird wrote:

X8GGY wrote: Back to the buggy today... after first fixing the Gold daily driver (replacement panhard rod bolt for the MOT retest) and S200KYS (new JimnyBits front panhard rod fitted to go with the re-affixed panhard bracket!

Front axle casing ready to go back under... freshly painted (a few weeks ago!), JimnyBits front shock guards, SuperPro poly bushes, breather elbow tapped and fitted, shocks are Monrow Adventure Grand Vitara rears which are +1.5" over Jimny ones...

Radius arms reattached, with JimnyBits guards...

Front suspension fitted... fresh new standard front springs with spring spacers on top, bump stop spacers and poly bump cones, Monroe shocks as previously mentioned... and SuperPro castor correction bushes set to push the axle forward rather than re-align it..

All in place with a JimnyBits front adjustable panhard rod...

Next step will be the transmission, so a later VVT diff is painted and ready to go in to adjust the gearing for the bigger tyres - 4.3 rather than 3.9's, new bearings and seals everywhere, and get the wheels and tyres back on... push it out to get the feel of it, where to cut the front body panels off etc, and tidy the garage and push it back in again...

Transfer box then needs to come out and get armoured, new brackets and a bucket...

And then spend the winter fettling it into a buggy shape

Dave hey hows it going. Dave reading the build again and I see you mixed and matched the polybushes orange and blues is this something you found over the years works and keeps the budget reasonable?

Dave, I'm taking out my axle as well. I'm at the stage where I need to unbolt the prop shaft and the hoses. What's the best way to disconnect the vacuum hoses, speedo sensors and all the other stuff riding on the axle.

Dirtbird wrote: Dave, I'm taking out my axle as well. I'm at the stage where I need to unbolt the prop shaft and the hoses. What's the best way to disconnect the vacuum hoses, speedo sensors and all the other stuff riding on the axle.

Hi! Best way?... Hmmm, carefully!

I wasn't using the vacuum hoses as I wanted to do away with the unreliability of them, so they just got pulled off an thrown away... This is an early (1999 from memory) Jimny so there's no ABS to contend with, but on my previous Jimny build they need removing carefully as the little bolts that hold them in place often shear

If you are re-using the vacuum hoses I'd label where they came from so that you get them back in the right places