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

Nice long fruitful day in the garage today... my missus had a bit of a shock when my alarm went off at 8'ockock, so that I could be in the garage at 9am, and worked til' 6pm... keen to get it done for when this pandemic finishes, lockdown ends, and we can get back out in the countryside...

I'd been thinking about things in the shop this week, one of my staff was off, so I spent 13 hours most days at the till, looking at progress photos from this build thread on my iPad, it keeps me going on long days of getting pissed off with (old) customers not having a clue about social distancing for their safety and the safety of others, so I was keen to get out in the garage for the day, rock tunes on Spotify, and the kettle not far away...



One of the things I'd thought about... so I remounted the headlight to work things around...



I then spent some considerable time measuring and re-measuring, and cutting up some box section...



How do you make box section curves?



All welded up!...



Lovely!



Out comes the angle-o'meter to work out the a-pillar tubes...



To make another order for Tom "tube-bender" on eBay...



Some more CAD (Cardboard Aided Design) Keithy



To make upper mounts for the front lorry wheel arches...



And weld them to the new inner arch to slam panel bent box bits...

Note also the lower mount at sill level on the door post that has also been welded up and finished...



Extreme-CloseUp! (Wayne's World reference!) :lol:



More "CAD"...



And that's how I ended the day, getting there slowly...

But, I was thinking about this in the shop too... I've still got to replicate all this for the other (Alan's) side yet too! :LOL:

Ah well, keeps me busy during lockdown!

More soon, hopefully Wednesday...

Off for a Chinese "fakeaway" with the family, and a couple of (more) cold beers!

It looks brilliant Dave!

That's another step closer. More good work.

A but more today...



Made the other front wheel arch bracket, and two for the back wheel arches, and a loop for the spare wheel strap to attach to...



Like that to match the front ones...



Spare Wheel strap will clip on to this...



I then clamped the two fuel pipes and took the old filler assembly off, reworked it all, and ended up with this



I had to adjust the filler and return tubes a bit so they didn't foul on the waffle boards, I'll add some plate to the corner of the outside bottom right waffle mount to stop any rubbing...

How much of a little lay down are you expecting to have if you're caging the filler cap? That's my favourite bit so far!

:lol: Thanks... yes, the filler cap had to match ? I was just lucky there was already a locking petrol cap under the flap... saved me buying one!

Glad you like it

The A-pillar / windscreen protector tubes just arrived... :woohoo:

Excellent / quick service from Tom “tube-bender” on eBay once again...

And I’ve got a Screwfix order in for delivery tomorrow... I’ve worn my 44mm holesaw out, stainless countersunk bolts for the wheel arch mounts (bit early yet, but I wanted to countersink the holes to suit), repair (large diameter) washers to go underneath inside the plastic arches, and some paint brushes... thank god they’re delivering during the lockdown!

Some more good progress today, so much so that I've decided to knock off early and relax for once!

I started this morning, by making the front mounts for the "halo hoop" that goes around the roofline of the buggy...



And I was then about to weld everything together, when I double-checked everything looked right, and decided it needed something else before welding it in place...



Out came the pipe bender (notice the A-pillar tubes on the drive in the background)



Two pieces of 20mm OD 4mm wall tube bent and marked up..

(These were destined to become more Jimny steering spacers for bodylifts.. BUT, one discruntled customer on eBay contacted me questioing the manufacturing quality as one was 1mm (!) longer than the other in the pair he received off me (as ZookBOB on eBay), so I spat my dummy and decided not to bother making anymore, so I re-used the seamless tube for.... read-on! My parts are advertised with the tag-line "ZookBOB" with the BOB standing for my proper first name Robert, but more so "Bits On a Budget), so I told the guy to order some "proper" JimnyBits steering spacers and return mine for a full refund! :evil: So, I'd rather be working on the buggy than making inexpensive 'bits' for ungrateful customers! )

Anyway, rant over...



Cut to shape, can you guess what it is it?...



There, the halo hoop all welded in place, with these extra couple of tubes to protect the soft-top when it's thrown back...











So, halo hoop done, and the 'cage' is nearly complete...

I was then going to start the...



... A-pillar tubes, but instead, I brushed up, tidied up, updated the build thread, opened a Stella, and about to throw myself in the shower, and plonk myself on the sofa, and wait for my Roast Lamb Sunday Dinner...

Edit : Ahhh, ended up in the Hot Tub for half an hour, soothed my old aching bones

Bit more today...



I drilled and slotted the rear arch mounting plates...



Lined everything up, and then welded throygh the slots onto the rear tube loop...



I then measured, cut, and hole-sawed some 50mm box section...



To form the uprights to hold the rear hoop in place...



And then cut, measured, adjusted everything into place ready for a welding session on Sunday..



The rear (SJ/Samurai) light boxes need trimming and capping yet, so that they are...



... just wider than the guards for them.. I'll also make the end capping of the boxes protrude at either end backwards to also protect the light lenses...

The rear arches will be 10" wide * when I've cut some, so 5" either side of the tube centre line, so the rear lights will be the same width as the arches... As wide as the plywood template in the last two photos, sat at the edge of the tyre extremity...

* Luckily, the lorry wheel arches I have are 20" wide, so by cutting them in half I'll end up with a spare set to replace them if they get snatched by trees!

Thats a tidy looking back end Dave

Just needs a sexy exhaust to finish it off :whistle:

these guys are good (but shut atm for coronavirus )... www.304stainlessexhaustparts.com/

Riccy

Really impressive work.
Love to watch the build progress.

Riccy wrote: Thats a tidy looking back end Dave

Just needs a sexy exhaust to finish it off :whistle:

these guys are good (but shut atm for coronavirus )... www.304stainlessexhaustparts.com/

Riccy

Thanks Riccy! I do like a nice tight neat rear end :lol:

I've got some heat resistant silver exhaust paint? This one's a simple inexpensive build! :ohmy: :woohoo:
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Scimike wrote: Really impressive work.
Love to watch the build progress.

Thanks Scimike !