Not really pig "preservation"

[Gumby]

so much as pig devastation.

pic #1 never a good sign when a kid is on your roof with a sawzall

pic #2 the demolition starts

pic #3 cuttin on the back too

[Gumby]

Pic #4 - triumphant!

Pic #5 - A little trimming

Pic #6 - Might as well trim the wheel wells some more too.

[clemson55]

I'll be interested in seeing where this goes.

[Wayneraintree]

Nice thread title!

Sweet progression, what made you decide to cut the roof flush versus saving the short section you intially left?

[cruiser88]

man if my 62 was not my daily driver the top would be GONE

[Gumby]

Originally Posted by Wayneraintree

Nice thread title!

Sweet progression, what made you decide to cut the roof flush versus saving the short section you intially left?

I left the little bit to see how I'd like it to look. I figured it'd be a lot easier to cut off more than put some back.

I'll put the roll cage hoop up against the roof line. I wanted to make sure the bar would not be in my shoulder. Behind the B pillar will be OK.

[Wayneraintree]

I like it.... form follows function, yours is good example. Can't wait to see the cage, what material you using?

[Gumby]

1.5 x .120 DOM. Looking for an outside halo around the driver area and inside for the soft top in the rear.

I need bars up the A pillar and down the rain gutter for tree sliders.

[LC_Hamma]

<outside halo around the driver area>

I haven't seen your idea on the outside halo, but have you thought about bending up a structural roof rack? That's basically what I did on mine. I really like the looks of it so far If you tie the cage to the frame, like I did, I'd leave *some space around the cage/ body for flex. Don't design the cage too tight to the windshield & think you can get your welder around every corner Can't wait to see some more progress pics!

[Wayneraintree]

I am really interested in the tree sliders idea...... watching this is really cool man, thanks for posting it.

[RHINO]

sliders idea is a good one, of course i like it cause i had a similar idea. 1.5" angle iron is bent and ready to weld-on along my roof edge but i havent had the gumption to do it yet.

[yooper]

wow

[ridgerunner]

Piglicious.

[snailwagon]

Now that's what I like to see. Pigs are way to puritanical with all that sheet metal covering up the good stuff.

[Wayneraintree]

I got into my roof pretty good at Rausch Creek Saturday... about two feet of the passenger side above the cargo window is now FLAT got into a rocky step with severe muddy rut and large tree truck angled over the drop. Usually I make it without hitting but the tree was more slanted than usual and man if I did not put my 55 one step closer topless

Gumby, what motivated you to chop the top? weight, sheetmetal, roof (tree magnet ?) I must be looking for motivation myself

[Gumby]

Weight was big. I'm going to start towing it and that was an issue up until I bought the Tundra two days ago. I did realize today that I'm going to have to switch coils. I had to stack the tires on the tailgate to get the springs to sag enough to let me get the limit strap off.

The fact that it was going to be a trailer queen and didn't need to be highway worthy anymore.

The need for a cage was another. Putting in the cage is going to be a lot easier now. It'll be nice to be able to flop against trees and use them rather than be scared of them.

The glass was only going to last so long on the trail. Now I don't have to worry about it.

I can use a lot of it fixing the roof rust on the other pig.

A pretty big factor was measuring a 4Runner soft top and finding that it fits really nice.

The biggest thing is that it looks really, really cool.

[Wayneraintree]

Here is a pic...

I need a cage, less weight, less glass, and some progress pics of your project

[Gumby]

here's the basic idea.

[Gumby]

Got worse today.

After building the cage we flipped the tailgate down to put in a bar to tie the back end together.


It looked pretty cool.










We cut the ass end of the truck off.





Instant weight loss. Must have lost 100lbs in bondo alone.


Pics to follow. I'm too damn tired to clean.

[yooper]

I was going to ask why you didn't bob the back end. It only makes sense. Keep the pics coming! Chopped Pigs are the kewlest!

[Gumby]

Not finished by any stretch, but progress.

I had a roof rack that came with my swamp cruiser 40 sitting behind the shop. I was gonna cut up the expanded metal for trailer ramps. I measured it up and it was 1/8 narrower than the back of the pig. I had to lay the spare down because it won't fit along the side with the back seat up anymore. The rack looked like a good solution for bed space. I'll pull it back out and clean it up and weld another rail across the back.

I need to bob the frame about 8-10 inches, put in the cage supports from the frame, finish weld and maybe a couple more supports from the rear up to the halo. The halo needs some inner bars still as well

[Gumby]

Just so nobody complains about me cutting off good parts, here's the rusted piece of crap I cut off. The regulator and glass are still good. I'll scavenge those.

[Gumby]

Originally Posted by yooper

I was going to ask why you didn't bob the back end. It only makes sense. Keep the pics coming! Chopped Pigs are the kewlest!

I thought about bobbing it a lot more, but I want to be able to carry a spare and other junk with the back seat intact. I don't think departure angle is going to be much of a problem. These pics are with the rear sitting on the bump stops. It lost so much weight the 80 springs are way too tall and stiff.

[yooper]

Yeah that makes sense. The bed looks really good!

Why the round piece at the top of the windshield? Looks like a good place to trap a branch and break your glass...