'40 is done, need another hobby
Builds Blender, My LX450/FZJ80 + FJ45esk + GM + Land Rover crazy concoction (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter Mieser
- Start date
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2fpower
SILVER Star
I gotta admit..... all the very difficult things you have done to this rig seem to have been completed so fast. I was expecting this to take no time at all to complete. After seeing the pics of the shroud, it is clear that I underestimated how difficult of a project this really is. But isn't that how it always goes... the things that you think are simple take forever, and the difficult things you stew and think about for months go smoothly and quickly.
Amazing work. You have inspired me to do more aluminum projects. Time to order a sheet of material.
Amazing work. You have inspired me to do more aluminum projects. Time to order a sheet of material.
- Thread starter
- #424
I probably make hard things easy and easy things hard. I don't get to work on this continuously either. I mix it in with other misc projects that come through my door, work a full time job, and keep the misses as happy as I can. I should probably keep track of how much time I spend on a project, but that would just scare me....
- Thread starter
- #425
Tonight I finished welding up the shroud. Once I pulled it off the radiator I was able to flip it over and trim out the 'extra' parts of the ring to allow airflow from the corners of the core.
I think the only thing left to do is add some flanges with weld nuts for where I want to spit the unit top and bottom.
- Thread starter
- #427
I was able to finish up the fan shroud and get everything installed in the nose for a test fit. I am really happy with how it turned out. It was worth it to take the extra time to split the shroud in half top to bottom. I am really happy with how the little flanges came out.
- Thread starter
- #429
Today's progress felt good....
Mockup of the rear fenders. I am still playing with the height, but overall I am pretty happy. I will fret over getting the stance and rake right for a few days probably....
These fenders will attach directly to the bed side panel. They are about 8" wide overall and cover about as much tire as the front fenders. They are small so I don't hit them on everything.
Another view of the rear fender. With the position of the tire and cab it ended up having a little bit of a 'bobbed' look to the bed. I'm not thrilled about that, but it is what it is at this point.
These where the blanks for the rear fenders in the forming operation. I made them both to save time in resetting the tooling.
I put my homemade press brake to work making these. The fenders where made out of 48" of material. This brake does that without any issues in 1/8" 5052-H32 aluminum which makes me very happy. I believe this press brake could form an entire body if I wanted....
After forming the long flanges I had to re-tool the brake to finish forming the fenders. This laminated tooling really pays off for that kind of stuff. In this case with the 2" long flange I had to cheat a little bit to have enough clearance. Basically I just have to use a 'dead-end' clamp bar to allow space for the flange. As I make this tooling it goes in a box for the next time...
This was the early layout of the rear fenders. I really wanted to be able to make them out of a 48" wide piece of material. These would be fairly easy to replicate in the future if I where to damage them. They where a very efficient use of sheet material, quick to fab, etc. I can change the width easy enough if I need to in the future pretty easy also.
Tomorrow I will weld up the small seams in the rear fenders and clean them up. Add in some small 1/8 mounting holes for Clecos. I want to mock everything up before I pick the final position. There is a bit of rake in the chassis which makes things look a little odd...
Mockup of the rear fenders. I am still playing with the height, but overall I am pretty happy. I will fret over getting the stance and rake right for a few days probably....
These fenders will attach directly to the bed side panel. They are about 8" wide overall and cover about as much tire as the front fenders. They are small so I don't hit them on everything.
Another view of the rear fender. With the position of the tire and cab it ended up having a little bit of a 'bobbed' look to the bed. I'm not thrilled about that, but it is what it is at this point.
These where the blanks for the rear fenders in the forming operation. I made them both to save time in resetting the tooling.
I put my homemade press brake to work making these. The fenders where made out of 48" of material. This brake does that without any issues in 1/8" 5052-H32 aluminum which makes me very happy. I believe this press brake could form an entire body if I wanted....
After forming the long flanges I had to re-tool the brake to finish forming the fenders. This laminated tooling really pays off for that kind of stuff. In this case with the 2" long flange I had to cheat a little bit to have enough clearance. Basically I just have to use a 'dead-end' clamp bar to allow space for the flange. As I make this tooling it goes in a box for the next time...
This was the early layout of the rear fenders. I really wanted to be able to make them out of a 48" wide piece of material. These would be fairly easy to replicate in the future if I where to damage them. They where a very efficient use of sheet material, quick to fab, etc. I can change the width easy enough if I need to in the future pretty easy also.
Tomorrow I will weld up the small seams in the rear fenders and clean them up. Add in some small 1/8 mounting holes for Clecos. I want to mock everything up before I pick the final position. There is a bit of rake in the chassis which makes things look a little odd...
Wow. Love it.
How does the rear fender height relate to the front fender height? A cool look (for me at least) is to have the rear fender height a little closer to the ground than the front fender height.
How does the rear fender height relate to the front fender height? A cool look (for me at least) is to have the rear fender height a little closer to the ground than the front fender height.
- Thread starter
- #432
Rear fenders!
I decided to trim the bottom of the flanges off level with the top of the fender to clean up the lines.....
Look Ma, no blocks. I was able to get the mounting position decided and the fenders pinned with Clecos to the bed side panels. I went a little OCD on the position of the fenders, but I think overall it turned out well?
I really REALLY like using Clecos to mount stuff like this. Especially for the transfer of the bolt patter from one part to another. I think the 1/8 inch hole is great for this stuff. They are very cleap on ebay these days and well worth having around.
I cut off the bottom corners of the fenders so they are level with the fender tops.....
I decided to round off all the corners of the fender edges to a 3/4 radius. I think it softened up the 'feel' of things. I will be doing the same thing to the corners on the front fenders.
The passenger side is also at the same point now too....
Time for the next thing.
I decided to trim the bottom of the flanges off level with the top of the fender to clean up the lines.....
Look Ma, no blocks. I was able to get the mounting position decided and the fenders pinned with Clecos to the bed side panels. I went a little OCD on the position of the fenders, but I think overall it turned out well?
I really REALLY like using Clecos to mount stuff like this. Especially for the transfer of the bolt patter from one part to another. I think the 1/8 inch hole is great for this stuff. They are very cleap on ebay these days and well worth having around.
I cut off the bottom corners of the fenders so they are level with the fender tops.....
I decided to round off all the corners of the fender edges to a 3/4 radius. I think it softened up the 'feel' of things. I will be doing the same thing to the corners on the front fenders.
The passenger side is also at the same point now too....
Time for the next thing.
I need to buy some cleco's. Thanks for the ebay suggestion. Great fab work as usual, love this thread thanks for sharing you have given me alot of ideas.
Do you have a plan to extend the rear fenders??
Where i live the mud those rears would throw forward in reverse would be brutal.
Do you have a plan to extend the rear fenders??
Where i live the mud those rears would throw forward in reverse would be brutal.
- Thread starter
- #434
No plans to extend the rear fenders. I am trying to keep the body size to a tasteful minimum. Around here the rocks jump out and grab stuff....
The rear fenders are a bolt on part. I could easily make a wider set if needed. They use 48" wide material by whatever width you want the fender to be plus the inner flange.
Very cool build. Subscribed!
- Thread starter
- #437
Continuing the work on the lower rear bed panel...
I made some templates of the tail lights with center marked holes and played with the layout till I was happy. The lights have to be spaced down slightly to clear the hinge locations.
Once I was happy with the layout I pulled the rear panel off for final welding. I also have to tap all the holes for the fasteners since they are blind because of gas tank clearance.
Nothing too exciting, but it feels good to be making some progress....
I made some templates of the tail lights with center marked holes and played with the layout till I was happy. The lights have to be spaced down slightly to clear the hinge locations.
Once I was happy with the layout I pulled the rear panel off for final welding. I also have to tap all the holes for the fasteners since they are blind because of gas tank clearance.
Nothing too exciting, but it feels good to be making some progress....
Love it.
No plans for a swingout or anything else on the bumper that would obstruct the lights?
No plans for a swingout or anything else on the bumper that would obstruct the lights?
- Thread starter
- #440
Nope. I am a pretty firm believer in not mounting heavy things to the back bumper area on any vehicle.
