50 Series?? (Shorty 55) (5 Viewers)

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No. Not even a little.

Doors are ridiculously hard to do.

Excluding the fact that the doors would be a complete PITA, it appears the pillar could move aft 10", which would allow a drivers line of sight out of the front window, not possible with the current configuration.

Granted I'm speaking of knowledge of other folks capabilities, not my own, but that doesn't appear to be that big of a deal.

Am I wrong?

This would also allow for a pillar mounted seatbelt and negate the "need" for ABTS seats, but may pose an issue with getting in and out of the rear seats, if one desired.

Going to see if a buddy can measure the length of a 70 door, the distance from firewall to door opening, and distant from steering wheel to seat, since I can't think of any other to compare to.

Again, I'm just thinking it through. No danger of chopping up this Pig, today.
 
I think about stretched doors from time to time...post up your intelligence on those 70 series dimensions, please;)
 
Moving the b pillar itself is an unnecessary challenge. Rebuilding the doors in itself would be hard, even if you grafted two together. Making linkages, door regulators and windows work is going to be a huge pain. And then you have the problem that 55 doors rip off the hinges when they don't weigh twice as much as they should.
 
have to admit, I'm not really thinking about refabbing doors, but more about having properly sized and located door OPENINGs. and really I want the dimensions for comparison only purposes, because I know I will never stretch a door, or make the move to full canvas "appendages"...But it is impossible to ignore the sheer logic of Gumbys statement. don't even try:hillbilly:
 
but more about having properly sized and located door OPENINGs.

Exactly.

Regardless of chop talk, the layout begs for improvement to comfortably fit a 6' driver.

..But it is impossible to ignore the sheer logic of Gumbys statement. don't even try:hillbilly:

Anything is possible, and pignorance is bliss...

We're all are fully aware of the degrees I do not hold, lack of professing any knowledge in the department of automotive engineering, nor design...hell, ANY real knowledge of anything related to, for that matter.

That said, lets assume that door elongation isn't an option and we're addressing overall comfort, visibility, and safety (seat belt), without the chop talk, for drivers over 4' 6" tall.

Leaves adjustments in the seat height, angle of seat pan, possibly pedal alterations and/or column adjustability or angle. ( edited: assuming that shifters would be OK.)

Having driven an FJC for 90k, which is a complete abomination of comfort and visibility design elements, and having grown accustomed to the ghetto-ish driver's seat positioning, may not be the best judge, but wondering if mimicking the low slung, angled seat pan might be possible, effectively moving the driver forward.

For comparisons sakethough, using the 80, which isn't nearly as comfortable, has similar door frame size, and is an LC wagon.

I was a little surprised at the visual similarities to the Pig...

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Yet, never had a complaint about visibility, seat belt positioning (looks close if using a pillar mounting orientation), but not necessarily the most comfortable even with the additional leg room 1" affords with the extenders.

As for measurements, only have those from the 80, since highly mobile in the most inclement conditions, whereas the Pig is still sequestered in a remote sty.

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Meaningless, so far, but hope to have a comparison as soon as I complete the tree.

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I know for driving the pig seat orientation isnt the best, but honestly for wheeling I like putting my shoulder into the B pillar. I don't have any feeling like im going to be ejected if i roll.

Of course, I haven't had the doors on while driving since it was built and I have a roll bar with the shoulder belt mounts where the back seat would be.

Having a back seat at all would just be silly in a two door pig with stock door openings, even if you put a sliding bronco type passenger seat in. maybe a rear facing seat would work.
 
Chip Foose stopped by. :flipoff2:

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No measurements or "notes" on this, as I didn't feel like transferring since there's no way it's going to work....determined after spending several hours on just transferring lines.

Have tried it every way and there's no way to improve upon without lengthening door a minimum of 4", straightening pillar, and shortening rear glass, IF visibility and driver's seat comfort are of issue.

This is a 12" shorter wheel base with ~30" shorter body. Can't see any other way to do it besides chopping it out of the frame, either, but what do I know.

Coming from an industry where the common reply from design/engineering is "it looked good on paper", I can say that this does not, therefore it probably looks like chit in reality, discounting any and all actual fab work.

The next step, in my uneducated, pignorant way of thinking, would be to compare the 70 at the frame level, and work up from there, but harkens back to Pablo's question on Gumby's thread of "why not buy a 70?"

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It depends on what you want..

If I had more money than time, or no fab skills, or no interest in fabrication, or just wanted something that was done and reliable as only a factory can make it a 70 would be cool.

I was building a wheeler. In the end I built something unique that performs well. to me building something and working at it until it works is more rewarding and fun than having something that works out of the box. It's not a buggy. Buggies are like a top ten school playing a DII school. You can't win. You can only do what's expected of you. It's not wheeling a nice, really expensive restored truck. That's irresponsible, although I do a bit of that too. :). It's having something unique and cool on the trail that I can just tear apart and change if I get the urge.

I just really am not in to bought trucks.
 
damn kid, you are just building a 70 shorty ...
a lot of work into reinventing the wheel ... isn't it?

<although decades ago i had the same idea, i love the looks of the one in post 16>
 
It depends on what you want..

Posing the hard questions....

Just a thought process, but:

Two door, short-mid wheel base, four seater, removable top, wheeler, of sorts.

Not a beater, not going on a trailer. Has to drive to and from.

Considering 70 parts are rarer than Pig parts, plus I've an affinity for Pigs, instigated the dialogue/though process, but, pretty much, build a 55 like a SWB 70, as it's obvious it's a predecessor to the 70 lineup, in exterior attributes, if no other.

All talk, at this point. The actual preliminaries are far more extensive, but for conversations sake.

Yes, I would enjoy acquiring the abilities that many exhibit on Mud and elsewhere and, in time, I will. At this point, just chatting amongst those that do know the limitations of fabrication, so appreciate all the input.
 
damn kid, you are just building a 70 shorty ...
a lot of work into reinventing the wheel ... isn't it?

<although decades ago i had the same idea, i love the looks of the one in post 16>

Me, too on the pic, and merely discussing the reinvention of the wheel, as I've committed to nothing.

I've had the pleasure of spending a bit of time with guys that have built 7xs in the US, using imported bodies, cabs, frames and there's several threads on similar projects here on Mud.

Not saying that, eventually, as I've my hands full, one may not be in the distant future, but it'd be cool Pig configuration and no better place to bounce ideas off folks that know what I don't.

This all began trying to build an FJC the way I thought Toyota should have done it, that led to the 80 "build", then to Pig one, which prompted Pig two, both of those morphing into major projects that'll take considerable time to complete, so I've an eternity to think this through.

That said, I've only heard stories of the "Three Little Pigs", not two, and the real reason for this is in keeping with the story. Haha.
 
On topic, to some degree.

FC Fab is partly to blame, since Don is a friggin' Pig artist and has created the coolest projects I've seen.

In one (will be back with pic from PBB) he capped the body right above the upper body line.



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Wondering if similar would be enough to support an actual removable hard top.

I don't think I'd be stuck on RHT, honestly, as I'd think I'd personally appreciate the actual roof extending over the drivers seat, plus it wouldn't have to be an all weather build, so a partially top less or canvas top may be ok.

That doesn't seem to change much except cleaning up the lines behind the drivers door, ability to keep tailgate operational, minus glass, and could be utilized as access to the rear seats....I think.

Just throwing it out there.

i've always liked this one.... a 2 door kinda shorty 55 and convertable


Very cool.

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I like the shorty Pig, don't care for 70's much although I think they're better looking than 80's. On a similar note this is something I'm pondering, a crew cab truck...These Paint-chops are all similar with the big differences being in the back door and rear of the cab and then the length of the bed + rear wheel placement. Haven't decided on length yet. This is all hypothetical still but I do have the means to do it and two pigs to use for the making of it. Just figuring out details such as the frame and whether I really wanna cut into a good PIG. At the moment we already have a 4runner and a FJ Cruiser so we don't really need a third SUV, not to mention I could use a truck and the most versatile convenient vehicle I have ever owned was a crew cab short bed 4wd. It would be as low as I can get it and on 37's like the ones in the picture. Drivetrain will be a TBI 350+4L80E, already has a 14 bolt and Dana 44.

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