I actually worked on the 70...

[seapotato]

Instead of it's just being the highway bitch for the drive to work I decided to actually do something to the 70 other than change the oil...

Basically every day at work, I can see the truck through the window, and the front bumper has been annoying me for months, so I finally got around to making a new one and getting the winch back on the truck.

Was going for the ARB sorta look , after seeing the thread on blackflag where a guy built cool bumpers for his unimog, I wanted to have a go at it.

it's not quite done, have to take it off, cap the bottom and gusset a few spots, and I need to get a bit of tube bent for the bullbar but I'll get to that one of these days.

Anyways couple pics, first is the before pic.

Second is a pic of the extensions to the frame horns, the 2" sticking out from the factory isn't much help when making a bumper.

Third is bending up the top pieces. Basically just scored the outside of the bend with the zipcut then folded it to the angle. (bevel guages rule...)
Nice working with metal this way, you don't need a clamp to hold things to the angle you want.

 

[seapotato]

I was pretty surprized at what a difference the extra 100 pounds of the winch made to how the truck rides, big improvement. The Emu Dakar springs are kindof stiff, but the front is nice now. Still need to soften up the rears or at least flatten them out so the shackle angle improves, but I don't really want to take out a leaf, as I often have stupidly heavy stuff hanging off the back of it. ( like 3b's, 10,000LB boat trailers...)

anyways, heres it pretty much done other than the bullbar thing. I like it better. I especially like that it cost about 1300 bucks less than an ARB bumper.

into it for about 100 bux. not counting wire & gas, and certainly not counting the 6 hours it took to make.

I'm stubborn, I refuse to work for less than 5 Cents an hour on my own junk .


The Crustaceous One may recognize the fog lights

 

[Rigpig]

there's no way... photoshop...

 

[wombat]

Nice Job, and i thought you were just a simple goat herder

 

[seapotato]

there's no way... photoshop...

arent you s'posed to be lying in the snow, putting spinners and a spoiler on some dudes taco?

 

[dieseldan]

Great improvement to the look of your truck! nice job.

 

[seapotato]

Great improvement to the look of your truck! nice job.

thanks man. gotta try and dress the old princess up a little...

 

[Rigpig]

arent you s'posed to be lying in the snow, putting spinners and a spoiler on some dudes taco?

fu*k, no! two weeks to go up here then home for a few. Three months is far too long and besides, you thought putting my junk together took long... at least i have an excuse, he's just plain lazy!!! i'll have luckys in hand and will be wielding wrenches for entertainment purposes only...

 

[seapotato]

fu*k, no! two weeks to go up here then home for a few. Three months is far too long and besides, you thought putting my junk together took long... at least i have an excuse, he's just plain lazy!!! i'll have luckys in hand and will be wielding wrenches for entertainment purposes only...

charge him for every time you get him out from being stuck as fxxx..(seems to be almost daily...)he'll be up to the price of a new truck in no time...

gimme a shout when yer in town, we'll have a beer or 12...

I have somethin that might work as a track bar for your 74.52whateverthefxxxyergonnacallit thing if you need it....gonna cost ya tho. maybe even a beer...

cheers
r

 

[Rigpig]

yeah no kidding, good thing fuel is free and the tidy tank is topped up for the trip home. he's pretty good about buying the beer though, and good for a few laughs at his expense. yeah i'll have to have a look at your extras, and go through mine to see what you might need. A couple dozen beers or so to get caught up sounds good!

 

[jinzuke]

Nice work Ryan You comming out for a wheel this weekend.

 

[seapotato]

Nice work Ryan You comming out for a wheel this weekend.

wheel...what is this wheel you speak of?

Doubt it tho, probably try to finish the bumper off on sat, and I'm working on sunday.

 

[dslcruzr]

You totally copied me without even knowing it! My new bumper looks nearly identical.... I guess great minds think alike, or something like that;p

 

[seapotato]

I guess great minds think alike

has to be it....

Kindof a fun project tho to try and make a bumper look half decent, yet still be a very efficient deer & hippy killer.....

( and if you look rreeeeeeal closely at my first pic, you can see that rover pic I promised you....)

 

[jinzuke]

I did see a rover in the backround.
yahoo vicruisers message board wheeling i say sunday sunday sunday

 

[crustyBJ60]

there's no way... photoshop...

x2 that's what i thought, fawker's try'n to pull something here.

The Crustaceous One may recognize the fog lights

brings a tear to my eye to see the bits and pieces of the better part of a decade of hoarding... live on

and what the fawk is that in the background of pic #1 that you can almost hear oxidizing?

btw, nice job on the bumper

cheers
crusty

 

[FLYINGLOW]

Nice Ryan. That mog that you mention is killer. I had hoped he'd be out this weekend but wasn't.

 

[seapotato]

x2 that's what i thought, fawker's try'n to pull something here.

ha, don't worry, probably take me another year to finish it...

brings a tear to my eye to see the bits and pieces of the better part of a decade of hoarding... live on

I just organized the shed yesterday, s***s getting stupid in there. ever wander into your shed and ask yourself," Now why the FAWK do I have 10 of those???"

and what the fawk is that in the background of pic #1 that you can almost hear oxidizing?

btw, nice job on the bumper

cheers
crusty

it's complicated...think of it as a dirt cheap bj55 with an aluminum body...basically, I'm too cheap to fork out for a decent cruiser wagon...but everything other than the skins is cruiser .

them rover folk don't like me much, I lasted about a month on that site before being asked to leave... Something to do with descriptive verbs I think...

gonna have to get a nice big ROVERS SUCK bumper sticker for it. That should stop the pommies from asking questions....

 

[seapotato]

ha, don't worry, probably take me another year to finish it...

Ok, so not quite a year, the anniversary isn't for two more days...


Apparently, I'm kinda slow at this, but I did finish it off....pretty much.

Had a few moments of weakness where I posted the truck up for sale, hopefully the yotawheeler clan isn't too po'ed that I didn't sell, but I was never thrilled with the reasons it was for sale, went on a two day sailing/whiskey/beer trip, and decided somewhere east of Inebria, that I was keeping it, and as much as I like the fact that the vw gets 60mpg, it's an awkward little bastard to get into.





So, Yes, that is indeed poo pipe for the bar, as I have a handy poo pipe bender in the garage, and found some manky old pipe under the shed...

but it looks pretty good for the time and $ it took, which is about a 1200 less than an ARB bumper.

also spent two days under the truck cutting out a 2 foot section of frame, and scarfing in a chunk from a long dead HJ60...but no pics of that. I prefer to keep the old girls nether issues private.

I'd been dreading that frame repair since the day I bought the truck, so Kinda pleased it's over with.

Next is the Dside rocker panel, and then figger out what to do with sliders vs running boards. Tempted to throw a set of the TG sliders on there, but I'll need to plate the top, so that it isn't a dog leg breaker, which is why I'm delaying the decision...



I need some sorta step tho, or I'll bust outta my 1985 red leather pants climbin' in there.

 

[Toshi38]

wow... something finished..... impressive... now if only i could put my gas tank in I'd be keeping pace..