70 series land cruiser buggy

roco · #1 07-28-2010, 04:13 PM

This is a project im building for a customer, it started life out as a 91 toyota land cruiser, 2.4 turbo diesel. he just gave me a cut up body and rolling chassis to work with. chopped everything off bar the bulk head and the front floor pan.
the customers plans are big but his wallet is small so he wants to build it over time. first thing is to make this thing a tube buggy, and then we can talk engine and suspension.

started out life like this last week.

and then i got may hands on it. this is the start of the sliders and main hoop.

then i added another hoop, this one is 1'' smaller all round to give a small step down and back. youll see why later. you can kinda see the step in the 3rd pic.

then made the front legs, they have a small rotation to still give it a cab look.
they also slope down about 1.5'' towards the front.

then choped off the rear floor pan and startet to make a rear tray.

now the reason im stepping all these bars and using two hoops laying back is because im trying to get a subtle roundly lay'd back look. ill let yee be the judge.

so thats prety much where i left it this evening. ill keep updating
as the build prgresses. thanks

CAPTAIN CNC · #2 07-28-2010, 08:14 PM

Man thats cool! I like the look. It DOES look leaned back as you intended. Short too. I've got my bronco cut down to about what you started with. This build and all these pics just gave me the inspiration to get started on the cage for it. I've been toying with the leaned back idea myself. Yours looks real good. I may copy it a bit.... visually speakin.

gearheadmb · #3 07-28-2010, 11:09 PM

That is cool. The cage and RH drive are really gonna make that thing stand out from the crowd. I would leave that diesel in there if it fits his driving style. Plenty of torque at idle to putt around and it should run at any angle. That would help the small wallet problem too.

gearheadmb · #4 07-28-2010, 11:11 PM

I just now saw that you are in Ireland. Maybe people won't be that impressed with the RH drive after all.

entropy · #5 07-29-2010, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gearheadmb

I just now saw that you are in Ireland. Maybe people won't be that impressed with the RH drive after all.

May not stand out as much as here but I really like the lines!
Well done as usual!

daddyrock711 · #6 07-30-2010, 12:57 AM

that just looks like too much fun

Wheels4 · #7 07-30-2010, 09:38 AM

i really like this build... great job so far.

TheBandit · #8 07-30-2010, 10:34 AM

In the picture above it was starting to take on a sorta UTV look. Now that you've added the other tubes out back, it looks like a crawler.

I love the lines on this. You've put some subtle bends in all the rigth places. Very cool! Hope your customer likes it too.

roco · #9 07-30-2010, 04:34 PM

thanks guys.

got f#@k all done today. had to go to the doctor this morning and then to the hospital to drop in a letter of referral. i hyper extended and dislocated my knee on Wednesday again for the second time this year and for the 9th time total. its totaly ****ed. i messed it up off a bike in march 09, and its never been the same since, i got it xray'd but they told me it wasnt broke and to go home and walk it off. it settled down after a few weeks, but every couple of weeks/months i do it again, and its getting easier to dislocate every time. im being referred to some specialist to get a CT scan to see the damage a xray cant see. so for the moment im hobbling around the workshop trying to get stuff done. anyway enough about me and more of the build.

made an x in the rear to add strength, and it will also be the main mounting
point for the spare wheel,

then did the top windscreen bars, theres a reason theres two, the one at the top of the bend is the main support bar and will pick op the roof triangulation bars, and the bar on the bottom of the bent is there to mount the windscreen and add support. the windscreen is flat so we had to do it this way as it wouldnt wrap the bend.

then just triangulated the rear a bit more and down to the the main rails
for more strength.

another day another dollar, making money and welds one dime at a time.

roco · #10 08-05-2010, 04:18 PM

did some more bracing, added some tube supports between the two hoops, and put in roof bars.

then started on the tube front end, i decided to keep with the curvy theme and made the front legs one piece and bending back in towards the chassis legs, cut about 10'' and about 20kgs off the front chassis legs and caped them so i had a good welding point. so far this buggy has been a bit of a bitch to design and build as im measuring, planing and building it freehand, out of my head, i really should get bend tech working?

crodasky · #11 08-12-2010, 09:58 PM

that same thing happens with me but what my knees do is the gruve that you knee cap is supposed to sit in is to shallow so it pops out of place so i walk it off then put ice on it at night then doit again every couple months but im lovin the tube chassis

roco · #12 08-14-2010, 06:28 PM

got a good bit done, were on the home straight.
Added some bracing from the sliders to the chassis rails.

made the rear winch plate, it sits just in behind the lower triangle brace.
thats the reason the brace was put that way rather than follow the x.

then the front winch plate. and mounted the warn winch and fairleed.

added side braces to the front end, triangulates it nicely to add a shit load of strength.

fab'd up the door bars next, since this is a recreational buggy, the customer wanted easy access in and out of the buggy, so i put a 45' bend in the door bar and triangulated it on the bend for strength to prevent rotation on impact. simple, functional and looks good. also put in some bitch handles on the top of the a-pillar.

roco · #13 08-23-2010, 05:43 AM

prety much Finished the buggy, well my half of it anyway. its to go off for paint, and paneling now.

just a random joint shot.

made a set of slider/nerf bars to go along the side rails. they act great as a step too.

then i finished off all the open ends, mounted little light tabs, and small tabs for paneling, made seat rails, and brackets for the fuel tank and utility box.
and this is prety much the finished product, well for the moment.

.

customer loaded it up after those pics, to go off to paint and paneling. ill get pics off him when its done and put them up.