Project: Monster Buggy

[skipped_Link]

I see a lot of builds popping up here lately & thought I would jump on the wagon,
The name of the project comes from the fact it is going to be a big bitch, especially considering it is only a two seater,

This project first came to light when I came across a decent deal on a pair of 2.5 ton rockwell steer axles, (front loaders), I found them here in the for sale section & they were only a couple hours away to pick them up, A day & 800 bones later & I had them home, & here they sat for a few months one out in the yard & one in the shop getting the stare down,
After removing the stock mounting bracketry this it what they looked like,




After bracket removal I decided that the front diff would need rotated for better pinion\caster angle,

After disassembly the ends of the tubes were cut off,





And after some carefull measuring & alignment I welded them back togeather,


So now with the knuckles sitting at 0* caster the pinion is pointed up at 20*



Next was the steering, I ordered a pair of these, one for the front & one for the rear,

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I did not get many pics of building the cylinder mounts, but I did get a couple of building the tie rods,





& here is the cylinder mounted & the tie rods in place, also in this pic you can see the high steer arms that I built, when complete the will be a spacer between the high steer arm & the tie rod, so the rod end will be in double sheer,



These diffs came with absolutly no brakes, none on the wheels or the pinion, I figure they must have been on the t-case in whatever machine they came out of.
So brakes needed to be installed,
Here is one of the rotors & the beginning of a rotor/driveline flange adapter,




Drilling the pattern for the rotor to bolt on & the two different flanges,


Parts bolted togeather,


Next came the claiper mounts, I chose GM 1/2 ton calipers for the simplicity of mounting them,

Cutting parts out



Test fit,


Modified caliper mount welded to my flange,

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Here are a couple pics of everything bolted togeather,



I guess I should take the opportunity to cover some of the things I already for get to mention, the diffs are currently both open, when complete they will both be welded, the gear ratio is 6.80:1, & this project is going to be a rear/mid engine, so the chunks have both been flipped for high pinion & proper rotation,

[tacoma73]

Good thing you gusseted that housing, wouldn't want it bending.

Nice work so far!

[skipped_Link]

Good eye, actually only the front got the truss work, to help strengthen the cut/rotated area,
Here is a pic of the rear, without the truss, & with the spacers to the high steer arms,

[dane]

That is some killer work!!! I am more familiar with the toploaders, do the frontloader rockwells have similar specs for strength etc?? Nice job on everything so far, I will be watching this thread for sure!!

Dane

[Azzy2000]

Looking good. Nice fab work.. and it looks like you have a pretty well setup shop there.

Keep the pictures coming!

[f0cker]

That's some nice fab work. Any pics or design images of what the chassis will look like? Nice shop too, BTW.

[Nordic1]

Nice work man

[fcfred]

are you running rear engine?

[RawPower]

This is going to be awesome... Can't wait to see it finished. Nice fabbing too.

I trust you still have the '49?

[Nordic1]

Originally Posted by fcfred

are you running rear engine?

Well he flipped his dif so I hope so

[howyadoin]

Subscribed! Nice work!

[rajincajingt]

did you narrow them any or just rotate the ends?

looks great! i can't wait to find a steering pair!!!

[CTD NUT]

The front loader housings almost look like a top loader rotated 90 degrees.....the outers look very similar. Do the top loader knuckles and axle shafts interchange?

[skipped_Link]

Originally Posted by dane

do the frontloader rockwells have similar specs for strength etc??
Dane

I'm not sure on specs, The Axle u-joints are the same, but the stub shafts are 1.875" dia. 21 spline & the inners are 1.75 19 spline, I'm sure that the housings are similar in strength, the chunk is tha same as the standard F-106,
& the king pins are opposite of the top loader, instead of being on the tube they are part of the cap, so it goes through the knuckle into the tube,
I'll go into more detail on the workings of the diffs a little later in the build,
I have a set of overson 2" shafts that are going to be adapted to fit the rear,

Originally Posted by f0cker

Any pics or design images of what the chassis will look like? .

Unfortunatly all the images are in my head, I do have pics of the begging of the chassis that I'll post here in a bit,

Originally Posted by fcfred

are you running rear engine?

Yes

Originally Posted by RawPower

I trust you still have the '49?

Yep, I'll be beating on it next weekend,

Originally Posted by rajincajingt

did you narrow them any or just rotate the ends?

I just rotated the end on the one, they were both pretty narrow when I got them, I'll have to measure them and get a WMS,

More pics coming when I get them loaded,

[Landslide]

Would a top loader turd fit into these things?

Seems like you could rotate the knuckles 90deg and stuff a top loader turd from like a rear in there - just wondering. Is there a benefit on these front loaders over the top loaders besides the height issues?

[Proeliator]

As always, top notch work. If you need to make room for the project, I wouldn't mind seeing the '49 parked in front of my shop again

So, whats the projected engine for this going to be?

[blackduramax]

Originally Posted by Proeliator

As always, top notch work. If you need to make room for the project, I wouldn't mind seeing the '49 parked in front of my shop again

So, whats the projected engine for this going to be?

Heck yeah, give us some more vitals on this beast. great work!

[skipped_Link]

One of my past projects is a 1979 F-350 supercab that I went through from the ground up,


I know, it has pavement pounder written all over it, but because it was a pavement pounder it spent most of the last five years parked in the back yard.
That is until this last winter I swaped in a freshly rebuild 97 12 valve cummins & NV4500 5 spd,
Now it's a pavement pounding tow rig that work real well.
So the power plant for this project will be the short block from that truck,
Specs are,
460 block, 4.140 stroke eagle crank, 6.7 eagle H-beam rods, 30 over KB318 pistons,(501 cubic inch) with 75cc heads compression should be around 9.5:1,
Since removing it from the supercab I had the block strait honed, & freshend it with new rings & bearings, I took the iron D0ve heads off and tossed them in the corner & put on a set of edelbrock aluminum heads with a Victor JR manifold, The oiling system is a modified pump & Milodon 9qt front sump pan, (which will work well since the engine is in the buggy backwards,)

Installing the freshly built heads


Complete long block with manifold & pan


I went with a Lunati voodoo hydraulic cam for easy maintinance, Harland sharp roller rockers, & a jomar stud gurtle,
The rest includes a holley comander 950 tbi fuel injection system (900 cfm) MSD computer controlled dizzy, & a 2" weld up header kit.

[under_psi]

definitely a killer start....very clean work

[skipped_Link]

Originally Posted by Proeliator

If you need to make room for the project, I wouldn't mind seeing the '49 parked in front of my shop again

One more race this year & I'll be parking it for the winter, maybe next year we'll have to get togeather for another race up around your area,

Back to getting this project up to speed,
Now I have the diffs mostly sorted & the engine mostly assembled, I put together a C-6 tranny that uses the same componants as my 49, & if it can live in the 49, this should be a cake walk, the only difference is this tranny has a one off custome built by myself valve body, full manual forward pattern with 210 psi line pressure, will it work? it seems to on the bench with an air hose hooked to it, hofeully it works in the buggy,
Behind the tranny will be a twin sticked NP205, to deal with both diffs being center drop & agains standard crawler procedure, I clocked the 205 so the front out put is strait down, in this configuration it just barely clears the tranny pan & offers a good drivline angle to the rear diff,
Pics of this mess to come later,

Time to bend some tube, I started by building what some call a canoo, I used 2" .120 wall tube & bent the upper & lower frame rails,
I would like to thank bender for writting the tube bending 101 article, I haven't wasted a piece of tube yet,
Here is a pic with a spanner tube 6" long at each corner, in this pic it is upside down,


Next was building the belly that will protect the t-case & serve as lower link mounts,


Dummy motor, tranny, & t-case setting in the frame,


Building the motor mounts,







Tranny mounts were built along the same lines,

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A filler plate was cut out of .375 plate to fill the bottom of the belly, then the lower link mounts were cut out of the same material after all was tacked in place this is what it lookes like, (looking up from the bottom)


The upper mounts were a little trickier,
I cut one out of 3/16 plate, then welded it to the lower frame tube spaced in 3/16" from being flush with the outside of the tube,


Then smoothed the weld & put another 3/16 plate over it, this plate is .200" taller,so it goes further up the side of the tube, when complete the outside of the two 3/16 plated will be welded togeather, that with the triangular window they should be similar in strength to on piece of 3/8 plate, only now it will have a weld on both sides & one in the middle, (clear as mud right?)
That is one side of the upper mount, the next side is the same way only attatched to another tube that is bent to give enough clearance for the rod ends & misalignment spacers,
This is what is looks like when complete, (I took these pics before welding the second tube in place)

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Link mounts on the diffs are nothing to special, just 3/8 plate cut out to fit the axle tube,

The link bars are 2" .375 wall, if this proves to be weak I will sleeve them with 2.25" .120 wall,
I bought the threaded inserts from spider trax, I could have built them, but it was worth the $$$ to not mess with them,
Rod ends are 1 1/4" Q1A, with 1" through bolts,

Welded around the diameter, + 4 plug welds,



and as of last night this is how it looks,








Updates to come as the project progresses, if anyone wants to see anything in particular just say so, I'll take pics,

Next on the list is building the cage/upper shock mounts, & getting the 2.5" 16" stroke king coilovers mounted.

[Proeliator]

Originally Posted by skipped_Link

maybe next year we'll have to get togeather for another race up around your area

Sounds like a plan. Hell, by then Ivan might even have his junk running


As always, top notch work. Looking forward to watching this build progress