The perfect HA/GR

[QQMOON]

Ok so there are a heap of cars being built lets see or hear about the best build ideas the things that made life easy the reason why you used what you did and how it turned out.

A couple that come to mind are the 81 F100 steering box and the Suzuki early seria steering box both worked great in their own way and i would prefer to use the Suzuki box next time around because i did not have to extend the sector shaft

defenatly use rigid rear susspension a hell of a lot less rooting around

also i know alot of guys used alloy seats wheather you made them or bought them i found the $50 RCI low back seat perfect and saved a heap of time just bolted some jap seat runners to it and now trouble and strife can reach the pedals

[QQMOON]

Oh and one other thing i found really helpfull was to use swing pedals as it made it a whole lot eaiser to build the scatter shield, Firewall, Floor without a clutch and brake to work around

[Drewfus]

I completely agree with QQ's suggestions...

I'm using a LJ80 suzuki steering box (as mentioned previously).

Things I've learn't....less is more, plan the project before you start. Instead of just making brakets to suit this and that, plan out where you can save time and weight, by making things multi-purpose. For example, I made my crossmember/tailshaft loop/rear engine mount/seat mounting points in the one unit by thinking it through. As straight forward as it sounds (and it was), this gave me a simple platform to easily attach my floor to, as well as keeping the weight down...(will take some more current photo's to illustrate later..)

Trust this assists,

Drewfus:D

[alteredpilot]

whats that suzuki box out of in american?

[QQMOON]

whats that suzuki box out of in american?

same deal early 4WD they are perfect they mount on the roll cage and the two unis they come with get you back to center steer and clear the swing pedals

I will see if matt can get a pic up

[alteredpilot]

suzuki samurai??


other good center steer boxes...

'69 era bmw 2002
early ford ranger

[sgtmcd42]

I used a stearing box out of a VW Beetle. :eek:

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

How "quick" do you want the box to be? Am I thinking faster is better --or slower?

Are you using the pitman arn length to dictate the speed it turns from lock-to-lock?

[Drewfus]

suzuki samurai??

Yep, the early ones (see attached pic), but using the later model (80-85) standard pitman arm.

(Note: the later model samurai's box's turn the wrong way.....so don't grab one of them by mistake).

Ideally you want the box ratio to be 'slower' the better..

Cheers,

Drewfus

[Drewfus]

another detail that I've come to appreciate, it to try and get the main chassis rails down low. By this I mean that you'll want at least a 4-6" kick at the rear, and a decent drop at the front if possible, just to make life a bit easier when it comes time to line everything up, especially if you're running a flatty and you want a nicely shaped exhaust.

Cheers,

Drewfus

[QQMOON]

Fuel tanks are another trick most of our cars used a alloy air tank off a truck. Volvo trucks have nice fins and are a perfect width for the rails once polished they look a million dollars for ony $35

[FiddyFour]

are you talking Volvo heavy trucks? what year range for those finned tanks... i drive 06/07 volvo NA(north america) tractors all day every day, and have yet to see a trick looking finned tank on these turds

[QQMOON]

Dont know the year model although i will try to find out one of the young blokes that hangs around works in a heavy vehicle wrecking yard and gets them for us i would say maybe late 80,s maybe early 90,s........... I will see what i can find out

[FiddyFour]

ok, those might be a pain in the ass for the US/Canadian guys building now.

Volvo NA has only been producing the heavy trucks over here since 97, they just celabrated the "10 year" with an aniversary truck edition, so these tanks might be a tricky trick truck part to get :D

[QQMOON]

Just found another steering box that will work quite well for side steer and that is the early to mid seventys Transit van all alloy with a 3/4 shaft Pitman arm looks to be a good lenght as well

[tysond]

hey QQmoon, what do those tanks look like? have you got a photo? I was thinking of using a truck one aswell.

[Drewfus]

hey QQmoon, what do those tanks look like? have you got a photo? I was thinking of using a truck one aswell.

They're a bit hard to snavel, plus you still need to add a filler, but this is the one......(after it's been 'cleaned up')...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/DrewfusDesigns/HAMBstuff/tank106.jpg

Cheers,

Drewfus:)

[FiddyFour]

that IS a pretty sweet looking tank... and i can tell you for certain, they dont have those on the Volvo N/A trucks... just a series of three steel tanks for the air supply, cause i looked for that thing today durring my post trip inspection :(