easttn4x4

Can you guys keep a secret?
Good!


I’m a moderator/admin on another 4x Board, and I want to do a low-buck build-up on my rig (getting some ideas/sounding board assistance), while staying under the radar…

That; plus the fact I’m aware my good friend, Doug (of Turtle fame ), reads this forum quite a bit more regularly than the one that I’m ‘hiding-out’ from. --- Doug speaks very highly of everyone here, which translates to Pure Bank in my book – so, I’m really looking forward to your replies.





OK, so…
Here are the bare bones that I’m working with:






Whoops, sorry! – Wrong photo









Here we go:


(* well, the driver’s side still looks like that… the other, after what happened in the first photo – not so much )



And here is the worst of it, after Doug and I snatch-blocked & hammered-it-out:




…which, I’ve gotta say, is a mighty fine improvement over THIS:


* Doug took an entire weekend off, and drove up here to WV to help me beat it back into shape (or something resembling it) – THANKS, Doug!




To the old Rodeo’s credit – in the condition seen above, while loaded-down and packed-to-the-roof with 1500+ pounds gear, that wounded tank made it 3.5 hours (via Interstate, at up to 75mph!) to get my butt back home. --- But, then again, it always has gotten me back home, no matter where I’ve taken it; every time, without fail.

It’s that sort of perseverance that I would like to honor with this rebuild! --- I want to keep its outward appearance relatively close to what it was before (with a few useful upgrades, of course), and rebuild it ‘Steve Austin-style’… you know; better, stronger – and, albeit in this case, SLOWER



I’m limited by the following:
--I only have hand tools/hand-held power tools (mostly)
--no garage
--no bender, notcher, drill press, etc.
--very limited spare time.

On the plus side:
--I've got a brand new Lincoln 140
--a new winch/mounting plate/fairlead, sitting in a box
--a little steel to work with
--a fair degree of imagination.


I suppose it’s fair to say that this build thread might take a while before it bears fruit, with some mighty long expanses of time between updates – but, hey, what the Hell else am I supposed to do with a flopped 4x4, right?



Anyway, thanks for joining me on the journey!


Cheers!
Smiley

Welcome to the forum!

So what's the story behind the first pic? Looks like maybe a little too much speed and it got top heavy?

Second pic is uwharrie isn't it?

So, what's your end goal? I'm guessing cosmetics? With a good welder and sawsall you can cut and paste some sheet metal. If you want to do something different, then how about a removable top? Definately need an exo cage.

Thanks for the welcome!
I actually joined back in August (member #15! ), but I've only been lurking here until now.



The first photo had nothing to do with velocity… I wasn’t speeding along at all – Nope, I was only going maybe 5mph, in reverse, in an effort to find out what was keeping Doug and the TEAM Turtle Ratrod held-up behind me. --- We were on our way to the starting line of last year’s Uwharrie 4x4Cross, and Doug had stopped behind me to talk to a fellow racer. --- After a while, I began to wonder if maybe I should find out what the deal was, so I started backing up. --- Well, there was a slight irregularity in the road surface (read as: an 8 to 10 foot drop-off, where a drainage ditch had eroded its way a couple of feet into the side of the road), and my rear passenger-side tire snagged it… the next thing I knew, I was blurting out a long stream of expletives as my Rodeo went ass-over-tea-kettle and got sucked down the embankment

The saddest part is – I don’t even have a good story to go with the damage (and there were too many witnesses to fabricate one!) --- The day before, Doug and I had pre-run the race course in it, and it climbed all of the C & D Class lines without so much as a spun tire. --- That ^^^, unlike receiving trail-induced carnage, certainly wasn’t a fitting tribute to its off-road prowess, with some guts and glory to go along with the scars… just really bad luck.



As far as my end goal…
I need to replace a pair of doors, address a couple of spots of minor frame rot, repair a few cracks in the body’s radiator surround section, and then build a winch bumper… after that, yes, I’d love to build an EXO (I always intended to anyhow; just wish I’d gotten around to it a bit sooner)… then, maybe after that, I’ll hack off the rear and graft-on a removable soft top on from an Amigo – we’ll see.

In the short term, I just want to get it back on the trails – after that, Doug and I have hatched a plan that might allow me to run dual T-cases – and then, a little farther down the line, I eventually intend to go SAS… basically, one step at a time, as my (very limited) funds allow.


Until it's up and runing again, I'll be posting all of my progress here (and nowhere else), so stay tuned


Cheers!
Smiley

Sounds like a fun project I wish ya the best of luck with it. I see long travel suspension cut fenders custom bumpers and rock sliders in the near future.

And just remember the old sayin ( chicks dig body damage )

Well, like I said before -- progress is gonna be slow...

Yesterday, I did manage to install ONE of the Amigo fenders that Doug brought up here to me last weekend (when it was raining bison and elk )

tennbronco wrote:...I see long travel suspension cut fenders custom bumpers and rock sliders in the near future.

I've got a set of Rock Bars already -(granted, they could be larger, but they were plenty stout enough to get me back on all fours after I flopped it).
And the ONE fender is a start...... sort of


I'm gonna give the other side a shot before I go to work this evening... Hell, I *might* even remember to take a photo


Cheers!
Smiley

Photo's would be nice !!

I finally managed to find some time last week to get the other Amigo fender on -- and then I started working on a new grill...
I took an older model GMC S10/S15 grill that I found at a yard sale (for $5 ), cut it down with my Dremel until it fit between the headlights (meaning that there isn't bloody-much left of it now! ), and found an old piece of gutter guard to use as a mesh metal grill insert (to hide all of the 'ugly sins' left behind after removing the intigrated GMC logo from the slats).

If I'm lucky, they're calling for nice weather tomorrow, and I'm supposed to get together with a buddy of mine to "look things over" -- He has considerably more welding experience than I do -- so we'll see what happens.

tennbronco wrote:Photo's would be nice !!

I promise that I'll *try* to find my camera... HONEST!


Cheers!
Smiley