Comp Courier

[66sprint6]

Im lookin into some Junfacs or MIPs as we speak, whichever I can get ahold of quickest/cheapest I guess. This past weekend I got it out for its maiden voyage after the rebuild, backed off the slipper a tad to save the driveshafts and things went pretty well!!! No major issues to speak of and she crawled like she used to which is a DANGED good thing!!! I feel a change coming tho...might be BIG too, never know.
Matt

[eric113]

Originally Posted by 66sprint6

Im lookin into some Junfacs or MIPs as we speak, whichever I can get ahold of quickest/cheapest I guess. This past weekend I got it out for its maiden voyage after the rebuild, backed off the slipper a tad to save the driveshafts and things went pretty well!!! No major issues to speak of and she crawled like she used to which is a DANGED good thing!!! I feel a change coming tho...might be BIG too, never know.
Matt

You may try all thread in the driveshaft. It seems like it strengthen them up. I used 8-32 all thread.

[66sprint6]

DANGIT!!! Thats an awesome idea but I just picked up a set of MIPs Im glad tho, cause alot of my issues were actually comin from the ears of the driveshafts breaking off the yokes. I just put a nasty little brushless motor in the Courier this weekend for an STR Trail Ride and I know the plastic shafts wouldnt have liked it at all. I backed off the slipper some with the 18.5 brushless and plastic shafts and it was perfect harmony, but the new motor was blowin thru the slipper when I would first crack the throttle. I tightened it up on a very tough incline section and blasted up it on the first try, the power was unbelievable.



This is one of the only pics I was able to snag from this weekend ride, but updates include:

Proline interior (thanks for the idea R2J)
New bearings all around
MIP driveshafts
NASTY 10.5t Brushless motor

Shes back where I want her performance wise, so I think I might take a step in the "looks" department again. This time in the form of more tubework. The frame is bent like crazy and showin alot more wear that I had noticed before so Im thinkin that if I finish up the tubework it will strengthen and protect the rig better and look pretty slick at the same time. Ill post updates when they happen!
Matt

[R2j]

Your welcome!

Can't wait for the updates Matt! I'm working on installing the winch in the "Shop Truck" and changed the front MIP to the shorter dig version. After the last time out I noticed it wouldn't get all the travel it could on the right side because of the drive shaft bottoming out.

[66sprint6]

Thought ide toss up a couple shots after the mild rebuild.
Still runnin the old FatIrons. I dig these tires alot, they are so worn out that they grip everything around them.



Shot of the interior in progress. Im nowhere NEAR finished but I wanted to slap it in there to try out. Thanks again R2J for tryin it out before I spent the cash on it LOL





I wanted to drop the body down and realized the rear shock hoops were hittin the bed top...not anymore! This is a temp. fix tho, this weekend Jmel and I will be makin some tweaks.



Thats it for now, more to come this weekend I hope!!!
Matt

[66sprint6]

Originally Posted by R2j

Your welcome!

Can't wait for the updates Matt! I'm working on installing the winch in the "Shop Truck" and changed the front MIP to the shorter dig version. After the last time out I noticed it wouldn't get all the travel it could on the right side because of the drive shaft bottoming out.

Im gonna try to finish up painting my interior this week/end and add a few touches. Mine zipties to the cage which is nice but then I have to remove it to work on any electronics lol. My MIPs are workin awesome so far, but Ive got the wheelbase stretched quite a bit!!! Ive got plans tho, this weekend will decide how radical but the Courier might be a new animal here shortly. Theres also word around the hobby room that the TrailCourier might be reborn...not sure just yet lol

Matt

[66sprint6]

After the rebuild and a bit of added power was added to the CompCourier, I realized that it was time to knock down some structural issues I had been having. The old frame was bent, twisted and tweaked thanks to the abuse and lack of legit structural support and it was starting to show how tired it was. I could bend it back into shape and it would be tweaked before the first ride was over. The front tubework that I came up with and Jmel put into reality may be the only thing that kept a majority of the frame from being scrap, so back to the drawing board we went.

Let the tear down begin. Heres the unfinished interior and a shot of one of the reasons for this adventure.







Bent, mangled and cut rear frame



New rear crossmember allowing clearance to the links and skid





Lowered the body down as far as we could, then had to call it a night.





Next day Jmel noticed that even with all the new tubework, the front frame was still crooked and pretty much useless to try and bend back. Off she comes is the verdict, replaced with some new metal and she will be back as straight as she can be, and hopefully stronger this go round! Ill post pics up when I get em.
Matt

[66sprint6]

Just a small update of some new parts that are waiting for the Courier to get outta the shop.



Just got done puttin these together and mounting them on my TestRims. Cant wait to get em out and see how they do!



Matt

[NGreen]

What size are the new tires?

[66sprint6]

They are roughly 4.75" tall, stock 2.2 height but I skinnied them up a bit. They are a smidge wider than a stock 1.9 Iron. They seem to be spot on with the Bogger in height and width. I cant wait to get em off the work bendh and on the rocks.
Matt

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by 66sprint6

They are roughly 4.75" tall, stock 2.2 height but I skinnied them up a bit. They are a smidge wider than a stock 1.9 Iron. They seem to be spot on with the Bogger in height and width. I cant wait to get em off the work bendh and on the rocks.
Matt

Wow, I"m liking this pair of tall and skinny Irons even better than your previous versions.

[66sprint6]

Me too, and if they crawl anything like the previous sets I will be VERY happy!!! The 5.0's crawl amazing, but Ive been enjoying these old school FatIrons alot lately so I dove into makin a similar set with unhacked tread like the 5.0s.
Matt

[66sprint6]

Bein sick sucks but I finally got my attention span and motor skills back and my trembling down enough to tackle the interior. I wanted somethin simple, light and durable so it would take abuse, be easy to get on and off and look halfway decent at the same time. I always wanted to try out either the Hilux interior or the Proline Jeep interior and after seein R2J put the Jeep interior in his Courier, I knew what my next move would be. It took a TON of cutting and tweaking, but I finally was able to get it cut out and attached to the cage of the truck using 4 easy to remove zip ties. Now the electronics are covered and the ole Courier looks a little more complete.

First pics with the interior only partially painted on its shake-down run. Not only did it hold up but when it came time to put a new motor in, she cut free quick and zipped back just as quick.



Now its time for some detail. I tossed around the idea of gluing some cloth down on the seats but couldnt find a material I liked and realized they would get destroyed quick with water and mud. I then thought about just painting it all black with black seats but it was too hard to make them stand out from the background and the floors so I dug around in my paint and found some that matched the seats in my old 1:1 F100. The F100 had olive green seats with a tan stripe up the middle so I switched it on this truck. I left the dash body colored like alot of old Fords used to have (including the Couriers) and then started painting the rest black. Finally she started to pop and look decent. I hand brushed it all to give it some texture and really like the outcome. No, the seats dont match the truck but thats fine by me, its a rough old POS beater rig thats been turned into a Trail Monster so it all fits really well. To top it all off, I used the stupid looking "gear hump" that they try to pass off as an auto shifter and made it look like a shift boot. I used one of Kathleen's sewing pins as a shifter and there ya have it!!!







Im still not quite done, a few small scale tweaks will be made (twin stick shifter, couple other odds and ends). All this work really has me excited to get the Courier back up and goin. Itll be a while tho, no rushing anything but Im hoping to have it on the trails again for Little Rock City on the 25th. I still have a TON of exterior work ahead of me, but Ill get it running first, then start the body work...if she's gotta hit LRC half naked, so be it!!!

Matt

[koch131]

i just followed your whole thread and it is great this is the best thread on a buil di have seen on here

[koch131]

also where did you get that aluminum skid plate?

[66sprint6]

Thanks a ton...there are FAR better builds on here, this thread is just my quest to keep up LOL The aluminum skid was made by a buddy, Jbird on here, its one of his early versions and he has some really nice ones now.

Here it is with some slight tweaks. Was gonna do a simple single stick 4wd shifter like my truck but thought a twin stick would be more fun and look more at home in a rig this wild. In doin this I decided to put a bigger pin in for the tranny shifter, just to make it stand out a tad.







Took a little more effort that I woulda liked but worth it for sure. Had to cut a hole, then make a small box for the 3d effect and get the pins just right and secured. Some paint and presto! Good enough for now. Gonna 3d the cupholders sometime as well...not sure what else, seatbelts maybe?

Matt

[ejohnson]

ive been following this thread and i would like to tell you that you have an awesome rig, theres something about it that i love, im just not sure, maybe its that its so ruggered, anyway sick ass build

[66sprint6]

Thanks!!! I always appreciate peoples comments. I only wish I could show you guys who arent local how it rides. She goes like stink, crawls like a madman and can do things that make you shake your head in disbelief. She crawls 5 times better than she will ever look, but Im gonna still try to bring the looks category up a bit...see if I can even out the score LOL
Matt

[Die-Laughing]

Interior looks great

[R2j]

Interior turned out great Matt. I like the details. I was lazy with mine and now that it's shoe goo'd in, I don't want to take it out to spruce up. It will work.

I finally got my winch mounted and built a new bumper again to fit within Class2 rules. We are using the new scale rules this year.