The Mule 77 F150

[66sprint6]

Unfortunately, this rig is way to wore out and way too abuse for the grill to turn out as nice as I was hoping. I got started by backing the hole with one big piece of black styrene. The top of the grill is deeper than the bottom so I also added some slivers of styrene to the grill bars for support and a more 3D look.





After that I took some strips of styrene and started making the grill and headlight surrounds but once one side was done I realized that, without a BIG bumper covering pretty much the entire thing, I would destroy my handy work on the first rock it encountered. I dont go easy on a rig, even when its broken so I ripped all of that junk out and went back to the drawing board. This rig is rough and ugly so the grill is going to reflect that in the end. Its not gonna be straight by any means, but itll look like a 77 when Im done. Itll be dented and a bit rusy Im sure but itll fit the rig. Ill post more when I get a few things figured out and try them out.

Matt

[93 FORD BRONCO]

Originally Posted by 66sprint6

Unfortunately, this rig is way to wore out and way too abuse for the grill to turn out as nice as I was hoping. I got started by backing the hole with one big piece of black styrene. The top of the grill is deeper than the bottom so I also added some slivers of styrene to the grill bars for support and a more 3D look.





After that I took some strips of styrene and started making the grill and headlight surrounds but once one side was done I realized that, without a BIG bumper covering pretty much the entire thing, I would destroy my handy work on the first rock it encountered. I dont go easy on a rig, even when its broken so I ripped all of that junk out and went back to the drawing board. This rig is rough and ugly so the grill is going to reflect that in the end. Its not gonna be straight by any means, but itll look like a 77 when Im done. Itll be dented and a bit rusy Im sure but itll fit the rig. Ill post more when I get a few things figured out and try them out.

Matt

I'm definatly interested to see what you come up with!

[66sprint6]

Ok...so after messin around a little more last night with the grill, using decals and strene to make something relatively 3D yet simple and able to handle some abuse...I scrapped it all and did what I didnt wanna do in the first place. I decided to go full 3D and use nothing but styene slivers to make the grill as close to the 1:1 77 grill as possible. Knowing its not gonna last long before it gets destroyed, I decided to NOT take too much time in making sure it came out perfect and just had fun. I had a couple printouts of rough, ragged and abused 77 grills and went to town. This is what I came up with





The passenger corner of the grill musta taken the most abuse and was givin me fits along the way so I heated it up and got some rocks out and added some damage.





I took out my razor and grooved out a radiator before gettin to work just in case someone gets to lookin too deep. If it holds up I might even cut the radiator out and make a better, more 3D one but for now itll do. Again, I have a feeling alot of the smaller details will get knocked out on the first rock I hit but that just makes it more fun to me!!! I gotta add the headlights (hopefully tonight) add a little paint and a little detail work and Im done! Not sure if Im gonna add the F O R D in the upper grill or not. One of the pics I was using didnt have em and it looked cool to me.

Matt

[xigtc]

Dang that looks spot on Matt!

[66sprint6]

Thanks man, Im havin fun thats for sure!!! I wont win any awards, but when its covered in mud out at Shanty Hollow next time around itll at least look a liiiiittle more real LOL

Matt

[66sprint6]

Finally took a moment last night to add the finishing touches to the Mule's grill...the headlights!!!





I took some Axial light bucket lenses and a set of RPM shortcourse light buckets and glued them together, then ShoeGooed em into the holes in the grill. You cant tell in the pic as well as in person, but the left headlight was knocked cockeyed when it was hit. I drilled the holes in the back of the RPM buckets out for 5mm LEDs and cut the tips off the LEDs so they would fit. I have them wired up to the receiver until I get a 9v battery plug. I yellowed the bulbs a bit so they would look older and less bright. Im gonna mess with that some before Im happy and then Ill prolly call this part of the rig done!!!

Matt

[93 FORD BRONCO]

Not to shabby...

[66sprint6]

Heres a shot with the lights on. The pics didnt turn out great, the fronts are nowhere near as bright now, and the rears in person are the perfect shade of red and also nowhere near as bright as the pic makes it look.









Matt

[xigtc]

Lol now it's ready for a night run! Looks awesome man.

[66sprint6]

Yep!!! I wanna add some lights to the cage as well but Im happy with this for now!!! Needs some bumpers and sliders made up so I think thatll be my next move.
Matt

[66sprint6]

Snapped a little better pic of the finished headlight "dulling" process. In person they look spot on how i wanted, but the picture still makes em look brighter than they really are.



Matt

[93 FORD BRONCO]

lookin pretty good. just gotta see how it hold up on the trails. what did you use for glue? i used a plastic bonder type of epoxy and havent had any problems with the grill on the bronco unless i have a bad crash right on the grill but it rarely happends since the bumper is so big on the bronco

[66sprint6]

I used BlueTop CA glue, no messin around lol. Im sure it will take some damage with my driving style, but Ide be surprised if it doesnt hold up for the most part. Its freakin on there, but some of the smaller pieces arent as stout and they might become trail trinkets along the way! Im gonna put together a very simple bumper that will at least keep it from flexing too much but otherwise, it wont have much in the way of pretection...let the trails knock a tooth or two out, it only adds character!!!

Matt

[66sprint6]

Well, the Bronco is gettin some upgrades and prolly wont be runnin for this weekend's little ride, so I had to step it up and finally toss together a bumper for the Mule. Its not gonna provide a ton of protection but its one of a couple ideas I wanted to try out.







Its rough at the moment, I just took some square steel tubing (same stuff the frame is made of) and cut it, pinched it, bent it and then brazed up the seams the best I could. I then added some sheet steel for the frame mounts which is what you see hangin underneath. Those will be bent and trimmed and the rest will be smoothed out a bit more and either painted or polished and clearcoated. IF I stick with this bumper for a while Ide eventually like it to get roughed up and rusty so Im not particularly concerned with this piece bein spot on...which is nice cause I dont know if Im good enough or patient enough for that just yet Oh, I also stole the 3.8" TSLs off the Bronco while its apart...LOVE the look, depending on how the ride goes Sat, the Mule might be moved to the 1.55 section.

Matt

[66sprint6]

Mule did really well this weekend. Not entirely sold on the smaller tires, but it went everywhere I wanted it and looked awesome doin so. New bumper help up amazingly well as did the grill despite numerous attempts to kill em both LOL.

Flexin out on 3.8" TSLs





Did end up killing the styrene tubing along the top of the bed and knocking the lens off one of the tailights in the same spill. Caught the lens before it was lost forever and will glue it back on again.





Swapped some Trepadors on it for a bit and enjoyed the height advantage. I usually run 4.5" tires on this rig so they were right at home.



Ive got to fix a bit of damage, tweak the bumper mount a TAD and then figure out where Im gonna go tire wise. I LOVE the looks of the 1.55s on it, but love the performance of the 4.5" tires more. 1.7 wheels are an idea that was tossed out there, as is a set of 1.9 TSLs on 1.55 wheels. Im not sure just yet but Ill figure it out eventually!!!

Matt

[Highmark]

That rig is looking great! You've done an awesome job with the patina on that truck

[66sprint6]

Preciate it Highmark, Ive had a TON of fun tryin to get it to basically look like my old 77 when I first bought it. Well, took some time to dust off the old girl this weekend for a little work.

Got my hands on some Axial Trepadors FINALLY!!! Ive ran a stock set in the past and liked em alot but Ive been pushing the scale aspect of this rig more and more lately and figured it might be time to try out some 1.55s. The 3.8" TSLs from the Bronco LOOKED awesome but I didnt like the way they performed on this rig in particular. I mounted a stock height TSL on a set of 1.55s and hated the look so I snagged these Treps and got to work on a new tire idea. 4" 1.55 Treps.



I dig these ALOT and will prolly use the remaining Treps to finish off a set to try out!



I look forward to seein how these things do on the trails! For now Im keepin this rig a 1.9 but when/if I permanantly swap over Ill need to move sections

Matt

[66sprint6]

Almost got this combo done, then itll be off to do some testing, see if I can live with the shorter tire. If not itll be back to the drawing board but I have some ideas lol.



Matt

[66sprint6]

New tire and wheel setup is mounted and ready for testing. Pain in the butt with the 5 lug swap and the new LockedUp hardware but it was totally worth it looks wise. The LockedUp hub covers are almost done drying then Ill toss them on there.





Pics stink but it was late and the best I could do at the moment. I hope to get this thing out and see how it all does soon.

Matt

[4X4 Freak]

Man you have done one awesome job with that rig