Greastermans Hilux "The OTA"

[1tuff40]

Another 2.2 build, something a bit different this time doing this for a mate,
Plans are,
Hilux hardbody, narrowed both ends and bobbed rear
Exo cage to protect the awesome paintjob
Built Berg diffs, front and rear steer
Robbie Gordons with TSL's
Alloy Savage shocks run in 3/4 droop.
Electrics will be 7955's, FXR's and 35t's.

Another mate did the bodywork, its a work of art
The build and details of the chop and airbrush job can be seen at http://www.thecrawlpit.com/viewtopic.php?f=96&t=12970

Anyway, making a start on the diffs, this is where we are at. . .

[1tuff40]

Making a start on the diffs. . . .
Both diffs are getting the "86jeep" setup.

[1tuff40]

Few more of the diffs. . . .

[1tuff40]

And a few more

[buggynutt]

What housing is that? Great idea on the servo.. I love the paint. I wanted to try that but never got around to it..

[1tuff40]

Berg axles mate. That mod is fairly common now, ive done a few now

The body is awesome, really needs an exo cage to try help not to scratch it up too much! Although while it wont be a shelf queen, i doubt it'll get beat up too much. . . . Until the first decent roll

[1tuff40]

Thought i better do an update on this, see where we're at!

Reece has ordered a whole bunch of cool stuff, the list includes. . . .

VP zero ackerman knuckles, C hubs, 7955's, FXR's, 2 becs etc.
Also the Robbie Gordon rims have been bought, they will set this rig of very nicely thats for sure

Anyway, a few pics of whats been happening!

Made a start on the exo cage to protect the flash paint job, this exo will be a new design, the plan is to be able to remove the lower half of the cage from the sliders. How im planning be able to do this is getting 6/32 bolts which are inbetween 3 and 4mm diameter, the bolts im using are either 1 or 1.5" long, and ill be cutting both the A and B pillar tube part of the exo approx 1" off the sliders and drill the 1" pieces of tube already attatched to the sliders enough so that the bolts will fit inside the tube, but tap the other part of the A and B pillar tube so they can be screwed together. Also ill be machining down the heads of the screws so the head will fit inside the 1/4" slider. Apart from a hole underneath the slider you shouldnt even notice this. Strength i dont beleive will be an issue in the slightest. This way i can get the exo reasonably close to the body, but separate it for painting and maintanance.
Might sound a bit complicated but once the screws arrive and i can take pics it'll make more sense. I dont beleive its been done before but could be wrong

[1tuff40]

More exo pics. . . .

[Bananaclip]

Axle love baby!

[1tuff40]

Had another hour spare so put a few more pieces of tube in, going a lot slower than i had hoped but should pick up the pace shortly.

[SStone]

The paintjob is sick. Love the riveted "bomber" paint jobs.

[1tuff40]

Added a half X brace into the B pillar hoop.

[1tuff40]

In the next lot of pics it'll show how the exo cage can be separated for painting and maintanance. I explained how it would work at the start of the build thread and hopefully the pics make it clearer.
Firstly i reduced the heads of the bolts down in the lathe, then I drilled out each piece that was brazed onto the slider to 3.5mm, that was an extremely nice fit for the 6/32 bolts. On the underside of the slider i drilled it to 4.5mm which was enough clearance for the reduced heads of the bolts to fit through. Then tapped the 6/32 thread into the other parts of the cage. Once that was all done it just bolts together beautifully

[1tuff40]

More of todays work! All 4 bits of tube that are on the sliders are cut, drilled and tapped.

[1tuff40]

And more pics of todays work!

[1tuff40]

Better post up some progress pics, started off with a simple front bar, which ill add more tube to later, and the brushbar part of the exo.
The A pillar tube is cut, drilled and tapped now so everything is removeable. The rear body mount is under the half X brace. The body must have been on and off dozens of times making sure everything is still lined up



Anyway this is where im at. . .

[1tuff40]

More pics

[1tuff40]

Now that the front of the exo was in place, i started all the roof bracing, and got carried away and added a few extra pieces of tube here and there

[Epcampau]

great cage work buddy!!!!

[1tuff40]

Originally Posted by Epcampau

great cage work buddy!!!!

Thanks mate its coming along nicely. . . .