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09-30-2009, 07:45 AM
| #41 |
| Rock Crawler Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Fortuna Calif.
Posts: 997
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Big Mike, this project has turned out great. Your ideas and craftsman ship is out standing. Yeah the brazing thing is kind of addicting, isnt it  |
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09-30-2009, 03:06 PM
| #42 | |
| I wanna be Dave  Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Martinsburg WV
Posts: 2,781
| Quote:
Yep, it is an addiction now. It's just getting to be too easy. Once I gather up more magnets, clamps, etc. to help me hold things in place while I braze its gonna be on for sure. Case in point - why go hunting all over creation for an axle truss when you can just whip one up real quick:  | |
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09-30-2009, 03:29 PM
| #43 |
| Rock Crawler Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: talladega AL.
Posts: 787
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Thats NICE man. Keep up the good work  |
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09-30-2009, 05:03 PM
| #44 |
| RCC Addict Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: never been
Posts: 1,317
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great ideas flowing here, ive also got the brazing itch today/LOL time and practice,,, |
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10-01-2009, 11:04 AM
| #45 |
| I wanna be Dave Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Martinsburg WV
Posts: 2,781
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Cleaning up all my boogered up joints was a pain. Lots of small files and strips of sandpaper. And some glazing putty for the holes. A couple coats of primer, and a couple coats of Rustoleum Appliance Epoxy does a good job of hiding all my imperfections!  Time to prep the body... |
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10-01-2009, 12:48 PM
| #46 |
| RCC Addict Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: never been
Posts: 1,317
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Big Mike, the primer you used is a spray on ?
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10-01-2009, 03:46 PM
| #47 | |
| I wanna be Dave Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Martinsburg WV
Posts: 2,781
| Quote:
I don't know about this appliance epoxy. Doesn't seem too tough a finish right now after drying for 5-6 hours. Hopefully it'll harden up some overnight... | |
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10-01-2009, 08:08 PM
| #48 |
| RCC Addict Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: never been
Posts: 1,317
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^^^ cool, thanks for the info
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10-01-2009, 08:20 PM
| #49 | |
| Rock Crawler  Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: stafford springs
Posts: 697
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10-02-2009, 06:19 AM
| #50 | |
| I wanna be Dave Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Martinsburg WV
Posts: 2,781
| Quote:
Re-built, re-wired, passes all Q.C. and function testing, ready to roll  The tops of the sliders have plenty of room for the electronics. The "fuel tank" holds the winch battery. Nothing left but the body!! Got all the unused screw holes bondo'ed over and filled the seam in the back, and shot it w/ some plain old bright blue Rustoleum. Trying to be patient as I wait for the body to dry (I always start handling them too early) Hopefully I'll be able to have her on the trail tomorrow... Last edited by Big Mike; 10-02-2009 at 11:45 AM. | |
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10-03-2009, 07:56 AM
| #51 |
| RCC Addict Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: never been
Posts: 1,317
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dang bro, tubework on your rig after painting looks great |
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10-03-2009, 06:02 PM
| #52 | |
| I wanna be Dave Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Martinsburg WV
Posts: 2,781
| Quote:
 Thanks...I ended up picking a bright blue because there were yellow headlight lenses on the tree w/ the turn signals. They reminded me of a custom split-window Bug I saw once that had yellow headlights and was sprayed a similar blue. I still have a few little details to add here and there (like painting my body mount srews to match the body) but it's 99.9% complete. I decided to go with nothing on the roof after fabricating 2 different light bar assemblies and not liking either of them. After all that I started liking the bare-roofed look! Still looking for rear view mirrors (the stock mirrors are too big, they look like they came off of a 2 1/2 ton truck) Nobody seems to like the marker lights, so I decided to run them. We'll see how long it takes for them to get taken off by a rock. I decided to do a single centrally located shackle front and rear instead of pairs, partially just to be different, but mainly because I had everything painted up and done before I realized I had totally forgotten to braze on shackle mount points!  So these are sort of an afterthought. Front is a "T" made of 3/16" tubing brazed to a piece of steel sheet that then bolts on using the winch mount hardware (It actually worked out even better than my original plan because it is tucked up inside the bumper and folds up totally out of the way if something hits it) The rear is a heavily modified TLT shock cap that through-bolts through the rear crossmember. I made up a simple "flatbed" out of black plastic material I had in the shop. It just covers the space between the frame rails in the rear and makes a spot for the winch anchor/tow rope, snatch blocks, and jumper cables to bungee to under the spare. The "tail lights" are 2 rectangular lenses from the clear tree, Sharpied red and epoxied to unidentified black pieces off of the grill tree that are close enough to the right shape.     Some action shots from today - This rig ended up a bit heavier than the CGR Blazer it was built from because of all the steel tubing and sheet I used, but the weight distribution is so much better than the CGR, the C.O.G. is outstanding in comparison. This rig stays planted while sidehilling and doesn't display anywhere near the tendancy to tip over that the CGR did. Approach and exit angles are 1000% better. The shorter wheelbase also breaks over obstacles better and affords slightly more clearance. I wasn't really expecting much of a performance increase, but I definitely got it anyway. Bonus!!        It's got it's little flaws here and there, and there's a thing or two I'd do different if I could do it over, but overall I'm pretty stoked with the results. Thanks to all for the inspiration, encouragement, and advice. Last edited by Big Mike; 10-05-2009 at 08:12 AM. | |
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10-04-2009, 12:13 AM
| #53 |
| Say hello to my dactylion  Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: On the Boat to Whore Island
Posts: 4,470
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RIGHT ON Big Mike!!! that turned out SWEET ASS HELL!!!
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10-04-2009, 02:57 PM
| #54 |
| RCC Addict Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: never been
Posts: 1,317
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good job on the rig Big Mike |
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10-05-2009, 07:36 AM
| #55 | ||
| I wanna be Dave Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Martinsburg WV
Posts: 2,781
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Quote:
A couple more:     One hazy shot with the rear view mirrors installed. I'm on the fence about whether to leave them on or not. When it has head and tail lights it's sort of just asking to have mirrors and a liscense plate too. I don't know what it is about me and scale trucks having to appear street-legal:  Liscense plate double-side-taped to a thin piece of aluminum. It just hangs under the frame, redneck style:  Last edited by Big Mike; 10-05-2009 at 09:22 AM. | ||
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10-07-2009, 09:21 AM
| #56 |
| I wanna be Dave Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Unnecessary Surgery Land
Posts: 3,406
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How did I miss the last part of this? It turned out awesome! Love the color |
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10-07-2009, 04:03 PM
| #57 |
| RCC Addict Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Behind the torch!
Posts: 1,360
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I love how this turned out man. It looks very nice! Good job |
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10-08-2009, 02:53 PM
| #58 | ||
| I wanna be Dave Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Martinsburg WV
Posts: 2,781
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I'm convinced at this point that I like building these things way more than actually driving them (not that driving them is'nt fun, don't get me wrong) Now that this is done, I'm already ready to start another one while everything I've learned is still fresh in my head. I need to sell off some of the stuff I'm not really using right now to finance another build... | ||
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10-08-2009, 04:06 PM
| #59 | |
| I wanna be Dave Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Unnecessary Surgery Land
Posts: 3,406
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10-17-2009, 08:23 AM
| #60 |
| Rock Stacker Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Canada
Posts: 89
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Awesome build man. Love the scale stuff. Im in the process of brazing up my own frame. I was using some cheap metal works solder that seems a little to soft. Finally found a place that sells saftey Silv in my area so am going to redo it all...set backs but in the end worth it. Great to see even noobs to brazing can produce great results Its encouraging. Thanks for the pics...congrats on the sweet custom rig. |
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