Well I'm back from school and what better to do than tear apart the cruiser again. This time I've decided to dovetail it. I've wanted to do it for some time, so now I am.

Here is a before pic to start things off.

Edit: Here is a link to all the build pics of my dovetail project http://s102.photobucket.com/albums/m108/fellowsj/Dovetail/

how much you narrowing it?

First thing I did was hack off the back part of the cage. I will be redoing it later.

Go For It !

Bye wheel wells :( They wern't high enough anyway. Dang I love cutting metal!

This is how far I got today. Started bending the driver side in. Still need to do more trimming. It will be narrow enough that I will only use one swing out door when finished. Stay tuned for more pics tommorow. :D

but son, what happened? your land cruiser looked so nice just a short time ago.


go for it bro!!!!!!! :grinpimp:

Got some more work done this morning. Dovetailing requires a lot of time consuming trimming and tweaking. This will give ya'll a better idea of what it is going to look like.

I'm diggin' it, keep the pics coming. Nice work!

why not narrow it so the back of the door opening is the same width as the front while you are at it? it looks like a good snag point like it is.

why not narrow it so the back of the door opening is the same width as the front while you are at it? it looks like a good snag point like it is.

I'm not really sure what you mean by making the front the same width as the back......are you talking about where the front doors would normally be? I did kind of contemplate narrowing the whole tub but decided againts it as it would be too time consuming(taking away from wheeling time). I'm just going to tube out the whole thing eventually, but that won't be for a while :D

A cruiser tapers allong the door opening. High is talking about making the rear portion of the doors as wide as the front portion of the doors.

sweet... this just fuels my fire to do mine... but i need more important things right now like a tranny.....

very sweet

Lookin good, you need to take more time off from school.

A cruiser tapers allong the door opening. High is talking about making the rear portion of the doors as wide as the front portion of the doors.

I did that with my cruggy, and it's really noticable... makes the axles seem much wider than they are, which *should* help keep the rig from getting snagged.

Real nice work!!

Alright, who'se gonna be the first to do this to an LV?


maybe me? Its gonna get an ass trimming for sure

Wasn't Medusas an LV?? Or made to look like it anyway. Nice work, it takes balls to cut up such a nice cruiser. I got squeemish trimming the rockers for sliders:D

I'm thinking of doing the samething to my 55 :D


looks killer bro!

That is HOT! Dang I want to do mine now. Very Nice clean work. Looks killer. :)

Looks Killer Dude!! Keep the pics coming!!

OK...so how would you do it so the back of the door openings narrow as well without spending the rest of the summer on it??

OK...so how would you do it so the back of the door openings narrow as well without spending the rest of the summer on it??

personally i would have done it while dovetailing it. start at the body seam at the front of the door opening and basically cut a big triangle out of the floor going back to the back of the door opening. then swing the side of the tub in until it touches and weld it up. yes there is more to it than that but you get the idea. the rear fenders out have to be cut on the inside also to allow the body sides to swing in, etc.

me....well when i buggied mine i just built it to that width. i didn't like the width of the rear portion of the tub on the fj40's (for a trail rig anyway) so i built it to the width of the tub at the dash/windshield.

I would really like to narrow the whole tub to about 53in., the width of the hood, but time constraints are keeping me from doing it. The dovetailing will still let me squeeze by a lot of things that I would normally smash up into. I won't be able to work on it for the next week and a half as I'll be in Ohio for our mini baja competition. So check back then for more updates.

I think once the cage is back in and finished, the tub will look well proportioned.

Progress report and more pics?

medusa's was/is a 45 pickup.

keep the pics coming!!!!! :)

How about a pic or 2 looking down on the tailed area so we can see how you worked the metal? And a pic of the inner fender too. Do you think it's too narrow with only one door? Looks clean so far :cool2:

I presume you had to heat and bend the tub corners to get the to line up with the rear of the tub after bending the whole side panel inwards? I like it with one dorr in the rear....

man. stuff like this just gets me thinkin.....

too bad you couldn't keep a hardtop with the dovetail, that would be sweet (gears turning in head....)

do you know how much you changed the radius of the quarter panel bend in the tub edge?
the radius of the quarter windows would be the biggest thing stopping a hardtop from easily being dovetailed as well, that and chopping the liftgate....and reworking the fiberglass....dang, the list keeps gettin longer and longer


malphrus


oh, and lookin real good, keep us posted with pics

you've had your week off.....more pics!


malphrus

Ok, I'm back from my trip to Ohio for the Midwest Mini baja competition. Some may be familiar with the event. Anyway, now that I'm back, I was able to get some more work done today. I mostly worked on cutting out pieces for the wheel wells and tacking them into place. I need to pick up some more material to finish up the wheel wells and the back of the cage tommorow.

Here is what it looks like from above as of tonight.

Another shot of the new wheel wells

Here's a blurry pic of where I bent the side in. I just cut a triangle and clamped blocks of wood to the side to give it a nice straight bend.

I tried heating up the corners and bending them but that turned out to be very dificult. I ended up just cutting a few slits into the corner. I will go back and carefully weld the corners up when the wheel wells are done.

now that is bitchin. is it street legal to dovetail?

lookin real nice...got any pics from the side of the quarters?


malphrus

now that is bitchin. is it street legal to dovetail?


has it ever been street legal to be that cool?


anybody know abt this?
heck, i'm from sc, the police support this kind of stuff...

what abt some detachable mudflap-things



malphrus

now that is bitchin. is it street legal to dovetail?


as long as your tires are covered :D hell i'm not street legal with full widths

That's fantastic, very clean work there!

He's from OR, you can drive a model A john deer on the street.

Are you going to take the rear cage thru to the frame somewhere? What about spare parts/ storage - that cell is killin' it where you got it! Can you not sink it into the tub or you don't wanna cut the tub floor? Sooo, you're goin' with round Heepish tail lights, eh?

Are you going to take the rear cage thru to the frame somewhere? What about spare parts/ storage - that cell is killin' it where you got it! Can you not sink it into the tub or you don't wanna cut the tub floor? Sooo, you're goin' with round Heepish tail lights, eh?

Yes, I am going to tie the cage into the frame. I'm not really loosing a lot of storage space because I'm only cutting out portions of the wheel wells. I've been wheeling with that fuel cell for about a year now and yeah it takes up quite a bit of room, but it has not inhibited me from leaving anything behind like spare parts or beverages. I am able to fit a large cooler beteween the seats and fuel cell.

Looking good. You'll have to PM me when your taking a trip to browns camp or somewhere. Or if you feel like Naches I live near by now.

How did you do in the MW baja comp. We got screwed by a crappy driver on the first lap of the endurance race in AZ. Was placed 18th overall and he went out on the first jump trying to go three wide.

Got the corners all welded up and finished. Now I just need to paint the inside.

Did you box-in the rearmost inner fender area? Have you thought about modifying a soft top to fit? That'll be some major stitchwork & soft top frame fabbin'.

Did you box-in the rearmost inner fender area? Have you thought about modifying a soft top to fit? That'll be some major stitchwork & soft top frame fabbin'.

When I welded up the corners I added material to the slits I had made.

I have thought about making some sort of soft top for it. I would like to do something like this...

Got the inside painted today

This is the best side shot I could get because it is raining outside. My next task is to clean up the outside of the rear fenders for paint and put the remaining cage back in.

looking great man! fabulous work :smokin:

Thanks for the pics. I thought sectioning the corners would be easier than heat and bend...


That is flippin' sweet. Word!

I think it's a great way for me to get rid of a lot of RUST!

WOW!!!!!!!!!! very nice work

Here are a few more update pics.

This is what it currently looks like from the side. Still need to paint underside of wheelwells and outside of fenders.

Ass shot to give some perspective. I am going to start on the back of the cage this weekend.

Birds eye view.

looks sweet :smokin: mines wide enough with out the dove tail

nice :cool2:

now i hope those rockers are coming up soon..... :D

that looks sweet i been thinking bout doin that for awhile.that sucks u did it first cause now ill feel like a pouser, poachin your style :flipoff2: thanks :D

Thanks for the new pics...
Are you gonna make another hoop for the cage to go into the dovetailed section?

Hope you don't mind me stealing your idea. This is about the easiest and coolest way for me to deal with my rust issues;)

Alan

hey,

y'all find your own ideas to steal...i was poachin this stuff waaaay before y'all thought abt takin it...


ha ha ha ha


looks great man, it's abt 50:50 for me right now, whether to do it or not


malphrus

could you give a measurement of the frame hiegth from ground to where the skid plate bolts on as that rail looks fairly level and I am wanting to compare ride hiegth with mine cause I really like the stance of your rig... Nice job.

LOOKIN GREAT ... chop them rockers

there is about 20.5 in. under my skidplate. I have 2in square tube bolted to the frame and the use a 3/16 sheet for the skid.

I will be trimming the rockers very shortly :D

I think it would be awsome if other people wanted to dovetail their rigs. I got the idea to dovetail mine from seeing other rigs on this site and i8mud.com

I used my high tech modeling program(Paint) to show you what the rear of the cage is going to look like. Straight back, very simple. Will be using 1.75 DOM with 1/8th wall.

Started to take off the old paint. I've realized I really dislike bodywork. I will eventually take the cruiser to a bodyshop and have them spray the back to match the front color. Picked up some tube today for the cage, $150 for a 20ft. stick of 1.75 1/8th wall DOM:barf:.

Ok, got the rockers trimmed up. Now I just need to decide on how I want to build my rock sliders

Damn this is looking nice!!! I'd love to build up an FJ :cool2:

this thing is so cool its silly!! keep it up. i cant work on mine right now so ill just have to watch yours.. :)



chris :cool2:

If I may make a suggestion...what do you think about changing the rear a bit?
SWEET dove-tail project :smokin:
manny

Looks killer man!

It'd squish my youngin's too much to do that to mine. Oh well.

If I may make a suggestion...what do you think about changing the rear a bit?
manny

I don't really want to put a bend in the tube that ties it to the back. A straight piece should be stronger when I roll it because it should stay in tension and compresion. Thanks for the suggestion though

Awesome job man. I am counting the days until I dovetail and slightly tube the rear end of mine. :smokin:

do you have any plans for the part of the frame that sticks out from the body?

i've been tryin to think of something/someway that you could prevent that...and with the amount of dovetail, i'm havin a hard time

other than widening the dovetail (larger opening = not the same as stock door = more work), i guess you could just leave it...maybe find something you want to mount back there...


malphrus

do you have any plans for the part of the frame that sticks out from the body?

i've been tryin to think of something/someway that you could prevent that...and with the amount of dovetail, i'm havin a hard time

other than widening the dovetail (larger opening = not the same as stock door = more work), i guess you could just leave it...maybe find something you want to mount back there...


malphrus

You know, I've been thinking about this as well and I really don't know what to do :confused: . I did cut the very ends of the frame off so my frame is only as wide as the didtance between my springs. I guess, I invision a link suspension in the rear will probably be in the somewhat near future so when I do that I will just hack the frame off behind the seats and replace it with some sort of tube subframe, but keep the dovetailed portion of the body. I have also thought about redesiging the current shackle hangers to allow me to trim off the cornners of the frame. I could also inboard the springs to let me trim the corners. I can't sweat the small stuff, I need to focus on paint and cage. :cool2:

I was looking at the frame too. It would probably be to much of a pain to jack with and who cares...it looks great.

I was looking at the frame too. It would probably be to much of a pain to jack with and who cares...it looks great.

Yep, that's pretty much how I feel.

I'd also like to thank everyone for the compliments, they are giving me lots of motivation for this little project :smokin:

I cant believe you check the "butt-pirate" before you go to work in the morning, look at that last post...5:39 AM, damn... I always knew you were crazy but that confirms it, hurry up and get done with that rig so i can ride shotgun biatch! Keep up the good work buddy.

Yep, that's pretty much how I feel.

I'd also like to thank everyone for the compliments, they are giving me lots of motivation for this little project :smokin:


why dont you have the cage go down to the frame there and use it as a rock bar ??

why dont you have the cage go down to the frame there and use it as a rock bar ??

I think that is a really good idea. Would keep the freshly cleaned up/body worked fenders nice and clean and would make that part of the frame make more sense.

Nice idea!

I think that is a really good idea. Would keep the freshly cleaned up/body worked fenders nice and clean and would make that part of the frame make more sense.

Nice idea!


WOW you mean I had a good idea SWEEEET

I think you guys have a good idea about where to tie the cage into the frame. I imagine it would be something like this. This is the cruiser that actually sparked my interest in the whole dovetail thing. It's from ih8mud.com.

http://www.ih8mud.com/cages/shelljeep5.jpg

The RIG looks KILLER, love the dovetail.

I think you guys have a good idea about where to tie the cage into the frame. I imagine it would be something like this. This is the cruiser that actually sparked my interest in the whole dovetail thing. It's from ih8mud.com.

http://www.ih8mud.com/cages/shelljeep5.jpg


you have to cut and paste the link BUT thats what you need to do :smokin:

only problem with that is you lose top options...

soft top would be easier to mount to the tub lip, but if you're goin to get one custom made, no reason why it wouldn't work over the cage

count a hard top out...(anybody know if heavytlc ended up makin the hardtop for his dovetail?)


malphrus

Trail Top=blue tarp+bungies.
Road top=difficult;)

Another weekend is gone and it's time for some updates. I pretty much got the cage all together and tacked into place. I'll pull it out to fully weld the whole thing along with a new coat of paint. All that is left for the cage is to build some feet to tie it into the frame. I ran out of tube so I'll have to go and pick some more up this week. I hope to start painting the fenders this week also, so stay tuned for that.

I decided to keep it all inside the body becuase I think it looks cleaner and tighter and this way I can build a top of some sort later on down the road.

:smokin:

It was getting dark so picture kinda sucks. All in all, a very productive weekend for me :D

Nice!

Sweet deal amigo, looking good! Paint that shit and get it ready for next weekend. Im already saving up for beer money.

PS If you didnt spend so much time with your nose in the butt-pirate you might be done already! Later

is the swing out door still goin to fit with the opening tilted out to the bottom?


malphrus

is the swing out door still goin to fit with the opening tilted out to the bottom?


malphrus

Yeah, when I hold it up it still fits. I'm going to have to make some new hinges for it and a latch though, so I make not get to putting it on for a while.

Yeah, when I hold it up it still fits. I'm going to have to make some new hinges for it and a latch though, so I make not get to putting it on for a while.


cool


malphrus

Very nice :smokin:

Very cool!

Yeah, when I hold it up it still fits. I'm going to have to make some new hinges for it and a latch though, so I make not get to putting it on for a while.


CANT WAIT TO SEE IT PAINTED AND THE TAIL GATE ON LOOKIN GOOD :grinpimp:

Here she is getting ready for paint. It should be ready to wheel this weekend but I'll be in Goldendale watching the Calroc comp, so I guess I'll have to put wheeling off untill the next weekend. Anyone want to go to Tillamook State Forest :D

Looking good

Ok, I need to give everyone a little update. Took it up to TSF and, well I guess you could say the new dovetail worked great. The paint and cage are all done. My front axle on the other hand had to go :nuke: today and let me down. I will take the front end apart tonight to see what exactly broke, birfield or inner. All I have for pics right now are driveway shots. I know, lame...

Here is how I tied it all to the frame.

...

one more ass shot. Also, I know the door is not on. The bolts that hold the hinge on had snaped off inside the body so I need to drill or weld or do something to them to fix it. The door will be on eventually.

This was one of my favorite things about this project. Keeping all the origional emblems.

good work as always man. looks really nice. im bummed i had to work today and couldnt ride shotgun. sorry to hear you broke but glad to hear the dovetail worked out well.

Lander

Good job. Looks good in person too. Sorry you broke. Did you do it right at the entrance of the crushers?

I was in the black/green crusier

Man, I like the OEM emblems on that!!!

Lookin Good

Honestly, I don't know where I broke the front end :confused: . I just happened to notice it on the way into the Crushers. When I pulled it out it looked like it was a slow break and finally let go. In case anyone wondered, it was one of thoes Smurfields :shaking: . I think I need to start saving for some Longfield 30splines :D

hey, don't mean to hi-jack but how are those 37" iroks doing as far as wear? do you drive it on th street much? how tall are they (reality)?. how wide are they?

you are the only one i know that has them right now.

i hear they grip on the rocks good .......

any feedback would be aprec.

thanks

oh and the progress looks awesome :smokin:

Glenn,

Scott Johnson, Cruzila, told me he didn't like his MTRs in the rocks at first, but once they got scuffed in a bit he loves them. Mine seem fine to me, but I scuffed them in a bit before Rubithon.

Great job!!

I've been getting a few people requesting more build pics of this project. There is now a link to more pics on the first post and I'll put one here also.

http://s102.photobucket.com/albums/m108/fellowsj/Dovetail/

Still very happy with the way it turned out. I get better visibility when looking back. My only regret is not narrowing the rest of the body and dovetailing it. I seem to be hitting my windshield and door jam al lot now. :D

Uno mas pic to wrap things up. Ignore my dumb face.

What do you do for a top? I would do this to my cruiser in a heartbeat, but I need the top for it.

Dima

hey, don't mean to hi-jack but how are those 37" iroks doing as far as wear? do you drive it on th street much? how tall are they (reality)?. how wide are they?

x2

You not going to run the sx's anymore? I'm finally doing a spring over and haven't decided what kind of tires to get yet.

What do you do for a top? I would do this to my cruiser in a heartbeat, but I need the top for it.

Dima

Tops are :rainbow: . On the other hand blue tarps :grinpimp: But seriously, I have a bikini top for light weather and tarp it if it's crazy outside.


x2

You not going to run the sx's anymore? I'm finally doing a spring over and haven't decided what kind of tires to get yet.

I love my 37's! No issues at all with them. They ride smooth on the road and kick ass in the rocks. IIRC they measured like 36.7" tall give or take .2" maybe. They are taller than 37 MTR's, I know that. I never measure the width. They don't ballon like basketballs though. They have a nice profile.

Yeah I was thinking of running the the 37 iroks I had the 36 inch iroks but did not like how much round and ballon like they looked.. I think the 37 have a more right angle profile which I like way better..

What do you do for a top? I would do this to my cruiser in a heartbeat, but I need the top for it.

Dima

Not meaning to hijack, but I saw this thread the other day on mud...

http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=113470

http://forum.ih8mud.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=95766&stc=1&d=1159940631

Yeah I saw that too. I though it was bad ass! I really like how his top turned out.

are those 60 springs in the rear?.....are they flipped .....what is your wheelbase?


thanks:D


looks great , bye the way:cool2:

are those 60 springs in the rear?.....are they flipped .....what is your wheelbase?

Correct. Those are rear FJ60 springs flipped in the rear. In the front, I run the stock front 40 springs flipped (hangers have been moved forward as well). I have a 100" wb.

thats 2 more Glenn.

yep,.......i'm gonna crack 100+............

Correct. Those are rear FJ60 springs flipped in the rear. In the front, I run the stock front 40 springs flipped (hangers have been moved forward as well). I have a 100" wb.


nice rig man

im doing the 60 springs in the rear on mine and was wondering what you did for the rear spring hangers and if you might have a pic or something :smokin:

Ask and ye shall recieve. I carefully cut the old hanger off, pushed it back some, trimmed a bit off, and re-welded it back in place.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m108/fellowsj/TSFAUG06020.jpg

sweet that the shackles arent way out the back, Im assuming that you made new fixed end hangers for those springs got any pics of those? did you use 18mm bolts for the pins?

Nope, I just reused the factory hangers. Yes, the 60 springs are bigger but they can be made to fit, even with the military wrap in the front (I redrilled the military wrap spring). IIRC I had to trim some of the 60 series bushing to make the whole thing fit in the solid hanger. I forget what size bolt I used. It was whatever fit the tightest.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m108/fellowsj/length001.jpg


If I were to do it again, I would just fab up some new hangers that fit the 60 series springs better. But it seems to be working fine the way it is now.

so its damn tight but can be done nice to know the military wrap must hit the hanger when it torquing or flexin. I think i will try to make some using 4x4 tube and a 5/8 bolt for the pin. thanks for the help man and nice truck once again!

you have a very short driveshaft.

Please refresh my memory if you had already mentioned it before.
what kind of tranny & t-case combo are you running?

I am planning on a spring over but undecided on repairing 4speed case or go automatic.:smokin:

you have a very short driveshaft.

Please refresh my memory if you had already mentioned it before.
what kind of tranny & t-case combo are you running?

I am planning on a spring over but undecided on repairing 4speed case or go automatic.:smokin:

you have a very short driveshaft.

Please refresh my memory if you had already mentioned it before.
what kind of tranny & t-case combo are you running?

I am planning on a spring over but undecided on repairing 4speed case or go automatic.:smokin:

what kind of tranny & t-case combo are you running?

F > sm420 > toybox > FJ60 splitcase

btt for a sick car

good bump; i always liked that rig