I'm tryin to figure out what to do with the body of my rig. I was gonna go exo, but i'm finding that a lot of trails wont allow me to take normal lines and fit through. I'm also finding that my rear fenders bulge out way too far already and i keep scraping/denting em on the rocks. I really like the shape of the Amigo and wanna keep it, thats why i started with one. What i'm thinking i may do is just exo the front and then chop off the body behind the doors, tube out the back with an inside cage up front and then cut the rear fenders off the tub and attach them to the cage with zeus fittings about 12" farther in than they are now. I'm thinking i'll leave the B-pillar in place to retain the stock roof line and cut along the top of the fender forward til i hit the main roof beam then cut down. the top of the b-pillar would overhang the fender but with the fender clipped to the cage it should look ok. What do you guys think about this? Any comments on the cage design i'm thinkin of? Heres what it would look like with the fenders off (sorry shitty paintchop)
http://community.webshots.com/photo/39904312/46005664uMQFfx

and here is what it would look like with the fenders on. the thin white line is where the stock body would end, and the fenders would be pushed back in.
http://community.webshots.com/photo/39904312/46005698wpILOY

Lemmie know what you think. I'm not totally set on doin this yet, but it does seem like a good option for keeping it looking like an amigo, while still making it more trail worthy.

Dallas

i would not do an exo. just wheel it until it is beat and then build a new one.

What about just a lot of armor? Bumpers that give you some wrap around protection, cut the rockers and put some box in, and maybe have some diamond plate body plates made for the parts that get bitten often? Keeps the shape, less work/time/money and should accomplish the objective.

By the way, your name reminds me of a chick porn star. Not that it's a bad thing or anything... :flipoff2:

-Jack

BTT, any other suggestions?

I agree with IronBender, You could build some stout bumpers and rockers that are tied together with tube that gaurds the fenders in key spots. Basically the start of an exo w/o the top. And you could follow the lines of the body keeping the Amigo sheetmetal.

my $.02

that to me kinda sounds like just doing an exo without the part that makes it safe in a roll. it would still cover the body and look good, but it would make the rig wider, which is what i'm trying to avoid. i think i'm gonna stick with the exo up front cause the tires stick out more and its easier to maneuver the front around and over stuff. Another thing i thought of is to do the same thing i described above but attach the fenders i cut off right to where i cut em up front but attach the back end much farther in, basically make the rear end taper in, similar to the bed on walker evans S10. cage out the back and be done with it. If i'm doin a real body damage prone trail i'll just leave the fenders at camp next to the doors.

Dallas

It shouldn't make your rig any wider. It will just give you a bit of extra protection that you can use to pivot and slide where required. On the fender wells, just put some painted diamond plating on it.

And regardless you should have an internal cage.

What you're planning on doing would work great. But it's a lot of $$ and money. This is just another idea.

-Jack

Remove the body.

Cut off the body skin.

Build a tube subframe.

Re-attach the skin to the tube subframe.

Well it sounded good the other day while I was on crack.

Seriously though I am considering something along these lines myself. If the stock car world can do it, why can't we? Hmm, I need to take some fiberglass classes.

I am definately going to be adding a cage this winter, after that we'll see how long the body lasts. And yes I agree with the exo limits your line AND trail choices. I was on a trail a couple weekends ago and I was on tree on both sides. The additional 3-4" of the exo would have forced me to either cut down trees or turn around. Note: I would NOT cut down trees.

Dallas, what if you left just the front part of the rear fender? If you continued down from the roof at the existing angle, you could make a smooth curve that angled back and met with the fender line. You pickin up what I'm throwin down?

Iron bender, I do all my own fabrication so the only $$$ involved here is tube, mig wire, and sawzall blades, so the $$ doesnt worry me at all. I'm bettin a couple hundred bucks at the very most. MW your thinkin exactly what i'm thinkin, except i'm only gonna do that aft of the front seats. Chris i think i see what your getting at just continue the downward slope of the roof and chop off the back? I thought about that, but it would leave the better part of the bulge i'm trying to relocate, and would get rid of the whole rear end which i dont wanna do. at least i think thats what your getting at. BTW Sorry again i didn't have more cash on me for that gas, i'll hit you back next time i promise. I really appreciate you helpin me out like that.

Dallas

On the stock body line, you know where the slant becomes horizontal? I'm talking about angling back towards the front of the wheel well. Instead of the body line zig-zagging down towards the bottom, have one rounded angle (where the slant-becomes-horizontal). I tried to download and show you but I don't know how to do it.

chris email it to me here dallasn@bsalajolla.com

Dallas

EDIT: are you thinking something like this:
http://community.webshots.com/photo/39904312/46100826qbeoid

Yeah, that's what I'm talkin about, you like it?

actually i do really like that line, but i dont wanna get rid of my whole back end. I've got that pic filed away for future contemplation tho. I'll be thinkin long and hard before the sawzall comes out to make the final cuts.

Dallas

Uhhmmm, what about swapping in wider axles. Looks like you have waggy axles. What about full width.

I can't believe you guys (you and Belly) are getting that much body damage. I thought those were about as narrow as a Jeep, Guess not :confused:

But wait a minute, Belly has full width axles....what the hell.

why not cut 6 or 8"s outta the middle,all the way from nose to tail.
like pat gremillions(sp?) bronco. narrow the whole rig by taking a slice out of it.then you could go full exo.

if it rubs cut it off!

I'm running a waggy axle up front, and the stock isuzu 12 in the rear. i dont wanna go fullwidth, cause then i wouldn't fit on a lot of trails. the body of my amigo is about the same as a jeeps fenders, but the fenders on mine have a lot of bulge to em, similar to the fiberglass all the prerunner guys put on, only mines stock. I like the narrow the whole thing idea a lot, but thats a fuck load of work.

Dallas