abraded
09-02-2009, 04:40 PM
Posting up a few words on my current project, partly because I am looking for a pair of rear ~5" lift springs. I have a few pics, nothing all that current and my star seems to have run out, so no posting anyway.
Basically took a D90 chassis with a bad rear crossmember, chopped it in the middle of the arch over the rear wheels and scabbed on 3x5x1/8" tube straight back from there to reach a wheelbase of 116". Built a rear crossmember out of 3/16 rectangular tube that echoes a series one. Built a new suspension crossmember to mount the rear a-arm to and used ballistic fab brackets on the outside of the chassis for the lower links in the rear. Wound up with ballistic joints on one end of those links ~38" long using 2x3/8 DOM (overkill but it was what the local steel place happened to have when I was looking for 1.75x.25 DOM). The reason I am looking for the big lift springs is that I raised the rear spring hangers 3" in order to run a longer spring without lifting the truck much. You might say it would just be easier to run coilovers, but I live in New England and will drive this thing in the salt some. I have a hard time doing that to a nice set of coilovers.
For the body I took a D90 tub and chopped it at the front of the rear wheel wells to make a lower pickup cab with ~12.5" back from the rear of the door opening. Badger Coachworks sewed me up a nice soft pickup top that fits the cab size giving me 5-6" more interior space than the standard rover cab.
Inside I'm using a Series IIA dash scabbed onto a defender bulkhead in order to have the bigger windshield area of the defender while keeping an all metal dash.
Still a lot to do. I'm working on finishing up the exhaust, rear shock mounts and flatbed. Plus a bunch of odds and ends.
Two other things I did that I haven't seen here relate to fuel and brake plumbing. I have the rover V8 in it because it was lying around, but I didn't want to bother messing with the crusty old plumbing. I cut the compression fittings off the fuel rail and ground the barb of the fpr allowing me to use 5/16" to -6AN fittings on Russel Twist Lock hose. Using a stock rover tank I used a cut of wheel and dremel tool to remove the stock feed and return fittings. Then I used a set of -6AN bulkhead fittings with fuel injection hose running down to the pump housing in order to get the AN fittings on all ends of the setup. Running brake line I used Cunifer tubing from FedHill which is incredibly easy to bend and did a -3AN flare to make flaring easy and a AN braided stainless flex hose running along the upper A-arm to reach hard line on the axle.
I have a couple prelim pics, but will try to get more this weekend. Then maybe I'll have the motivation to come up with a way to post them.
In the meantime, if anyone has an old pair of 5" lift springs sitting in the corner please let me know.
--S
Basically took a D90 chassis with a bad rear crossmember, chopped it in the middle of the arch over the rear wheels and scabbed on 3x5x1/8" tube straight back from there to reach a wheelbase of 116". Built a rear crossmember out of 3/16 rectangular tube that echoes a series one. Built a new suspension crossmember to mount the rear a-arm to and used ballistic fab brackets on the outside of the chassis for the lower links in the rear. Wound up with ballistic joints on one end of those links ~38" long using 2x3/8 DOM (overkill but it was what the local steel place happened to have when I was looking for 1.75x.25 DOM). The reason I am looking for the big lift springs is that I raised the rear spring hangers 3" in order to run a longer spring without lifting the truck much. You might say it would just be easier to run coilovers, but I live in New England and will drive this thing in the salt some. I have a hard time doing that to a nice set of coilovers.
For the body I took a D90 tub and chopped it at the front of the rear wheel wells to make a lower pickup cab with ~12.5" back from the rear of the door opening. Badger Coachworks sewed me up a nice soft pickup top that fits the cab size giving me 5-6" more interior space than the standard rover cab.
Inside I'm using a Series IIA dash scabbed onto a defender bulkhead in order to have the bigger windshield area of the defender while keeping an all metal dash.
Still a lot to do. I'm working on finishing up the exhaust, rear shock mounts and flatbed. Plus a bunch of odds and ends.
Two other things I did that I haven't seen here relate to fuel and brake plumbing. I have the rover V8 in it because it was lying around, but I didn't want to bother messing with the crusty old plumbing. I cut the compression fittings off the fuel rail and ground the barb of the fpr allowing me to use 5/16" to -6AN fittings on Russel Twist Lock hose. Using a stock rover tank I used a cut of wheel and dremel tool to remove the stock feed and return fittings. Then I used a set of -6AN bulkhead fittings with fuel injection hose running down to the pump housing in order to get the AN fittings on all ends of the setup. Running brake line I used Cunifer tubing from FedHill which is incredibly easy to bend and did a -3AN flare to make flaring easy and a AN braided stainless flex hose running along the upper A-arm to reach hard line on the axle.
I have a couple prelim pics, but will try to get more this weekend. Then maybe I'll have the motivation to come up with a way to post them.
In the meantime, if anyone has an old pair of 5" lift springs sitting in the corner please let me know.
--S