Budget X Chassis Build

I have been gathering parts for a while to do a buggy build. I now have a
- 73 chevy pickup as a donor with 383 stroker motor which is now free as I sold enough parts off the truck to pay for it. You can see how ugly both Chevies were.




- th350 tranny - free from another chevy suburban I parted


- mog 404 axles I got off the board with pinion conversions and disk brake parts, spare 3rds (conversions not done in pics)


- Hendrix x-chassis #49 bought off the board (had to paint it as I did not have covered storage and didn't want it to rust). It came with DOM option, subframe with link mounts, and rear seat bar that probably won't work with my large seat but I need a 4 seater and the 36" rear seat is a little small.



- 38x14.5x16.5 swamper SX's with beadlocks free off the chevy


- toyota steering column off the board
- PSC full hydro single end ram setup bought new with 15% discount
- 49" rear prp bench bought off the board
- ORI 16" struts new all the way around
- fuel cell with sender about 18 gal - free from chevy


- premier power welder and ready welder off the board
- JJ style rod ends new with 15% discount

-Atlas II driver drop with 3.8 ratio all 32 spline on its way

need to buy:
- on board air pump
- front suspension seats
-DOM for links

Decided to see how it would look at ride height. good drive shaft angle. Running out of space to work real quickly.



motor before I pulled it. Need to get some new headers before it goes back together. I think I need some coated ones to keep the heat off my feet. Anybody know how well the coated ones work from real world experience?


got the donor motor pulled this past weekend. forgot to list above that it came with a holley projection system. Made sure it was running smooth before I pulled it. Pulled with the sm465 attached and it so it was sitting at a bit of an angle but all came out smooth.

got the engine setup level on jackstands and checked clearance for the exhaust and my current headers do not fit. Got a nice new heavy duty flex plate and new bolts to mount it. Current headers fit the frame rails by about a 1/2 inch but down below are in line with sub frame.




Motor in engine bay. V8 fills it up quick


see how high it sits


made some motor plates this weekend so I can mount it up.

timo992001 said:

- toyota steering column off the board

Click to expand...

Strip all the plastic covers off and the ignition switch/lock, and you're left with a pretty decent column to build into your rig:

got the th350 transmission mounted today. What a pain to do by yourself with a cherry picker bringing it in through the window. Needs a cross member next.



added a midplate cause I hate finding a jackstand to keep the engine from hanging when I pull the tranny. needs to be mounted to the frame still. you can see the height of the fuel tank in the back ground.



I think the gas tank will work well to keep it low so I have plenty of room for all my gear when on the trail. Still thinking about a different tank though, as it will be a pain to fill it or route a remote fill location. Need to add some bottom ports to the tank to fit my current gravity feed pump. Just got a new pump for the old tank so I hate to have to buy an internal setup too.

higher up view of gas tank.



possible future fuel cell.

30Lx7Wx17H
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/RCI-2171A/

at full bump link mounts barely clear motor


22" clearance under diff!!!!!!! sitting on 38" tires and roller is similiar height to the 42's I plan to run.
I still need some triangulation on the tube holding the chassis up.


built a jack extension from scrap parts to reach everything