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

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.

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/

Finally got back to working on it. I moved it into the garage (1 car garage) so I will be out of the elements for the winter. I sold the mog 404's as I thought they would be too wide and heavy. I picked up a spidertrax front with ARB and 4.88 gears. 60 outers with 35 spline all the way through. Still had dana u joints though. Also a hi 9 in there.

The rear is a currie hi 9 with 4.88 gears and a detroit. Also has disk breaks with e-brake calipers.

Found some old style 40" MTR stickies to run on it also with forged aluminum raceline beadlocks.

I sold the 42" rockers with the H1 beadlocks.

Here is the rear tack welded as I found I was missing a few parts that I thought I had. This is fully compressed.



uppers are 1.75" x .120 wall DOM and lowers are 2" x .250 wall DOM. Thought I could save some weight with the smaller uppers and since I won't beat them up like the lowers, they would be ok.

Test fit the cooler and gas tank this weekend and it fits perfect. I will probably build a small shelf for the cooler to sit on above the ammo cans as it needs to be a little higher than the gas tank for the top to open.


The bucket seats are too big for the back as I am 5'10 and my head is above the roof line and my forehead is too close to the rear bar.


Luckily I did not cut anything yet and I am going to go back and use the rear the way Mike designed it with a 36" bench seat.

The red ORI's look awesome! These are some of the best looking shocks. the first scratch is really going to hurt.


Got the 40" MTR Stickies






I had to hang a couple HF welding blankets to contain sparks. Got a nice amount of metal stuck in the blanket as well. Luckily I moved the winch line when I was grinding so I did not melt and weaken it.


RCI 2171a gas tank holds 17 gallons and is 30 wide x 17 tall x 7 deep


I ordered an Artec truss for the rear and realized I only ordered enough joints for the rear so I used a ballistic 20% coupon to order some joints for the front.

a2b said:

nice axle and tire combo. good score.

i was about to axe you about the front mog and driveline? it wasnt going to fit very well huh?

Click to expand...

yeah, with the mogs the axle is pretty much at the front of the frame (way forward) so the upper link mounts can come up in front of the motor. I think 120" is about the shortest wheelbase and it is really wide too. Then you have to get the drive shaft past the motor and exhaust to the pinion.

Plus I would need to use the 4 link calculator and spend a lot of time figuring things out. This way I can build it the way Mike designed it and get it rolling. With the family and all I don't have the time I used to figure stuff out. Right now I want to get it going then if I don't like something I'll change it later. No sense reinventing the wheel on something that already works well.

It is tough to make it so I can carry all my camping gear too since I wheel up in Tahoe and at the hammers.

Keeping the build moving this weekend. Got the front tires mounted on rims. The front lower links on and the uppers mocked in place. Used the Artec mounts and I guess my measurements were off as I thought the driver side would land on the top of the pumpkin better. Going to have to rethink that one this week. Wheel base is sitting at 111 right now. After moving the chassis over to get the driver tire on it still fit in the garage by inches too.


Yes, the tires are past the front of the chassis.











The Richards Tavern beer was brewed by me.