[mtbrjon]

I thought I would wait until after the beginning of the year to start my build. Give myself time to get rid of some other rigs and generate some $$. I have an old "beater" 4runner that I had planned to wheel over the winter and into next year while we built the Ftoy. Change of plans! See the pics below. Smashed the body, hydrolocked the engine (now it's knocking), bent both rear springs, etc...It looks like my regular trail rig the black 4runner that's my avatar may be sold so I need a trail rig and a test bed for the auto trans and I want to get used to driving the Ftoy. So we decided to accelerate the build and be ready for a Thanksgiving ride at Monteagle, TN.! That's 26 days away. It won't be the supersweet build that I had intended but it will be built right with no bootyfab. I'll have to change some things If I want to compete like the birf elim's, add an ARB to the front at least. I will likely just wheel this for a while and start another rig for comps. That will likely take 6 months or so to complete. I drove the 4 runner into the shop this morning at 9 am and it looked like this.

 

[mtbrjon]

Ouch!

 

[mtbrjon]

Cheapo springs.

 

[mtbrjon]

10:20 am. liftoff.

 

[mtbrjon]

A little after lunch. Most of the stufff is cut off and cleaned. Need to get some rectangle tubing for rearmost xmember. Think i'll keep the rears up front for now and get some Allpro 3" buggies for the rear. Monday we'll peek into the engine and try to find the source of that nasty rattle. I'll make some temporary tubes to hold the chassis on the frame. I think i'll notch the top of 4 tubes and tack them to the frame to position the chassis over the frame. Then i'll be able to set the chassis on and off as needed to check clearence and enable us to more easily get to the frame for fabbing stuff. Got to make some calls to Mike at Hendrix, Allpro, Inchworm.....Thank God for credit cards!! This will be a basic no funny stuff, by the book build. We'll wheel the crap out of it and see what breaks. We'll start with the auto trans and see how that goes but i'll always have the option to swap in the r151, duals, 4.7's.

 

[RE:Todd]

My initial build was 6 weeks, so I guess it was 39 day's. Then it was rebuilt about 5 times the first year . Good luck and have fun.

 

[mtbrjon]

My initial build was 6 weeks, so I guess it was 39 day's. Then it was rebuilt about 5 times the first year . Good luck and have fun.

Yeah that's what I was thinking. I'll just get this one done and make changes as needed then maybe i'll get it all figured out and start over with another chassis and my early model frame.

 

[a2b]

ya we made it where the chassis could be tacked on and off the frame. it made it real nice while building the buggy to be able to lose the chassis. good luck with the build. i am sure it will be fun, i would like to build another myself.

 

[azyota]

It looks like you could leave your existing rock rails on for now and use some spacers to get the chassis to the height you want.

 

[mtbrjon]

It looks like you could leave your existing rock rails on for now and use some spacers to get the chassis to the height you want.

That's why I haven't cut them off yet. I'll see how it lines up tomorrow. Was thinking it'l be cool to notch 4 tubes and place them so I can sit the chassis on them and be able to slide it front to back until I get the springs and stuff on to get the best clearence for tires, engine, seats, and stuff. If I decide to raise or lower from there I can just cut off the tacks, shorten them equally and tack back on. All this big stuff is gonna go fast then it'l slow down when we get to the wiring, plumbing, etc. Helps that we just last week completed a custom chassis on a stock frame with leafs up front and a 1 link rear suspension. It's all fresh in our minds.

 

[azyota]

Yeah, thats why I'm sayin just put spacers between the rails and the bottom of the Hendrix chassis. That way you can space it up or down, and still slide it for and aft without cutting, notching or tack welding anything, untill you have it where you want it.
Sounds like you have a pretty good handle on it. If your done by T-day, you will probably be finished before I am, and I started in May :shaking:

 

[a2b]

i had a 2x4 between the frame and chassis for spacing

 

[mtbrjon]

Yeah, thats why I'm sayin just put spacers between the rails and the bottom of the Hendrix chassis. That way you can space it up or down, and still slide it for and aft without cutting, notching or tack welding anything, untill you have it where you want it.
Sounds like you have a pretty good handle on it. If your done by T-day, you will probably be finished before I am, and I started in May :shaking:

This won't be the last Ftoy we'll build. I'm making some adjustable spacers out of tubing to simplify the adjustment of the body to chassis that I can keep and reuse on the next one. This way i'll actually be able to flex the suspension, lean on the chassis, and move the whole rig around if needed without my "spacers" moving or the chassis scooting or falling off.

Not saying i'll be "done". I'll still have a lot of stuff to do to be comp ready but I will ride this rig on T-day weekend.

 

[86rocktoy]

good luck on the build I will be keeping an eye on this one

 

[mtbrjon]

Found the rattle. Rod bearings assed out. We'll fit the engine mounts we built today and start the fab for the tranny x-member, get the drivetrain back where we want it, trial fit the chassis then remove the engine for repair and the tranny to go through it and fit the Inchworm adpt. I'll post pics asap.

 

[insane04]

where you at? good luck on the deadline.

 

[mtbrjon]

where you at? good luck on the deadline.

Thanks! I'm in Memphis.

 

[a2b]

which auto are you using? duals with it or not?
i know gehtowheeler had a single case but then went to duals with his auto cuz he didnt have enought gearing. and cody and hal had braking problems with theirs because of their stall convertor. i dont know which one they were running though.

 

[luvrox]

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :evil:

which auto are you using? duals with it or not?
i know gehtowheeler had a single case but then went to duals with his auto cuz he didnt have enought gearing. and cody and hal had braking problems with theirs because of their stall convertor. i dont know which one they were running though.

Ah huh, just keep believing us auto guys don't stand a chance. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

 

[mtbrjon]

which auto are you using? duals with it or not?
i know gehtowheeler had a single case but then went to duals with his auto cuz he didnt have enought gearing. and cody and hal had braking problems with theirs because of their stall convertor. i dont know which one they were running though.

a340h duals with 4.7's in the rear case. Haven't decided what converter yet. The adapter and trans go to my local buddies for build tomorrow. I'll be making my own manual shift setup.

I have wheeled the auto with the stock elec. controls and chain case for a while and I really like it. It sucks to not be able to control the shifting but once that is taken care of it should do well. I am a little concerned about the braking but i'll just have to work that out. Maybe have to mess around with the converter.