Dave's la(te)st buggy build...

Looks brilliant! Slowly getting there but it will be worth it.

What are your plans for the enlarged window areas? Will they be left open or maybe some of that mesh-type stuff they put in rally car windows?

Lost the image onto the previous page!

Here it is again -







Garage tidied!



And he's back in the man cave!

Carried on in the afternoon...

My eldest daughter (who works from home in my study above my garage, hence "quite quiet" Wednesdays ) was having her lunch at one, so I...



... marked up an old sheet of shop shelving backing...



And cut it to length... Hmmm, but why that gap in the middle?



Ahh... my home bender will only do 24" !!!



Bent to go around the box section cross piece... this is the small wading wall of the cab...



It's the same height as the half doors, so that the buggy can still ford streams and rivers... to a depth of 30" (75cm) if I remember correctly? So about the depth of a full tyre... (enough for me!)



Next the spare wheel and it's ratchet Y-shaped strap come in...



As I'm thinking of drilling right through so that the ends of the strap can bolt onto the end a bolt that goes through the cage, then a spacer and through the box section top of the wading wall to help give it some rigidity...



I then made some filler plates to enclose the winch rope tube, again it's all got to be waterproof, so that will be welded to the floor and then seam-sealed all round it (before the bed-liner gets sprayed everywhere )



And then made a bracket to hold the winch tube half way along it's length, just under the front of the passenger (Alan's!) seat

I then welded it in place and went for a cuppa to let it cool....

... after it had cooled...



I unspooled the winch rope, took the black outer covering off the end (as it's a bit too tight for the donut fairlead), I then threaded a small winch block (a polyurethane body lift block! ) all the way to the end...



And then wired the winch up temporarily and pulled it through the tube (with the MIG welding wire by hand first)...



Onto the drum! So a slightly weird setup... the winch is in the back, and works through the tube that runs under the passenger (Alan's!) seat, and out the front -





So to winch forward you do the same as a regular setup, only that the winch is in the back, not at the front...

The added benefit of this is...



You can winch backwards by pulling a loop off the drum and inserting the snatch block (off it's mount above the huge hawse fairlead)...

So as you wind the winch back in, it pulls the vehicle BACKWARDS!



So the bottom rope is stationary, as the winch block is on the donut fairlead at the front, and the top rope winds back onto the drum...

AND...



The small loop on the back of the "halo hoop" that runds around the roofline can be used to either support the buggy if things are getting tippy, or god-forbid self-right the buggy if it has a "little lie-down"...

So a loop of rope is taken off the front of the drum before it disappears into the donut fairlead at the back of the winch rope tube and up and through the little hoop at the top / back, and the snatch block again inserted into the loop...

So hopefully every eventuality solved with the use of just ONE winch at the back of the vehicle, where it also spreads the weight out and over the back wheels...

This isn't my idea, sadly, this is all nspired by Rob Butler from the OffRoad Armoury who did this with his Assassin Jimny Buggy some years agol

I just used it as "inspiration", errr, yes, ok, I copied his idea

who's been a busy boy then

loads of progress there mate, and even if the 3-way winch is copied, I will always think of it as your idea!
It looks very versatile and I like it a lot, but will it not crush the black bush on the front donut if your pulling something heavy from the back? No problem if its just yourself, but you usually are pulling another vehicle when using rear winch from what Ive seen

Riccy wrote: who's been a busy boy then

loads of progress there mate, and even if the 3-way winch is copied, I will always think of it as your idea!
It looks very versatile and I like it a lot, but will it not crush the black bush on the front donut if your pulling something heavy from the back? No problem if its just yourself, but you usually are pulling another vehicle when using rear winch from what Ive seen

I've been using the big orange "winch balls" for years, so I suspect the same polyurethane but in a 2" thick smaller (bodylift block!) will work the same... I needed something to protect the donut fairlead when the winch hook was up against it... hopefully the winch will be just for self-recovery this time around, rather than resuing stricken Discos on punch hunts?!

Although I do seem to have been offered a return to Hawkstone next year??? Not sure what category they'll put me in though?! Hence de-badging it?

Final photo from today -



Handsome b*st*rd isn't it?!

Ordered 2" JimnyBits rear lift springs today, they'll be here tomorrow, and will fit them on the next "quite quiet" Wednesday

Reason2doubt wrote: Looks brilliant! Slowly getting there but it will be worth it.

What are your plans for the enlarged window areas? Will they be left open or maybe some of that mesh-type stuff they put in rally car windows?

Thanks Yes, slowly getting there... Brett emailed the rest of the group today and said that we've basically written off the rest of 2020, so that takes the pressure off me somewhat, so I've still got the winter to finish things off, and get out in the autumn next year...? If and when things return to (the new) normal...

Rally netting?.... NOOOoooo... do you need netting when you wind your windows down to enjoy the fresh air and views of the countryside? There you go then! Answered your own question, but I can see me wearing a full face helmet for some 'lanes?!

Lambert wrote: Vector winching is the future it really is. Mini ibex right here.

Thanks Lambert...

All credit to Rob Butler of the ORA though!... we're not worthy!

Last post then I'm off to bed!

I was really missing this today -



With the gap between the donut fairlead and the winch drum being so short -



The winch rope guide handle would have been really handy today! Only it's gone for zinc plating!

She's lookin' good Dave!

Holy cow, what a load of bull, pull the udder one, I’m sure I’ve herd that before?!