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

I then carried on...



Wheel off and supported with an axle stand, to get to the rear of the cab...



Some more CAD (Cardboard Aided Design! ) with a Corn Flakes box (other breakfast cereal boxes are available! )



Holesawed a hole for the rear bed tube and slipped the template into place...



And then went right the way round banging the cardboard with a rubber mallet...?



So that I can see the groove, that's the shape I need!



Cut it out with "Manly Stanley" (Yup, most of the tools have names!)



And test fit our cardboard template...



Then pop that on top of the half piece of rectangular box section and draw round it... remembering that we need to cut and fold INSIDE the line so that it will fit into the rear of the body tub...



Like that...!



The bottom piece cut and trimmed to suit also...



Clamp, Weld, Hammer, Clamp, drink tea, repeat...



And we eventually end up with



Yup, happy enough with that...



Stand back and admire the matching sides...... and home for a shower and a Stella (together of course)... and tea and an evening with the fam'...Content in the knowledge that the other half of the rectangular box section is waiting to be trimmed and coerced into fitting into the top of the half door on Wednesday...

Lambert wrote: Like everything else once you've done it once it becomes significantly easier the second time round.

EXACTLY!

Started on the passenger door today -



The other half of the 4"x2" box section carefully measured, shaped and "bent" to the correct angles...



Some accurate measuring there if I do say myself



I was so happy with the fit and placement that I tacked it in place...

And then realised the welding gas was running out, so I went and fetched another bottle ready for Sunday



I returned with a new gas bottle and clamped the inside ready for Sunday too...

So just a half day today as I had other things to do, and it's "quite quiet" Wednesday as our eldest daughter is still with us working from home in my study above the garage...

More noise on Sunday though! Welding, grinding and sanding that door 'til I'm happy with it

The rocklobster side project now has it's own thread here

Meanwhile, this afternoon a carrier brought me these from JimnyBits -



TrailGear 26 spline front HD shafts!

Hmmm, this started out as a cheap and simple buggy build, whereby I took a Jimny with a basic suspension lift and big tyres with VVT diffs fitted to compensate for the new 29" tyre size... and changed the body to look like a buggy that I've been trying to build for years...

But, when recently tidying the store room in the shop, I cam across my LSD (limited slip differential) sitting on a shelf with it's sheared-off bearing carrier on the side... I had asked a well known Jimny gearing expert who can't be mentioned on this fine forum if he could fix it, but he said no So I put a shout out on facebook with photos of the damage to see if anyone else knew anyone that might be able to fix it... I then got a private message from a friend saying he knew of an expert welder / machinist that would be willing to have a look at it, and after seeing it, they think they can weld it and then machine it so that the bearing mount can indeed be salvaged...

So, with the LSD being a 26 spline unit, and probably requiring stronger shafts... enter Russ at JimnyBits to supply some TG HD shafts that will be up to the job, if and when the LSD comes back from repair from a friend-of-a-friend...

So... fingers crossed!

So the simple buggy may eventually go to having a rear lunchbox locker and rear TG HD shafts (already fitted), the rocklobster transfer box (seperate side project linked above) and a front LSD with 26 spline TG HD shafts in the front too!

I'll keep you updated,..

Hmmm... I'm mentioned previously that I'd like something to go here -



To hold ropes and my quick-link tree strop next to the spare wheel, and was thinking of a wire basket...?

I've just spotted this on another thread on here -



A fake Jerry Can with a hinged top!!!

I'll have a measure and see if that would fit, that would look ace if it will!!!

A quick rummage later...



Perfect-ish... it fits perfectly, but won't hinge like the one above, as it sits right up tight against the spare wheel’s tyre

But... I only want to make some space to quickly get to the Quick Strop -



That we throw around trees to get a tug off them...

So...



If I cut it as per the yellow line and hinge it so the front opens up and flops down into the winch rope area That will give us quick access to the tree strop!

Great idea!

Ooooh! shiny bits! -



These just arrived in this mornings post, from Floflex who I have remained friends with (they used to supply all my polyurethane products when I was Bits4Vits). So I still throw the odd part into their plating pile...



The handle I made to influence where the winch rope spools onto the drum, with a bicycle handlebar grip on it to finish it off...




And the figure-8 plate to finish off the “monkey face” errrr, the bracket that holds the snatch block pulley above the big winch hawse fairlead (that will allow me to also winch backwards)

Bit more today...

Left welding up the half-door top, as that can be done on a "quite quiet" Wednesday, although we think our eldest daughter will be returning darn sarf at the end of the month...

So...



I marked out the box section that needs "bending" for the front wing top... referencing photos off this fine forum and the original cardboard templates...

I'd cut about half of the indicated slots when me ol' mate Brett arrived I'd advertised my un-used / brand new mountain bike on facebook a few weeks ago, and this was our first opportunity to complete the sale now that we're slowly getting out of the lockdown So we had a good catch-up chat and a look around the buggy... Brett headed off with his "New" bike, and I carried on cutting.. (The proceeds of the sale of the bike will be used to get a replacement windscreen fitted towards the end of the build) Thanks Brett! .



Slices made, and you can see the box starts to bend the "wrong" way as the cuts set it free to bend...



Some of the cuts are widened out with a thicker cutting disk, and the the hand winch is used to bend the box round...

I then drew around it and cut out a cardboard template to check...



That the radius of the bend matched the other side that I did a good while ago...



I also marked the position of the wing top bracket / plate for the front mudguard...



And then welded it all up



Referencing the driver's side I then marked out the material that had to be removed...



GONE!

And then...



Ground and sanded the "bent" box section flat...

There's a few bits that will need a small weld and sand when the welder is next out, but the bulk of it is as intended

I then ended the day with a bit of a fun job...



Having flushed the petrol jerry can out earlier in the day, I marked the cutting lines...



And then cut them out with a slitting disk in the angle grinder...



... finishing off by hand with a hacksaw as the disk wouldn't reach down passed the "spout" of the can



I then tidied up the edges (so they're not sharp and also ready for paint) and added the hinge at the bottom...



And one of the four matching-keyed padlocks on the top, fixing to the filler cap so it looks like it's securing the fuel inside...



But it actually folds down to reveal the quick-link tree strop for getting a tug off trees from time-to-time... so it's quick and easy to retrieve it...



It just needs bolting to the low "wading wall" behind the seats and to the perforated steel sheet to the left, before final painting...

THANKS to "JimnyNL" for the idea from his post linked earlier

No work on the buggy tomorrow (Wednesday is my usual day off in the week) as our youngest daughter is flying back to Malta to resume her nine month dance contract over there that was curtailed when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, we managed to get her out on one of the last flights out of Malta and she's been back in the nest for months, but now she's about to go back tomorrow... so Dad's Taxi is booked for the airport run...

Looks like your rope monkey has eaten YELLOW bananas!

HUN wrote: Looks like your rope monkey has eaten YELLOW bananas!

That's supposed to be the final colour