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

Nice day back in the garage today...

Thought I'd make the mounts for the ground anchor...



Bottom mount on the hoop of the rear 'tray' ?



Top mount on the original soft-top roof hoop and added elliptical stays that meet the top of the rear tray hoop...



So that the ground anchor's handle / shaft mounts nicely here... parallel to the arch and perforated side wal of the tray.



Wing-nit here



And a wing-nut here, make it quick to access... not that I use one much, but you never know...



The a mount for the 'spade' bit... a couple of bits of box section... the bottom U to hold the spade, and a longer upright to go around the central square bar mount...



And then bolts down here... it's tight between the spare wheel's tyre and the waffle board, and a bit of gravity will also hold it in place... once the tyre is ratchet strapped down it doesn't move or rattle...

And that took me all blummin' day! I had to re-engineer the top mount a couple of times, as the shaft would fit onto the bottom 'peg' but then wouldn't fit on the top mount... got there in the end though, after plenty of eff'ing and jeff'ing... :lol:

IISY ?

Bit more today

My plan was to get most of the bonnet area finished...



So the engine ancillaries brackets on the passenger side, and blend the new "bent box" wing into the stock bonnet slam panel...



So, on the left the bottle for the wishy-washers, the (engine) battery in the middle, and the radiator expansion tank on the right...



And also on the driver's side... blend the "bent box" wing into the bonnet slam panel again...

I also fitted bigger stronger brackets for the ends of the bonnet struts too...



Paint dry, and mount the ancillaries for a test-fit... all good



So these all sit at the top of the "wing" obscured by the (lorry) plastic wheel arch, and high enough to be out of the way at full articulation... (not that there's much remember, as it's only running a ~1.5" lift)



With the bonnet shut you can't see much...

Just the side repeaters for the indicators to do now then... they are going on the bonnet edge... should get to doing them this week hopefully...

OOooh... while I'm writing, I've just finished "Go Sober for October" ! A whole month without my beloved Stella, quite a feat when you think of how much I used to drink! LOL :lol: If anyone has any "spare change" for this enormous act of sobriety... here's the link to my donation page - all donations go straight to MacMillan Cancer Care

Cheers!

I keep thinking of not posting any updates on here, as I never seem to get any comments, etc, these days, but at the end of the day it's my build thread, and I myself refer back to it from time-to-time, so it's worth carrying on?... If anyone is reading this and still enjoying the build, please give this post a "Thank You" so I know you're out there still reading! :lol: :woohoo:

Anyway, I'm keen to get this finished and get out 'laning again... I had a good day on Sunday so was re-invigorated, so having a few hours off this afternoon I retreated from the weather and into the garage...



First I retrieved a spare wing from behind the garage and drew inside the repeater mounting hole to mate a cardboard template, cut it out and used it to drill, angle-grind and then Dremmel the hole the right size into the side of the bonnet's new edge and fitted the repeater through it, and then bent the JimnyBits repeater guard in the vice with a pry-bar so that it fits around the bonnet edge... Just have to repeat this on the other side later too... easier now I know what I'm doing!

I then got a bigger piece of cardboard - handy being a shopkeeper, plenty of boxes! :laugh: - and drew around one of the door cards I kept ready as a pattern... I then cut it out, and then offered it up to the half-door to mark it some more for where the door has been cut...



So that it will cover the inner door skin, and also...



... wrap round over the top and into the "step" in the lower bit of the half-door...

This is in readiness for some aluminium chequer plate sheets I've just ordered off eBay yesterday... It's my birthday in a couple of weeks and the wife asked me what I wanted, so I said a Jimny radiator for the buggy, she asked how much they were and I guessed at about eighty pound, so she gave me a hundred, and that has just about paid for the radiator, a new cap for it, and the two sheets of 1000mm x 500mm alimiunium chequer plate... Result!

I've still got to reposition and make some mounting brackets for the door-pull opening hamdles that have been relocated inside the door skin when the doors were cut.... at the moment I have to put my hand in and fish around to pull the rod to open the doors... :laugh:

It's coming slowly

Tomorrow's task is to finish making the mirror guards I started ages ago, and I think then that's all the welding and grinding finished?... Time then to start sanding the bodywork down a bit, and phone the local friendly windscreen place to come and take the old windscreen out, ready for paint...

A BIG THANK YOU

Hi Dave. I still read your thread, wether by email update or login, i don’t always have chance to reply, or a need to add anything meaningful. I’ve found in the past on various different forums (and this does not summarise anyone on here it’s just an observation) is that when I’ve done threads for stationary engine restorations, a blog of my tractor, or posts about a 3D printed OO locomotive, I tend to feel like I’m talking to myself, no one replies until woe betide you give them a window to pick, and bang! Reply reply reply then!

Take it as a reflection on the post, you’ve done a very through job, people are impressed, so much so they can’t add anything other than great work!

Paul

Hi Dave.

I know the feeling. I have started strings on various forums and wonder if anyone is bothered to read them let alone answer them. Maybe it's just the way I write them!

Roger