Carwash Crawler - Build Thread... again.

[JeffK5]

How much shock stroke do you think will go unused front and rear ? If your cutting it close to being at the end of travel you might need adjustable strap ends. I can tell you that when I ran 24" Rancho's on the rail and they stretched about 1" after 4 or 5 rides.... went from working to letting the rear over extend and pop CV's.

I would most definitely make the front adjustable as you have diar consequences if you over-travel .... like a fawked up ($$$) HAD drive line!



Jeff

[carwash]

yes, and if i run the adjustables, i will be as cool as all the desert racers...

[carwash]

Well, been piddling on it here and there a bunch more, and managed to get a bunch done…

Pulley system for this motor has been the bane of my existence. All was good until I put this BBC in. The chassis was built with a SBC in mind, so with the big block, I lost quite a bit of clearance in front of the motor. So much that I was required to use a short style water pump. Serp systems don’t exist in stock form for this style waterpump, and v-belt systems that will work on my rig are also hard to find without buying classis car restoration stuff, etc. So after exhausting every other possible resource, I bit off the big one and got a March Performance pulley system.

[carwash]

This gives me about 3/4” clearance between water pump pulley and fan motor. It’s tight. Let’s hope for no flex. This system utilizes a high mount alternator tho. So high that it is about 1/2” from the hood. So, I put another cross bar to protect it in case of rollover, etc. This bar will also help protect the radiator top tank. (still need to flange it for removal) Had to cut the radiator in the grill about 1.5” at the top and 2.5” or so at the bottom. Clearance below with the pinion brake is a lot tighter than I would like as well.







Hood clearance to fit top tank. So much for the stock hood latch.





I originally mounted my evaporator and lockoff to the this bar as well, but then moved it due to clearance issues with radiator hoses etc. I liked it on the front bar, but it’s more practical on the firewall for sure.

[carwash]

Found a hole for the power steering reservoir and stuck it there on a thick 3/8” tab. It’s out of the way, and the highest point in the system.







And that comes pretty damn close to buttoning up the engine compartment of this damn thing. I’m starting to hate this rig.

[carwash]

Wasn’t real happy at all with my propane tank mounts I had at first, as it was near impossible to get them in and out, and then even harder to clamp and un-clamp the rings. So, made my own system, which will hold down from the top. I’m pretty happy with it.

Had to start by doing a lot of measuring, etc of the tanks, both the Lites and Aluminum ones so that my system could use both if necessary. The sizes differ a tiny bit.

Side by side comparison with a couple measurements as well…









They really are sweet looking tanks, I look forward to filling them to see just how transparent the inner cell is. I’m going to remove the outer shell and paint it read with some Krylon Fusion…

[carwash]

Then, noticed I had some issues with one of my tanks. The outer shell didn’t seem to fit the inner composite cell as it should on one of them, so I called up the supplier, and they rushed another one right out to me.

[carwash]

So of course, this is where the tanks are to ride…





Couldn’t find any 12.5” I.D. tubing for under $190 a foot, so I had a sheet metal shop roll me some rings. $80 and they came out perfect. Spring Grove Sheet Metal if anyone is interested. These are for the base of the tank to sit in.





Got some 8” O.D. stuff to make the rings that will help hold the top of the tanks.

[carwash]

Finished the base cans with .25” plate and some more of the same 8” stock. The inner ring is for holding aluminum tanks as well. The ring fits inside the bottom ring on the aluminum tanks. I don’t want to be stranded on the trail because my system won’t hold a borrowed tank.

[carwash]

Then started into the fab of the top hold-downs. The 2x2 recesses into the rings and overhangs past to give a nice pushing surface against the shells. The overhang also allows the use of the aluminum tank which has a much larger top ring. There will be tabs welded, protruding down around the outside of where the aluminum ring will be.

[carwash]

From the bottom of the tank area is a piece of tube coming up. On top of this tube is a piece of 1” v-thread welded through a 1.75x.375 spacer. This threaded rod comes up through the 2x2 stock, and is clamped down with a giant wing-nut type thing.









The tanks are brace at the top at three points on each tank, 2” across, and in roughly a triangle shape for even pressure. I cranked the nut on pretty hard to try and crack them, but couldn’t get them to budge. Some good plastic I guess. The threaded rod is held laterally in place by two braces coming from the two bars going across the back of the chassis.

Still need to cap the ends of the square stock, and put on down tabs for the aluminum tops. Still rolling around in my mind if I want to make a bar going around these tanks in the rear. I think they are safe, but peace of mind is a good thing I guess, better safe than sorry.

[94Dodge Truggy]

The tank supports and holding mechanism really look beefy!

[KargoMaster]

Nice looking rig CW... I still vote for bar around the tanks.

[carwash]

Originally Posted by KargoMaster

Nice looking rig CW... I still vote for bar around the tanks.

it will happen, dont worry.

[94Dodge Truggy]

Keep on adding the weight don't ya? How about some aluminum, titanium or magnesium even? :( I am worried about the buggy being able to hang with my small block on the trails.

[carwash]

yeah, i'm pretty sure this extra 30-40 pounds of steel is gonna push my 6000 pound rig right over the top... what was i thinking.

[KargoMaster]

Originally Posted by 94Dodge Truggy

Keep on adding the weight don't ya? How about some aluminum, titanium or magnesium even? :( I am worried about the buggy being able to hang with my small block on the trails.

I'd love to see the skid plates magnesium... then we could see how much bashing they could take before transforming into a white hot ball of flames, right before the "Boiling Liquid Exanding Vapor Explosion."

Good times...

;)

[carwash]

i will leave the magnesium for your rig... i already have enough fear of an LPG explosion, i don't need to have 2 fears in the back of my mind at all times.

[Bear Chow]

I saw where someone on Pirate plumbed in a fitting for a 2lb camp stove bottle of propane just in case he ran out, had a bad seal, or it froze up on him. He claimed he could get 20-30 minutes of ride time to get back to camp. I believe it was on a 4cyl toyota though.

Paul

[carwash]

i have read a few things about that paul, about being able to run a grill tank, whether large bbq or small coleman type... either way, those tanks have limiters that control the free flow of the contents. Also, has to be run upside down so that you get liquid. Grills run on the gas, while most auto setups run liquid to the front where it is turned into vapor before going into the intake.

so, i think it was a 4 cylinder, and if i recall, he couldnt get very high rpms even with that due to the lack of flow. anything to get back to camp tho, that's for sure... knock on wood.

[tjjeepjeep]

Looking good, carwash!!! Great progress....

[JeffK5]

Is it too late to up my weight estimate ^^^^^^^^

[carwash]

never too late... hasn't hit the scales yet....

add 20 pounds for paint as well... ha!

[carwash]

Here are a couple shots of the ends of the tank mounts, capped and smoothed with sections of curved tubing to make it less blocky. Also you can see some side supports i added to the vertical bar to make it stronger side to side.

[carwash]

is this thing on?