Topic: 85 Beastie Build - 2nd gen runner time!

[golana]

welded a little antler onto the crossmember


i wonder why for?


yea! thats right! my buddy Aaron gave me a caliper off a old roller packer. took it all apart, and cleaned the moving parts with a wire wheel and some steel wool! good as new!


finally done with cutting and modifying this thing, so i re-primered it, and painted it!


looks good i threw some wire through one of the holes and hung it from the roof so i could paint it better


primered and painted the caliper too


cleaned the pivoting arm with the wire wheel. oooooo shiney


got the crossmember bolted back up (for the last time i hope)


lookin good


disengaged... this thing uses 2 pins on a metal plate to push the brake material into the caliper. awesome thing is; this caliper floats


engaged. i tried to turn the disc, i was lifting the side of the whole thing... NOT GUNNA MOVE. haha! my dad is going to machine the rotor down for me at his work so i can have a nice shiney rotor, free of grooves and whatnot.


who's your uncle?

[golana [OP]]

got the rear bumper off the runner... i had to torch it off... the stupid bolts holding the bumper on just started spinning... should be fun to remove what's left of the brackets *sigh*


when i was removing the bumper, i lifted it, and the sheet metal actually ripped like paper haha!


cutting the bottom off. just easier to cap it than to rebuild it... +clearance!


this isnt bad. not half as bad as my brother's 4runner. i better get used to doing this runner though, i have 2 more to fix after this one haha!


chopped off all the infected metal. used my grinding disc to remove any thinned out metal too. kinda weird seeing how it rusted... no idea why it rusted this way though... it had buildups of sand in it, BIG TIME though! im going to have to clean out the rocker panels before i build new panels... im not sealing in dirt and crap... there's just no way


this side isnt as bad, but its still going bye bye!


the plan is to build a hardcore bumper for this thing! im thinkin like 2x3 rectangle tube, 1/4" wall. wrap it around the sides too. the way im thinking, its gunna be pretty sweet! gunna build a tow hitch into it too

[golana [OP]]

cut off the rest of the bottom area, then traced out the shape on a piece of metal. got her all welded in on the outside, and a little on the inside... gunna be tricky to do beside the frame, but its do-able


lots of clearance! this chop is about half way up the frame haha! but its going to be covered by the bumper when i get to building it!


cut out the fender rotted metal too, cleaned up around the rot


started cutting and shaping metal to fit the cutouts. doing 12" at a time. kinda sucks, but its using a LOT less metal, and i dont care about seams or anything, cause im grinding it all down and mudding it up after

this metal is about 1/16" thick, so its plenty strong! i cant freaking wait to get it all done! i got a tricky part comin up though... the door jam... i remember doing this on beastie's truck cab, and it was a pain in the butt!

spent about 5 hours chopping, grinding, cutting, shaping and welding so far.

[golana [OP]]

my bro came out to give me a hand with the 4.88 3rd swaps


4.88 in the rear. the leaf springs HATE it haha


i broke off BOTH (front and rear 3rds) the stupid plugs from the ABS sensors (i think thats what they are...) is it ok if i just leave the ends in the diffs? cause i dont have ABS and i dont have anything to seal the holes with afterwards... if those ends will seal the hole, good enough for me haha


my cat Adrian was making sure we tightened everything, and installed the 3rds properly haha

[golana [OP]]

picked up a rolling chassis








frame is a little bent... the lady went from 500 down to 160 for everything though, so im not complainin




IFS lift crap that my dad wants... *shivers*




really high angle front driveshaft... i dont know if ive seen one this high before, but i want to replace my front driveshaft... im sick of the wobble...


yea... i know right... 4" tapered lift blocks...


no manual locking hubs. we now have 3 sets of these haha

[golana [OP]]

well, i got a metric sh*t ton done today! also got heat stroke... feel like a big bag of crap


rolled her up to the shop


measured where the transfer case mounts are going to be, and had to remove the torsion bar mounts haha


here's the other one. still there... in this pic only though!


im Houdini! now you see it...


now you dont...


got the tcase installed (temp) and tacked the mounts to the frame








ran out of wire... got most of the mount welded... gotta get more wire and finish






poser pic! hahaha, i was FILTHY by the time i was done

[golana [OP]]

mounts holding the stuff up. im going to gusset the bottoms of the mounts, dont worry


couldnt resist! almost flat! if i clocked the tcases, it'd be flat. gotta build a skid plate


im a picture sleeper


now that i got the t-case all fixed in position, i started tearing everything apart




i think mice started building a nest in the frame


had a pyrotechnical malfunction... aka: some crap caught fire what shouldnt of caught fire... had to use my fire extinguisher... it was THAT bad...

fuel lines full of fuel + cutting torch on the frame = bad


got the front part of the lower control arm mounts torched off









thats all i got done today... i got heat stroke and fought through the massive headache and stuff to clean up... tomorrow i have to take it easy... i dont want to get really sick...

[golana [OP]]

MOAR PICTARS!


this is where she sleeps for now


*barf*


bro is probably getting the tranny for his 5VZ-FE swap he wants to do the same thing im doing now haha! he wants a 3.4L with a SAS


finally got em off... my torch was clogged a bit, so she wasnt cutting very good. found my torch files and got the tip cleaned up, and she cut like a hot knife through butter!


just need to grind it down now


all the oil on the frame was fun to deal with haha! had a pretty big fire when i was cutting, but as soon as i took the torch away, it died down haha




zig-zagged the tops of both, then tipped the frame on the side and did the bottoms


still gotta build my gussets


im thinking top and bottom gussets, just to be safe... for the top gusset, im planning on going from the bushing mount all the way to the top of the frame... better to be overkill and bombproof, than do 'just good enough' and find out later that it wasnt 'just good enough' haha

cheers!

[golana [OP]]

got the gas tank out


anyone seen this before? looks like the frame is warped haha


here's those gusset templates. i think ill make them out of 1/4"


got this crossmember torched off. wasnt bad at all... probably the easiest one i ever removed haha


gotta weld in that piece of 2x3 on the rear


ground off the welds of the tabs and removed them all. the ford gas tank fits PERFECT!


cant wait to get this thing fixed and the toy flanges (is that what they are called) welded on


i love how tight up the tank sits! so much clearance! gotta build a wicked skid plate though... would hate to slam down and kill it...


i left the tabs on the frame (that are part of the frame) to help support the tank


looks real good! and i have enough room in front of the tank to mount my shocks on the once was crossmember?


cut the stock ebrake arm off, cause i dont need it anymore

cheers!

[golana [OP]]

started on the gas tank

[golana [OP]]

[golana [OP]]

cut the bottom of the tank open so i could weld the fuel bowl to it forgot to do it before i welded the top on haha


gaping hole... frig.


layering is definitely the way to weld fuel tanks now... i dont think ill ever butt weld another tank haha! this way was so much easier!


couldnt weld the cut out section off, i tried to make tabs for it, but it failed... so i ended up cutting out a section and flattening the ridges of the tank as much as i could... it worked


mmmm fuel bowl


found the PERFECT spot for the fuel sending unit!


welded a patch overtop of the hole that pick n pull punches in all their tanks...


got it all leak tested and sealed up. took about 2 hours to get it all done haha! not many leaks, but the ones that were leaking kept burning through when i would tack it... so i had to chase the hole a bit haha


got the bottom all done up


mucho hole chasing here... that glob is probably 1/2" thick haha!


same with this one... it would have been SO much easier to just cut the corner off and weld a new piece of metal to it...

[golana [OP]]

sending unit hole


fuel pump hole


stock ford breather hole i think... i just made a round plate and sealed it up


threw some paint on it, just so it wont rust. im thinking of undercoating the whole thing!


im thinking, when i build the straps or something, i might build a small 1x1" sq. tube frame that holds the tank. would double as a skid plate too


now im just whoring pictures haha


modified fuel pump bracket. i was getting tired by this point... i welded the bracket on backwards and had to cut it off and welt it back on haha!


modified fuel sending unit


cut about 7" off the bottom, bent it at about 7" and then put the floaty thing on, then bent the end


fits perfect! i have about 1/4" clearance between the float and the bottom of the tank



BOB'S YOUR UNCLE!

[golana [OP]]

[golana [OP]]

started the spring hanger. drawing out the tabs on some cardboard


fits nice, and its gunna be awesome! that long tab thing at the back is going to be for added strength. i might double it up for width, go 1/2" instead of just 1/4", but it will be fine! haha, right now on beastie 1.0, the tabs are only about 1" back. these are 4" haha


cut out the end cap piece


going to be plating the front of it, just like Beastie 1.0's is. the rear will receive a plate as well


looks like a small piece of steel haha! its actually 24"x25"x1/4" piece of plate steel haha


got my cardboard cutouts traced onto the steel. i got them half cut out, but forgot to take pics. i ran out of zip discs too... so im done for the day. gotta run into town and pick up some supplies

[golana [OP]]

checked, rechecked, and triple checked the length of the 4runner frame, and compared it to this frame. 103" wheelbase vs 120" wheelbase! haha


17" epic chop!


OH NOES!!!


haha


drilled a bunch of plug weld holes


5 on either side, in a X shape, and 2 on the top and bottom


2x2x1/8" for the tubes, 1/4" for the spacer


had to notch the top tube for the internal frame welded thingies


squaring it all up


whoring pictures

[golana [OP]]

all plug welded!


other side too


slid the back half into the front half, fully plug welded, then fully butt welded. Bob's your uncle!


little fillin weld, little grindin, and you'll never know haha


for added strength, im going to be putting one of my rock slider mounting points right overtop of the seam


got the back of the frame chopped too. welded in my rear crossmember. im going to build a mini frame for the gas tank to sit in. im not sure how im going to attach it though... might drill a few holes in the bottom of this crossmember, and then weld some threaded steel plate, or even a nut to the bottom to hold the tank in place


sweet!


got the shock mounts welded up too!


finished welding the top of the shock hoop today. next time i flip the frame over, ill weld the bottom

[golana [OP]]

and then i started on my spring hanger


this is how i get all my mass produced parts identical haha! i stick em in a vise with a clamp and grind em till they are the same exact shape


works every time!


tacked them in place. i used a bushing sleeve and a bolt to get the proper spacing


still have to box the tabs


friggin BEEF!

[golana [OP]]

got the spring hanger all welded up






boxed it in too, front and back




notched a small bit off the side, so i could weld it to the side of the other tab


roll over, come on, roll over...


good boy!


mock-up(side down HA HA HA)


welded 1/4" tabs on the top of the hanger

[golana [OP]]

ground all the grease and paint off the frame


and then i got A.D.D. and started working on the gas tank thing. this is what i need some suggestions on...


i cut some pipe, and hammered one end flat, then bent it, then cut some tabs to fit inside the hammered down end




i secured my gas tank so i could figure out where i would need to place these bars


this is the basic idea...


got the tabs welded in, then i cut a notch into the pipe and hammered it down. after and before


welded the ends up completely


then i got A.D.D. again haha! i filled in the bottoms of everything, and finished welding the shock mounts


the pipe that i used as my shock hoop is the same size as this crossmember, so im going to cut out a section of it to fix this hole


back to the gas tank... i welded some cross-bars, and some tabs and stuff to the frame to act as a swivel. my idea is to have the gas tank mount unbolt from the rear, and swing down so you can access everything...

[golana [OP]]

like so...


completely detachable!


looks nice and tidy, and its out of the way of the shocks too


3/16" thick tabs will do the trick just fine


other side


here is how it sits... now, this is where it gets messed up... i need the tank to be facing with the pump and stuff at the back... but if i have it that way, the tank carrier has to hang way too low... if i slam the back end down on anything, it will hit for sure!


this is how it sits... actually! i just thought of something! i can totally shorten the distance between the bend and the tabs at the front! just cut out like 4" of it, and weld it back together! that should work...


somewhere between all of that and flipping the frame back over, i welded in the front spring hanger! its freaking beef!




overall shot! im very happy with the way its going, except for the gas tank carrier (so far)


and this is where the body mount needs to be moved to... kinda sucks, cause thats almost right overtop of where the seam is haha! ill have to figure something out... maybe i will weld a diamond plate on the inside...

BOB'S YOUR UNCLE!

[golana [OP]]

can anyone guess what this is for?


anyone?


BAM! hydraulic assist ram! im going to be building some armor on the hydro-assist hoop too. it'll be pretty awesome! i bent the pipe so it fits snug between the ubolts!


lots o' cutting and grinding! got the box mounts off, and im almost out of cutting discs AGAIN! frig! i just bought a pack of em 4 days ago!


cut the carrier pipes and moved the tabs. much happier with the setup now! though, i will have to do some kind of body lift...


the tank sits perfect! the rear pipes hang about 3.5" down, which isnt a big deal, cause i plan on building one hell of a rear bumper haha!

[golana [OP]]

bent some pipe and cut it, then cut the ends off the gas tank carrier. i welded the little bent ends on and they line up pretty good!






then i went to work on the IFS brackets... or what was left of them... man this was a PITA... haha


i recommend to anyone doing this... dont use a torch, use a sawzall! works so awesome!


i cut all the rest of the brackets off with the sawzall, and didnt have to worry about heating up the frame too much with the torch...


bye bye steering box nubbin haha


fair thee well idler arm nubbin


adios lower control arm nubbins


then i got A.D.D. again (which happens quite often haha) and started working on the tank. my dad said not to use ratchet straps, but metal straps, so i went to work


welded angle iron brackets to the crosspipes


then i rolled the frame over and cut everytihng off and ground it all smooth. i think i only have to rear shock tabs (stock ones) left to grind off and then im pretty much done (also the rear spring hangers)


then i cut some straps out of a piece of 1/16" sheet metal


drilled a couple holes in em and bolted em on!


Bob's your uncle!


and then this happened... notice where the shock tabs are... and notice how close the tank is to them... this isnt going to work...


nice try though...


then i started mocking up my hydraulic assist bracket on the diff. i got the gussets all figured out. im going to be doing 4 1/4" gussets. should be plenty.

[golana [OP]]

got the 4runner stripped a bit


and found this... stupid rotten A/C thing... the fins are just falling out of it...




notched the area a bit more, and tacked in the shackle hanger tubes... i REALLY dont like it... im not feeling it at all...


i didnt have jigs or anything really to go by, other than knowing the tube goes right under the cab mount... i spent almost a week trying to track down some tubing to fit bushings with no luck, so i ended up thinning out a couple bushings on the lathe to fit the smaller tubing... im really not feelin it though... i was going to plate overtop of this, then down the sides a bit... but i think i might cut it out and figure something else out...

anyways, here's the gas tank crossmember!


i got the top tacked in and kept checking clearances and stuff. fits freaking SNUG!


oh, and look at that... tons of room for the shocks! friggin rights! BOB'S YOUR UNCLE!


ratchet strap hung i need to build the bottom half of the cage this weekend. i know exactly how im going to do it too gunna cut some pipe that will weld vertical down the frame at the front and back of the sides of the tank. ill weld a nut and washer to the inside of the pipes, and build a lower cage section that just drops. not pivoting or anything, i just want the gas tank done so i can move on haha!


who cares if it hangs a little low... its as good as its getting haha!


going to build a beefy rear bumper to help protect stuff. also, the leaf springs will hit before the tank does... im running decent sized shackles haha!

[golana [OP]]

this is what im doing! i cut some pipe a bit shorter than the gas tank. i welded a nut to a washer, then welded the washer to the pipe


pre-welded


then i built a crossbar for the bottom! this thing will have washers welded to the little nubbins at the ends, and you'll bolt through the tube, into the tube that is welded to the frame!


found a chop saw today too, so i just had to buy a blade for it, and now i can cut pipe to fit snug on other pipe! friggin rights!

and thats as far as i got so far!