landy_andy

Looking at the options for the transfer case, best stock will be the NVG241OR with the 4:1 low range, however we could probably buy a couple of used NP231’s, SYE and doubler conversion kit for similar or a lower price giving us a 7.34:1 low/low range… umm 🤔

Whilst the weather was fine I attacked the knuckles with a wire brush or two… good to get that dirty job out the way. They can now be drilled out to 3/4” on the steering arm & then have the high steer kits welded on.

Been pondering the engine & transmission options, think we’ll be going with the 1.9 BEW motor and a Jeep 6 speed transmission. Adaptor is from TD conversions a Canadian company 👍

I couldn’t resist a fine day & parts to work on… front C & knuckles stripped, C’s prepped for pressing into the new tubes & welding up.

Builder has the site all marked out ready for the excavator to dig the footings next week. Our actual floor level in the house will be about 6” below the top of the 2”x4” that’s nailed to a tree in the middle of the picture. Much higher than we expected but after you take into account the ground level, driveway slope, steps up into the house it all adds up. We’ll have a 4’ chain link fence around the back garden to keep Molly in so from the lounge windows you’ll be looking right over that for a nice clear view of the mountains once we thin out the trees a bit.

It’ll be 33’ wide by 30’ deep internally, so 1130 sq ft of usable floor space. We’ve applied for a variance to the build scheme to increase our 10’ door to 12’ clear entry, if we get this approved the small will increase to 10’ also. That should give me a ceiling clearance of ~16’ on the high side down to 12’ on the low, plenty for a 2 post lift in the right most bay 😉

Touché… where it gets fun is when you bolt a blower on 😉

I guess petrol only costing 82p/L has something to do with that… and that’s expensive for here at present. You guys should check out the Ford Godzilla motor… 7.3L of American muscle pushing 430hp & 475 pound-feet of torque stock or 600+ with some basic mods 😉

It all depends on how winter goes, we should break ground next Monday with a planned lock up by mid December. If we get a light winter they may work through… it’s not the snow that shuts the projects down it’s the cold. Things don’t like to be manipulated at -20c and plastics (PEX pipes) have a tendency to kink. Heating an un-insulated large wooden box with propane fired construction heaters gets very expensive fast.

Well, looks like this project is heading to the back burner for a while. Builder made a start marking out our new home today, hopefully be I’m by late spring weather permitting. Going to be a busy new few months as we pack the old house up for showing and prepare to put everything into storage. We’ll be taking the new place over at primed drywall and doing all the finishing ourselves. Exciting times ahead ! A view across from the other side of the valley, our lot is sorta below the middle peak, to the left of the developed area on the bench.

Finished up the rear centre section. Next to get some alignment pucks turned up and add the tubes.

Ordered some full hydro, high steer brackets for the knuckles… will be fun glueing them on. Think I’ll be needing the Tiger torch from work for a bit of pre-heating.

Exactly, this is the second set for an investment of $85… so, 20 bucks a housing. Have also come up with a way to save money on an alignment bar. Found an old forum post that discussed using 1.5” DOM instead of solid ground bar stock. If I use 2” x 1/4” wall it can turn into links once the axles are built rather than gathering dust in the shop. The guy also used 3D printed pucks but as I don’t have one machined ones will have to do.

I didn’t… digital design… why reinvent the wheel… Diyoffroad.com link

Front centre housing is complete, just need a good clean inside to remove any welding BB’s. Made a start on the rear one… time to let that fully cool to minimize any distortion on the front plate as they don’t get machined post welding.

About halfway through the first housing, top & bottom edges to complete. Then add the skid plate, remove the 3rd member and finish out the interior. This puppy isn’t going to fall to bits 🤣

Made a start welding out the front centre section.

Got the long side axle tube measured up, will give me a WMS/WMS of 69.5”, not too wide for a compact buggy. Had the raised oil seal lands turned off & polished on the axle shafts for the Trailgear multi-lip axle tube seals to ride on. Worked out about half the price of custom made shafts.

Am thinking 38’s & using a 1.9VW Jetta diesel with a Jeep AX transmission. T’case will either be an Atlas or a Behemoth 👍

Got the short side tube mocked up, waiting on another stub to assemble the long side. Made sure the stub was all the way up to the circlip groove to allow for the shaft floating. Can now strip that knuckle assembly down, cut out the old tube stub & get the new piece pressed in.

Now I have a partial 3rd assembly I can figure out the axle tube lengths. Just need a U-joint to mock it up accurately. Also, happen to have some 3.5” x 3/8” wall DOM left over from the last build… should save quite a few $.

Well… looks like we won’t be needing the special wrench for the unit bearings after all. My machine shop managed to get the complete bearing in the lathe & skimmed out the bore 1 thou over the shaft diameter. Slips together a treat. I also had some free time so made a start welding up the parts I’ve acquired so far… just waiting on the rest of the diff housing plates to get bent up now. Hopefully we get some rain soon… the smoke from the local forest fire is really getting annoying ☹️

After the first attempt at a custom wrench for the SD unit bearing I tweaked the dimensions & had it cut again, this time in 1/4” plate to reduce the slight errors in the cut angle. 5 layers stacked & TIG’d together… slips over the big nut a treat 😀 Next to pull one apart & get it machined out for the 35 spline stub axle. This projects going to be a long one… we’ve decided to do the early retirement gig, soon to be move it & building a new house in a different area about 5 hours away. Fun times ahead & looking forward to having a 1000+ sq. ft. shop 👍

With regards the park brake, it’s unusual to have a jockey wheel, most cargo type trailers just have a jacking so brakes aren’t really needed. Boat trailers tend to have jockey wheels but there short so I ended up getting the one I used from Amazon…. It actually came from Stoke-on-Trent.

Front storage compartment is what’s left of the cab section of the tub. Easier to just close it off at the door opening rather than cut it back. The surge coupler was the cheaper option over using an electric/hydraulic braking unit, no one makes electric brakes with the LR lug pattern. There is a reverse solenoid on the back of the coupler and no park brake. It’s not a normal thing in NA… just carry chocks.