De Ranged

You guys have all missed something, something my old man pointed out to me yrs ago.... he caught me in the shed swearing and cursing about to throw down the tools (can't remember what had gone wrong lol) anyway he said to me... "A project is a journey to get something you want (kinda agree'd with him) he then went on to point out because I didn't really know what I was doing I was alot slower than a professional (didn't want to agree with him about this lol) he then went on to point out if I wasn't here I could be at work doing overtime earning money that could pay for this work to happen in a fraction of the time that way I could have my dream faster and in a better condition and I don't have to do something I didn't enjoy..... At the time I agreed with him just so I could get him out of the shop (then I could throw my toys with out him laughing....) Years later in my shed having a beer with a mate and talking about my hilux (that was on its 4th rebuild) I recounted the story and realized.... I loved the journey, the learning of new skills, the improvement of what I can do (or attempt lol), the problem solving.... and above all the process of having a vision in my head and building the bits that make it slowly take shape..... the whole thing about I did it I also realized the end product wasn't the goal it was the journey, this last bit was a bit obvious... remember how I said 4th rebuild well this truck had only left the shed between the 1st and 2nd for one run, I had carved it up after the 2nd and 3rd because I had learned a new way to make it bigger and better so cut it up after I had finished lol for the books I parted it out after the 5th lol and started a business building other peoples projects Now I'm the stupid extreme end of things most people want the goal at the end and the feeling of accomplishment that comes from doing the project thing, here's what I used to run those lost soles that came into my shop through if they were talking builds Work out your priority... first off is this about bragging rites... the toy at the end, or a combination of both (this last one is the hardest to deal with) Next set a finish date.... remember this is going to take alot longer than you want it too be realistic, when they have this date I would then chat to them about the project over a beer... wait until they are all amped and then tell them there date is well and truely short of the mark, for most 3 times that. Then with them a bit hot over it I tell them to rethink the first priority... the toy is more important than bragging rites lol I would then tell them the story of what my old man said to me....with that sorted I tell them to work out what is going to take the longest and farm it out Oh and don't use the I don't have the money to get it done excuse lol unless your unemployed or a student Use your finish date as a motivator, treat it like a commercial project break it down into stages with deadlines and don't stretch them... if you can't finish that part before the date farm it out lol that then makes money part of the motivator Print your time line and stick it to the fridge... put it as your computer background so every time you waist time your looking at it To help motivate you put some pics up at work of what you want it to look like when its finished your goal, oh and man up and tell people it will be done on this date lol this is a nasty one... you will suffer alot of carp for failing to deliver on this Your lists are just smaller parts of each stage.... stick to just two stages at a time the primary that has its deadline and a secondary that you work on when your unable to do something due to parts coming or waiting on outsourced work Most important is don't let any deadline slip once you let one slip its easier and easier to let the next one and the next one slip and before long you looking at listening to alot of carp from your mates lol If your thing is bragging rights post a build thread, simply put you dont' work on it you don't get the recognition lol If your like me lol admit the fact... get a bigger shed and keep collecting stuff you'll never work on

Just to add to the above, sticking the cage out past the body to protect it can backfire when you drive through scrub and bush.... sticks get down between the body and the cab and as you go forward pivot around the cage damaging the body Also if you exo you need to consider body movement and space away for this, the landy is good for this as the body is bolted to the chassis not on mounts Personally if its a road going truck a simple A, B 6 point cage internally to me in this case its all about weight and running costs and is only there for the one time use.... you don't drive your daily driver into situations where its 50/50 lol so the internal is lighter and doesn't cause air drag upping your fuel usage If its a trailer queen or a weekend hero where your going to "try that line" then an exo and I build them out past the body (its not nice driving home without a windscreen or windows lol) if I'm going to run 50/50 lines and regularly roll it then I'm building the body into the cage Here in NZ one of the rule sets for cage building NZ4WDA has span distances and vehicle weight versus the dia of the material so cages are built to the weight and clear unsupported span length... now notice how I said one of the rule sets, we have 4 different sets that apply to 4wd competition best you talk to the local club (or event organizers) before you start this so what you build can compete (and be safe)

Personally I prefer the 5" over the 4 1/2" (have 4 of them some by the bench the others where I work) The 5" gives you that bit extra use of the disk, thats why I prefer them As for my brands I use "smith & arrow" brand most, as they are cheapest.... they are also one of the quickest to use up, for the distance cut I use more disks but the price is low enough to more than cover the extra disks used. Best trick to make the 1mm cutting disks last is hold the guard with your thumb and forefinger and rest your little finger on the work this will allow you to control the vibrations that kill the disc's... I also try to cut with the disc just through the work, this is more important if you have trouble holding the grinder steady, the shallower the disc is the better it handles any wobble and the longer it lasts Grinding disc's I haven't really found any difference that makes me buy one brand over another... do watch out for the very long lasting disc's or more to the point don't use em lol yes they last problem is they don't grind the work very well you'll waste alot of time using them Open weave paint stripping disks are great at removing paint and surface rust problem is they don't like sharp bits or edges... run over your surface first with a grinding disk paying attention to the edges of welds and seams and anywhere you have to reach into.... trick is to brake the surface with the grinder your not there to polish it (this leaves edges to the paint that catch and strip back way faster), pay attention to any weld splatter or sharp bits of welds/seams etc these are the bits that eat these disks (grinding disk worth $1.50 stripping disc worth $8.50) next when you use the stripping disc keep it as flat as possible... if your having issues with these or flap discs blocking up go to a coarser grit, simply put your using the wrong grade for what you want to do Finally a little tip for when your flap discs and stripping discs are worn down (you'll need two grinders to do this) put your worn flapper/stripper disc in one grinder and a grinding disk in the other, holding the grinder with the flapper/stripper in it up against a bench or something to steady it while its going you use the other grinder with the grinding disc to cut it down in size and expose a fresh edge to use....

Community service is a waste of time.... here that is and I'd imagine it would be the same over your way with all the PC BS When I was the chairman of the local MTB club I got them in for trail building.... the management of it were real keen as this wasn't a "public" project and it is unfair making them work where they could be ridiculed Things started well enough if you consider a 11 man team producing less than what me and the club secretary did in less time, but the trials were progressing.... then the PC carp started they had to take the sharp tools off them so they couldn't hurt themselves or some one else so no axes, machettes or even hand saws.... this lasted about 3 months Then I got told that due to work strain injury's they would only be able to use rakes to brush aside pine needles all the rest had to be done by us lol I told them it wasn't worth the hassle of having them there, oddly they were disappointed Personally I like public humiliation.... that means a bright pink uniform so everyone knows it and then make them clean gutters or pick up rubbish after public events out there where people can laugh at them and recognize them! and harder the work the better I had a car stolen recently... guy took it for a test drive and didn't come back, I identified him to the police picked him out of a group of pic's (even listed the differences between when the pic was taken and now) a known con artist but because I had let him take it for a test drive it wasn't theft it was civil lol the only thing they were interested in was the fact he had a drivers licence for the fake name he gave me, odd this as my understanding and what I argued is this is fraud and is criminal, hell the vehicle he left me was stolen, they took that back 10 months later after I continually pushed the issue with every police board I found out about (have a folder thats over an inch thick to do with this) they tell me where the car was (they knew all alone were he was and worked) I knew the business so they held it for me lol it was striped of anything of value... tyres, trim, stereo, spot lights etc it was still drive-able because he had been driving it all this time in fact I found out he had been pulled over by the police for speeding and let go! He was arrested and got 80 hrs community work and the bulk of that was because he jumped bail so effectively for the theft and my loss of around 4 grand he got 10-20hrs of sweeping pine needles, he is known to the police has commited $100,000's in scams (public record) and thats all he got lol lets just say I'd like to see alot stiffer sentencing...

I've made a few now for different welders (current one is big enough it came on wheels)... here is a couple of suggestions Don't do inflated tyres unless they are big (car tyres) and your cart is wide or low.... long story lol Make your casters as large as you can.... makes it easier to roll it over extension leads and the odd stone that gets into the shed On the note about extension leads make it just tall enough to roll over a power plug..... alot easier to pull the lead out from under the trolley than have to maneuver it around to get the lead back from under it Make it narrow enough it clears a normal doorway but as wide as you can If your going to make a hanger for the earth lead and torch make them high.... this means its easy to loop up once or twice and the lead is off the floor down low you have to coil them up tight every time with lots of loops this bends the leads hard at the welder and will eventually kill them The rest really depends on what you do with it or if your cheap like me what you find to make it from lol for me I like to build em so they have all the spares and stuff I'm likely to need plus storage for markers, tape, magnets, clamps

I've done a couple of rover axles now 1 from an old RRC (in the photos) and the other from a Disco1 Arghhh I sort of do a bit more than a flat piece of plate lol Oh and for the books learned all this doing toyota stuff, lost count of the number of axles I've shaved lol I was kinda known for it Before The reason for the angled cut is the diff is rotated up towards the transfercase This shows the Crown wheel portion of the jig (don't do this with out a diff or jig like this or the warpage will munt your housing), notice I've left the diff cover in place this is also to limit warpage, I shave the axle first then the diff cover It doesn't look like much and really isn't compared with the hilux shaves, on the flat bottom rover housing I only gained about 10-12mm This photo shows the diff cover after it was cut away.... it also shows some of the studs with the rover they are close enough the inside weld wanted to weld the studs All done To be honest the gain isn't worth the effort but it's like alot of the things I do on my trucks its more because I can than any sensible reason lol

Na just tap the thread right through there is plenty of meat in the support ring.... also I like to use 10mm for the base of the diff when I shave so there is no room for a nut, often I'll have to grind a little channel into the 10mm plate so the inside end of the bolt hole still has good access for the oil (or water lol) to drain out After tea I'll see if I can find some pic's to explain it better lol

Most of the shaves I do I set up one of the lower diff studs as a drain... I drill right through and replace the stud with a bolt My theory is that the only time your cracking the drain without removing the head is to check for water..... any other time, service, odd running or outright failure your going to pull it to check and clean so I tend to remove the factory drain when I shave

I'll have a go at when I get to the body I've got plans for a few extra pannels to tie to the outer skins on the front guards and replace the rear sides This is still 6 months off at the speed i'm moving (and I'll have to modify a welder to increase the reach...)

Now that is something I'm going to have to play with..... I've always done tig spot welds by drill one sheet with around a 3.5mm hole then tig weld a spot, catch is for what they are the pre-flow and post-flow on the argon is huge

lol I just about spit my drink out.... that was just lol why

Thanks for the info That vid was cool.... some amazing work I'm not going that flash I was going to just weld a bit of an old diff nugget rim using a high nickle arc rod, with the pre and post heat... same deal as welding cast iron.... if it works all good I'll do the rest on the mill Like that tip of the epoxy that is a very clever

lol I know thats why I have gone to such lengths to run a Sulsbury in the rear problem is they don't come in a front option so I need to set up one of these

I'm planing on building one of these up... new bearings, seal, ARB and pegging I need to know which is the better to do the work on Option 1 SIIa Or option 2 a SIII (this is the same as the donor diff nugget for the ARB, but it appears it will fit either) Just a note I have spares of both, and my steering stabilizer is going to go onto the drag link to lift it up a bit Cheers Reece

Damm congradulations.... I'm so envious, decades ago I almost went down the engineering qaulification path instead I went logging lol every few yrs I contimplate going back to school to do it For you to get a job in a top tier company says you made the most of your learning congradulations

Lol never thought of using the dishwasher as a parts wash.... I made a drain table yrs ago and have a mate who keeps forgetting which of his cars is diesel or petrol so I end up with the mixed results lol

If you know someone in trade there is a good chance they have a transfer hose, you can't buy these lol they have to be specially machined up.... as they are made so they disable the non-return valve in the valve stem You can get them to full your bottle

Odd you should mention that, about a yr ago there was a major recall from one of the major electrical supply chains for Chinese made 3 core.... I imagine it cost them dearly as it was started by consumer watchdog show here called "fair go" Back on topic, I looked at importing air lockers, (mainly for the toyota market) got pricing etc.... I never did for other reasons, but I know a couple of guys who have in both cases they have priced a certain amount of returns or warrentee claims (in NZ we have consumer law that requires a new unit sold be up to the task sold for or advertised for, there is no way to avoid this) One of the guys payes an engineer to strip down and check the known failure issues, he returned the faulty units to the company in china at there cost lol things improved dramatically after that from what he has said... they now just credit him for the odd one that fails QA and they have made him the NZ agent I would suggest simple parts for a start and target the hop up market... young lads with money that burns holes in there pockets (they also rarely finish there projects so less returns lol) prove your suppliers in that market and then move into the rover market, older guys who have morgages, and kids we have to supply cars for (so they can f them up by modifying) as a market we are more discerning about quality as we know how to budget and know the difference in quality and how it lasts Market from a website that is mobile friendly so they can search it on there phones My suggestion, Alloy radiators, wheel spacers, drifting suspension mods, intercoolers, turbo plumbing kits.... I wouldn't get into turbo manifolds till you have your QA sorted, I've had half a dozen Chinese manifolds come in that I've had to skim and slot so they can be mounted... one I had to cut and re-weld the weld warpage on the engine flange was 12mm! now this was the hop up market, legally they should have been replaced or refunded... these lads came to me and paid me to fix it lol

No penetration doesn't improve ... without going into the reasons why you will get less arc wander due to the argon content, this means you should be able run less voltage and have less splatter and control the pool better... so you should be able to lay a better bead As for a difference... I liken it to the difference between flux core and CO2 Oh and don't be tempted to run pure argon lol this is a bit specialized, it narrows the arc stream even more and requires slightly different technique to weld with... used by alot of automated welding bots so they can increase the speed of the welding

Use short lengths of pipe and weld them on, ignore the ring I welded in there thats for a bit of silly fun.... This is a set I made ages ago they are alot more involved lol I machined a 5 degree seat into the flat bar and a recess on the other side to protect the cap screws As was said earlier the width depends on the tyre you plan to fit, the bead thickness and shape changes with brands and even different models of tyre from the same company.... in this case it was 15mm, another thing to be awear of is there is a soft inner lip to the base of the bead... this is there to help seal the bead to the rim, alot of guys cut this off to square up the bead before they clamp it... it can cause the ring to buckle in (I machined a taper into the ring to compensate) My advice give up any notion of them being balanced or driving them at speed.... I'm speaking from experience here, I borrowed a mates balancing machine, welded weight into the rims to balance (can't remember what we took it down to tolerance wise), they had all been dti'd to less than .5mm run out, the beadlock ring has a 5 degree seating slope to center the bead (same as a pressed rim).... lol I did everything I could think of..... the end result after we fitted new 35" tyres the first wheel we balanced required over 350g of lead stickers lol... we didn't even bother with the rest.... yes i do know that if I had bothered to re-seat the tyres we could have got them to balance given they were offroad only we didn't bother lol 5 wheels, 36 bolts a wheel tightened concentrically in stages trust me fitting them once is a big enough job! My point is i took the time to make a bead centering beadlock rim that was balanced and running true.... now because I didn't bother to tighten the rim properly it still managed to be that far out it required a huge amount of weight now what your planing on building isn't going to have that centering effect at best you'll get the spacers to touch the bead not stretch it and align it, so give up the idea of balance and build some strength... I'd suggest steel hoops bend them around the inner depression of the rim the spring back makes them about the right dia its what i did with the ones above Oh and I'm going to poo poo Dans idea, nothing personal I just don't think its a good idea.... consider the mechanics, you have two 6mm (1/4") plates held together by at a guess 36 6mm bolts.... there is nothing behind the bolts (on the center side of the rim) so the bead is placing these bolts in a bending motion.... placing a piece of reinforce rubber on the levering side of things I see as only making the situation worse.... he needs something to counter the lever motion something on the other side so the bolts do what they are designed to do and clamp.... bit of steel pipe on each bolt so they bottom out Oh and just a tip on that, to get the compression of your tyre bead, again not all tyres are the same lol I made up a little scrap clamp that had half a dozen bolts at the spacing I then started with a bit of tube at a guess on compression clamped the bead and torqued the screws till max setting for a stainless M6 bolt and filed the tubes till I got the center two to bottom out on the tubes with still a turn left till max torque.... this way the bolts are in tension and the bead is as secure as I can make it Good luck

Set and forget motor trans combo.... these things will do half a million k's, Lots of torque for towing.... diesel for economy and range, indirect injection diesel, a pipe dream of playing with LPG misting to improve both economy and performance The auto because I wanted one... I shift gears for a living, I want this to be something my partner can drive and I can relax in on a long drive So basicly reliability, power, economy and room to be creative.... and lazy lol and also because I've never heard of it being done before lol and its a bit of a challenge

Just the wiper motor, the lights I'll look at HID's, something modern and bright..... Thanks mate

As for wipers I have two options to choose from as I still have the SIII wiper from the toy sitting there as well as the single motor ones from the SIIa Hey Don next time your up bring it up and we can see if it fits.... I've made the call to go 24v, might be doing a bit of a swop with a mate if so I get dash gauges, relay and fuse blocks etc for similar items from a parts truck of mine There are performance advantages as well.... but the big decider was convenience lol I can leave the motor and trans alone... just sort there looms, the rest of the electrics i was redoing anyway I'll just do it in 24v oh and no shortage of relays etc I just tell my sparky mates what I want and they sort it been told they have huge catalogs of industrial stuff Thanks for the advice... will be keeping an eye out for 12v rigs now

This is weird, I drive a late model Merc truck for a living and its 24v, I don't know of any 12v big trucks.... will keep an eye out for it now As for costs I've just done a round of COF's for our fleet of little commercials near on all of them required a bulb or two and it was something like $3 dearer for the 24v bulbs at super cheap I just did a search for UHF 24v radio and came up with the Oricom UHF400 a 24v 80 channel set for under $300.... thats about the same as I'd pay for a 12v one Gauges on trademe (our version of gumtree or ebay) 24v guages.... fuel with sender for $110, electronic speedo with sender, thats similar price to a 12v one that doesn't come with a sender, alternator I'll use the Nissan TD motors as an example since they come out in both, 4 cylinder is 12v/60amps $300 brand new, 6 cylinder is 24v/50amps $340 now from my rough knowledge that 24v one is a hop up one that is alot more amps than standard and its only $40 dearer Now if I go 12v on the motor I need a new alt at $340, the senders off the motor (haven't bothered to work out what each one is sending, voltage, resistance etc) so some of them will need to be swoped, glow plugs a new set $110 then a timer (can't find a price for that lol) Now the starter after talking with a couple of sparky mates they are happy the 4 cylinder starter will start my 6 cylinder motor but they have warned me I will need bigger than standard 12v starter cables and the starter will wear out quicker no guess as to how long they will last lol or I get a high torque custom unit between $500 and $700 The real killer is the trans to convert it I need a kit from Aus $800 plus freight then I have to source a 12v computer to run it so I'm probably up to a $1000 on the trans lol and no cheap way around this So that is around the 2 - 2 1/2 grand mark to convert to 12v Now as I've said I don't mind spending this if its the way I end up going, if cost was a consideration I would go 24v due to cost lol Oh and both sparky mates recommended running both 24 and 12 "all good simple to do..." lol think they might be trying to get one back for all the times I've told them "simple, cut that off weld this on and it'll be all good ..."

24v isn't that hard to find, even for stereo stuff.... we have alot of 24v trucks (4wd's) here that are 24v, mainly the cruisers and patrols but there are lots of them on the road....(my motor and trans are from a patrol), then you have all the commercial stuff Not really interested in the cost argument.... 12v looses out big time here, to convert the motor I have to get another alternator, starter motor etc now I can get bolt on options from the shorter 4 cylinder td27 or I go a custom 12v version of the td42 (short life span or custom expense) glow plugs are no problem they bolt in.... the trans lol I have to rebuild this with custom 12v pots from Aus and source a comp from a td27 On the flip side I'm looking at a couple a hundy more for a 24v gps entertainment unit and central locking is dearer But I plan on keeping this truck hopefully for the rest of my life or till diesel is too dear to run it on lol so if you look at the cost over that time its bugger all difference What I'm thinking about is the silly stuff like, windscreen wipers... I'm going to have to replace the motor (not afraid of doing this..) now are the 24v motors going to be the same size for the speed and power lol its that sort of silly stuff I'm concerned about... having the end truck look period means a lot to me but i want those mod cons Right so you understand just how far I'm going with this Blank canvas I have to make a new loom for the auto, and tie the motor loom into the truck, the original truck loom was lol well 1960's lucus electrics converted to a new motor finally finishing life launching a boat off a beach so haven't saved any of it .... so I'm up for a whole new truck loom so I'm going to improve it some lol HID lights (if I can find a legal way of doing this....) LED every thing else (under the original lenses so I keep the look) Adjustable multi-stage wipers on another column mounted switch that I can modify to look 1960's hence my question about switches as more than likely will come from a car The usual guages and speedo as mentioned in my OP Central locking but I'll mount these into the body not the doors.... alarm and immobilizer, variable fan/aircon controls etc If I go 24v the only thing I can see I'd need to run off the reducer is a CB/PRS radio Now there will be some camping electrics fridge, water pumps, lighting, solar charging (no idea on this yet...) and the ability to charge the usual gadgets (phone laptop etc) And yes before you say it yes the touch screen GPS is out of character.... I want it lol I just haven't worked out where and how to mount it so its usefull yet not glearingly out of place, I figured get the stereo in it as well so I limit the out of character stuff lol My concern is more about 12v components I can use if I make the call to go 24v and the differences to do 24v my level of electronics is good enough to paint by numbers lol and I will be doing alot of study before I start this part of the build The reason I want this sorted now is so I can make the call and start sourcing bits so why I'm seeking advice...