Build The Dirt Squirrel 3.0

[mac33]

The 8-gal Jaz cell i bought to see if it works out. Based on the dimensions listed on Summit, it will fit between the rails. Its ~21" x 16" x 8.5"

What about the little triangle 8 gal Jaz cell, you can stuff it behind your seat a bit more.

 

[DirtSquirrel]

What about the little triangle 8 gal Jaz cell, you can stuff it behind your seat a bit more.

Definitely an option. Kinda wish i would have seen the sooner. My new 8 gal jaz cell is being delivered today.

 

[DirtSquirrel]

New 8 gallon jaz fuel cell came in and i got it mocked up. As it sits, its about 6" lower than the other sell that sat on top of the rails. Im going to get the third member in today and mockup a driveshaft to see where the cell will actually sit to be able to clear the shaft. Id like to keep it as low as possible to help COG. Battery will probably be mounted in the belly of the chassis under the passenger seat.

Fragile, must be French.

Also packing peanuts can blow me. I got those ****ers everywhere taking the cell out of the box. Id rather they use the spray foam shit.

 

[DirtSquirrel]

Lets talk driveshafts. Specifically front shafts with carrier bearings. I used a single ended one from WOD on my last buggy. Worked out well for the most part. I had to replace the "sealed" roller bearings a couple of times. This was probably due to my unbalanced intermediate shaft and/or unbalanced heavy wall front shaft. It was a basket case of a front shaft. Any new latest and greatest carrier bearings that everyone is using for lighter rigs? My u-joints are 1350s at the thirds and 1410s at the atlas.

I used this WOD kit. Its the direction im leaning to go with again.

 

[DirtSquirrel]

2" 1/4 wall driveshafts front and rear should be plenty strong. Especially with the high pinions?

 

[DirtSquirrel]

Its a thing of beauty.

 

[DirtSquirrel]

I really havent liked how the front end was coming together so i decided to make a change with the front shock mounts. I made a new mount and moved the shocks forward an inch. It sits about 3/4" above the tube work to help fit the radiator up front. The radiator will mount off of it and provide some protection in the event of a roll. It will be fully boxed and the holes in the front will be tied to the back with some 3/4" tube.

 

[woody]

I assume the motor will be coming out the bottom now?

Love the fabricated mount

 

[DirtSquirrel]

I assume the motor will be coming out the bottom now?

Love the fabricated mount

There is still room to come out the top.

 

[DirtSquirrel]

Spent yesterday concentrating on engine and transmission mounts. Im solid mounting everything this time around. I cut some engine plates to bolt into the OE location on the block and made some simple tubes to tie into the chassis. The tranny crossmember bolts in with 4 bolts that are sleeved through some 1.75" 1/4" tube. Boy did that suck to drill/hole saw through. End result is the engine and trans are no longer supported by some wood blocks. Next up exhaust and t-case shifter. I am also going to re-do the front end some to fit the radiator better.

 

[woody]

Be sure you triangulate those motor mounts to the chassis....I only did one tube/triangle and wish I had done both sides. Lots of leverage there when things go wrong

 

[DirtSquirrel]

Be sure you triangulate those motor mounts to the chassis....I only did one tube/triangle and wish I had done both sides. Lots of leverage there when things go wrong

My engine skid will tie into the motor mount tubes as well. But youre right, there needs to be another tube to the chassis to triangulate it horizontally. I have some 1.25" tube to use for this.

 

[DirtSquirrel]

Be sure you triangulate those motor mounts to the chassis....I only did one tube/triangle and wish I had done both sides. Lots of leverage there when things go wrong

Im also thinking about adding additional engine mounts to the back of the heads . Maybe. probably not. but maybe.

 

[DirtSquirrel]

Started mocking up the t-case shifter pivots. i tossed the seat in and i think im going to have very reachable shifters without being in my way. I need to finish them out today. I ordered some 1" DOM to use as shifters.

 

[DirtSquirrel]

Spent yesterday tweaking the pivot point for the shifters. I got the throw to be nice and short.

In this pic, the t-case is in low and the shifter is in 1st gear. Everything is nice and ergonomic and within reach. I may move them forward and upright just a little, but otherwise, they are done.

 

[woody]

I can't count the number of times I tweaked mine....crazy how critical that really is!
....and I'll bet you change it again after wheeling...lol

 

[DirtSquirrel]

Why does everything have to be so tight, lol. Packaging on this thing has been a fun puzzle. The WOD 1410 carrier bearing is tacked in place. About 1/4" clearance to all of the things that matter. Had to trim an ear off the 700r4 and still need to clean it up some. Top of the yoke is even with the bottom of the floor. I may swap to 1350 to gain ~0.5" and move it down some. Im still undecided.

 

[woody]

I trimmed a bunch off my 700 bellhousing, and mostly cleaned it up

Clearance IS tough, worse when you start to plan maintenance and future repairs, ensuring you can actually access everything. I'm overall very pleased with the accessibility on mine, all the critical stuff is a minute-less to get to. Nothing in the way of belt changes, and 30 seconds to pop a seat for fuel pump/filter access. My original pillow block for the front driveshaft required removing both floorpans, seats AND the skid, but the new one only requires pulling one floor pan.

 

[DirtSquirrel]

Weekend updates:

I mounted the fuel cell. It utilizes some of the bolts from the lid of the steel can an comes out from the top. I plan on building a small tray to sit above it for tool roll storage. Those tubes coming out will be trimmed flush after welding

Started on the exhaust. Im using a Flowmaster HP2 for a muffler and it fits perfectly between the trans pan and the lower chassis rail. I got the longest one Flowmaster made to keep it as quiet as possible. Its 2.5" in and out.

Tacked on some 2.5" V-Band clamps to the stock manifolds. They are cast steel and the internet said they should be easily weldable.

Started on the skid plate. It will be removable and tie into the motor mounts and maybe the chassis. Not sure yet. I extended it to the mid point of the balance so i can protect the crossover of the exhaust.

Finally, started on some skins for the front to see how it would look. In order to get the radiator to lay below the upper part of the chassis, i redid the front bumper bar and move the winch forward ~2" or so. I like the look of the bent up front bumper and bull bar mo better than the previous version. That shit kept me up at night.

This fender is sliced up to fit as tight to the tube work as possible. The plan is to use a cut up hood to weld onto the fenders to make it one removable unit. I have a cab at the house to cut up for the header panel below the windshield. In my mind it will come out awesome, but i hate sheetmetal work, especially thin toyota sheetmetal. Odds are it will just be the fenders on there. Lol.

Id like to figure out a way to stuff a grill in there but space is tight.

Going to tackle the exhaust piping next then maybe mount some steering and finish out the axles.

 

[woody]

Love my HP2, great muffler

Looking forward to how the skins turn out, I hate sheetmetal too (which is why my buggy doesn't have any...lol)

 

[DirtSquirrel]

Exhausting work last night.

I will get the passenger side v-band in place and will merge the pipes together this evening. I think i have the perfect 180 piece that will work great. All exhaust is 2.5".

 

[vogelj]

The transfer case shifters came out sweet. Where did you source the hardware?

 

[DirtSquirrel]

The transfer case shifters came out sweet. Where did you source the hardware?

Thanks. I pieced it together to make it all work. The shift rails on the atlas are 1/2-20 thread. So i bought some heims on amazon and used some fine thread bolts for the linkages. I cut some tabs on the table and adjusted it to get the throw i wanted. It took a couple iterations to get the short throw i wanted and still be able to clear the transmission.

 

[DirtSquirrel]

got the merge from the passenger side tacked together last night. Not as fun as i thought it would be but i made it work. Notching the hole for the merge sucked due to limited space to get tools there, but i made it work. Once the buggy is off the table, ill pull it all, finish weld, VHT paint and then wrap it. I still need to add the tip to exit passed the rear of the cab, add a mount to the muffler, and add an O2 Sensor bung.

Ill tie in the engine skid to the motor mounts tonight with some bolt on plates to make it removable. Then its on to the ram mounts.

 

[woody]

I completely forgot the O2 bung until everything was installed and I was doing wiring...oops!

so, don't forget

 

[DirtSquirrel]

I completely forgot the O2 bung until everything was installed and I was doing wiring...oops!

so, don't forget

LOL. Yeah i saw that in your build thread. I plan on wiring it all up before i pull it all for final weld. Hopefully i wont forget it.

 

[DirtSquirrel]

Intermediate driveshaft and carrier bearing is installed and tacked up. Runout is around 5-thou.

 

[DirtSquirrel]

Steering wheel came in. Its a Grant from Summit. Ill be pairing it with a Joes Splined quick release. That gold metal flake tho...

Revised the shifters a little with some 1" DOM. Had to reorient them in order to move the winters shifter another inch forward. Much better ergonomically now. I then had to shorten and redo the down bars from the dash. I added some tube clamps to make it all removable. Trans comes out from the top if need be.

Started mocking and tacking up the steering rams. They are 3x9 PSC units. Tried to get them as high as possible but still keep correct geometry. ill be running just the two clamps with some end cap plates to keep it from moving. I had to order some 3/4" heims and tube adapters from Ruffstuff so i can make my own tierods out of 1.25".

The front may get redone to be angled down like the rear ram, but we will see.

 

[woody]

So, DO NOT use those PSC clamps for mockup. Richard Hulse makes some sweet lower profile clamps, that are 100x superior.




And you are now required to metalflake everything

I can't remember how many times I made those 1" adjustments to get the shifters and everything in to JUST the right spot. Super pleased with how mine turned out, those little tweaks are so worth it in the end.

 

[DirtSquirrel]

Hulse does make some quality clamps for sho. I don’t think I can make them work in the rear and be centered without raising up the ram. As it is, the cylinder is resting on the housing. The front is a different story. I could definitely use them there. If I didn’t already spend the money on these psc clamps I’d have bought his. I’ll probably spend the money elsewhere.