Jeep Gets a Lift

[gasser59]

Happy new years fellow builders. I've been on this for a week or so. Started with the AMT Daisy Duke Jeep and a couple of AMT '57 Chevy Stepside kits. I'm using tires from a kid's diecast BigFoot type truck and the plan is to get some turned rims from Jim at MicroNitro. The top of the engine is still being decided but I have a few ideas in mind.

 

Here's a few progress pictures.

Comments welcome. Stay tuned and thanks for following along.

Edited August 8, 2017 by gasser59

[gasser59]

OK, been awhile since I used PhotoBucket and they've changed it again. Now the links show up on the above post but not the actual pix. Some investigative work is involved here

[Shelby 427 1965]

Wrap [img ] at the start of the link (with no space) and [/img ] at the end of the link (again no space) should work

[Brizio]

I can see the pics on your photobucket, and it looks good! Looking forward to see more of it.

[gasser59]

Wrap [img ] at the start of the link (with no space) and [/img ] at the end of the link (again no space) should work

Thanks Tomo. Worked like a charm.

[Skip]

Nice work so far. Proof that anything can be made to shine with enough polishing!

[gasser59]

With this front end, I'm going to attempt to do working steering along with functioning U-joints. I've wanted to try this for some time. We'll see how it goes. I'll post progress pics later today or tonight. Fingers crossed.

[gasser59]

OK, this so far has gone fairly smoothly. I need to figure out the final mechanics of the crosspiece so there isn't any side-to-side movement but everything else is complete. I have a plan and am hoping it works out as well as everything else has so far.

Here's a few pics.

 

Both yokes are made of square aluminum tubing. One size is larger than the other.

 

Here they're in place with piano wire holding them together. This is quite sloppy with side-to-side movement.

 

In place in the axle yoke for the poseable steering.

 

And showing the yoke for the wheel side of the axle. Its tight in there.

Progress will continue this afternoon so stay tuned.

Edited August 8, 2017 by gasser59

[martinfan5]

Nice job Brad, are you going to bring it to the WIP table this month?

[gasser59]

That's the plan and I hope to have some more done on the chassis and engine by then. We'll see how it goes.

[gasser59]

Working on adding wire insulation to take out the slack and wobble.

I'm not sure how this will hold up to paint though.

Edited August 8, 2017 by gasser59

[steve7119]

Your build looks great! I love the u joints in the axle Brad!!! I have wanted to try that too. How did you get them to work and not be sloppy?

[gasser59]

Thanks Steve.

The crosspiece is made of wire and wire insulation. Its actually quite strong. I'd take a pic but my camera won't focus that close.

Edited January 8, 2013 by gasser59

[Danno]

Great stuff, Brad!!

[gasser59]

Thanks Danno. The engine got painted last night as well as the chassis getting a coat of primer.

Edited January 8, 2013 by gasser59

[martinfan5]

That is cool Brad, nice job

[steve7119]

Brad,

I am still stuck on the u joints....impressive! did you just use insulated wire and glue 2 pieces to make a cross? I also though of soldering the 2 wires together then using heat shrink tubing to help hold them in place and take the slop out of the joint. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the build!

Steve

[gasser59]

Steve - I'll try and diagram how I did this and I really hope I'm able to reproduce it again for the other side.

I drilled a .016 hole through the side of a piece of insulation and through that I put a piece of wire and added the other smaller pieces of insulation. After the crosspiece was in place in the U-joint, the other pieces of wire were added through the yoke and glued. In other words, the glue joints on the insulation have the solid piece of wire and the single piece of insulation gets the pieces of wire. Hope this makes sense.

Edited August 8, 2017 by gasser59

[steve7119]

Thanks for the illustration Brad. Functional and simple. Great work!!!!! Now I gotta try it too. Thanks again for sharing your work

Steve

[Gluhead]

Nice work as always, Brad. That Daisy's kit makes for a great starting point once it's cleaned it up a bit.

I cheated on the joints for my posable front drive axle and made them just fit together, held in place by the steering knuckle. But there was a reason for it...had to do them in a way they could be cast without too much fuss. A worthy concession but still a concession. These look great!

[gasser59]

Thanks both Steve and Glu. Appreciate the comments. I'm planning to get some serious benchtime in this weekend and hoping to get the chassis in paint. You're right Glu, this needs a bit of cleaning up.

[Randy D]

Hi Brad, Outstanding fabrication on the yokes!!! Really enjoying following along on this project.

Randy

[gasser59]

Thanks Randy. Finally got the other u-joint done and am waiting on my camera battery to charge so I can post a couple of pictures. Stay tuned....

[Tom Geiger]

Nice work on the Jeep.

I have some toy wheels like those. I used to drive the Garden State Parkway in NJ to work. Sometimes it would be 2 hrs in stop and go traffic to get home. I had a car pool mate and we'd occupy our time by cataloging the garbage in the left shoulder up against the road divider. Everything would show up there, from baseball caps to dead animals to exhaust and car parts to pee bottles. One day I spied a toy 4x4 chassis. The first day I just looked at it. On the second day we talked about it and devised our plan to get it. On the third day we remembered where it was and made sure I could snag it. I drove close to the left shoulder and we saw it coming up. We were in stop and go so we timed the stop so we'd be right there. I had my seat belt off, i veered to the left and opened the door. I saw it under me and grabbed it. We hooted and hollered like kids. It's in my model parts box. I'll have to use it some day.

[gasser59]

That's a great story Tom. Thanks for sharing. I think after all of that planning and scheming to get it and rescue it from certain demise, you should plan a build with those wheel and tire combos.