09/12/09
Eh? that's a strange name... "Private Pebble" ? LOL, it all starts with watching Rob Butler of the ORA, and his "Sgt. Rock" Buggy Build, and also his new Jimny based tubular bodies for eventing - something I fancy getting into... So, Rob's building a world-class buggy called "Sgt. Rock", so mine is the tongue-in-cheekily named "Private Pebble", being a penny pinching project on a shoestring... featuring Bits4Vits parts as much as possible, and probably some ORA parts along the way too ;)
So, combine this with the fact that everyone in my area knows I love Vitaras and have a business related to them, so anyone with a Vitara for sale tends to pop in the shop and mention it! LOL... Anyway, one of the local car sales lots had had a scruffy looking S-Reg soft-top in as a part exchange, and wanted rid -
So, a nice cheap base for a buggy? ;)
It's an S-plate, so the chassis should be nice and solid, the bodies got a bit of rust... but most of that is getting cutoff anyways... and the engine's only got 75k on it, so should be ok...
It was owned by a little old lady, and is covered in parking dings as a result! But the garage had always maintained it for her, so it's history is sound...
So, £400, and it's sat in my garage... getting stripped!
This is by no means a quick project... it'll be finished as and when I get the time... and funds! It's being done on a tight budget, so as it's being stripped as much as possible will be sold to finance the purchase of the base vehicle... starting with the rear lights, as they were in fantastic condition I put them on eBay and they sold within hours for £50... which happens to be the purchase price of the SJ 410 transfer box that's going in it...
So, what's the idea / spec. then? I want something entirely offroad, so there's no road-going expenses to consider, and no-limit to the modifications I can do to it. I want it for fun in the mud, to be more buggy than Vitara, and to have a go at the odd local AWDC event... So, spec? A Vitara based buggy, with an X-90 gearbox driving a SJ 410 transfer box which will have crawler gears in eventually ("Rock Lobster") so nice big tyres, a small suspension lift - Bits4Vits components as much as possible, and just some GV springs to give it the lift... I want to keep the CofG low, so will be cutting to get the tyres in rather than lifting everything... nice lot of flex - well as much as you can get from the front IFS of a Vitara!, but I want to keep the suspension of a Vitara... if I'm competing it needs to be as Vitara'ery as possible underneath... ;)
So, let's see if I can finish a project for a change ;) ......
10/12/09
Made a start in amassing some of the parts...
A set of front struts have been ordered, off eBay, I've got a set on "Stealth" as well, these are Monroe 4x4 gas filled replacement struts and have a 2 year guarantee...
I'll be running these with a set of Bits4Vits (my company) 2.25" Strut Spacers that extend the length of the strut's chrome shaft by an extra 2.25" -
2.25" spacing is too much without running a set of drop brackets, so I'll be using these with a set of Offroad Armoury ("ORA") front axle drop brackets -
I've also (hopefully!) managed to source a steel front axle from Rob @ the ORA too!
And there's also a front skid plate to suit a lowered diff also in the post as we speak! ;)
So, with a pair of front Grand Vitara springs that will give a 1.5" lift, that's the front basically sorted! I want to keep the suspension basically stock Vitara with B4V enhancement products... if I'm going to compete in this buggy / truck I want to be running B4V (and ORA) off the shelf components, proving their worth and strength to the home modifier! ;)
To fit the big tyres in I'll be chopping the body away, rather than running a big lift or lifting the body... to keep the CofG nice and low ;)
I've also acquired, today, an SJ 410 transfer box... this will be off in the post early next week to go over to "Rockwatt" to weave his magic on it, and it will come back as a Rocklobster equipped 'box with ultra-low gears and a 2WD low selector ;)
That will be mated to the X90 2WD gearbox I have stored in the garage...
Eventual plan for the buggy is something like the ORA's new Jimny tubular body -
Or this one I spotted on Pirate4x4 -
But Vitara based obviously! ;)
So the first job is to cut the body away until I'm left with the middle section of the floor and the bulkhead / dashboard... these will need to be shifted back slightly to fir the front tyres in... and once this is done, I'll take a few photos from the side and start planning the cage / body... ;)
More soon!
27/12/09
Sunday the 27th of December, the day after Boxing Day, and the rest of the family fancied a lazy day round the house... so I popped my scruffs on and headed out for the garage!
So, take one Vitara and mix with one Mr. Angry the Angle Grinder...
Before! Firly tidy S-Reg Vit' but with dinged corners...
Front Bumper removed, and front wings, and doors...
Roof structure and rear body tub cut away...
View from the back...
View from back quarter...
Windscreen and front pillars removed!
Bucket seat added to allow moving it around and to get a sense of the size of things...
Rear quarter view again...
Next job is to get the suspension lift fitted... the front is going to be pretty basic as I want to keep the front IFS (Independent Front Suspension) intact - to run it as "Vitara-ery" as possible, so I'll start with the front suspension, with a 3" lift made from Grand Vitara springs and Bits4Vits spring spacers, with 2.25" strut spacers on the new gas Monroe struts shown above... and a steel axle I've bought (back?) off Rob @ the ORA to make sure the front axle doesn't implode! Then I'll build the rear suspension to match the height of the front suspension... again keeping it pretty Vitara'ery as possible but with the addition of three complete rose joints again sourced from the ORA -
These will go on the rear ends of the rear trailing arms (B4V poly bushes on the fronts) and on the heim joint on the top of the rear axle too... some Grand Vitara springs on the back, with repositioned spring seats to match the height of the front suspension, and hopefully some dislocating cones too, with some nice long shocks to give the back plenty of flex...
And some 35"s as soon as I raise the rest of the tyre fund... had some from the wife and in-laws for Christmas, so with some of my December salaries at the end of the month, should see some BIG tyres arrive... then with the wheels and tyres on, and the little-lift on, I'll be able to work out how much more of the body needs to be removed... LOL ;)
Meanwhile...
There's a nice little pile for the local scrap collector ;)
28/12/09
Had a lie-in, walked the dogs and a cooked brekkie with the family this morning (or rather brunch by the time we had it!), so didn't have much time today, but did do a bit -
Cut the inner wing out of the passenger side... I've been drawing inspiration from a few builds I've watched in the past, and I liked the idea of seeing the front strut in it's mount, showing the suspension mods too, ver much like on Baloo's 2WD X90 build (it's in www.shropshire-suzuki.co.uk - you'll have to join to see it) -
Awesome build that, if you get a chance to read it...
You won't see as much of my front strut towers as that, but a bit more will be visible when the bonnet is reshaped -
Cut the grill so that it still resembles a Vitara* and will cut the bonnet along the red lines above to make the front a bit more buggy looking, and disguise the body mount areas with spotlights and a bumper...
I took some inspiration from the front from memories of Tony Bennett's "Bumble" truck -
Well... the grill and bonnet idea anyways, I won't be doing the double-wishbone setup though... wonder what ever happened to it?
*Keeping it Vitara'ery - mentioned that a couple of times already, and better qualify it... I want it to look like a buggy, but there again I want it to be fairly obvious to most people that it's Vitara based... partly because I run / own "Bits4Vits", and partly as the AWDC classes mention that the vehicle must "... give an impression of the type of the vehicle, which makes it easily identifiable by the average spectator"... not sure what class the eventual buggy will end up slotted into, and at the couple of local events I've been to, they didn't have enough entries to run all the classes, and so lumped a few together anyway...
01/01/10
Not much done last few days, due to work / celebrating New Year... but been doing a lot of thinking and sketching... a lot of thought as been going into whether to try and make it road legal... I was thinking it would be a hoot to go greenlaning in a buggy with just a cage around you!... but then I'm restricted in the modifications I can make, i.e. not touching the chassis! So after a lot of thought, and doing some maths - consider the road tax, insurance, MOTs, possible IVA and a lot more work that would have to be done (lights, arches, etc.), I've definitely decided to make it offroad only, and trailer it around when necessary... the cost of hiring a trailer for the weekend (£40/£50) is nowhere near the cost of keeping it road legal...
More Soon!
10/01/10
Hmmm, not much progress for the last week... it's been snowing and -8oC most of the time... so our daughters have been off school for the last week, so my days off have been spent with them, and it's too cold to work in the garage!!!
17/01/10
Had a few hours spare time today... had a bit of a lie-in, walked the dogs, cooked brekkie, then ventured out onto the drive...
Stripped the suspension off, and the driveshafts and front (alloy) axle... then rebuilt the suspension using Bits4Vits spring spacers with Grand Vitara springs, giving a 3" lift = 1.5" from the spacers, and 1.5" from the springs... also fitted nice new Monroe Adventure struts (eBay), topped up with 2.25" Bits4Vits spring spacers, and new strut tops... might as well finish it off nicely ;)
Closeup of the strut spacer with the new strut top... only the hexagon washer was reused off the old ones...
So 3" lift in the front so far... I wanted to do that first as that's the most you can lift a Vit' realistically whilst keeping the front IFS intact... and that's with lowering the diff an inch when it gets refitted... carrying on with the theme of not too much lift, but as much articulation as possible - bearing in mind it's a Vitara underneath ;)
That gives me an idea of the ride height of the back suspension too... where I'm planning cranked trailing arms, dislocating springs and nice long shocks to give plaenty of movement, and ORA supplied rose joints as shown above to give plenty of rear articulation...
Really need the bigger tyres on to work out where the bulkhead needs to be... as considering shifting it back an inch or two... but for now I'll have to work it out with a tape measure, until funds permit the purchase of some big rubber... better start saving! ;)
Plenty to do in the meantime though! ;)
Here's the diff out and stripped... on the left the diff out of the donor Vit', it's got 39 teeth on the crown wheel and 8 on the pinnion making it a 4.875:1 diff, as fitted to later diffs (earlier Vits had 41 and 8 making 5.125:1), the diff on the right is in a steel casing, and has 43 teeth on the crown wheel and 10 on the pinnion, making it a 4.3:1 ratio... so, the plan is to swap the internals round... especially as the steel diff air-actuated free-wheeling, off a Grand Vitara... they have a little compressor / pump behind the front bumper that blows air into the diff, this inflates a kind of "balloon" that pushes the driveshafts onto the diff centre and provides drive to the front wheels... so I've taken the pipe out already and blocked the hole with a suitable sized bolt. Next job with these is to strip the internals out of the steel diff casing, and then replace them with the internals from the original alloy diff, so we end up with a decently ratio'ed diff in an "indestructible" steel diff casing... I'll be attempting that myself! LOL
Having read this months issue (Feb) of Total OffRoad, I've seen how I want the buggy to look... kind of...
This is a space-frame kit produced by www.whitbread-offroad.co.uk and based on a Land Rover Discovery chassis... something like this I want the buggy to end up looking like... gives you an idea anyways... ;)