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Last week was a disassembly week as I pulled
parts from the old buggy to sell. About the only thing I managed to
cross off the to-do list for the new project was to get the rear axle under
the new chassis. I did have a whole week to evaluate what I had done up to
this point and out of that came the realization that I would have to extend
the roof back a bit. The short pickup like cab just didn't provide
enough protection for the rear passenger for my liking. I also
noticed the 3rd seat would be fully exposed to the sun which is not a good
thing here in Arizona.
 
The solution is to move the C pillar back
so the rear seat will have more structure over it. The new tubing levels
off from the initial slope of the front cab. then tapers down and in. I
chose to taper in so the buggy is narrower as you go further back which should
help when dragging the cage thru some of the narrower obstacles. Getting the
cross member in under the C pillars was fun with most of the time spent
notching the tube ends till they rotated into position.
 
The back end is starting to look like a
buggy. I deviated from the chassis plans a bit when I made the lower
portion of the bed from two "L" shaped sections of tube as
opposed to a "U" shaped hoop.
If you want the rear to be more squared of the two "L"
shaped pieces are a bit easier to work due to the orientation of the bend
radii. With a "U" shaped hoop you end up having to place sections
of tube that tie the top and bottom portions together on the radii which
makes notching harder.

At the end of the day I was playing around
with some of the bracing options based on where I was planning on
placing the shock mounting tabs.
 
he suspension link mounting points are
also in the back of my mind at this point and I the old links on to get an
idea of where the mounting points would be sitting. I was actually going to
start in on the lower link mounts but the Ballistic Fabrication bracket kit
I ordered seemed wrong. It is supposed to fit around a 1.75" dia
tubing but from the looks of it needs a 2.5-3" diameter tube. I am
hoping it's just the tabs that are wrong as they are driving the mounting
height.

Next up was to figure out how to lay out
the fuel cell and muffler. I
envisioned the fuel cell either directly behind the 3rd seat of in the back
of the rig like my previous buggy.
After some playing around I chose a rear mounted fuel cell again
with the muffler tucked under it leaving plenty of space for a heat shield.

Like my previous buggy I have the tank
resting against two 1" bars and will utilize the included tank straps
to hold the tank in place. My sump
is facing forward to hide the plumbing and since I run internal fuel pickup
really serves no purpose as far as fuel delivery goes.
 
In case you are wondering I have the
axles sitting on small stands that I made from scrap steel I had on hand. They both used to be on a rolling cart
but it was too easy to bump that and lose the axle alignment. With the blocks it is much harder to move
the axles but you can still tap them around with a hammer.
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