1tenner's honcho!

[1tenner]

Hilux body!

I got a used hilux body to put on my SCX10 and read a thousand posts about how to mount it, but there were very few that had any good pictures. I decided to make a u-shaped mount over the top of of the front shock towers and velcro at that point. Then I started working on a side body mount. I was thinking about just brazing something to my existing rock rails but then I decided to start fresh. For one thing, the existing ones were a little wide for the hilux body. Plus this way I could switch back and forth between bodies.

So here are the pics...

Side body mounts

drilled mounting plates and mounted body, plus added first rail for sliders

started in on a rear truggy frame since I don't have a bed

Added some bracing

End results around 2:30 am last night...

Now I need to figure out what I'm going to do for the rest of the truggy frame work. At this point everything is bolted to the frame rails and I plan to keep it that way, so I need to work that part out first, then finish building the tubing.

 

[steele42]

Awesome. Loving it. Excited to see what you come up with for the rear tube work

 

[1tenner]

Bumper for Honcho body

I got tired of having the stock plastic front bumper flex back when I was pushing against rocks so I decided to build a better one. So I removed the stock bumper and starting working on how to mount a new bumper first. I cam up with these to fit in the frame rails.

Shown here mounted to the chassis

Added the front skid plate

A picture mounted with the skid

I added a top plate for mounting a winch and then added the bumper tubing

I'm not sure about the look. I should have done something different with the tubing. I wasn't sure what to do with the parts that angle up, so I tried bending them down (then they looked like handlebars) so finally I cut them off (no pic of that yet). Oh well, it's functional and I think I have a good method of mounting figured out and will work out a better tubing configuration on the version 2.

I'll add a picture of the completed and painted bumper when I get a chance.

 

[1tenner]

Hilux body and new cage and rock rails

Got a chance to put some time in mounting my honcho body and cage Friday night (through Saturday morning). I'm getting better and more confident about my brazing. Really starting to learn how to visually read the metal and tell when it's time to start adding the solder. Still need to get better at the bending, shaping the mating ends, and holding everything in place! My work is strong enough, but it could be better. Always room for improvement I guess...

So I've been looking at a lot of other truggies and checking out how they were built, then I just started in.

Here I have added the primary tubing run back to the mounting point on the back of the chassis. I ran it right above the shock towers because I plan to braze shock mounts to the tubing eventually. In retrospect this may not have been the best idea since I think it limits the cargo space in the completed chassis and makes it so mounting the spare will be high raising the COG.

Now that the chassis will sit upright on it's own, it's easier to fab stuff up on my brazing area. Here I've run the first bracing for the primary tubing down to the framework behind the cab.

I added a small brace at the back of the primary tubes as well as some rock rails and mounted it back up to check the look.

And here it is with the cab installed.

Next another set of bracing to the cab. Here it is on the chassis.

And a couple of pics of it with the cab on. Also started gluing the back of the cab on. Never done this type of thing before. Probably should have read up on it a bit, but I got it sort of in place. Eventually I will brace it up from the inside so it stays put and I'll get some bondo and fill in the cracks and some of the other holes in the body - the mounting holes in the hood are atrocious!

Here's a pic from the other side.

Here's a shot more from the side as apposed to the back.

And here's one from the front. I got the grill mounted even though the lower mounts were broken off (wish the ebay seller would have mentioned that!). I made some upper mounts out of the plastruct sheets you see in the background. Just cut some strips, heated them up to bend them 90 degrees, then drilled a couple holes and BAM. Mounting brackets!

I haven't mounted the lights in the grill yet since my wires are run straight into my project box. I picked up some Deans mini connectors so I can unhoook the lights. Need to get those wired up. Next will be a front bumper.

I haven't painted it yet since I might brace it some more, like something else across the back of the cab window. Also eventually I want to add some sort of partial flat bed plate so I can add some accessories.

So what do you think of the cage? Any feedback is appreciated!

 

[northernerbill]

Looks really good, am thinking about learning to braze myself and do a rubicon.

Are you going to mount a spare wheel on the bed? If yes am imagining its on the triangular upright which will act as a nice cushion if it rolls too.

As you don't have the honcho bed you could put the junfac strut brace across the top suspension mounts (they do a red one too).

As your brazing is so good maybe fabricate yourself an exhaust pipe or two winding through the rear for looks.

Anyhows cracking looking rig mate!!