Sumo Metal Ford

[penneyma79]

Haha, even I am putting off the bed like a little kid not wanting to eat liver and onions.. It will happen, but it has its own complexities. Don't scare yourself off, start small, do a hood, fender, or roof skin.:ror:

 

[spoo76]

I would have thought the bed would be easy if you break it down to the 4 flat sides & bottom

 

[penneyma79]

Only one way to find out, Sir! Actually, it may be, but I don't have a complete model bed any longer, so I need to modify what I have, make a mold for the floor, yadda yadda Tiniest violin just started playing for me.. braces, hinges for tailgate-the flat surface of the bedsides probably will be pretty easy though, at least I hope.. rolling the corners on this year Ford bedside by taillights may be difficult though-Do you have a test body in mind?

 

[spoo76]

Yea that sounds like a bit more work since you don't have one already made up. You could always go with a flat panel type of bed that you'd see made out of sheet metal with rolled top rails. I have a few to choose from,but I didn't have a specific one in mind. Really. The 2 that would be most likely are the models already built and that would be the 2nd gen S10 or the CJ7. The CJ probably being the easiest because of all the flat basic panels. I'll have to get some materials together and try it out. Maybe sell some of my extra Losi BND radios or mamba micros haha

 

[penneyma79]

$5.00 tube of glue, $7.50 Chipotle(or Qdoba) Burrito bowl with foil lid, and a $1.00 dowel rod from hardware store and you've got a parts manufacturing empire!"thumbsup"

 

[spoo76]

Damn it. Now I'm hungry for Chipotle haha

 

[penneyma79]

Instead of doing inner fenders and core support like a good boy,I got distracted and made an aluminum frame from some thin sheet I had, I'll measure tomorrow, forgot to check. Again, keep in mind, this is a test, this is only a test.frame rails are too short, it's the length I could cut, I'll add on to them now, since I still may make the frame in brass later. Also wanted to include inspiration pics from a long long time ago of a truck my father and I restored. Can't find later pics after it got bigger tires and it's 429, but I will..




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[penneyma79]

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[penneyma79]

And last one..test body may look more like the unrestored version for a while


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[penneyma79]

Made some progress on the cab, added the dog house,a posts, and making leaf sprung frame. This is my test rig, and I am so much more relaxed knowing I can fix my mistakes in a better version later, see what works, what doesn't. Frame is aluminum flashing, may actually be too thick as a frame IF I expect major carnage, but plenty strong to last a good while.



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[penneyma79]

Didn't really take any pics tonight. I skipped working last night, been feeling like hell, awful cough, actually trying to sleep on the couch to let the wife and kids sleep uninterrupted. I molded core support from the model, but it looks super unrealistic. I'll be building another, or sculpting, rather. Making hollow parts molded and glued together is super strong in the aluminum but it may actually not allow damage in a realistic way..
Add roof inner I molded as well, to test it's strength. I'd rather not cage the truck, but my driving style may rip it apart fast necessitating one. Glued cab mounts on the frame, molded on my aluminum square, perfect shape, same .005 stock. If and when I move to brass, depending on glue joints on frame, they will be soldered. Contemplating leaf spring mounts now, tomorrow is another day.

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[penneyma79]

All I can muster is a teaser. Lost track of time, wife couldn't find me half asleep, was hard at work on the frame on the metal beast. I have created, with some frustration, three sets of lockouts for the Sumo. I am not in love with what I've created now, they look less than scale. Until I find a one piece solution for the axles, this is what I've got to clear the joint. Also, don't tell my wife an old hair clip donated what could be an awesome leaf spring. If I go lower, which I'd prefer, I'd have to cut the fenders.we'll see how this goes.


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[penneyma79]

Oh, can't wait to ditch these wheels, look terrible. Another project, another night.

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[penneyma79]

Ok, pictorial update only, I'll type the trials and tribulations tomorrow! Toy trucks are very much my therapy!




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[penneyma79]

So, without being wordy, I've spent more time practice building spring hangers and mounts and cutting up various metal for leaf springs lately than building. Last night I got my head on straight and picked a design and built what I knew would work. I can build it stronger, hence the solid brass pin on the leading edge of the spring, but it wouldn't be super accurate to scale, so I may still look for smaller rod or screws to mount spring, but I don't need them ripping off in mild wheeling, the body will take a beating, don't need to rip apart chassis each time too, that would get old!
Right now the brass plates are shoe gooed to the alum chassis, as I don't have the right solder and paste to join the two. this being my test chassis, it looks rougher in these high res pics than it really is, but final chassis I'm still considering multi piece stamped brass. Why, you ask? cuz, I'm crazy! and I think it will look nicer, bend nicer, and ill be able to solder the entire thing. then I can make sacrificial bumper mount brackets to crush as I please and crushable skid plates as needed, but that's the plan for now.
I also acquired a frame rack manual for this model truck, with all the factory specs for straightening a frame of this vintage, as well as great images, so I can be sure my chassis ends up as close to real as I can make it in the end. If anyone has any thoughts or WTF's, please feel free to ask!

 

[penneyma79]

Oh, thoughts on building short bed, quad leaf spring truck? Considered front coils, but not sure if that's a can of worms I care to open! id like to still use stock driveshaft, hence the short wheelbase, but open to lengthening the rig. id have to fudge bedsides, as I shortened the plastic model years ago and would have to create an appropriate mold.

 

[penneyma79]

So, update time. Maybe I'll grab a pic, maybe tomorrow. As weather gets a bit colder here in Ohio, my garage gets colder. I don't want to drag all of my stuff inside with two kids, just have to get used to cold again for the season. My first attempt at a chassis was shoe gooed, and in static testing it held ok. Rails are ugly as sin,I didn't spend much time keeping them smooth. I also made them too short to begin with, and practiced bolting frame together sectioning the rear half together. Even remembered to use the thread locker. Again, test vehicle. I have been keeping very good notes and drawings on this, so the next one is much easier, faster and nicer. I don't plan to produce them, but who knows, maybe I'll get bored and need to move on to another style rig..one day..
Poor body got its floor cut, but only to test fit engine/transfer case assembly, I'll add trans tunnel when I update floor buck. I just cut the long bolting uprights from that unit as well, will mount only from one side, it's bottom. All my suspension mounts will get glued back on, and bolted. They held extremely well just glued, but torsional stress I found would loosen them, and I'd rather not permanently bond them, shoe goo will be fine.

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[penneyma79]

I'm guessing you may say just plug it in and beat that thing. Honestly,I want to. I have been getting very little tiny truck time these past few days, and most of what I've been doing is refining previous work. I bolted together the rear frame sections, just to see how they hold up. I made a skid plate for the trans, like it so far, keeps it up high. I chose to cut my floor because it's a test body, and I can add a tunnel and seat as needed. I wanted ground clearance. Damn truck is too tall now, although somehow proportioned well.



I realized the rear end lock out tubes aren't up to my standard, and spring hanger will hit tire under flex, so I HOPE too quickly remedy this next time, redo lock out during mounts, again, and hang servo to get some play time in, I'm tired of working, want to play.



Here is a shot as I glued mounts last night, before I drilled and bolted. Because, well, test truck.learning a whole lot. Any better leaf ideas, I'm all ears, this aluminum/brass headache I made for myself is kicking my ass a little.

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[penneyma79]

Tore into axles again tonight. Drilled and tapped very small hole for the leaves and lift blocks. Square tubing for the win. This effectively narrows the distance been springs but not track width. Move my mounts tomorrow and I'm in business!

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[R.Billy Rob]

All I can say is wow! I'm impressed. You have to post video afterwards though. On the rocks, so we can see some real carnage!