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One of my friends that's into Jeeps told me this bumper/skid plate if for a Wrangler. Maybe see if you can adapt something before trying to reinvent the wheel?
I 'know' the owner of that Z.. Marcus. Actually, he and another guy I met online (Alex, with a Genesis) both met up in TX last Sunday for some rally fun and a photo-shoot.
Yeah, I was fairly certain that was a Wrangler (TJ, 97-06) bumper the first time I saw it. I'm not looking to go that route.. who knows, I may fab up a simple tube bumper and run that for a while. I can always change it when I get bored. I probably want something simple, pretty raw.
exo-skeleton, rock guards on ALL windows, 2" spacer lift, 16" zero offset steel wheels, General Grabber A/T2 tires, Rally lights in front of grill (light bars are so lame), gut the entire interior, replace door panels/dash with aluminum, install racing seat(s), harness bar, fire extinguisher, toggle switches for everything, aftermarket gauges, aftermarket racing steering wheel for better grip/comfort, fender flares..... there is so much you can do here. The main problem with it all is you'll be running 1 wheel drive unless miraculously your viscous coupler still works. If it's just for show, do it right. If you plan to offroad it, do it right. Don't go half-assed on it. These cars get enough crap for having cheap mods.
If it's just for show, do it right. If you plan to offroad it, do it right. Don't go half-assed on it. These cars get enough crap for having cheap mods.
Right now it's just a 'what the hell will I do next' project. It's not supposed to be anything other than that. If guys like @saywhat wanna be the big bad boys of the forums (ooooOOOOOOooooo), that's fine. Look at my G.. You guys think I really care? Think about that for a minute, let it sink in before you rant again and call me a queer again (LOL.. really? Did the recess bell just ring?). IDC, guy.
@Frosty, I'm stated before I'm on a limited budget and not going offroad with this. The only money I've put in this at this point was for new bushings, suspension, camber correction, etc. Reliability issues. Even the exhaust 'fix' cost me $10. It doesn't cost me anything to do what I do, and it can all be reinstalled at any point. I was just posting the pic of Marcus and Alex since the Z had been mentioned a number of times. If I had the money I wouldn't be wasting my time tearing down this beater.
Should I bother to suggest that some of you guys shouldn't take this so seriously? And why waste your time scrolling through my pics and then bash? You clearly haven't read what I wrote, and I have to laugh. It's like some people aren't happy unless they're taking shots at someone else because it's not what they would have done.
And who cares if guys are putting knock-off junk in/on their car? That affects you guys somehow? The more time I spend on these forums (any online forum) the more I understand why people knock on them... all the punk kids, trolls and haters. There's a lot of little-man complexes online. In most cases if you're not hot enough to make it with the in-crowd you're a buster. Why would anyone want the attention of people like that? It's like a monarchistic royalty game. You gotta be pretty freaking shallow. Sorry, not sorry. You ain't getting my time, nor catching my goat, bro.
I'll state it one more time since I'm betting someone here still has yet to catch on... I don't care if others hate what I've done to this old beater. If flaming makes you feel like a man, then, well, knock yourself out. Make yourself another hot pocket and flame away; we're all really impressed. I'm sure someone else here is going to need to have the last word, so have fun with it.
Dude, u gonna grow up soon, or just keep being a punk? I can see you're a swim with the fishes kid of guy, that's cool.. I'll keep posting if it makes you happy, bro.
Replying just feeds the trolls. As much time as you spent "telling them off" they'll never listen or learn. It's not like a troll ever read a reply such as yours and thought: "I have seen the errors of my ways, I will from this day forth be a better person."
Keep posting pics, I'm curious where this goes. Mainly because it's so off the wall.
Words of wisdom, @LoSt180. If they wanna flex their big boy attitudes and try to impress the other kids here, so be it. No worries, I'm gonna keep on posting- let 'em hate. No skin off my back.
I was tooling with the front yesterday, but I'm going to rebuild what I created. I used 3/4" pipe and I should have gone 1", which is substantially heavier material. I'll cut some more steel (fairly heavy gauge, mind you) for the mounting bracket, drill the more holes, and bend more pipe. I can throw something together and weld it in a couple hours. For me, it's not so much the finished project as it is the build. Trial and error, cut and weld.
I think Drift Armor sells something similar to what I fabbed for $169 or so.. very basic, just one single bar with a mounting bracket utilizing only two factory bolts on each side. I'm not sure how much strength is in the factory mounting points (couldn't tell if it meets the frame), but if it is, an adult male can jump on this thing. The car flexes up and down with the bar.
Quick question: do you suppose there's enough air pressure under the hood gap to warrant additional precaution? A friend thought hood pins might be a good idea. I'd rather not go there. We're talking max 75mhp on highway.
There is no support for the grill right now, so that's off. Big gaping hole in the front, which will not remain. I figure the front will look a little more drift style for a while (oh no, but it's not a turbo'd genuine drift car! You can't do that!).
I will install an oil cooler, because.. well, just because. I actually have one in the garage I may be able to use and the sandwich plate was about $40. I'll probably tuck a couple driving/fog lights in there and build a simple mesh protective screen that will guard the lights. IDK, we'll see... this is how I roll, in the moment. The stock marker lights are being replaced with amber LEDs, and I'll weld a couple small tabs for the license plate. One way or another, even if it takes a couple attempts I'll make something work, and if/when I get tired of it, I'll build something else to replace it.
Been busy with work, but I got around to finishing the rear support braces this past weekend. *This is where I would normally reiterate that this is not a legit rollbar, and how I have no intentions of racing, but since I know everyone capable of reading already knows this, I won't repeat myself. FWIW, it's bolted to factory supports in the floor cross-member and upper seat belt mounts. It's not going anywhere (won't budge a hair), yet fully removable with a couple 1/2" sockets.
Those seats really have to go. The search for a pair of used buckets continues... then I can fab up a center console, too.
Soon I'll shift my attention back to the rear shelf (NBD, but I need to determine best stock mounting points) and finishing off the front bash bar. Haven't figured out how I want to style the lower portion of the bumper. I'm waiting on the arrival of a new cross member support (front and rear) and a few other parts so I can tear out the terribly worn suspension and replace all the bushings and, of course, hardware. I think I'm going to have to buy a new torch for this job... those old bushings and seized bolts are not going to be fun.
Yesterday, after bending the lower portion of the bash bar (not yet installed), I noticed I still didn't have the approach angle clearance I wanted because the hulking stock windshield fluid reservoir was directly in front of the passenger tire. "Well this simply won't do!"
I couldn't find anything satisfactory in the garage, so, off to Wal-Mart to find a suitable container for a reservoir. Sure enough, for $5 I found this durable, thick rubberized plastic 1L bottle. I figured it would do the job.. I only needed drill a hole in the bottle to install the factory washer/plug and pump, which worked perfectly. The only feature I lose is the low-fluid sensor/indicator, which I don't need, anyway. At the time of install I didn't care enough to drill a hole in the bottom of the bottle and install that sensor.
Here it is [temporarily] installed; the stock reservoir has been removed and the plastic wheel well has been chopped down to allow me to drive up those handy driveway ramps. Currently it's zip-tied in place and the weight of the bottle is resting on a metal angle bracket I modified to fit. Ultimately I'll make a supportive wrap-around bracket and remove the zip-ties.
*You'll also note that I tack-welded a simple bracket to support the lower portion of the grill without all the styrofoam bumper padding behind/below it.
I also bent the lower portion of the bash bar to match the upper, but haven't gotten around to cutting the brackets that it will be welded to, nor have I determined the placement. Obviously it's shorter to allow greater tire clearance.
Something like this:
Last edited by GringitoLoco; 05-18-2016 at 01:28 PM.
Your car is like one of those life-size anatomy dolls. Fascinating to look at and educational but maybe not the way I personally would want to be splayed open for all to see my innards and all....
05-11-2016, 11:37 AM
