SXOR single seater build

[Hokie_YJ]

I've been off work this week so I finally got to work on this thing a little bit for the first time in a month. I've had a lot of other stuff to do so I haven't made as much progress as I'd like though.

I cut and moved the tube that was hitting the right front shock when it was flexed out. The joint is slugged with 1.25" tube.



Then I added some reinforcement to the chassis side track bar mount and made it double shear. Before it was just a bolt threaded into a bung in the chassis.



Most of my time this week has been spent redoing my screw ups though. I had to cut all the drivetrain mounts and angle everything toward the drivers side a little more. Luckily I had only tacked everything. I got in too big of a hurry the first time around and didn't leave enough room for the driveshaft. It's still SUPER tight, but I think it will work now. After I got everything relocated I bent up a skid plate for the engine. I tied it into the motor mounts and used tube flanges to make it removable.







Hopefully I'll be able to get a little more done this weekend.

 

[Hokie_YJ]

Got a little more done today. I got the passenger side header and "muffler" fitted up. The headers are OBX turbo headers. I cut off the v-band flange and tacked on a 30* bend and Vibrant Performance 3"x5" race muffler. I have a feeling this thing is going to be a bit loud, lol. I added the miter cut on the end just for the heck of it. Also added a bung for the O2 sensor. Everything is 304 stainless and I plan to have it all ceramic coated.











Here you can see what I'm up against on the drivers side. I had to pretty much cut the whole collector off just to get the header bolted up. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I'm gonna do here.





After I hit the wall on the exhaust I moved on to finding a place for the oil accumulator. I used some trick tabs with the threaded insert to mount it. I still haven't decided whether or not to run a solenoid valve off the ignition for pre-lubing, or just run it with no valve at all. Any opinions about that?

 

[Hokie_YJ]

I worked on this thing for a couple hours yesterday. I got the transmission cooler and steering cooler mounted. The transmission cooler is a Griffin double pass, and it is huge, should keep the Powerglide good and cool. Right behind my head is the only place it would fit, and it barely fits there.





The steering cooler is a Derale Electra-Cool. I decided to move the battery box and put the cooler where it was. I didn't really like the battery there anyway because it was going to be hard to get to. Still have to come up with another spot for the battery.

 

[Hokie_YJ]

I piddled around on this thing for a couple hours yesterday afternoon. I mounted the steering reservoir. I had to mount it behind the radiator because I'm running out of space in a hurry. It is higher than the pump though and I should be able to make a nice sweeping feed hose to the pump. Hopefully I won't have any feed issues.



After that I mounted the window nets from PRP.





After I got the nets mounted I sat in the buggy and made engine noises because who doesn't do that? Lol. Lets's just say it's a good thing I'm not claustrophobic. I'm a big guy, and it's a tight fit. But it really closes in on you with the nets up.

Like I said I was just working on piddly stuff. No real progress. A lot of what's left is just piddly stuff, but it's the stuff that eats up a lot of time.

It's been a while since I posted an overall shot so I took a few so you can see what it's starting to look like.







I think I've decided on color. I'm going to paint the chassis with Rustoleum Hammered Copper, and the skins with satin black Plasti-Dip. The axles, links, and wheels will be satin black as well. I'm hoping that will look pretty good.

 

[jeepmedic]

Looks awesome. But I gotta ask why the plasti-dip on the skins? Wouldnt paint be more resilient?

 

[Hokie_YJ]

I'm going to use plasti-dip because it's more flexible than paint, and it should stick to the Lexan better. Personally I think it will hold up better than if I just painted the Lexan. It may prove me wrong though.

 

[GONOVRIT]

So your skins will be lexan? I guess you'll be panting the inside? What's the WB? Sorry if I missed it, really like your build and I'm looking forward to seeing it work.

 

[Hokie_YJ]

Yeah, they're Lexan, or some type of plastic like that anyway. The skins came with the chassis. They're on it in the pictures at the beginning of the thread. I just hate the design on them.

They will have to be painted on the outside. I know the plasti-dip will get scratched, but hopefully it will be easy enough to touch up when it does. And I can always peel it off an re-coat them pretty easily.

The wheelbase is roughly 104.5". And I appreciate it, I'm dying to get back on the trail. It's been WAY too long.

 

[jeepmedic]

I had a buddy that used flexible black sheeting 1/4 inch thick for his skins and it held up great. It was $200 for a 5x8 sheet.

 

[Hokie_YJ]

Yeah, I was going to use the plastic that you can get in rolls like they use on dirt track cars and stuff. But I figured I already have these so all I'll be out is a few cans of plasti-dip.

 

[jeepmedic]

I got ya. The build looks killer man!

 

[Hokie_YJ]

Thanks man!

 

[seed60]

That's wild. What is this thing getting raced in?

 

[Hokie_YJ]

I don't have any plans to race it. I'm way too broke to even think about racing. Lol.

I'm just building it to get out and have fun with friends and beat the hell out of it.

 

[Hokie_YJ]

I guess I need to update this thread. No major progress, but the new Staworks wheels did finally come in last week. they're 17"x9" with 3" BS, I got them without rock rings, but had the 1/2" cold rolled ring added to the inner and outer lip. They weight in at about 60lbs a piece. They came powder coated a semi-satin black. I left the outer half of the wheel black, but on the face of the inner half I lightly sanded the powdercoat and painted them with Rustoleum hammered copper. I think it turned out pretty good. The wait for the wheels was a long one, I ordered them in April. But i knew up front it would be, I'd still reccomend Stazworks wheels if you're willing to wait.









Last night I finally got the last wheel and tire put together, and got them back on the buggy and got it back to roller status.









I know this isn't much of an update, but I guess it's better than nothing. I'm still trying to slowly plug away at it, and figure it out as I go. I swear one day i will finish it.

 

[Hokie_YJ]

In case you were wondering this build isn't totally dead. Lol.

I have been working on it a bit lately when I have the time. I've gotten a few things done Moscow it hasn't been very pic-worthy though.

I did finally get the driver's side header fit up. It's really tight, but it's in there.





I know the angles don't really match here, but it's as close as I could get it with the way the motor sits in the chassis at an angle.



After more consideration I decided it would be best to try to move the steering reservoir. This is what I came up with. It's a little higher than I would have liked, but I had put it there to get a good flow path to the pump. Where I had it mounted before on climbs the pump would have been trying to pull fluid uphill from the reservoir, now gravity will be helping. Hopefully this will work.



I've gone back and forth on where I was going to put the battery box. I've mocked it up a few different places. But I finally decided to go back to the original spot under the "dash" just in a different orientation. Everything just works better with it here. I had a steering cooler in this spot, but I'll find a new home for it.





And last for this update I bent up some sliders/steps to help protect the chassis and skins and to make it easier to get in and out of the buggy. They're 1.5" .250 wall tubing and I added some treads with dimples up for traction.

 

[seed60]

Those rims and dimple steps are awesome.

 

[Hokie_YJ]

Thanks man.

 

[Hokie_YJ]

Woke up this morning with about 8" of fresh snow so I spent a few hours of this snowy day in the garage. Doesn't feel like I really got a lot accomplished, but it's better than no progress at all.

Obviously I already have a 20" light bar mounted on the roof, but I wanted to put one down low also to use as headlights. So I picked up another 20" bar from RedneckLights. I wanted to mount it just below the hood line, but the hood extended several inches past the end of the chassis so I added a little tube to have somewhere to mount the light.









I tinkered with a few other little things, but nothing really pic worthy. I spent a lot of time sitting on a bucket brainstorming and Googling. Trying to figure out some of the issues I still have to work out. I'm off work until Friday night though so I hope to make some good progress this week.

 

[jeepmedic]

Love this thing....low and lean!

 

[Hokie_YJ]

Thanks man! It is at full bump right now so it will be about 6-7" higher, but it should still sit pretty low.

 

[jeepmedic]

I guessed 6 inches higher at ride height. Should be a handfull with that V8.

 

[Hokie_YJ]

I was going for the feeling of strapping a rocket to your ass and going for a ride. Lol.

 

[Hokie_YJ]

I crossed a couple more things off the mile long to-do list today.

Storage space was pretty much non-existent on this thing so I wanted to add a place to carry a tool bag, cooler, recovery gear, etc. So I picked up a Baja basket from Poly Performance.

Here it is sitting in place while I was figuring out the mounting.





To mount the front I added a tube between the two c-pillars and used tube disconnects to make it removable so the engine can still be pulled.



To mount the basket to the tube I used some large trick tabs and the hood pins that have the hard rubber bushing to hopefully help cut down on the rattling.



The back is mounted the same way off of the radiator hoop.

Here's it is installed.











I kinda wish it didn't sit quite so high, but I think it still looks ok and will serve the purpose. It took me way too long just to mount this thing. I fought with it forever trying to get it lined up perfect, but with this style chassis hardly nothing is square from side to side. Even the c-pillars are at slightly different angles and lengths because the belt rail on the chassis from the b-pillar back is angled in more on the left side than the right. I finally just eyeballed it from every angle until I thought it looked good, said screw it, and welded it.

After I messed with all that for most of the day. The only other thing I got accomplished was finding a place for and mounting all my vent/ rollover catch cans. The smaller ones with the breather on top are PSC catch cans with a ball bearing rollover valve. The bigger ones are just normal overflow tanks that have the vent straw that extends up to the top of the can.

These three will be the front axle, transmission, and transfer case.



These two will be the rear axle and the steering reservoir.



This one will be the PCV catch can to hopefully keep oil out of the intake. The two valve cover ports will be tee'd together and tied to the inlet of the tank, and then the vent straw will go back to the nipple on the intake.



And this one will be the radiator overflow tank.

 

[mcutler]

In the short rows now brother. ..keep getting it