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JHF Goatbuilt Trail Buggy

crazybluerider said:
I did use ER70. I've welded to cast a number of times on dana centers. In my experience the key is not relying solely on the cast for support. Build the bracket so that it is tied into the tubing as well. I also pre heat and typically wrap with my leathers or a blanket to let it cool slow. Obviously all situations are different but this has worked for me in the past.

When I finish that bracket up I'll try to remember to post some pictures to clarify what I'm talking about.
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Great build!! Im about to have to do this on my chevy 60. i'll be watching to see how else you tie it in.
 
Did your panels come already blue? That’s the color I wanted to go with on my car. I’ve been thinking thru skins and will be following this build! Looks nice!:smokin::smokin:
 
crazybluerider said:
You think the zip ties will end up pissing me off? It's not too late to change.
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Yep, all your gonna do is rip them off and drive over them. They're there to keep things from rubbing on you and your seats. Hard to do that when they're on the ground under your tire. Good chance they'll blow off on the trailer on any sort of long trip. Its plastic, cut yourself a template for future panels and replace when needed. They are a wear item.
 
crazybluerider said:
I decided on using HDPE plastic as body panels. The stuff I bought was from speedway motors. I tend to be somewhat hard on body panels and I'm hoping that using zip tied on plastic will help make them last a little longer. I'm hoping that if I get into something hard enough the panel will pop off rather than getting all tore up like my previous tin panels. That and the stuff is really cheap so replacement doesn't hurt as much if I have to do it every other year or something to keep it looking presentable.
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if you are concerned with the panels survival, inlay them into the tubes or learn to drive :flipoff2:
 
Spend the money on Zeus fasteners, well worth the money.


And get clear panels next time. Paint the inside of them and you end up with a deep clear coat look that won’t rub off.
 
Mr Stubs said:
Spend the money on Zeus fasteners, well worth the money.


And get clear panels next time. Paint the inside of them and you end up with a deep clear coat look that won’t rub off.
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I run dzus on my sand stuff. Have you had problems with the "bolt" part breaking? I was a little concerned about that. If yours have been holding up I'll feel a lot better about spending the money on them for this application.
 
crazybluerider said:
I run dzus on my sand stuff. Have you had problems with the "bolt" part breaking? I was a little concerned about that. If yours have been holding up I'll feel a lot better about spending the money on them for this application.
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Usually the wire that they fasten into is what breaks for us in the aviation application.
 
Not a lot to show from this weekend. Spent some time figuring a couple of things out and acquired an engine for my flatfender build.

I did get bump stops mounted up. The landing pads still need some work but the placement is all figured out.
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gt1guy said:
They aren't going to touch.
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Kind of why i was asking.
I always wonder, what's the point of buying, then mounting bumps so they don't touch the landing pads when articulated? Sure if your axle moves in a vertical only fashion at all times and never articulates, this setup is fine. In the real world, you'll need those bump stops for a hard hit while you're articulating just as much as you will (or more) if your axle is moving perfectly vertically.

Not knocking anything, because this build is badass, just curious what the mindset is. Especially considering you see it all the time. Maybe I'm making more of it needed:confused:
 
I've seen rolled bump mounts that allow the bump to contact throughout articulation. I'll see if I can find pics. I'm sure someone will beat me to it.
 
Gonna want to extend the pad to end of cast on the passenger side. Your driverside pad looks to be about an inch short in width
 
POR said:
Gonna want to extend the pad to end of cast on the passenger side. Your driverside pad looks to be about an inch short in width
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Yeah, I knew I was going to have to extend the cast pad. After getting things mounted I realized that the other pads needed to be larger as well. I picked up a piece of wider flat bar and will be changing them this weekend.

Tack everything until your sure, right?
 
Crashhawk said:
I've seen rolled bump mounts that allow the bump to contact throughout articulation. I'll see if I can find pics. I'm sure someone will beat me to it.
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My mounts will just line the bumps up so they bottom out at the same time during articulated and vertical travel as the shocks. The mounts will be annoying to get right, but it's doable.
 
crazybluerider said:
Yeah, I knew I was going to have to extend the cast pad. After getting things mounted I realized that the other pads needed to be larger as well. I picked up a piece of wider flat bar and will be changing them this weekend.

Tack everything until your sure, right?
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Quoting for truth!
I always end up thinking it's all good, burn it in, then i gotta cut it all off because i forgot about one little detail:laughing:
 
Spent some time on the interior today. I started by modifying the passenger floor for clearance for the transfer case shift shafts. My AL welding skill still need some work but they're getting better.

Then I put a heel brace in for the passenger and got a grab handle set up. The handle got a snap ring groove in the end to prevent it from pulling out while being adjusted. I ordered a bicycle seat post clamp today that will get installed on the chassis mounted part to lock the grab bar in place.

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I did a bunch of little work today that resulted in nothing to really show. Sorted out my seatbelt mounts and got some of the interior panels mounted. I also build mounts for brake lines and fuel lines. I have been tring to figure out the front mount for my skid plate too.

My beadlocks showed up this week. I'm a little disappointed to discover that normal lugnuts do not fit in Method wheels when you have 9/16 studs.

A bunch of my other black friday impulse buys also showed up, specifically all the stuff to load my axles.

The new engine for my flatfender build also showed up. I have an older CPI 4.3 in that chassis but I stubbled on this 03 blazer with 95k miles for a deal that was too good to pass up. Added bonus, flatfender engine is now a spare for the buggy if needed.

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The engine skid is a little long for my chosen powertrain so I decided to put a little ramp on the front of it to keep it from acting like a shovel if I managed to get it into something. I bent it up a little over 5 inches. It fits the front of the engine much better now. still trying to decide how to mount the front edge. I'm leaning toward hanging it off the engine mounts with some 1" tubing.

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Today a friend came by and we tore this thing down to bare chassis for final welding. Found a couple things I need to change in the process. One major screw up was trapping my transfer case in the belly. I discovered that the way I built my seatbelt mounts and trans mount made it so that the trans has to come out for the transfer case to drop out and with the transfer case in the chassis the engine needs to be pulled to get the trans out. That is all NFG for a buggy in my opinion. So I will be rearranging my floor stuff some to make it so the trans and or transfer can be pulled with the engine still in the chassis.


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I really don't have a lot to show for it but I've just been picking away at getting all the chassis welding finalized and beefing up shock mounts and such. Still moving along though.

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It starts to drag on you...just keep whittling away at it! Looking good...the grill seems a little high. Are you going for that look or are you going to trim the bottom down?
 
DesertCJ said:
It starts to drag on you...just keep whittling away at it! Looking good...the grill seems a little high. Are you going for that look or are you going to trim the bottom down?
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The back of the hood isn't sitting all the way up in those pictures. The mounts need a support for the bottom of the hood.
 
I'd put some speed holes in that pan so mud can drain out. I don't think the plates are needed for the shock mounts. You can just tab those, they get plenty of weld length. I'd bolt the roof, I don't think dzus is the ideal fastener up there.
 
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After a couple of weekend trips and a vacation I finally got a chance to get back to the chassis. I put in two pretty long days this weekend and the chassis is ready for paint. The interior panel mounts are all screw tabs supplied by GoatBuilt and the side panel and roof tabs are dzus. It took a little figuring to find a place for the highlift that would be out of my line of sight and protected, but I managed to get it tucked down in front of my cooler and storage box. The battery found a home behind the passenger seat. The steering orbital got real friendly with the brake pedal assembly and the top of the throttle but I managed to get it all in there and nothing touches, I had to dent the firewall a little in one spot to make it happen.

I'm still not 100% sure what I'm going to use for paint. I've used rustoleum professional in the past with pretty good results but I'm looking at other options too. I also got the tires mounted on the new rims a couple of weeks ago.
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