Coco's Mods: Recessed fuel cap & filler neck, P. 14

[Dusty]

Ahh, your welds look fine! Only way to get better is to weld, weld, and weld some more. Yours are definitely better than mine though! Here is what I saw on another truck on here that I like the design as well because it is different.

My front looks like yours but doesn't go through the dash. Your back with this on top possibly? What do you think???

I think that rear overhead section looks a bit funky, and how it was tied in. I think those curved braces would have been stronger out of straight tubing, and landed further back rather than on the middle of the diagonal downbar. But overall it looks kind of cool. The guy obviously has much better fab skills than I do, looking at his overall truck versus mine LOL...

 

[methcat]

if you're looking for more faux notchback designs, here what i did to mine. i had a regular san felipe in mine and just removed the rear diag, then added this other stuff....

 

[Dusty]

if you're looking for more faux notchback designs, here what i did to mine. i had a regular san felipe in mine and just removed the rear diag, then added this other stuff....

I like that better than the one broncoitis posted. In fact that's exactly what I was thinking when I was thinking about how the other one might have been done nicer. But its all a moot point for me because I have no back seat and don't want or need a rear overhead section. I like mine just the way it is ;D

 

[methcat]

i do actually like that better too, but my whole reason for modifying mine was to add the back seat protection. i added the long low rear diag cause i just dig the fastback look...

*** sorry to hose up your build thread btw....

 

[Dusty]

i do actually like that better too, but my whole reason for modifying mine was to add the back seat protection. i added the long low rear diag cause i just dig the fastback look...

*** sorry to hose up your build thread btw....

No worries on the thread hosiery. Brings it back to the top LOL...

 

[broncoitis]

if you're looking for more faux notchback designs, here what i did to mine. i had a regular san felipe in mine and just removed the rear diag, then added this other stuff....

Ditto on Dusty's words! I like that configuration better as well. Will be stronger and easier to fab up as well.

Dusty, not trying to hijack your thread at all. Your cage just showed me how to finish mine up with or without the upper section. Appreciate both of your thoughts.

 

[Dusty]

I pulled it out of the garage after work yesterday for some better pics.











A closer look at how it goes through the dash...



Plastic glove box trimmed to fit around the cage tube...



Tabs on each side to bolt the dash on...



Here are the speaker cans I got from Crawl Tunes. They're loaded with a pair of Infinity 6.5's.



...I got them in a package deal along with this Audiopipe marine amp with remote volume knob, and iPOD interface cable. It all sounds pretty good. Don't laugh at my old retired iPhone 3. Yeah the screen is busted but it still works great as an iPOD



Coco's glamour shots...





And of course a Mongo IPA by Port Brewing Co.

 

[Dusty]

Dusty, not trying to hijack your thread at all. Your cage just showed me how to finish mine up with or without the upper section. Appreciate both of your thoughts.

No worries at all! I don't see it as a hijack. I see it as useful discussion that anyone reading this thread might find interesting. ;D

 

[Dusty]

I also had a chance last weekend to weld the tabs on to the front bumper for a Rigid Industries 20" LED light bar. I haven't run the wiring for it yet but when I do I'll try to get some good night time shots to show how it throws light.

 

[methcat]

are you 3 pointing your seatbelts or gonna put in a harness bar?

 

[Dusty]

Right now it just has lap belts but I'm going to get some new PRP seats for it soon, and I'm going to add some 4-point harnesses at the same time. I'll be adding harness bars and I'm thinking of tying the seats into the cage too. This cage is "done" for now, but its far from done. That's why its not powder coated yet.

 

[broncoitis]

Not seeing the pics! ?:?

Is it just me?

 

[Dusty]

Building a Cage for Coco

Not seeing the pics! ?:?

Is it just me?

I think it's just you

 

[Dusty]

[NOTE: This started out as a thread for the cage build. But I'm turning it into Coco's "Mods Thread" to include any other mods or upgrades I'm doing, or have done, to it. Rather than starting a new thread every time I bolt something on LOL...anyhow, for the cage build, scroll up...]

The other day I got around to wiring up the Rigid Industries 20" LED light bar.



Here's what it looks like with the Trucklite LED headlights only (there's a thread I did a while back with more info/photos of these):



This is with the Trucklites and the 20" bar:



I wanted to be able to judge distance a little better so I moved to a nearby dirt road lined with power poles. Here again with just the Trucklite headlights:



And now withe headlights plus the 20" bar:



That's probably not the best spot for a test since the road goes over a low rise and drops off a short distance away. And since the bar is mounted lower than the headlights, both are only hitting the ground as far as the top of that small rise. But you can really tell by the illumination of the power poles, how far the bar throws its light.

 

[motoman]

Glad I caught up on your thread Dusty! Love the look of your rollcage. I am one of those that still needs the rear seat so the family cage is a must... your rollbar reminds me of Jackholeracer's cage him and his dad built in his.....

Thanks for posting up the light comparisons with the headlamps and LED bar. With so much invested in Lightforce it's hard for me to make the change to LEDS at this time for forward light. But I am going to go all LED for rock lights to lesson my amp draw at night. RIGID sure makes a nice product. Coco is looking great!

 

[Dusty]

Thanks Greg. Yeah I will eventually rid Coco of every incandescent bulb on it The only exterior lighting left to do are the front turn signals and the license plate light. I just did the 66-68 turn signal conversion this weekend, so I'm thinking of ways to convert those to LED other than just using the LED replacement bulbs.

 

[Dusty]

I've been working on getting a few more things finished up in preparation for the Big Bear Bronco Bash. High on the priority list was cooling, as it had been running a little hot in warm weather and slow crawling. So I finally got around to installing this Champion aluminum 3-core radiator that I've had sitting on the shelf for a few years.



The old radiator was an old stock one, and I had a really small, crappy external ATF cooler mounted in front of it. I ditched that in favor of the Champion's built-in fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger. Also added a steel shroud from Wild Horses. I had been running without a shroud for a little while (no doubt a big contributor to the poor cooling I was getting) because my old stock one had broken in a few places. The shroud was sitting a little too close to the alternator and the York compressor so I had to do a little tuning on it.



Also this weekend i did the 66-68 turn signal mod, using the adapter plates and some new lenses from from Wild Horses, and some used buckets I got from Mattt, one of my So Cal Broncos buddies. At some point I'm going to convert those to LED's.



For the wifey I had to address the barbarian conditions inside the cab. The floors get too hot and there was a ton of hot engine air blowing in there from all the gaps and holes in the firewall. So I added some rubber floor mats from Wild Horses...



...finally, after about ten years I finally dug up the T-case shifter boot retainer out of my parts piles and bolted that sucker down...



(don't laugh, this was a big step for me! LOL)

...and also finally put a column seal back in it. It should be a little more civilized in the cockpit now LOL...



Still got a little more to do on it before BBBB June 7-9 but its come a long way in the last few months.

 

[DirtDonk]

Hey Dusty. Looks like it's going to be fun at the BBBB this year. And if there are any night-runs, you might have a whole group following "that guy with the bright lights!"
Good output for sure.

I really actually wanted to say that I love the cage. And I have a couple-three suggestions for you. Based on where you live primarily. And no little amount because I can't hang in the heat anymore myself!
Don't know how you are in the heat of day, but yours looks like a perfect candidate for a "summer" top. Like the old Land Rover "Safari Top" you could easily (based on what I see) add a second layer of aluminum over the top of the other panels, with a slight gap in-between. Maybe a single piece, with rolled over edges.
Let's the sun beat down on the outer skin and the air dissipate the heat. Without radiating any in to the cab. Would still look clean too, I would think. So wouldn't hurt any of those nice lines already there.
I happen to like that 3-panel look myself. But a heat shield seems like a nice thing too.
Just a thought anyway. Looks like if anyone could do it cleanly, it'd be you on this rig.

Then again, maybe a nice polished, or Titanium colored ceramic thermal barrier coating?
Or just some Lizard Skin heat barrier, to keep it simple.

I might be over-thinking it for you, and making more work where it's not needed. But I'm a wimp out in the desert sun these days, so blocking some of that heat is the first thing I think of anymore.
And why A/C is on my short list. Well, there is no short list. But it's well up on the list.

Have fun out there!

Paul

 

[Dusty]

Thanks for the feedback Paul! I'm going to run it as-is this summer, and if there is a problem with radiant heat from the roof panels I'll deal with it later. Honestly this is a fair weather rig. If its too hot, too cold or too wet it stays in the garage LOL...

But I did have some similar thoughts to yours. I had briefly thought of the idea of adding some of that insulation material to the underside if it needs it. I'm not going to put anything over the top because I like the 3-panel look.

But I really don't think its going to be a problem. Aluminum dissipates heat well, and its reflective too so I don't see it absorbing too much heat and radiating it downward on to my head. Plus I deliberately left gaps all the way around each panel to promote airflow, which should help keep the panels and the occupants a little cooler. We run aluminum roof panels on the off-road racers and it hasn't seemed to be a problem. But thanks for the suggestions!

 

[DirtDonk]

Sounds good to go then. Tech is under control, and roger on staying out of the extreme heat.
It's just so fun to be out in the thick of it sometimes though!

Full trip reports expected as always! ;D
By the way, are there any old threads on the basic buildup and engine & mods and such?

Thanks

Paul