Rock Crawler- to narrow or not to narrow? AND how???

[SC74]

It wasn't hard to narrow the front, just tedious.

I took the front blinkers out of the grill and worked to that dimension. I wanted to keep the FORD in the grill, but it would be easier (I think) to take the OR out of FORD. I got some headlights with blinkers inside to still be "legal" if anything else on the truck is legal.

The hood was probably the hardest part. I wanted to keep it as "original" as possible so I cut the factory lip off each side and then removed the cross braces Once I got the hood trimmed down to match the narrowed fenders I shortened the hood (instead of lengthening the fenders) and welded the factory edges back on. Then I trimmed the factory braces to match and spot welded them back in the same holes that I drilled the old spots out of. It was TEDIOUS! A glass hood would be the easiest way to go for sure, but then you'd be better off stretching your fenders so you don't have to shorten the glass hood.

Then you're stuck with how to make an inner frame since you are going to lose the core support. A little tube bending and it's not bad. I bent a main hoop behind the grill with two angled tabs on the bottom that mount to the factory frame body mounts. Then I made two arms from that hoop to the firewall that run just under the lip of the fender. Welded some tabs on that tube and tapped it 5/16 to bolt the fender to that tube. I also made that arm bolt connect to the firewall so the front clip can be removed fairly easily.

Then you just have to fight less space for things like battery, coil, solenoid, etc. - everything that fits so nicely on those inner fenders! The brackets for the radiator and other things are nic nacs that fall into place - nothing complicated just LOTS of nic nacs.

You still want to do it still ;D

 

[Mountain Ram]

It wasn't hard to narrow the front, just tedious.

Then you're stuck with how to make an inner frame since you are going to lose the core support. A little tube bending and it's not bad. I bent a main hoop behind the grill with two angled tabs on the bottom that mount to the factory frame body mounts. Then I made two arms from that hoop to the firewall that run just under the lip of the fender. Welded some tabs on that tube and tapped it 5/16 to bolt the fender to that tube. I also made that arm bolt connect to the firewall so the front clip can be removed fairly easily.

You still want to do it still ;D

Wow- that was almost difficult to read! ;D

I am thinking about gutting the inner fenders and building a sub structure from the C/O mounts when I make them. The inner fenders will likey be in the way of anything I want to do anyway.

I didn't think about shortenening the hood- that would be a PITA. I have narrowed a bed before and can do the pie cuts and what not, but that hood has got to look good to sell it...

May just do a subframe and full body for now. Can always come back and change it down the road.

SC74 and others- do you have an issue with mud & debris on the motor when you removed the inner fenders??

 

[shamu]

SC74 and others- do you have an issue with mud & debris on the motor when you removed the inner fenders??[/QUOTE]

I try to stay out of the mud.

 

[SC74]

I avoid mud too, but sometimes you have to go through it to find the rocks! I was concerned too, but its not an issue at all. I find myself dodging the flying mud from the seat more than anything. I did wrap a sheet metal deflector around the bottom of my exposed air filter to be safe.

 

[shamu]

SC74 or anybody else you got any under the hood pics?
My battery and my ARB compressor are in the back next to the FORD emblem.

 

[Mountain Ram]

Shamu, did you weld your tubing structure to the firewall? SC74?

 

[SC74]

Ill take some pics tomorrow. I bolted mine to the firewall for ease of removal. If I disconnect my radiator and coolers I can take the entire front clip off with two body mount bolts and 4 bolts in each "fender hanger" brace.

Now I hate working on my blue 74 because its such a pain to get to places ... I got spoiled with no inner fenders!

 

[SC74]

My battery is mounted in the pass side I the cowl. I got creative on mounts for the solenoid, coil, sensors, etc with tabs and firewall space.

 

[shamu]

(Shamu) I welded in my inner tubes to the existing roll cage. The fire wall plate (kinda ugly) keeps the body from flexing for the brakes . Yeah it is an ugly weld but it works just fine
I cant wait to see SC74's pics he has a nice rig!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DRBRONCO69]

I avoid mud too, but sometimes you have to go through it to find the rocks! I was concerned too, but its not an issue at all. I find myself dodging the flying mud from the seat more than anything. I did wrap a sheet metal deflector around the bottom of my exposed air filter to be safe.

^ this ^

 

[DRBRONCO69]

It wasn't hard to narrow the front, just tedious.

I took the front blinkers out of the grill and worked to that dimension. I wanted to keep the FORD in the grill, but it would be easier (I think) to take the OR out of FORD. I got some headlights with blinkers inside to still be "legal" if anything else on the truck is legal.

The hood was probably the hardest part. I wanted to keep it as "original" as possible so I cut the factory lip off each side and then removed the cross braces Once I got the hood trimmed down to match the narrowed fenders I shortened the hood (instead of lengthening the fenders) and welded the factory edges back on. Then I trimmed the factory braces to match and spot welded them back in the same holes that I drilled the old spots out of. It was TEDIOUS! A glass hood would be the easiest way to go for sure, but then you'd be better off stretching your fenders so you don't have to shorten the glass hood.

Then you're stuck with how to make an inner frame since you are going to lose the core support. A little tube bending and it's not bad. I bent a main hoop behind the grill with two angled tabs on the bottom that mount to the factory frame body mounts. Then I made two arms from that hoop to the firewall that run just under the lip of the fender. Welded some tabs on that tube and tapped it 5/16 to bolt the fender to that tube. I also made that arm bolt connect to the firewall so the front clip can be removed fairly easily.

Then you just have to fight less space for things like battery, coil, solenoid, etc. - everything that fits so nicely on those inner fenders! The brackets for the radiator and other things are nic nacs that fall into place - nothing complicated just LOTS of nic nacs.

You still want to do it still ;D

I have about 60 to 80 hours in my hood. If you need pics, I have plenty. Similar way, cut the edges, narrowed the hood, welded the edges back on, sectioned the front, shortened, fabbed and welded in the framing for the scoop, fabbed the scoop with a bow at the rear. Came out really nice but a fiberglass one would have been easier. I'm a bodyman and went the cheap but tedious way. Very happy with the outcome though.

 

[SC74]

SC74 or anybody else you got any under the hood pics?
My battery and my ARB compressor are in the back next to the FORD emblem.

Here are a couple under the hood pics. The battery is in the cowl - still need to make it more weather proof but heck the water will only drain into the floor pan and roll out anyways. Surprisingly the rains I've been in it has been very little issue of water coming in.

You can also see how I modified an existing upper radiator mount to bolt to the tube. My first ones were bad to bend upward and not hold enough down pressure so I beefed them up and braced them and these have worked so far so good.

I did run all of my fuses, relays, ECM, etc on the inside. My body harness fuses are on the pass. kick panel and the EFI fuses are inside the glove box with the relays.

 

[shamu]

Here are a couple under the hood pics.
Nice SC74

 

[Mountain Ram]

So I am fairly sure I am going to narrow the front clip... The question now is what is the best way to do it?

I think the grill is actually the easy part... The hood and fenders will need to be modified and I am looking for the least amount of bodywork. Seems like shortening and harrowing the hood is the best option... Opinions?

As for the fenders, do you bend them around the firewall or trim them at the firewall and bend from the door seam?

 

[SC74]

So I am fairly sure I am going to narrow the front clip... The question now is what is the best way to do it?

I think the grill is actually the easy part... The hood and fenders will need to be modified and I am looking for the least amount of bodywork. Seems like shortening and harrowing the hood is the best option... Opinions?

As for the fenders, do you bend them around the firewall or trim them at the firewall and bend from the door seam?

I bolted the fenders on with the three bolts and just bent them in. You can see in one of the pics above I had to trim the driver side fender to clear the cowl. A glass hood would be the easiest route to narrow, but I don't know enough about glass to shorten it and it still look somewhat good. I trimmed the factory outer edges off, clipped the wedges off, and welded the factory edges back on. Then I took about an inch out of the hood just behind the front nose.

 

[Monster Mike]

I'm narrowed 13 inches in the front not sure how much in the rear, about the same.

i just cut out the grill so the f and the d were right on top of each other.


I had JGZ build me a custom fiberglass hood. once I had that i cut my grill so the gaps were perfect.



a lot of time goes into dovetailing a hood and you most likely will deal with heat shrinking and oil canning unless you've got some experience welding the thin stuff. I could do it but spending 80 hours versus spending $1k for a beautiful perfect glass hood was a no brainer

once my hood arrived and i mounted the grill. the act of bolting the fenders to the grill helped form the grill into position. then I just hammer dollied the rear vertical seam a little and bam everything hangs like it was factory

is it worth it? well I think so, I haven't worried about smacking my nose on anything. but you can still crunch a front fender, guess how I know ;-)

 

[blazinchuck]

i found the fiber glass hood the easiest way to go. when you narrow the front, it gets shorter. so i left the hood full length and tapered the sides of the hood. i cut both front fenders right in the middle length(right over the tires) had the grill already shortened and bolted the front halves of the fenders to the grill..then added about 2-3" where i cut the fenders....this brought the grill back out to where the hood rested. once i had the front sheet metal work done...i then made the square tube frame that replaced all original inner sheet metal and radiator support. that provided a nice flat surface for the fenders to be bolted too. as for the fenders...they were super easy, above the tire is also the shortest area of metal...i was able to hand form the metal to look just like the factory body line there. if you got the " shortened hood route" you better stick with a metal hood...i dont know how well you can build strength back into a fiber hood thats been cut to shorten it.

 

[Monster Mike]

.i dont know how well you can build strength back into a fiber hood thats been cut to shorten it.

coremat is your friend when dovetailing and shortening the nose on a stock glass hood

Jay at JGZ did mine. he is a master glass man. you've probably seen his products sold through bronco hut

 

[Letsgocrawling]

I really like the looks of the narrowed buggy-crawler type rig, as I mentioned in the buggy-crawler thread, you just need to figure out which way you want to go. If you can't have 2 rigs to satisfy both worlds---it would be a bitch to choose either one and not have the other. I've learned that here on cb----I got lucky being a greenhorne bronco guy, to be able to build my rig. Just wanted a suv to hold 4 people, and wanted a sick underneath---which I got both sides of the equation. Just a thought.
mark

 

[Mountain Ram]

I am fortunate enough to have a fairly built Bronco cruiser on 37s to drive when I want, but I am building a crawler and seeing how far I want to push it. I don't want to full on tube buggy, but rather something between full body and tube buggy.