you are lucky, pulled my carpets and rust underneigth, rust through in places i will probly need a donor body eventualy

i have my winch plate mounted directly on top of the frame now and it works fine but i am considering dropping it down like i had the old bracketso the winch is between the frame rails as i am thinking its blocking airflow for my rad along with brush guard and fog lights

doing this requires redesign of the bumper though

 

Yeah I'm happy about the lack of rust. I've come to really hate rust.

I think if your winch etc blocks air flow enough for the truck to run hot you've got other issues. Personally I like the winch to be as high as possible. I hated the mounting in my ARB. It was a pain to operate the clutch on the winch especially if you were actually stuck. If you ever get stuck in a V ditch or a tank trap you can forget about getting at your winch.

Ultimately it's all about what you're going for anyway. If you like the stock look having it tucked away between the frame would be a good place. But it's not a good location trail truck.

 

I still need to do some more clean up and weld on the inside brackets. But it's mostly done. This will eventually be welded to the frame and be the base for the tube fenders which should help with rotation.

 

Updates?

 

Nothing on this truck. It's been a busy summer.... But I'm hoping to get back to doing something soon.

 

I said the same thing....................last summer!!!

 

Yeah, I'm expecting this to take at least 18-24 months. But I have been working on a Rover just not this one. I finally did the engine swap on the '97. Although I'm not sure that was much of an improvement. Turns out my "Low Mileage" donor engine was not so low mileage. Right now I'm just hoping that I can keep the upkeep on the '97 to a minimum for a while so I can concentrate on the '95.

 

Finally finished up the winch tray. It will eventually have the tube fenders tied into it but that's still a ways off.



Also started cutting out one of the sliders. These will be tied into the frame and will serve as the base for the A and B pillars.

 

Progress is still going slow. My current truck keeps needing my attention. So I've only had minimal time to mess with the new build. I did get the sliders build. I still need to weld them to the frame but due to mounting location I have been waiting until I'm ready to pull the doors. Also got the steering links cleaned up an painted.



I also started getting some of the joints and mounts for the rear links. Still waiting on the ones for the front 3-Link. But I got most of the numbers worked out so that in itself is some progress. I'll probably need to tweak them a little once I start working on them. I have not decided if I'm going to stretch the wheel base at all or leave it at 100". But they are at a good starting point for now.

 

So this is definitely moving slower than I originally anticipated. Picked up another truck that ended up needing a lot more work and I had thought. But I'm hopefully close to done with that one now. So once we get through busy season at work I will hopefully get back to this project. None visible updates, I think I have all the numbers figured out for the front 3-link and custom rear links.

I should have all the mounts and joints I need now. Here are a few more.


I also found a good deal on some PRP suspension seats and harnesses. The mounts are temporary and they will eventually be tied into the cage when it gets built.