Safari Pacific MX2 Build

[koda6966]

Looks great.

 

[PaleBlue90]

that looks great, those slide hammers are great tools huh? good to see it comeing along

 

[koda6966]

Are you going to stick with white?

 

[schanusa]

For now I'm sticking with white, though I'm thinking of military tan.

 

[09ajmaros]

It is probably a good idea to stick with white because of the hot temps. Mine is white by the way

 

[schanusa]

Haven't got much done on the truck the past few months. I will be finishing up the body work soon and get the truck ready for the Overland Expo in April. I've also been holding off doing any major work until I get the camper, which I received word I should be able to pick it up within a few weeks. So things are progressing. More news to come.

 

[schanusa]

The truck is almost show ready! I'm finishing up the truck to be displayed at the Overland Expo this coming April 24th-26th in Prescott, Arizona. On top of that I will be making a presentation the first day of the show. My presentation will be from 11:00 AM to 11:50 AM in the Overland Theatre

Hope to see you there!

Come and check out the show! There will be many people from the Overland community, including Tom Collins from Camel Trophy. More info about the show at OVEXPO.com

 

[Beanmachine7000]

I'm all into your truck and the type of thing it's used for... I'm building up my Explorer kinda like this... You have any tips for me? I'm all over Expedition Portal, but they don't really have anything at all about Rangers or Explorers...

 

[schanusa]

I'm all into your truck and the type of thing it's used for... I'm building up my Explorer kinda like this... You have any tips for me? I'm all over Expedition Portal, but they don't really have anything at all about Rangers or Explorers...

Cool! Really the best tip there is when building expedition style vehicles is, keep it simple. Over complicating things will drive you nuts while on the road. Especially if you've been driving all day and late into camp. Half of the items you "think" you'll need are simply fluff. Take frequent trips and you'll start to notice what is and isn't necessary.

 

[schanusa]

Time to get some updated photos up!


With a delay in moving shops, both mine and the body guy's, we're back preping the body. Here Spencer sands down the kevlar filler.

After sanding down the first coat a second coat is applied.

After drying the second coat gets sanded

 

[schanusa]

x

 

[dusto2]

those things look sweet man great job

 

[schanusa]

Tons of updates coming up. Cab finishing, bed reinforcement, camper installation & demonstration, rear bumper build.





During the time bodywork was being done there were a few days I worked on the wheel well portion of the cab. To keep the tires from ever
rubbing against the cab I notched the edges with a plasma cutter.

After the rough cut I cleaned up the edges, then proceeded to create a paper template for a new edge.

Then I transfer the template onto a piece of 16 gauge sheet steel.

With a sheet metal break I bend the strait edges accordingly. Then I use a body hammer to beat each little tab into place then tack weld it.
As you can see by the number of small tabs this took a long time. The back of the cab has ridges making it very difficult.

Once fully in place I welded up every inch and repeated on the driver side.

When finished I sand blasted and smoothed the edges with seem sealer.

Once the truck was back together I took it out for a test run. Part of the test was to see if the tires would rub or even come close.

With the suspension fully compressed on the passenger side there is still three inches of clearance.

 

[odie1969]

wow your truck is so cool. It blows me away everytime I see it. Plus the camper is bad ass.

 

[AlwysBusted96]

I'm liking the camper.