Introducing the Stig Special

[jachady 130]

You sir have some ambition. I love to come up with ideas, but have no means to start much less see the finish line of a project like this. I will be heading to Austria next Tuesday, I wished I would be closer. I would have made a special trip to see this in person.

[Stigian 1,234]

Nice fabrication as usual, Ian!

Amazing as usual

Looking good Ian.

Thanks Guy's :thumbs:

[Stigian 1,234]

You sir have some ambition. I love to come up with ideas, but have no means to start much less see the finish line of a project like this. I will be heading to Austria next Tuesday, I wished I would be closer. I would have made a special trip to see this in person.

Thank you Sir, I'm not sure if it's ambition or just blind stubbornness to get this thing driving right

Howdo Guy's, things are moving along quite nicely now.. Faster would be good, but nice is a good place to be

Having sorted the right side steering/motion lever out, it's time for the left side.

Chop the lever up..

And again.

The shorter bit of the lever being welded back on..

The longer bit's turn..

Yep it is welded on upside down!!

One more cut, turn and weld.. Dexion to the rescue again.. It's handy stuff for making jig's out of..

The lever needs a bit of tidying but it's now left handed..

Best chop it up again then

And re-weld it in a almost totally different shape..

A closer look... Now you may of noticed there isn't any space to fit the little parking brake lever..

So that got moved (with a few tweaks) to the right side..

Having two motion/steering levers meant I would need another one of these sprung steel neutral locator things..

Easily made out of a bit of chopping board with a couple of bolt holes and a grove for the lever to stop in..

The left side lever needs a couple of tweaks to get it to the right shape, but I'm quite happy with how this two lever conversion went

[meadowfield 2,570]

neat ! :bow-blue:

[Don1977 604]

That's looking great! With one side in forward and the other in reverse you may need a neck brace! :ychain:

[dsholler 54]

or you will have to steal a few bags from the backs of airline seats.

[Stigian 1,234]

neat !

Thanks Mark.

That's looking great! With one side in forward and the other in reverse you may need a neck brace!

I was thinking of one of those "full on" racing seats that holds the body and head very firmly in place..

HHmm.. Sounds like a torture device

or you will have to steal a few bags from the backs of airline seats.

That's what the built in "chuck bucket" will be for

Sorry for the lack of "constructional" photos in this update, I was too busy measuring, chopping and welding to take any, so have a look at the finished (apart from paint) motion lever to front trans linkage.

Starting at the motion lever, a rod runs forward through the hood stand..

And connects with this pivot lever thingy. The lever is staggered so the lower part drops between the chassis rails.

A bit like this... The rod runs forward right through the center of the chassis..

All the way forward to the front pivot lever thingy, which sends the "motion" back up through the rails..

And finally connects with the cam on the trans.

I'm happy to report that the linkage works very well

A donor hood arrived the other day, this will come in handy for the latest hood stretch job.. As the front of this hood is quite dented and rusted I don't feel too bad about chopping it up.

To finish off this update the "panic pedal" had an extension welded on..

Bolted on.. Now when the panic pedal is stamped on both front and rear trans'sss kick into neutral

A quick question chap's...

What size thread is used on WH hydraulics?

As I won't be using the front trans to power any hydraulic rams for now, I need a way of closing that system off from the trans..

Oh, for those that like their updates in video format, here's the latest.. Enjoy.

[media=]

[bowtiebutler956 650]

That was an awesome update Ian! That was some very fine engineering on those trans controls.

Matt :flags-texas:

[smoreau 658]

I know they are SAE o ring M6 if I remember right. I got them from Surplus center.

http://www.surpluscenter.com/sort.asp?catname=hydraulic&keyword=HFOO

[meadowfield 2,570]

great update - re bolts, I think they are 3/8 UNF on the tranny I blocked off... I'll go have a look!

[312Hydro 474]

You might want to take a look at this post first ,Ian. Before you block those ports.

[Stigian 1,234]

That was an awesome update Ian! That was some very fine engineering on those trans controls.

Matt

Thanks Matt, it was fun trying to fit everything in and make it work. I'm rather happy with how well it turned out/works.

I know they are SAE o ring M6 if I remember right. I got them from Surplus center.

http://www.surplusce...ic&keyword=HFOO

great update - re bolts, I think they are 3/8 UNF on the tranny I blocked off... I'll go have a look!

Ta muchly chap's, though I have decided not to block the ports now.

You might want to take a look at this post first ,Ian. Before you block those ports.

Thanks for that Rich, some very interesting reading

From what I read blocking the ports is a no no, so looping them is the way to go go.

Not much of an update this time..

Due to chassis/drive belt clearance at the front, I made this little pulley bracket

It will fit here.. Only a bit lower and much leveler..

Then Rob turned up and proved that even though the lever was clearly at the end of it's travel, if you apply enough force you can break the lever off!!!

Ok... The lever had only been tacked on, but that's not the point

Rob's punishment....... A photo of shame

After that I decided to have a quick look at extending the hood again..

It's going to be fun getting the lines to line up, but I like a challenge

[312Hydro 474]

After that I decided to have a quick look at extending the hood again..

It's going to be fun getting the lines to line up, but I like a challenge

[/quoteI

I think your going to need a bigger tape measure! :ychain:

[Stigian 1,234]

Yep, a much bigger tripe measure needed

I should of taken the opportunity to measure the full length of the hood today! Something for tomorrow..

Not much of an update again, most of my time was spent trying to get the hood looking right..

Here's the beast looking like a "cut away" diagram.

The Raider hood is a bit of a pain to stretch as it curves in all sorts of directions!

But if the side swage lines er.. line up then things are looking good.

A view from the top, a couple of strange shape filler patches needed, they should be fun to cut!

A view from the side... HHmmm.. Somethings not looking right with the top of the hood

A closer look.. Is that the air cleaner!

Yep, it is.. and it's hitting the top of the hood causing it to bulge up!!

I do have a cunning plan to sort the clearance problem out, but more on that when I do it.

One final pic for this update, the front hydro has now had the aux side of things looped..

It will be getting a filter fitted, but not until I can afford some more hydraulic pipes..

[meadowfield 2,570]

Hmmm,

Two things...

1 you are going to need longer good stickers

2. You could use the second hydro pump and cylinder as a hood lift. :D

[zieg72 209]

Hmmm,

Two things...

1 you are going to need longer good stickers

2. You could use the second hydro pump and cylinder as a hood lift.

On the #2... how about hydraulic hookups for a dozer blade while you are at it... Just a thought

I love the RS updates Ian, a tease for the latest YouTube Video I've come to anticipate.

[faster 11]

Ian whats next full supension roll cage ? I have a felling this project is far from completion and will give me many more great hours of watching your video. Keep up the great work it's never boring and gives me the push I need for my projects

[Stigian 1,234]

Hmmm,

Two things...

1 you are going to need longer good stickers

2. You could use the second hydro pump and cylinder as a hood lift.

Morning Mark, I guess I could always make the hood shorter to match the stickers

Hhmm.. A power hood.. Quite like that idea

Hmmm,

Two things...

1 you are going to need longer good stickers

2. You could use the second hydro pump and cylinder as a hood lift.

On the #2... how about hydraulic hookups for a dozer blade while you are at it... Just a thought

I love the RS updates Ian, a tease for the latest YouTube Video I've come to anticipate.

Hey Carl, a dozer blade is part of the long term plan for this machine.. It might be a while yet before I build one for it though.

Are my RS updates a tease or a pre-release exclusive before the vid's hit MooTube?

Ian whats next full supension roll cage ? I have a felling this project is far from completion and will give me many more great hours of watching your video. Keep up the great work it's never boring and gives me the push I need for my projects

Hi Faster, not sure a roll cage is needed on this beast with it's low center of gravity.

Your right this project is no where near finished yet, a couple more years to go I expect.. Which means loads more vid for you to watch

The cunning (not that cunning really) plan to make some hood/air cleaner clearance has worked..

As you can see the plan was not really cunning as all I did was take the mounting plate off the bottom of the engine that I bolted on to raise the engine up!

The only downside is I now need to remake the front trans brake rod as it no longer fit's under the engine.. Oh well, should be easy to sort.

Now for the fun bit.. Trying to fit the gas tank and battery tray....

In this space above the front trans.

Time for a bit of recycling, this strange thing used to hold up te brake master cylinders..

Ah.... Not as much space under there as I thought! The gas tank could be made to fit if I turned it sideways, but the battery would hit the hood!

Plenty of space for just the gas tank though

This roof beam comes in handy for keeping the hood open.

So where to put the battery

In the only space left it will fit! I didn't want to put the battery under the foot plate for a couple of reasons.. To start with it the foot plate height will have to be a bit higher..

And the base of the tray will hang below chassis level, something I was trying to avoid doing with.. Well, any part really.. But when needs must..

[Stigian 1,234]

The beast looking more slimline as the outriggers, wheels and axles came off.

A seat and some tread plate were quickly thrown on to see how the new foot height would feel.. It feels ok but the steering/motion levers felt a bit short!

While digging in the shed I found this honeycomb ally sheet, it will come in handy for making covers at the front to hide the gas tank from sight but still allow plenty of air to get to the trans.

A quick play with some rope to show you how the engine to trans'sss drive belt will run.. Yes the belt tensioner will be going back on.

This pulley will be added to make sure the belt wraps around the engine pulley as much as possible..

Before the belt heads to the front trans.

The other small pulley helps the belt clear the chassis on it was to the back.

The gas tank finally fitted.. Now I have to say I'm not proud of this bracket thingy, a mixture of "builders block", lack of materials etc..

It won't be staying, but for now it will do just to get the machine moving.

[bowtieguy 334]

Yep, a much bigger tripe measure needed

I should of taken the opportunity to measure the full length of the hood today! Something for tomorrow..

Not much of an update again, most of my time was spent trying to get the hood looking right..

Here's the beast looking like a "cut away" diagram.

The Raider hood is a bit of a pain to stretch as it curves in all sorts of directions!

But if the side swage lines er.. line up then things are looking good.

A view from the top, a couple of strange shape filler patches needed, they should be fun to cut!

A view from the side... HHmmm.. Somethings not looking right with the top of the hood

A closer look.. Is that the air cleaner!.......Perfect place for an "air scoop"..with moving throttle bodies!!

Yep, it is.. and it's hitting the top of the hood causing it to bulge up!!

I do have a cunning plan to sort the clearance problem out, but more on that when I do it.

One final pic for this update, the front hydro has now had the aux side of things looped..

It will be getting a filter fitted, but not until I can afford some more hydraulic pipes..

[Don1977 604]

Cut a hole on the hood extend a longer pipe up and put the air cleaner above the hood. I don't think it would hurt the looks.You might need a rubber gromet, some tractors have them around the gas filler and air tube.

[Stigian 1,234]

Cut a hole on the hood extend a longer pipe up and put the air cleaner above the hood. I don't think it would hurt the looks.You might need a rubber gromet, some tractors have them around the gas filler and air tube.

I did think about doing that Don, but I really wanted the air cleaner under the hood to keep it looking as "standard" as possible !

Noticed a bit of an "oops".. The last photo I posted above should of been this one..

That will teach me to do a post when I'm not really awake!

Anyway, the search started for some steel pipe about the right size. The only stuff I could find was part of "the engineers coffee table"! oh well, when needs must again.

Lots of tape and a template..

Marked for chopping.

And chopped and tacked..

Yep, it's a bend for the exhaust.. I just need to sleeve it down a tad the fit the exhaust fannymold.

Now for a fun job, marking out the new engine bolt holes on the chassis.

With the engine square on the chassis a thick pen was used to mark around the edge of the engine but I had no chance of marking the bolt holes!

This is where the old M18 engine came in handy for making a template, easy to get to the bolt holes and edges with the pen.

Engine, chassis and template.

The blue dots are where the bolt hole should go.. One is on the edge, two are right on joins in the metal making them very hard to drill, the forth isn't even there!!

A bit of moving the engine forward a tad later we have two holes drilled and somewhere to drill the missing hole.. One left to be sorted later.

A rare view of the trans linkage from front to middle.

Parts everywhere!!

And a naked chassis.

As things stand at the end of play today, the chassis upside down for welding.

I hope to have all the welding done and the chassis given a lick of paint tomorrow.. Running out of time before Ardingly!!!

[Lars 526]

oh u have done a lot of work to Ian.. looks to be great, hope it will work very good now..

[Don1977 604]

Cut a hole on the hood extend a longer pipe up and put the air cleaner above the hood. I don't think it would hurt the looks.You might need a rubber gromet, some tractors have them around the gas filler and air tube.

I did think about doing that Don, but I really wanted the air cleaner under the hood to keep it looking as "standard" as possible !

It would be a shame to have to cut up anything. :hilarious:

[Stigian 1,234]

oh u have done a lot of work to Ian.. looks to be great, hope it will work very good now..

Thanks Lars, yep it has been a bit busy here in project land. I hope it will work very well too.. Hope so after all the years building it!

Cut a hole on the hood extend a longer pipe up and put the air cleaner above the hood. I don't think it would hurt the looks.You might need a rubber gromet, some tractors have them around the gas filler and air tube.

I did think about doing that Don, but I really wanted the air cleaner under the hood to keep it looking as "standard" as possible !

It would be a shame to have to cut up anything.

It would indeed

Even though the hood has grown quite a bit, it still keeps the "Raider" look, I think a top mounted air cleaner would take away from that look.

It's been quite a busy day in the Workshack, Pete turned up quite early to give me a hand.. Oh, and to run wild with the camera

First task of the day was to get the underside of the chassis welded up.

I love the colours and pattern in this snap.

Smoking!!! Happy to report my hand was not on fire

Once the welds had cooled, Pete put down the camera and grabbed a paint brush.

But not for long as I started sorting the battery tray out for mounting..

More pretty sparks..

The battery tray in place and painted... That's the underside sorted

The chassis was soon turned back over, and I almost finished the on top welding..

Then the chassis suddenly found itself with a new roll as a clean workbench!

here's Pete admiring the only clean bench in the place!