The Dirt Squirrel v. 2.0 -- Even Dirtier

the_white_shadow · Nov 29, 2016

nhl_bullitt said:
Looking damn good!

Thanks. I cant wait to get it all together.

Beerj · Nov 29, 2016

Man, it's almost a shame to cover all that with body panels.
:****: hitit

the_white_shadow · Nov 30, 2016

^Thanks Beerj.

Added the last two tubes to the chassis yesterday (not including the door bars or the center console 1.5" tubes) and did a lot of welding. Still more welding to do.

jk101 · Nov 30, 2016

Looking good. drool :cougar:

the_white_shadow · Dec 1, 2016

Thanks jk101.

Ran into a slight clearance issue with my brake pedal. The new support tube i just put in is in the way of the swing and optimal position of the pedal assembly. Id like to to move over a couple inches but the tube is there. May have to switch to a reverse mount pedal that puts the M/Cs under the dash somewhat (no biggie).

Over to the left 2" or so would go a long way for the gas pedal and overall foot placement.

Dad made the climb into his seat. Wasnt too painful to watch. lol

Also got my battery tray welded in behind the gas tank.

LightBnDr · Dec 1, 2016

That's the guy that screamed "don't be a *****" in a speedo, sunburnt with a beer in his hand on the deck of a pontoon boat at possum kingdom over the summer

It's looking great man

the_white_shadow · Dec 1, 2016

I assure you that is not the man, but I would buy that other a beer.

Thanks.

Beerj · Dec 1, 2016

Let me know if you need a reverse swing pedal. I have a brand new wilwood that didn't work for me.

the_white_shadow · Dec 1, 2016

Beerj said:
Let me know if you need a reverse swing pedal. I have a brand new wilwood that didn't work for me.

PM Sent.

the_white_shadow · Dec 5, 2016

Work continued over the washout of a weekend we had here in SE TX. I got the midship shaft mounted using the beefy Wide Open Design carrier bearing and mount. Everything uses 1410 joints.

Its a cute little guy

Now onto the exhaust which sucked. Due to the driveshaft being up so high at full bump i had to get creative to make my el cheapo EBAY shorty headers work. I cut the flange off and rewelded it at a better angle and built my y-pipe under the oil pan and out the drivers side. It was CLOSE but everything cleared. Thats when i tried to build a skid plate to protect it all. The exhaust was in the way of connecting the tube to the motor mounts. So after wasting 6+ hours trying to get everything to work, i said **** it and tossed on a set of LS3 manifolds and will run 2.5" exhaust to Dynomax race bullets out each side. No y-pipe. I did have to cut and reweld the collector on the passenger side to clear the frame (used another drivers side manifold on the passenger side to clear the motor mounts).

Pics:
Y-pipe in all of the bastardized glory. It got real close to the oil filter which i also didnt like.

first skid attempt to cover the y-pipe. The passenger side tube to the motor mount would have been impossible.

Here is the new skid, cut down some. I got to move it up as well. The pic sucks but yall get the idea. The entire thing will be completely removable for easy oil pan access. Ill add some cross tubes to the skid as well. The skid is .188.

sleepsontoilet · Dec 11, 2016

The dirt squirrel wasn't quite ready for Wheelers4Wishes this weekend, so Alex rolled out his other sweet first gen and entered in the show class. Unfortunately it's becoming a GheyK show, so it wasn't properly appreciated.

tonybolton · Dec 11, 2016

Re:

Lol @ GheyK

mcutler · Dec 16, 2016

Re:

Need some updates!

Matt

Beerj · Dec 16, 2016

mcutler said:
Need some updates!

Matt

I wouldn't expect anything too soon. Pretty sure he's in Africa. :****:

LightBnDr · Dec 16, 2016

What's he doin in Memphis?

the_white_shadow · Dec 17, 2016

Haha. No updates for a while. I'm in Ghana for work until mid January. Just doing research and letting my bank account build back up.

sleepsontoilet · Dec 17, 2016

the_white_shadow said:
Haha. No updates for a while. I'm in Ghana for work until mid January. Just doing research and letting my bank account build back up.

You'll do anything goes to get out of finishing that thing. Jackie did ask where to get 42s...

nhl_bullitt · Dec 17, 2016

the_white_shadow said:
Haha. No updates for a while. I'm in Ghana for work until mid January. Just doing research and letting my bank account build back up.

Dang you are far away! Isn't that where those 2 dudes from Utah went to find gold and spent a bunch of money and left with nothing? Idk, it was on Discovery channel. Probably fake. lol

5BrothersFabrication · Dec 19, 2016

This thing is NICE. Reminds me of a build on asspirate. Been wanting to build a "shelled" crawler forever, but I can't keep anything looking nice. Lol

This is the build I am reminded of-
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/ford/947029-1966-ford-f100-truggy-build-600-hp-1-ton-4.html

the_white_shadow · Jan 18, 2017

Back from lovely Ghana. (Hopefully without malaria)

Took the week off and am got back to work on it

Passenger side exhaust was a bitch. I tried to go under the oil pan and tie into the drivers side like I had on the old truck but couldn't make it work at full bump with the driveshaft. So my solution is to run 2.5" for each bank out the sides to dynomax race bullets. I'm betting it's going to be loud. Exhaust will be wrapped and the subframe will get some removable plating to protect everything.

Drivers side was much easier and is a straight shot out the back. No pics of that though.

Stripped it down so I could finish weld everything and get some paint on it. We had a hard freeze one night and then the temp went back up to the 70s. (Usual tx BS) which caused the bare metal to basically piss itself. Going to wire brush it and get some paint on it before it happens again.

The first time on its side.

Chassis is 99% welded. Need to give it a once over and see if I missed anything then I can start adding some additional bracing, plating, etc. Then I can move on to finish welding the axles.