The "trophy husband" pro mod buggy build

I Lean

Mbryson's hairdresser
Vendor
Location
Utah
Extra-long grinder cords seem like something that would be really nice 10% of the time, and a giant pain the other 90%. My cords already reach the floor between the plug and my workbench...having another 20' of cord under my feet wouldn't fly.
 

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
Extra-long grinder cords seem like something that would be really nice 10% of the time, and a giant pain the other 90%. My cords already reach the floor between the plug and my workbench...having another 20' of cord under my feet wouldn't fly.

20' is too much for sure- that would cover my whole garage. I think adding another 6' to make a total of 12' would be a good compromise.
 

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
I feel like I accomplished a decent amount in the little time I had tonight. I’m pleased with it. I was able to get both sides of the top tubes done as well as the upper B pillar crossmember. I’m already eyeballing how I want to do the “A.5” as @skippy and I call it as well as the A pillar crossmember.
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UNSTUCK

But stuck more often.
Nice work!

I have a tendency to study background information in pictures. Your first picture in the last set has me intrigued. I'm pretty sure the kid is trying to talk his way out of getting in trouble, but I don't think the mom is buying any of it. No doubt the RC car has something to do with it.

Also, I'm now craving Mountain Dew, and I don't even like it.
 

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
Nice work!

I have a tendency to study background information in pictures. Your first picture in the last set has me intrigued. I'm pretty sure the kid is trying to talk his way out of getting in trouble, but I don't think the mom is buying any of it. No doubt the RC car has something to do with it.

Also, I'm now craving Mountain Dew, and I don't even like it.

Thanks Josh!

Well there's a lot to study in my disaster of a garage :grimacing:. That's my son, Joshua and any other time you'd be right but this time he was telling her how fast he was going down the hill on the wiggle cart. She also just got out of the shower and doesn't have to know that she's in that picture :rofl:

Baja Blast is the nectar of the GODS, you best watch yourself! I just added 24 packs yesterday so my stash is looking extra good in the pics.
 

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
I was able to spend about an hour out there tonight and walked away a little irritated if I’m being honest. I got the A pillar crossmember aka “brow” tube in place and I need to re-notch it and move it up. I spent forever measuring it and getting it level just to find that the top B pillar crossmember is about 1/4” high on one side so it made getting this one right a total pain. Measuring stuff is neat but when you get two tubes like this that go across the whole chassis it really comes down to whether or not they LOOK parallel. So yeah, I need to break the tacks on the B pillar crossmember and get it leveled out and then I’ll move the brow up. I wanted to move it up anyways because even though I like having the roof roll forward a little bit it really makes the A.5 (A pillar support tube) look wonky if it’s too low on the bend. Anyways, just a bunch of nonsense to most of you but it all has to be taken into consideration to avoid blowing it all apart and changing it later. I wish I had a chassis table lol
Stupid brow that’s too low.
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What the A.5 would look like with the brow where it is. No bueno IMO- structurally and cosmetically.
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What I’d like it to be like. I’ll have to move the brow up next time I work on it. No biggie.
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Coco

Well-Known Member
Location
Lehi, UT
Nate, your notches are GORGEOUS!!! I wouldn't worry about those, I wish I could have made my notches that beautiful back when I was doing my car.
 

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
Nate, your notches are GORGEOUS!!! I wouldn't worry about those, I wish I could have made my notches that beautiful back when I was doing my car.

I wouldn't say gorgeous but thank you. You just have to spend the big money on a Harbor Freight notcher and have some patience. Oh and then spend the money on another one because they rarely make it through a whole project haha
 

Coco

Well-Known Member
Location
Lehi, UT
I think part of my problem is I was spoiled doing the first build at LROR, the notcher there would eat through tubing like it was nothing. Then through the many rebuilds, the rest was back to home fab with the trusty angle grinder. :rofl:
 

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
Well I spent entirely too long moving this thing around today. It’s surprisingly heavy for one person. Once I got it to its new home I spent a while getting it level-ish as well.
After all that and discussing it with @skippy (my heterosexual-ish life partner) I decided I actually like the brow bar where it is. So I left it where it is and adjusted the B pillar upper crossmember to make it match. It was about 1/8” high on one side and it was driving me nuts.
Then I built the A.5’s out of some 1.25” DOM and tacked them in. I like it. The lower brow bar with the roof rolled down to it will add a nice touch so I’m excited for it. If I don’t like it I’ll change it.
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J-mobzz

Well-Known Member
Well I spent entirely too long moving this thing around today. It’s surprisingly heavy for one person. Once I got it to its new home I spent a while getting it level-ish as well.
After all that and discussing it with @skippy (my heterosexual-ish life partner) I decided I actually like the brow bar where it is. So I left it where it is and adjusted the B pillar upper crossmember to make it match. It was about 1/8” high on one side and it was driving me nuts.
Then I built the A.5’s out of some 1.25” DOM and tacked them in. I like it. The lower brow bar with the roof rolled down to it will add a nice touch so I’m excited for it. If I don’t like it I’ll change it.
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I personally like the low “brow”bar also because of the rolled roof. Every cage I've built I run two one where you are for the roof line and one at the top of the bend to tie my roof bracing into. Looking really good. Thanks for sharing the build.
 

N-Smooth

Smooth Gang Founding Member
Location
UT
I personally like the low “brow”bar also because of the rolled roof. Every cage I've built I run two one where you are for the roof line and one at the top of the bend to tie my roof bracing into. Looking really good. Thanks for sharing the build.

So I considered that but I think what I’ll end up doing is just splitting the difference per se. The diagonal roof spreaders will go to the top of the bend so the A.5 is right in between them and the brow bar. I’ve seen quite a few cages designed this way and even though it’s not a proper node it’s still plenty strong. I’ll probably throw some little gussets in there just for kicks.

Thank you for following and commenting!
 

skippy

Pretend Fabricator
Location
Tooele
So I considered that but I think what I’ll end up doing is just splitting the difference per se. The diagonal roof spreaders will go to the top of the bend so the A.5 is right in between them and the brow bar. I’ve seen quite a few cages designed this way and even though it’s not a proper node it’s still plenty strong. I’ll probably throw some little gussets in there just for kicks.

Thank you for following and commenting!

That's how my roof was in my last promod car and no one has ever rolled harder than I did in Donner and that part of the roof was still straight!
 

Pile of parts

Well-Known Member
Location
South Jordan
I like it. From the side picture I can see how you might think it looks questionable. But, from the front, it looks good. When you have the roof panel, it should all tie in nicely. Great work!
 
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