280GE Build

[stjjames]

Thought I would start a thread here as well.
This is my buddies rig, but he isn't the forum hound I am :sombrero:
It'll be a recreational wheeling / camping / hunting / DD rig - I myself fancy for camping as long as I can & often for a week plus, as far away from other folk & less capable rigs as possible.
He picked this rig up to replace his 69' S2A.
He desired a sealed cab (the LR leaked), with more interior room, for folk & gear.

Couple of Pics of the S2A ( the TJ is mine) ;

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/3c11e085.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/P1010072-1.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/P1010078.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/vince2.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/VinceonArchers4.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/Vincetryingtoroll.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/Landieflex.jpg

He picked up this 1985 280GE out of Texas. Inline six, four speed auto, VG80 transfer case, 4.88 gears, etc, for $5K - with a blown transfercase. He quickly squared the T/C away & had it road worthy. Slapping a fresh set of 32" Kevlars on it & proceeded to take it out on the trail, which was short lived. It hardly made it 200 meters before a rock punctured the gas tank & he was headed home in shame :p
He wanted to get in squared away, similarly to the S2A - so he could at least get it on the trail.

Best Before shot I have handy . . .

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/4258b6a7.jpg

[stjjames]

We dropped it off at Those guys rods & Customs up in Bremerton. He has done a slew of work to my rig & decided, since he was particularly well versed in XJ's - he would be the right guy to fab some junk for the G. Aside from the frame, The G isn't a - huge - departure from an XJ. The goal was to get it trail worthy & armored up from the beltline down - without compromising the overall look of the G. From 50 feet we're hoping it all looks rather stock . . . ish.

First thing was to address the particularly low & vulnerable rockers. XJ style rocker replacements were chosen - though it was found there was considerably more reinforcing material in the G than an XJ - I guess that justifies some of the weight :coffeedrink:
Full cut away & weld in replacement, with a small kicker - to try & keep the tree's at bay :elkgrin:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/Rockers.jpg

Underside;

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/RockerUnder.jpg

Flat Belly skids, an oil pan skid is in the works soon enough - potentially just a armored stock unit, with plate welded to the circumference.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/Skid2.jpg

The stock radiator was shot, so a (much cheaper than an OEM replacement :Wow1: ) Griffin aluminum unit was chosen as a replacement. custom mounts had to be made both on top & bottom.
Topside mounts, easy-peasy.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/Radiatormounttop.jpg

The lower mounts are tied in to the front crossmember, shoring up the whole front end.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/RadiatorSupport.jpg

[stjjames]

Gas Tank was definitely in need of some up-armouring after its ill fated first venture :D You can see it's tied into the rear bumper.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/GasSkid.jpg

And speaking of the rear bumper.
In process;

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/f092835a.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/10905a73.jpg

And with the low-rider rear tire carrier - still looking for a matching wheel if anyone has one for sale :ylsmoke:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/f55a4cf3.jpg

[stjjames]

Moving around to the front - we knew the front fenders wouldn't survive in stock form & were prohibitively expensive to replace - so Vince (the owner) opted for Defender ' trophy" style fenders.

In process;

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/8be6b003.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/8781a92b.jpg

Inside;
Looking Forward;

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/FendersInside1.jpg

And Aft;

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/FenderInside2.jpg

Antenna mount;

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/RadioBox.jpg

And done, minus headlights.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/7df8e309.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/76d9f7ea.jpg

Strong!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/fda40131.jpg

Onto the front bumper.
He wanted a winch mount, up kicks to keep the rough off the grill & to be stout enough to slay wayward deer.

Top side shot, along with a better shot of the radiator supports;

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/Winchmounttop.jpg

Under side;

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/Winchmountunder.jpg

[stjjames]

And, his freestanding light bar. This may end up being tied into a roof rack / rub bar arraignment . . .

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/LightBar.jpg

Mount & fender transition.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/LIghtbarFenders.jpg

That wraps up Pat's work on it. The first day we got it back, we tossed the winch from my Tj onto it - I'm going to M8000's front & rear.

Oil cooler relocated (Pat actually did this)

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/OilCooler.jpg

We had to trim away both grill & supports abit - but with all of the reinforcement, these became mostly trivial.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/Winchclearance.jpg

And after relocating the 3 pointed star - so mean looking !!!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/FrontSex.jpg

[stjjames]

Then we decided to flex it out abit - it's gonna need some help in that department, haha! ;

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/Flex1.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/Flex2.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/Flex3.jpg

[stjjames]

Aaaand, with heads & turns - still waiting on the trim rings from RoversNorth.
He's gonna put the front flare, front mud flap thingy back on - to further it's stock appearance.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/2f628d16.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/b233bf47.jpg

Though, in those pics you may have spied his dented rocker kicker . . .
Their going to have to be redesigned abit, using 3 tube supports, instead of 2 plate units. When we were flexing it out, he started to slip forward & gave it some gas, it tagged the tree with the full weight of the rig on two wheels :D
A proper first day home & way to christen a rig that will see a healthy amount of trail time.
I circled where his rocker hit the tree, haha.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/6009f844.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/oops.jpg

That pretty much brings us up to date.
A roof rack, sand ladders, communication equipment ( CB, VHF & Ham radios ) are in the immediate future. Well until we hybrid cage it & toss 404's & 37's under it - I mean, for the cost of gears for this thing, we may as well buy a D300 & 404 axles - cheaper in the longrun, or so I'm trying to convince him :elkgrin:

http://ericsxj.com/cage/5319.jpg

[mk216v]

Very cool to see a different take on a G. Keep the updates coming!

[stjjames]

Very cool to see a different take on a G. Keep the updates coming!

Thanks - definitely more to come !
The owner is in Portland as well - we'll be making trips out to TSF & HooDoo soon enough. :ylsmoke:

[Green96D1]

that is pretty awesome

[mk216v]

Thanks - definitely more to come !
The owner is in Portland as well - we'll be making trips out to TSF & HooDoo soon enough. :ylsmoke:

TSF as in Tillamook State Forest?
I've been out there the past few weekends. :smiley_drive:

[stjjames]

TSF as in Tillamook State Forest?
I've been out there the past few weekends. :smiley_drive:

Correct sir!
What trails are you guys running ?
All of the rover pics were out at TSF - I think it's the best place in the area & have been Biking, riding, shooting, hiking & wheeling out there since I was a wee welp. We normally go, FB5 - hit the rock pile, then do one of, or both of the Crushers loop(s), Rockyuphill, Airplane hill - now thats its open (the G can likely handle the filter, but will prolly pass on the main obstacle), can opener (again, the G will skip this - it's gotten nasty !), then the waterfall, which should be fun for the G ! We'll be heading out to Naches & of course the Rubicon as well ! And likely many gear laden camping trips in central Oregon !
I think the rig should be able to pic it's way through the upper crushers, in the dry.


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/Crushers8.jpg

Vince on Hogsback, even in the dry the lack of lockers denied him !

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/VinceonHogsBack4.jpg

Trying to roll it on RockyUp(down)Hill - the G will be able to tackle it going up & will be a well suited & fun trail for it I think !

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/VinceonArchers.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/VinceonArchers5-1.jpg

My rig - sure is pretty in the winter !

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/P1010049.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/P1010073.jpg

Anyhow, enough non-G photo whoring ! New G pics coming soon !!!

[mk216v]

Where exactly are those in TSF showing the Rover?

[stjjames]

Where exactly are those in TSF showing the Rover?

Ironically, Vince - the rigs owner - sold his sweet 92 Mk2 16v GLi to buy the rover & really wanted a red or white G.
In the above post I posted the trails they were taken on.
As for the first page pics.




Top of FB5
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/P1010072-1.jpg

Random fire road, his quarter panel discovered a stump !
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/P1010078.jpg

Back entrance to the lower crushers
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/vince2.jpg

RockyUpHill
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/VinceonArchers4.jpg

FB5
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/Vincetryingtoroll.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/stjjames/Landieflex.jpg

[mk216v]

Perfect, thanks for the further detail.
Well, my red G is for sale if he's interested. :)

Back to the 280GE build!

[VRock]

I am Vincent and this is my dream rig that I am making into my own. Recently I've done yet more work on it and spent a Sunday up at Brown's Camp really getting to know what it can do. I am completely happy with the rig and look forward to further improvement as I see fit and as much adventure as possible.

Here are some recent shots:

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii248/Spyder550a/L1040381.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii248/Spyder550a/L1040383.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii248/Spyder550a/GSpareTire.jpg


Quite an indent on the passenger side rocker, acquired on a climb up Firebreak 5. The rig is low. Lower than stock on account of additional weight I've recently added plus tired and saggy original springs. Anxious to sort that out! Planning to replace the current so-so Bilsteins with either O.E. Sachs Boge HD or Fox 2.0.

Missing a passenger mirror too Time to fab some more functional mirror arms.

Recent pic of my old Landy, still alive and well with new owner:

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii248/Spyder550a/L1040386.jpg

And an old on that I like:

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii248/Spyder550a/january23029.jpg

cheers

[mk216v]

Awesome Vincent. Perhaps I'll see you up at Brown's Camp at some point!

[somesnowday]

Love what you are doing with the G. Do you know what it would cost me to get some of those fenders built for my G? If I were going to build some mirror arms I would build them like these on a Pur Edition G.
-
Craig

77362

[VRock]

mk216v: In fact, I'd like to make a plan of it here coming up!

Craig: That design makes the most sense to me! I'm thinking .25" solid aluminum stock, machined down just at the point where the mirror clamps need to go.

[mk216v]

Awesome, LMK when you're going out. Perhaps I can get some Cruiser's to go with.

[somesnowday]

On Oregon G Wagen adventure in Browns Camp sounds like a cant miss.
Jeremy I've been waiting for the opportunity to see what you have learned from Harold.

-
Craig

[mk216v]

On Oregon G Wagen adventure in Browns Camp sounds like a cant miss.
Jeremy I've been waiting for the opportunity to see what you have learned from Harold.

-
Craig

All of the stuff I learned from Harald would probably make most everyone NOT want to go on the trail with me. Basically it was all about taking it "slow as possible, fast as necessary" and preserving the asset(vehicle, tires, etc). This often means super slow crawl speed, when many others would probably just nail the throttle to get through a section (and therefore break something, smash a rocker, etc). Taking the sissy (ie safe and slow) way doesn't equate to fun with some (not all, just some).