AmboVan Restarted

[hobietony]

Please tell me this will be painted like Ratchet from the Transformers Movies.

Absolutely

[Lewybrewing]

I really like the look of the cleaner rear end....waiting for more.

[hobietony]

Finishing up the compartment doors -

I am replacing the key locks on the compartments with barrel locks, all matching. They are a bit proud of them, but it will be nice to have a good secure lock for all the doors and compartments, that all work with the same key.




Installed




When I got them installed, I was a bit annoyed that the reveals were not as precise as I thought they would be, but then I looked at how all the rest of the doors fit from the factory, and I am WELL within the tolerances set from the factory.


New seals as well



Other thing to do prior to getting the bumper built was rework the fuel filler - It hung down below the cutoff line of the body

Chopped it down a bit... We will see if the fuel nozzle bottoms out when I gas up!




and then trimmed the aluminum a bit so the hoses can tuck up and out of the way



1/4" diamond plate should protect it a bit better

[hobietony]

Also had a monsoon storm tear off the canopy top I put up, so back to working in the sun, at least until monsoon season passes


At least the side shade stayed put

[hobietony]

Finally, the bumper

My wife took the camera when she was out of town for a couple of days over the 4th, so missed some shots of the early work




1"x4" barstock as frame attachment, carrying through the bumper as recovery points. 3x8x1/4" rectangular tubing for the main bumper - cut wedges out of the tubing, bent it up, rewelded and ground the line to make the sloping part. Probably went through 15 cutting wheels, no plasma cutter, and a torch puts in way too much heat.

Square tubing as a spacer to the brace I added earlier to the frame, I have bolts in there as well - Total of 10 grade 8 bolts.




Fabbed the bar stock first, bolted it to the frame, and then slipped the 3x8 over the recovery tabs. Once the bumper was bolted to the frame as well, I started welding the pieces together





All the welds that I cant get to will get finished when the bumper comes off for painting

Return pieces up the side - 3x3x1/4" square tubing




That brace is a 2.5"x1/4" square tube, really sturdy in the lateral direction, but still a really long cantilever in the vertical direction. Not much I can do about it, except dont use the bumper all the way up at the wheel as a jacking point. Still pretty burley

Trim the corner a bit

[hobietony]

Off the vehicle for finishing and painting




It's kind of big heavy mother when it is all welded together. I dont really want to know the total weight.

Grinding and finishing




Getting the reciever welded in. More on this later...




Priming and painting. Just using rustoleum satin black, same as I am using for all the frame touch up, and the sliders.




Back on the rig







And now for the annoying things - I picked up the reciever portion at a 'discount' location, because, hey, it is just a piece of tubing, right? Aparently the 'brace' portion at the end of the steel tube can be misaligned with the tube.




I think my alignment of the tube itself is a bit off as well, but not nearly as bad as it looks - I'll end up cutting off the brace and rewelding a new one, because I am not going to be able to stand looking at it like this.

Also, the lateral pieces the run under the box have the brace welded to the inside, and when I welded that brace, the laterals warped - didn't think a 3x3x1/4" would do that, but there you go. It ended up pulling under the vehicle so the reveal I set with the aluminum trim above is out of whack




I think I will try putting a big fat vertical weld up the outside of the tube, opposite the brace, and see if I can get the heat/cooling to pull it back. I'll have to think about it a bit.

Next thing is the get all the headlights/taillights back in working order, so I can drive it to get the engine/exhaust work done, so I can actually get it registered. My wife would also REALLY like to see some interior work progress, so roughing out the shapes of the cabinets/etc is on the list as well. Ready by October? We'll see...

[ujoint]

Looks GREAT. Outstanding job, great design!!!!

[thetonka]

Awesome work!!

[Sheep Shagger]

That is an amazing rear bumper, I don't think I have seen one built quite like that before, very nice work.

[paragus]

awesome bumper!