Body lift and ute conversion questions

[brad91]

Hey guys.

I own a 85 holden drover hightop. I made up some 50mm body lift blocks out of 50mm round bar at work yesterday and was wondering what bolts i will need to put these in? I have heard suzukis run a female bolt setup? I have had a look through the Bible and found the topic on the body lift but mine all look like a bolt with a nut on the end and not quite like the one in the instructions??

Also will i need to extend brake lines at all if i am doing a 2inch BL and maybe extended shackles? And will these clear 31's with just a 2 inch without guard work?

Also thinking about making it into a ute...I have access to a welder and a mate who can help out but i was wondering if there are any topics in the Bible that i havnt found? Was wanting to enclose the back and cut the whole roof off and maybe just go canvas top section above the drivers seats and leave the tray open.

Any pics of anyone that did a ute conversion would be awesome.

Thanks guys
Brad

[mrw82]

the standard bolts are too short once a body lift is installed. to cutout the old ones to fit longer bolts is rough and dodgy.
you can buy a 'female bolt' to make up for the extra length needed when doing a body lift.
just cruisin' sells body lift kits and will be able to help you with the female bolts.

others will be along shortly to give you all the reasons why NOT to chop the hightop.

[just cruizin']

If you are going to chop it into a soft top just buy a soft top body to start with and save the headaches. The popemobiles aren't the best looking things getting around and they aren't really popular for that reason. However it's been attempted and failed previously, most recent 2 odd years ago. The body got the chop and ended on the tip to the best of my knowledge, definately didn't get finished.

Yes that Just Cruizin' bloke sells the bolts you need, good luck tracking him down though.

[St Jimmy]

Yes that Just Cruizin' bloke sells the bolts you need, good luck tracking him down though.

He's a hard bugger to find

[just cruizin']

http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/ftopic138330.php

read through this, unfortunately his pics are gone

[brad91]

ah ok. Ill go down to the bolt place we use for work and see if they have any female bolts. Anybody know approximatly how long they are?

I was going to cut the roof off at the top body line, tack 50x50 RHS/SHS the whole way round the inside of the back at the bottom body line or a little higher and then bend the remaining steel around the RHS and tack it up to keep it all neat. Then i was going to completely lop the roof to the front of the windscreen and put more RHs in there for strength and use the back door to help fill in the back and then get a canvas top cover.

Or i might wait until i roll it then cut the roof? haha. Are the soft top tubs expensive at the wreckers? Mines in pretty good condition so i thought i might try ask if they want to trade?

Also will i run into many trouble mounting a 31x10.5 under it with 2 inches of body and 2 inches in the shackles? Or should i be going for say a 31x7 if they make them?

Also with wheel offsets i have 2 options... 15x7-4 or 15x8-26. Which one would you guys recomend?

Thanks Guys

[mrw82]

you won't be able to buy the female bolts from a normal bolt shop. just cruisin gets the specially made.
31"s will be fine with a 2" lift as long as you have decent offset rims.

[brad91]

haha yea i found that out today. I have a lathe at work so i will make some up there. Or might even fabricate my own sort of thing using booker rod nuts. Dad suggested that and either turning the outside of the hex off most of it if they are long enough or just making the holes bigger to allow the hex to travel inside the block.