Tube front bumper for my Sportrak(fez)

Post by **Mantamac** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:34 am

I made a tube front bumper for my Sportrak as the original ground out on a regular basis.
What does everyone think?
I also moved the front indicators upwards to the lower front valance to help protect them.
Pics below from start to finnished example.

Mac.

Post by **Mantamac** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:35 am

Post by **Mantamac** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:37 am

Post by **Mantamac** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:39 am

Post by **Mantamac** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:41 am

I have also made some sliders, but they are still a work in progress.

Post by **Mantamac** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:43 am

I just need to soort out that FAT rear end now.

Mac.

Post by **HotFourOk** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 3:27 pm

Woah.. so nice man!

You might wanna get the measurements ready when all these guys ask you how to make one

lol

Makes me want to do one up for the Rocky

Are these tube bars legal in Aus??

Website · Post by **murcod** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:49 pm

Nice work.

Post by **Mudsierra** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:52 pm

I think they should be legal in Aussie but not too sure.. it's like having a bullbar on front so

Post by **runnin4life** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 6:54 pm

as far as im aware the bar had to be withing certain guide lines and aslong as you donth ave air bags your fine

if you have air bags you need to have testing and stuff done

Post by **Mantamac** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 9:17 pm

Thanks for the nice comments.

Here in the U.K the bumper is legal as long as it has no sharp leading edges.

I bent a rear spring last night whilst of-road.

Car now has a nice lean to the drivers side (RHD)

Because of this, I might try and do a triangulated 4 link coil conversion on the rear as the leaf springs are realy expensive in the U.K. Has anyone linked a standard axle Sportrack??

Mac.

Post by **SimplyPV** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 12:29 pm

if i remember correctly, there was an article in some magainze a ways back called "dai what?" (or something along that line) and it talked about an off the self kit to do a coil conversion. maybe you could try to dig it up and see if it'll give you a reference point to start from for your link setup?

meanwhile, talk to kentatsu. he has a linked front but with a yoda solid axle. maybe he can give you some insight.

last but not least... mines better...

Post by **HotFourOk** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 2:17 pm

Did you make that bumper PV?

Post by **Mantamac** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 7:14 pm

SimplyPV wrote: meanwhile, talk to kentatsu. he has a linked front but with a yoda solid axle. maybe he can give you some insight.

last but not least... mines better...

Nice front bumper.

I am actually building another Sportrak as well as the one in the pictures. The one above is my day to day road car. I got it for the trip to work and to take my Husky out walking. It has become a bit of a love affair with the Sportrak these days. Most of my friends drive Land Rovers and try to ridicule the little Daihatsu, so I am building a car to shut them up.

My base car is a narrow track Sportrak. I am fitting a Range Rover 3.5 V8 and the range rover 3 speed auto box. Front and rear linked Toyota Hilux axles. LPG conversion, External Rollcage, 15" travel shocks with dislocating springs,front and rear winches,RCI fuel cell, the list goes on and on. I have most of the parts including a complete EFI Range Rover and the other Sportrak. The only things I haven't got are the winches.
I am using the car above to learn how to drive off road and have some laughs in while I build the more extreme car.
Rear linking the above car will be good practice, so hopefully the extreme one will be better.

All advice is welcome, as modded Daihatsus are very rare in the UK, and I think I'll need all the help I can get.

Mac.

Post by **rOd** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:50 am

Mantamac wrote:4.

I like how it looks.

Good job on it. ]

Maybe make a new front bashplate for it as well.

Your car reminds me alot of my ex NT Feroza.

Post by **gonezoe** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:09 pm

nice job sliders look neat have u got plans or measurements for the sliders heres hoping

Post by **Mantamac** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:31 am

Sorry, no plans for the sliders as I have a nasty habit of working things out in my head and just fabing them up.
I could measure them up and e-mail you the details with a few pics if you like.

They are a bit tricky to make as you have to notch the tube to ensure a good weld. They would be far easier if they were made out of box section.

Mac.

Post by **Mantamac** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:59 am

I started on a roofrack today. I wanted to add a few more lamps to make night driving off road a little safer. I thought a rack was the easiest way to fit them and add a bit of practicality.

It is a work in progress and far from finnished, but I'll post a few pics to give a sneak peek.

Post by **Mantamac** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:05 am

I trimmed the rear fibreglass roof, mounted the rack to the factory rear rollcage. I havent fitted the front mounts yet, the front of the rack is just supported for the pic.

Post by **Mantamac** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:14 am

Couple more.

The front spot lamps are just sat on the roof to give me an idea of height by the way.

Post by **Mantamac** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:17 am

And more.
The last pic is the rer worklamps I'm going to fit.

Website · Post by **murcod** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 11:49 am

Are you making all this stuff yourself?

And is that your shed / garage? (if it is I'm jealous

)

Post by **Mantamac** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 6:09 am

Yes I do make all the stuff my self.

The work shop in the photos is our M.O.T Bay(vehicle inspections) We have 2 bigger workshops for me to play in as well.

I am a motor engineer by trade, so I've had to fabricate things from time to time and it's nice when I get to make some parts for myself.

Mac.

Website · Post by **murcod** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 12:45 pm

My Father inlaw makes all sorts of stuff like that- he's helped me make my dual battery holder, rear storage system and mounting bracket for my second battery. Unfortunately I've never done welding and would be guaranteed to stuff it up big time! I would like to do a new front bar, but don't want to "use" all his free time up.....

Keep posting up your pics, they're very inspiring!

Post by **runnin4life** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 1:58 pm

murcod wrote:Unfortunately I've never done welding and would be guaranteed to stuff it up big time!
Keep posting up your pics, they're very inspiring!

you would be suprised how easy it is to learn to weld

its kinda like riding a bike you can learn the basics easilly just takes some practice to fine tune it

once a machine is set up correctly its just a case of point and shoot (with a mig) and place the weld were you want it

Post by **Mantamac** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 9:09 pm

murcod wrote:My Father inlaw makes all sorts of stuff like that- he's helped me make my dual battery holder, rear storage system and mounting bracket for my second battery.

Keep posting up your pics, they're very inspiring!

Have you got a picture of the storage system?
I use my car to carry my two dogs when I take them out walking. You might be able to see my wire dog guard in a couple of the photos( cost me £4 stirling to make

). Now that I use the car off road I need to carry more kit, but I still want to take the dogs with me. I'd like to make a false floor in the rear and have a drawer system to keep the kit in.

I'm back in work this evening to finnish the rack, so i'll post the pics of the finnished item.

Mac.

Website · Post by **murcod** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 10:38 pm

Yes, I have got pics (somewhere....) and funnily enough it's been designed so there's an area for two dogs to sit on!

Basically the rear seat is removed completely and a frame from square tubing has been made up. The "seat" section the dogs sit on can be raised / lowered to fit gear underneath and the "backrest" section can be removed and set up as a table for camping. It's all finished with marine carpet etc. Originally when I made it we only had one dog and there was a storage cupboard in the back next to him.

I'll try and find the pics and post some.

Post by **Mantamac** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 7:12 am

Finally finnished the roof rack last night.

I used cheap driving lamps as they may get smashed whilst off road and I didn't fancy putting my hand in my pocket too often.
Here are a few more pictures. What does everyone think?

Post by **Mantamac** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 7:16 am

Few more.

Post by **Mantamac** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 7:18 am

Forgot to add, I haven't wired the lights in yet. I want to run them from a second battery, and I still need to fit it, and the split-charge system at the same time.

Mac.

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