fiberglass body?

[grc1]

Hi, I have a 1989 rusted out tracker and was woundering if anyone has ever put a fiberglass car kit on a tracker.
In the past I have put 4X4 on a 1969 camero and a 1973 dodge van. But I have never done a body off frame convertion. I have been offered a free vw Bradley gt2 body to work with.

Any thoughs or advice would be helpfull or am I just .....

[jtgh]

mine has a real frame, so body is optional.
in fact there are off road buggy's running only cages on top frame.

im an old motorcyclist, what do you need a body for anyway. LOL.

maybe a Bently body .

[grc1]

I live in Canada and it gets pretty darn cold with all the rust holes. On the passenger side I can check how close I am to the curb with out opening the door. I just look right through it. LMAO

I just don't have the heart to scarp her.

[jtgh]

come down to left coast , below salt.
with a dolly or flat bed and buy a dead body.

just match the year range good.

or one that is just sick.

Craigs list has them time to time.
but are running low these days.

cheers.

you guys have the driveline parts ,we have the bodies.

[grc1]

I 'd love to come down, but its about 2,500 miles and thats a long drive even by my standars.

Besides I don't believe they have a place to park my dog sed. LOL

Thank you

[jtgh]

2500 miles, ouch that is WAY up north, me in seattle area.

yes, have parking for 25 dog sleds.
but alas ,no snow.

one guy on here last year posted how he fixed his kick way up your way.
had seats out and carpet .
took a saws all to floor pans and tig welded in new metal.
it dont have to be pretty ,just keep the feet dry.

nice photos too.

16 ga to reconstruct

thickness of floor pan sheet metal - YotaTech Forums

slow to load but good. example of bad welding. but tech. is ok.
Amateur Rust Repair... need advice keeping the rust out (no 56k if anyone still has that): Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine


notice the tack weld tech. stitch welding stops warping.



" here is a quote from another site" short and sweet.
first fix frame. then.
body.
When I patched my floors, my driver's side
floorpan right up underneath the pedals was bad. I got my saws-all out and began to cut all the bad stuff out. I found I had to go about an inch beyound the rust all around. If your car is bad around this area and the otherside be sure to inspect where the K-frame joins to the frame rails underneath and look at the rear of the frame rails to see they are still solidly attached. When you start cutting out the rust make sure you are careful not to cut something on the other side too!! I allmost went through a brake line on mine.

I used metal from the roof of an old car
that I had saved before I scrapped it. This metal is normally of heavier guage and works well for this kind of job. I used a little 110volt mig welder to do my floors, its the best tool you could invest in believe me, but I'm sure you could torch weld the floors in too.

As for heat distortion, when you weld in the patch weld them in spots. I spotted every inch on mine and never warped anything. The cars are put together with spot welding anyway. You just have to make sure you seal both sides of the repair when you are done. Doing it this way, makes forming the floorpan easier too. You can use the heat from your previous weld to pound and shape the next spot. Be sure to cut your patches bigger then the spot you want to fix as well. Don't be afraid to overlap in areas either.

[jtgh]

from the either

nice floor pan work

nice !

[ranger88den]

On the Suzuki bulletin board of Pirate 4x4 there was a fairly recent discussion of Samurai fiberglass & aluminum replacement bodies. Do a search & see if you can inspire somebody to do something for us Track/Kick folk. Good luck

[grc1]

Hi, I checked out that site and wow are these guys are really into it.

So far, I have learnt that a company in the UK might be starting production on fiberglass bodies for the samuri and possibly for the sidekick.(from other sites) So far it is contact by snail mail and everything is only in the planing stage. As of now it is only being PLANED not prodution yet.

The bodies so far will be copies of jeep and standard replacment panels.

Esimated cost for a fiberglass body is $3,000us plus $1,500us for shipping.

Once again all this is in the planing stage and nothing to date has been made. This is about all the info I have found so far and it is all third hand information so I cannot confirm anything other than there is some interest in in making fiberglass parts.

I hope someone can add to this as to weather it is real ,a pipe dream ,or just plain old BS.
Thank you

[spentdog2000]

I was thinking of th willys jeep M38 body or a car body like MG midget.Here in NEW YORK have to watch out for years to pass emisions 1995 an back.THE go kart is a little cold this time of year.