86 Marathon Hunting Buggy Build

[TheWiltz]

Originally Posted by tyhuck

BTW, is there anything that anyone has found to stop the battery tray from rusting out in the future? I mean something to coat the steel with, not just replacing it with aluminum. While aluminum would be nice, Its pricey, and our TIG welder is on the fritz..

Gold, but that would be cost prohibitive. clean often and repaint as needed. It's just an unfriendly place for metal!

[yurtle]

I used truck bed liner. The brush on is thicker than the spray.

[rabbitreborn]

POR 15

It's a brushable paint that can be applied over minor rust but when it dries, it hardens like steel.

http://www.por15.com/POR-15/productinfo/1GB/

[tyhuck]

Got the frame all stripped (or at least as good as I could) and put a good thick coat of Rustoleum Rust Converter on it. Ill let it dry overnight and then start to fab up some new battery trays. Shouldnt take too long. Maybe if I have time Ill even get some primer on it.

BTW, if you have any inclinaton of buying or using a Cambell Hausfeld sand blaster becuase its small and cheap, DONT. My father-in-law gave me his to use and it sucks balls.

Stay away from this one.

http://www.google.com/products/catal...d=0CIsBEPMCMAA

You are better off spending the money to have your stripping professionally done, or buying better equipment.

[tyhuck]

Well its coming back together nicely. I got about half way through the reconstruction and realised I didnt have any pictures. So, heres where Im at now.

The battery tray area has been rebuilt using new steel, primed, and covered with rubberized undercoating. I used Rustoleum Professional Grade undercoating because it claims to be corrosion proof.

I also painted everything with a quick coat of flat black. I didnt really take care to sand and prime everything, but Im still not sure if I want to camo it or not. Im thinking about a desert camo pattern, just for fun. If I do decide to repaint, Ill sand it and do it right then. If not, ill run this as long as it lasts, then maybe do something different. SO in short, the flat black is most likely temporary anyway, so I didnt spend too much time putting it on "right".

Only thing I need now is a set of seat covers and some new wheels and tires. Im thinking of 20" tires, just to keep the loss of power to a minimum. How badly will 2" total height bog me down if I went with a 22" tire?

Finally, how wide are the stock rims? I know the tire is a 8.5" width, but what about the rims itself? Will a 7" tire fit on it?

[tyhuck]

Oops, forgot the pictures.









Ive also ordered some new rivets, tree clips, and a couple of new battery hold-down brackets.

Im als ogoing to replace the electrical components as I can afford them.

Should be good to go for hunting season.

[tyhuck]

Got it all rebuilt and put back tegether. Still working on getting the electronics replaced, but heres what she looks like now.



I also have another issue. Check out my other thread to post your opinion on the colors.

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/desig...or-scheme.html

[barcloverranch]

Beautiful lol now comes the fun part of runnin all the wires where they need to be, luckily resistor carts are very straightforward

[tyhuck]

The wires are all run and still attached to the old parts, but only so I can keep track of what goes where as I replace the solenoid, sweeper board, and f/r switch board.

[barcloverranch]

Haha yeah I was a chicken when I rewired my cart, I used tape labels and only did four or five wires at a time. I do not trust my memory to get that stuff right