tubesoob

I have the JD Squared tubing notcher. Great product. As far as bending the tube I went to a guy in Ephrata, WA that makes sprint car chassis. I just met the guy when I showed up there and him and I knocked it out in about 2 hours, very unexpected. And he only charged $200 including the tube, which ended up only being $75 in labor. When I do buy a bender I am going to get the JD Squared model 3. The bender itself is only $300, $500 with the stand and degree wheel. Hopefully with my tax return:banana:

If you can find a 12 or 14 inch wheel, get some ATV tires and swap them on when you get to where you wheel. You have a choice in tread. You can also get sizes from 24 inchs tall up to 27 or 28 inches tall. If you go this route, look for something designed for a UTV, they are usually 6 ply

$427 after conversion. Not too bad

Ok thanks. What vehicles came with the d/r 5 spd? Do they use the same crossmember mounting locations?

Here are the pics of the front end out of the car, and then set under the frame. Hopefully I will the engine bolted up tomorrow and the struts mounted on Monday. Anyone have any recomendations on where to get a driveshaft shorten in Eastern Washington? Also if anyone is interested, 3 of the 4 doors are in good shape. The passenger front has a slight dent. They have all the hardware, glass is good if I remember correctly. Also The hood is in good shape, so are the gauges, driver's side front fender, cruise control and headlight switches. I am not looking to make any money off of it. If anyone wants any of it let me know and we can set up a time and date for you to come get what you want

That is a pretty sweet bumper, maybe add a winch mount. One thing that I have noticed is that a lot of you carry your spare tire on the roof. What about a swing out tire carrier for the rear bumper. You could also add accessories like mounts for a winch down low, racks to hold gas cans, chainsaw, high lift, shovels, things like that. Just my 2 cents.

You are going to like that stereo. I have installed Pioneer Premier decks in 3 different rigs and have never been disappointed

Finally got the engine out of the donor car. It got dark on me but I will take some pics tomorrow. Also got the mounts for the rear end tacked in. I am finding thing that I do not like about the original design so I am making changes as I go. For example, the plans say to mount the battery between the struts with the top of the battery even with the top of the struts. I am planning on running dual batteries and I didn't like the battery being mounted that high, so I am going to move it in front of the fuel cell. Small things that make it mine.

Looks like a great rig that shows what these cars are capable of. You definatly have gone a good job of turning it into a vehicle that will get you and your family anywhere you want to go.

The red fuel cell is mounted in the same location that the stocker was supposed to be mounted and that fuel cell was a freebie. I didn't know if it was going to fit there but it does clear the rear diff. The plans call for mounting the battery up front by the firewall, with the top of the battery at the same height as the top of the struts. I think that is a little high. I was thinking about mounting the battery, maybe dual, right in front of the fuel cell. Don't know yet

Thanks Sweet! That's exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks guys I really appreciate all of the input

I did, sorry I should have clarified. I plan to be going slow enough that front impact airbags would not even deploy.

yeah the plan was using an engine hoist to lift the vehicle and one of those wheel dollies under each wheel. I don't think that I will have to lift it that high, the rear end is already removed so the back of the car is sitting on the ground.

I 100% agree with keeping things as simple as possible to avoid breaking complex parts. However if I was going to put an ARB in a trail vehicle you had better believe that I would have all the necessary parts to repair any damage on the trail. ARB puts out a good product that people knock because they break something on the trail and didn't bring any spare parts. Not trying to argue with you, just my 2 cents. Some things that have kept me up wondering have been 1 has anyone put airbags on their subaru? 2 serious fab work but fitting a Ford explorer or escape IRS rear end into a subaru. I would guess that this would lead to an increase in breaking, and possibly more gearing and lockers What do you guys think?