Godzilla Rising's Build Up

[godzilla_rising]

Hopefully sometime next week...thats why I threw the offer out there...make use of them while they are down here!

[godzilla_rising]

KATES DIRTY SISTER GETS TALLER!

Thats right, today I decided that I would use such a lovely day to install my Ultimate 2" lift and upgrade.

So here is a picture of what she used to look like!!!



Last night I was reading up big on an install thread, got my head around everything and at 930 this morning I got stuck into it. I decided to have a bit of a reference measurement wise, measured from the centre of my wheel to the top of the arch (at the flare, I was being a bit lazy). Those measurements where as such:

Front Left - 530mm
Front Right - 540mm
Rear Left - 580mm
Rear Right - 573mm

And so I got stuck into it. It really wasnt as bad as I thought it was going to be. I dont know why I am so daunted by working on my car as opposed to a multi-million dollar aircraft (I think it is just because I am used to aircraft ).

Original strut and springs removed!


A nice little comparison...mmmm Ulitmate Blue


And the new front strut assembly installed!!! One down, 3 more to go


The fronts were a bit of a bugger to do on your own, well, all of it was really. It really could have been done a lot quicker with extra hands. But I got through it all eventually. Im hoping that I didnt inadvertantly pull my CV's out of the transmission (surely you will be able to tell while driving). I am also hoping that I put enough grease on the bushes and everything, any input from anyone? (Brendan and Fraz I am looking at you here)

Gotta love new leaf springs


And then I was all done. I think I ended up finishing about 6pm. Everything has been torqued, I think the only thing I havent done yet is put in the driveshaft spacer because I didnt have an allen key to fit the new bolts... Oh well, I can just do that tomorrow. There is a bit of a shudder there (a bit is well, and understatement) but it is certainly nothing that cannot wait for a day. I am going to check all the torques in the next day or two, but I am also going to take it into a suspension place and get them to give it a quick once over and a wheel alignment. Final measurements after a quick drive where:

Front Left - 590mm (+60mm)
Front Right - 585mm (+45mm )
Rear Right - 645mm (+65mm)
Rear Left - 650mm (+77mm)

Can you see a difference?


The Bullbar, winch and UHF will be going in on Sunday. The front springs are a medium rate spring (as opposed to a comfort lift which is fitted to the rear). This will hopefully support the weight of the bar and winch and everything once its all done. A big thankyou to Brendan and the guys at Ultimate for providing such a wonderful product!!!

[Steane]

Good effort! Looks

[Greedy]

Looking good. Not a bad day's work getting all 4 corners done by yourself. Helps to have the struts already assembled.

[boycee]

Looks great mate, glad we dont have to help with that now.

Your winch arrived today.

[motoz]

Full steam ahead !!!

[godzilla_rising]

Hey, for those of you that are keen to cruise around and help with the bullbar (or drink beer...either way) how does Sunday sound? The reason its Sunday is I will probably have rugby on Saturday (unless of course we dont...then I am open to suggestions).

Send us a PM if you are keen to help out, might even get some snags or something as well to throw on the BBQ at the end! Dont forget that people are more than welcome to use it as time to get their own stuff done as well.

I will have a set of hole saws as well, and all the other gear for a snorkel install

[godzilla_rising]

Well another day and another day spent working on Kate's Dirty Sister.

Today was the installation of my Safari Snorkel. Overall it was a relatively easy day, and it wasnt too bad to do the job.
The first thing I did was removed all the flares and liners and everything. I bought this car second hand, and when I pulled off the wheel flare there was a significant amount of mud and dirt build up. So much so that it was layered, and layered in a way that I could probably have taken it to the museum and see where it had been 4wding across the years...



The template was fairly close so I bit the bullet and marked everything up and drilled everything up...





My dog Calvin was doing a good job of Site Manager...



So it all went pretty smoothly, until I started fitting the rubber pipe that runs from the snorkel itself to the air box. I wanted to seal it all up so I slathered on the sikaflex and started putting the pipe on. However, when I tightened it all up at the air box end, it kept squeezing off the air box. It was doing this on the snorkel end as well, but I think I have this end sorted. I have tried to get the sikaflex to dry and do it all up again, but it keeps squeezing off... Does anyone have any ideas?

It does look good though...I just hope I can get it all sorted out so that it doesn't draw in water.

[godzilla_rising]

Does anybody have any ideas as to the best way to go about cutting the front bumper for the bullbar install. Ive got an angle grinder (which I have seen used in other builds) but I am unsure as to the blade that would do the best job.

Any help with this matter will be GREATLY appreciated!!!

[Steane]

Any fine toothed hand saw will do the job. I used a hacksaw blade, but that was fiddly. Cut it without issue but was fiddly holding the blade. Still only took 30 mins.

A jigsaw with a metal blade would do most of it as well.

I reckon a steel cutting wheel in an angle grinder would work a treat too.

[Steane]

If you make a mistake, or don't get it perfectly neat, the entire cut is hidden from view once the bar is installed, so you won't see it.

[fraz91]

Jigsaws are a little annoying, and IMO difficult to keep on track properly. An angle grinder with a cutting blade works well, however you need a helping hand to hold the bull bar so that it doesn't take off and you end up with a missing chunk from the front of your bumper. Also, cut quickly with the angle grinder, as if you take too long it will melt the plastic away and you end up with daggy bits flying everywhere.

A quick file back with a flat file and you're all done

[Steane]

Jigsaws are a little annoying, and IMO difficult to keep on track properly.

That's a user issue Fraz

They can be difficult on a surface that isn't flat for sure.

[mattz]

I used a small angle grinder with one of those really thin cutting blades......it worked a treat.

[godzilla_rising]

Thanks for all the replies, off to get a couple more discs before Rugby today! Just in case...

Ill throw out another call for any other South Australian members if they want to cruise around at all tomorrow and help out/catch up. There will be beer and snags as well!!! Just shoot me a PM and Ill let you know whats going on!!

[godzilla_rising]

Kate's Dirty Sister Gets a Nose Job

So Sunday finally came around, which meant it was time to get stuck into the install of the TJM T13 Outback Bullbar.



The first thing that I had to do though, was remove the alloy nudge bar that was on the car to begin with. This job was really easy, and accomplished in about 10 minutes. Though now it has brought it back to Soccer Mum Car status without anything on the front...



By this stage, Motoz came round to help out. So it was a matter of marking up the flares and cutting them, removing the bumper and marking it all up to be cut up...







I was amazed at how well the angle grinder with a 1mm blade on it. The guys at a massive green warehouse were trying to tell me that it would just melt the plastic. It melted a bit, but boy did it do a good job of cutting. Amanda and Greedy had also shown up whilst all this was happening.

Once the bumper was all cut on, the chassis bracket/support/winch cradle was the first thing to go on. Certainly is good to have some help for this one!



Next on the agenda was the Tigerz11 10000lb winch from Boycee and 4wdsupplies We did have to trim the mounting bolts for this though. And I have only gotten around to finishing the wiring and eveything else today. Tomorrow I will go and test it on the girlfriends car...you know, pull it up the street or something



We were certainly starting to near the home stretch now, with just the front bar proper to be installed. First though, we had to install the driving lights and indicators. We certainly did have a lot of stuff spread out though...



We got the front bar on, but had mashed up one of the bolts, so I had to wait until yesterday to get a new one. I then spent the rest of today finishing off some small parts of the install of the bullbar, the winch, and while I was at it I threw in my GME TX3510. Now that I have that one, I wish I had of bought the TX3520 which has the remote face. Either way I am happy with it, but I dont know if I will be keeping it in the spot that I have put it at the moment. The power is soldered in to the 12 power supply near the rear window switch.



And so here is the final result of everything. All that is left for the moment is the brake upgrade and stainless brake lines which I am getting the mechanic to install on Thursday, as they have to change fluids anyway!!! And that should be it for the first round of installs. I do have to wire up the indicators though...I didnt get around to that one.



So until next time!

[Cowboy Dave]

Looks good mate, job well done. How straight was that bumper cut? Very impressive.

[motoz]

Great stuff mate. It was a great day on the tools getting the install done.

[Steane]

Good job fellas. They are a nice looking bar IMO. I've only seen a couple so far, but I reckon that would be my first choice if I was in the market again.

[Homer]

Awesome stuff mate....looking as good as you had hoped I bet

I'm also impressed at how buff Amanda looked in the pics with her tinted safety glasses and workboots....that was her in the blue shirt right?

[amanda]

[borngeek]

Coming along nice mate.

//Good to see a good contingent of SA crew able to sniff out free beer and snags.

[Custom Offroad]

Looking good mate! I wish I had the time and the patience to do the installs myself! Probably would have saved a bit of cash. Mind you the only things I didnt do was the front bar, rear bar, suspension and snorkel! I just couldn't bring myself to cut the car....

[RossyB07]

I just couldn't bring myself to cut the car....

Meeeoww. Haha

[godzilla_rising]

I was amazed at (in the end) just how easy it was to cut the car. Doing the snorkel install certainly made it easier when it came to cutting the bumper. Centre punching the holes for the snorkel, well, once those dents were in that was it. It just had to be done!!!

The bumper was really easy, and the instructions given with the bar were fairly good with outlining where to cut. Plus, unlike some other bars, the cut sits behind and slightly below the level of the bar. So that even with flex, it shouldnt be hitting or anything like that.

Plus, you cant go past recovery points included on a bar Makes it a bit better than the "recovery" points that "Bitsamissin" have!!!