Smallfoot's AA

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This is the chassis I got. 71 DJ5 Jeep (mail jeep). Real short...82" wheel base. Got a transitional 232 Torque Command motor and a 727 Torqueflite with a Dana 44 rearend with 3.07 gears and lsd. I'm building a motor for this but staying with an inline 6. (250 Chevy/700r4). This Jeep motor only has 800 miles on a fresh rebuild along with the tranny which was done at the same time, so I'm going to use them for a while and build the chevy as I get to it.



 
Cut the frame rails at the highest point in front and slid my AA rails up on the DJ5 frame.
Just mocked up for position.


This gives me enough room to go under with a cross spring and the front axle from a 53 F truck.


 
I think it will be sitting about as low as I can go with it out here where I live. The present placement on frame is 1" lower than it was on the DJ5. It had 14" wheels and tire height was only 24". The tires in the pix on the F front are 26"+. If I need it lower in back, it won't be much for stance. I can lower it 9/16" by removing two leaves in the rear. Going to stay with parallel leaf there. This thing is going to be as simple as possible in all respects. Simple drive train, simple wiring, simple...period! The body is so rough I can't possibly hurt it. Two different players have done some cutting already and even though I'm no body man, I think I can do better. I'm looking for solid, not necessarily smooth..heheh!
 
Thanks Torchie! Gotta check some more stuff out before I weld it up, but I think it's gonna work. Going with hairpins. Got the wishbones off the AA, but as of yet, I haven't seen a clean looking bracket to mount them to an F100 axle. I've seen plenty that look like they work but just not as clean a look as a batwing that can hook up hairpins. I'm conjatatin about it...
 
Thanks Earthman! I'm afraid it'll never be able to be anything but rough...but that's ok, it's gonna live a rough life..heheh!
 
I put a 1927 coupe on a 1981 CJ7 chassis about ten years ago.All I had to do was make new body mounts.Other than that it fit jeep chassis like it was made for it.
Most fun I have ever had with a streetrod.It had 151 chevy 4 cyl.
You could put it in 4 low and it would pop a small wheelie.
 

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Yeah, those CJ7s are a little longer. I'm only stretching this one as far as I need to get cab,bed and motor on it. Probably stilll won't be very long. What I've got drawn up right now after motor and cab are mounted I'm gonna have a bed that's 48" long and maybe 42" wide. Hate to cut this nice 76 GMC stepside bed up for something that small and may decide to fab a bed...
 
Got my F100 axle brackets made, welded my batwings to them, mocked up and tacked the hairpins on. Getting ready to set the motor in, then set the cab on.
I'll have to sub frame the cab some to get it right where I want it to sit but it'll start taking more shape soon.
Sorry for the lack of good pix. This old guy can't find the camera for days at a time....something about crs...


 
After checking, I increased the wheel base from 82" to 110". Should be a comfortable ride compared to Jeep length.
 
Using the crossmember that was on the donor for the motor. Made it easy to set the motor up. Until I weld it up, the bolts will allow some shifting. Used an old trailer axle for the transmission mount. It sits on heavy walled angle, welded to the inside of the frame rails. With both crossmembers attached to motor and tranny, I set the motor in and drilled holes using the crossmember for a pattern. Once that was squared and motor angle set at 0 on the carb base, I welded the tranny crossmember in. With just the motor and tranny in, the front spring is looking good for the shackles being right. I'll still need to set the cab on and fab a bed to get most of the weight on it before I figure the final resting place for the rear hairpin brackets and set the caster a little more positive.




One of my friends brought a 2nd row seat out last night out of some kind of van. Measures 42" at the widest. Think it will fit pretty good. Loose the head rests and most of the bottom frame work. This thing is one of those easy removeable seats and is set up with wheels on it. Nice design feature that will disappear when I cut the bottom off. It's got a lever for folding the seat forward...lays completely flat on itself , that will also be limited by the steering wheel I imagine. Nice and clean. Thinking of giving the old guy down the road some work. His sign says CANVAS WORK AUTO AND BOAT. Maybe cover it with the canvas from one of those heavy duty tarps that Tractor Supply sells.

 

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