VGs Little Willy (gets BJ'ed?) / FJ40 Off Brand Power Wheels

[Vintage Grumble]

So ages ago I got an old mobility scooter, with the intention of convert it into a mini Willy's jeep that my kids can blast around in. The donor vehicle was this beauty, in working condition but with no batts.

I borrowed some old batteries from my BIL, but they were well past it, so had to invest in a good set, not sure on the range yet, but it will be decent with a couple of 50ah's in there.

I then half assedly rearranged it to have a steering wheel from a ride on, and lowered the seat so the kids could drive it. I also fitted a foot pedal accelerator. It was like this for more than a year or so I guess.

Then recently I decided I better actually work on making it into the jeep it was meant to be, before the kids get too old. So I did quite a bit of chassis modification to get the batteries back a bit (mainly so there's room for my feet to fit in) I also fitted new black tyres, as the old fronts were rooted.

I then widened the front track 80mm to match the rear, not sure why they made the front skinnier to begin with tbh.

Then I started work on repositioning the  steering to one side. I used bearings and pressed steel housing I already had, and got a couple of sprockets to reduce the steering speed by half, to make it a bit easier to turn with the smaller steering wheel. The center hub slides to tension the chain. 

The shitty pressed steel housings didn't like having the leverage of the long steering shaft on them, and bent, so I machined up a hub to replace them, it's mint as now.

I then whipped up a crappy temporary floor and seat (not finished in pic) so the kids can drive it while I build the body, which is the next mission.

Regards, VG.

 

[Vintage Grumble]

So I started on the body. Did some CAD modeling,

And then started hacking into 18mm ply,

Then I took the old temporary seat and floor off, and made a new seat etc. I then started screwing everything together,

And where it's at now,

The back corners are meant to be rounded, but that's too hard for an amateur woodworker like myself. The floor and firewall will stay on the chassis, and the rest of the body will lift off. The bonnet and front mudguards will be the hardest part to do, but I have ideas, will find out soon if they will work.

Oh and I decided to make it a BJ/FJ land cruiser (maybe it should be an EJ?) because the kids cousin has a Jeep already, and because I'm forcing them to like Toyotas, because not doing so would basically be child abuse.

Regards, VG.

[anglia4]

As a Jeep owner I concur that letting your kids grow up with a sentimental attachment to the brand would definitely constitute a form of abuse.

Theyre better off on drugs.

[locost_bryan]

Just set the grill back a few inches and call it a mk1 Landy.

Although, since it's a cheap copy, call it a Mitsi or Suzuki or Mahindra?

[Vintage Grumble]

Why make the rest, when I can make the best?

[kws]

On 20/02/2024 at 07:41, locost_bryan said:

Just set the grill back a few inches and call it a mk1 Landy.

Although, since it's a cheap copy, call it a Mitsi or Suzuki or Mahindra?

Stick the three diamond badge on it, scrap the batteries, fit a 2 stroke powerplant and forever bask in the glory of it being followed by a haze of blue smoke. 

[Vintage Grumble]

On 23/02/2024 at 13:20, kws said:

Stick the three diamond badge on it, scrap the batteries, fit a 2 stroke powerplant and forever bask in the glory of it being followed by a haze of blue smoke. 

I actually have a massive boner for early Jimny 2-strokes. An old guy that comes into work has one, I'm trying to get put into his will so I can get my mits on it.

Anyways, I have done a bit more on this thing. Don't laugh at my lack of wood working skills, I fucking hate working with wood. So I made the front guards, bit of a weird shape to try and make out of wood, mostly because of my being a tard and all. A bit of fiberglass & resin, a hint of bog, and they should come out pretty good.

 

Then I got started on the bonnet, which is probably the most complicated shape on the thing. Added some wooden ribs, and a couple of dowels as reference marks, then put real thin MDF under them to keep the foam in, then filled the gaps up with foam, then carved the foam with a hacksaw blade and Stanley knife, then chucked a couple of layers of fiberglass over it, to give me a firm base to work with. It actually came out really close to correct, so will need very minimal amounts of filler.

Next was lights. My B-I-L used OG dolphin torch reflectors/lens' on his Jeep, that he cut down to the correct size. New dolphin torches have four round LED bulbs in them, so don't look anything like a head light. The only torch I could find that was roughly the correct size, and also sort of looked like a real headlight was some budget items from Bunnings. I pulled them to bits, linished & sanded the OD of the lens down as small as I could, but so that the reflector still fit into it. I then cut the holes in the body to suit these. The front grill will hold the lights in, and also down size them to roughly the right scale size. I also found a Toyota badge that used to be on my 86 (before I got a legit one) that's pretty damn close to the correct size for this, but not sure if I will use it or not.

The back lights were way easier, I found some LED lights on Ali that were the right shape and scale for this thing. They are meant to be in corners of the bumper IRL, which seems silly, as they would get smashed real easy. I added in a bit of wood roughly the same shape as the real bumper, and set them into this, so they are a bit more protected. There will be a steel bumper under them mounted to the tow bar in the future, so it should be quite a challenge for the kids to smash them.

That's pretty much where I'm up to. 

Regards, VG.

xoxox

   

[HighLUX]

Inspiration for the next build?

[Vintage Grumble]

38 minutes ago, HighLUX said:

Inspiration for the next build?

That's friggin sweet! Looks to be quad bike based?

[HighLUX]

Yeah looks like a cheap china quad?

[Vintage Grumble]

Sickness and life getting in the way slowed progress way down, but starting to achieve a little bit on this thing. I slapped in a dash, will house the switches/key/volt gauge and so on in the slot.

Then I glued on and sanded the back panel, this is to get the swage shape in the back "doors" without having to rout it out of the body (I don't own a router and this was way easier to do).

Then I welded in some supports for the firewall, and made up said firewall. The firewall and center section of floor will stay on the chassis.

Next was to whip up a front bumper bumper from some box section.

Made up some bumper mounts, which was a mission, because the chassis isn't straight or square, so had to diddle around a bit to get it looking central to the body. Also glued N screwed the grill that holds the lights in, and cut some more slots in the lower front to make it look more like the real thing. ALSO, I started on the window frame, which is for looks, but also something for the passenger to hold onto, to lessen the chance of an unplanned rapid vehicle disembarkment. I have made up some flat bar to weld on and make it look more like a window frame, but not sure if I will fit it. ALSO ALSO I made up and attached the mudguards and running boards. 

And then, just to make me feel like I am actually getting somewhere, last night I started the paint process. I have started off with brushing on some pigmented sealer, as I'm painting over ply, fiberglass and bog. Hopefully this sticks and seals everything up well, then I'll chuck heaps of rattle can primer filler and top coat at it. I failed to do a test patch, so really hoping the spray primer and sealer get along.

And that's about it for now.

Regards, VG

xoxox

 

[azzurro]

this is so nice!

will the kids be allowed to use it when its done?

 

lol

[Vintage Grumble]

Yeh I know its going to get driven straight into a tree 

[sheepers]

its probably more his grandkids  that will get to use it.

maybe....

[Vintage Grumble]

Sheepers please, the truth really hurts. 

[MaxPower]

China atv winch on the front would be sweet, looks great , probably double its value with a landcruiser badge somewhere. 

[Vintage Grumble]

36 minutes ago, MaxPower said:

China atv winch on the front would be sweet, looks great , probably double its value with a landcruiser badge somewhere. 

I actually have an ATV winch from my adventure mower, but its a bit too big. Also I wouldn't trust my kids with a winch, they will get up to no good with it.

At the very minimum I need to come up with "TOYOTA" badge for the front grill, either in laser cut wood or maybe a sticker? And I would also like to get the "Toyota land cruiser" stickers for the side of the bonnet. Could probably get them all 3D printed I guess? They would just need to come out pretty smooth, and I have no idea if that's achievable or not?

[tortron]

Get me a good photo of the sticker you want bud

[HighLUX]

As discussed plz spraypaint one of these black and mount it on the back for a realistic desert little willy BJ

 

[Hemi]

Where the vid of the guy whjo custom made one , fires at 2000 RPM or something ludacris .....


oh here it is  *edit . skip to 3:50ish to go straight to bbbrrrrrttt