Steel Can - Buggy Build

[DannyH]

Twisted rice burning Tin Can Toyotas are cool, but V8s are cooler.

Here’s the base build:
-Miller Motorsports replica base chassis
-Dana 60s front and rear
-Aluminum links
-4.8 LR4 (some sort of power adder)
-TH350
-Atlas
-16” travel Swayaway coilovers on each corner
-114-116” wheel base

I bought the chassis off the board from [mention]BRUISER [/mention]sometime late last year, put it in the shop, built a stand for ride height and slowly began to collect parts. The chassis is a fairly close replica to the Miller Motorsports chassis and I’d love to build a 4800 class car out of it, but my college student/ part-time machinist budget says no way. My next choice was a trail rider and possibly some comp crawling.

Currently, it sits at roughly 18” belly height with the axles 20 inches off of the ground. It will end up a little higher as the plan is to run 42s.

The build began with locating the axles and determining the wheelbase and length of the lower links. The lowers are 2.25” OD 7075 aluminum. I got a smoking deal on the raw Al sized at 3.25”, tossed it in a CNC lathe and let it turn. It took about half a day to hog the inch of material off and tap the ends. I installed the 7/8 heims and set the links under the rig.

Next up was the motor. I bought the 4.8 thinking it was a 5.3. It was cheap and nighttime when I picked it up. I didn’t have a borescope and didn’t really feel like trying to check for flat tops. I went ahead and completely rebuilt the 4.8, new bearings throughout, stage 2 truck cam, ls6 lifters and springs, had the heads machined and valves ground/seated. Fingers crossed it’ll have enough power to turn 42s... I’m hoping I can make the truck intake work but I’m not opposed to a different one.

Edit:
[mention]rcalexander105 [/mention] aided in creation of thread name

 

[BRUISER]

I'll be following

 

[DannyH]

[[CREDIT FOR BUILD THREAD NAME]]

Right as you replied I realized I forgot to add that!


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[rcalexander105]

Right as you replied I realized I forgot to add that!


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Definitely following this. Looking forward to seeing updates buddy!

 

[Bebop]

Good start, I’ll be following.

You may want to re-think a Dana60 rear axle and swap in a 14 bolt IMO.

Same for a th350 with any kind of power adder on that engine.

 

[DannyH]

Good start, I’ll be following.

You may want to re-think a Dana60 rear axle and swap in a 14 bolt IMO.

Same for a th350 with any kind of power adder on that engine.

The 60 rear is somewhat of a fill-in axle, my future plan is a steering 14bolt in the rear. If I can source a TH400 for a decent price before I sit everything in the chassis I’ll do it.

Thanks for the input man.

 

[DannyH]

Trying to catch up some here... I knocked out some radiator mounts last week. Going to add a couple more brackets to either side to ensure there’s no lateral movement.

 

[ghost]

In because I like to watch other peoples builds.... I always learn something new...

 

[DannyH]

Next up, the rear truss and upper link mount.

Haven’t done much weld blending in the past, so I am giving it a go on this build. I blended the weld on the top plate of the truss, and the back top of the link mount. I’ve still got some work to do to really dial these in and get them straight.

P.S. I’ve since cleaned up my welding table......

 

[DannyH]

I test fit the motor yesterday to gauge wether the truck oil pan and intake are going to jive with the chassis. The truck oil pan does not, but the intake should be fine. I wasn’t thinking when I installed it but I do want to run it backwards so the filter is inside the cab under the dash.

My plan now is a summit fabricated oil pan as it is reasonably priced and saves about 2.75 inches, but any and all oil pan suggestions would be great.

Once the oil pan is in I can push the motor back about 2-3 more inches.

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[R Q]

You need to look at Eddies oil pan

 

[R Q]

I wasn’t thinking when I installed it but I do want to run it backwards so the filter is inside the cab under the dash.

I didn't know you could do that. It would help Eddie's situation a lot!

 

[DannyH]

I didn't know you could do that. It would help Eddie's situation a lot!

Yeah, they’re symmetrical so you can run them either direction.


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[paradisePWoffrd]

The camaro or vette pan is the one many go with, iirc. It is low profile and has a trap door sump.

 

[rockcity]

Yeah, check the F body oil pan. I have a LS1 with F body oil pan and trap door baffle and the bottom of the oil pan is even with my TH350 pan. So, now a nice flat skid front to back is possible

 

[Chris_Keziah]

I'm a ways off from my ls repower but from all the fourmn searching I've done I'll likely go with a Champ or Tilden pan.

Champ Pans | LS1000

Oil Pans - Products

Digging the build so far, looking forward to seeing how the chassis turns out.

 

[DannyH]

The camaro or vette pan is the one many go with, iirc. It is low profile and has a trap door sump.

I was looking at these but I believe the fabricated pans save like 1.5” more than even the vette pan. If I can snag one cheap off of fleabay though this might be the option!


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[DannyH]

I'm a ways off from my ls repower but from all the fourmn searching I've done I'll likely go with a Champ or Tilden pan.

Champ Pans | LS1000

Oil Pans - Products

Digging the build so far, looking forward to seeing how the chassis turns out.

Tilden was the pan RQ was referring to. They are nice but they are steep at $500. I’m digging that champ pan. Similar technology but half the price.


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[Chris_Keziah]

Tilden was the pan RQ was referring to. They are nice but they are steep at $500. I’m digging that champ pan. Similar technology but half the price.


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True definitely not cheap, the champ doesn't come with the pick up tube or oil filter adapter though, they're pretty close in price then. I read some good stuff about the Champ pan in a Goat built buggy build thread. Summit carries them if I'm not mistaken.

 

[rockcity]

I’ve heard the factory pans are “structural” where fabricated pans lack that structural integrity on the bottom end of the block.

I’m not sure how much I believe it but I read it somewhere. Not sure how true it really is.

 

[Bebop]

I got a MAST motorsports pan on my engine. The accusump plugs directly on it, which is nice.

@rockcity : I heard the same thing, but I got plenty of friends with Tilden pans, and other fabricated units without any issues. They are pretty much all the same.

The Canton ones are very nice.

Careful though, the FBody ones don't all have the trap doors, I believe it's an add-on you can buy at Improved Racing.

I believe the Holley muscle car swap pan is one of the the shallowest one.

 

[rockcity]

Yes, Improved Racing has a trap door add on that seems to work well. I have one on my LS1 and f body oil pan.

 

[DannyH]

I got a MAST motorsports pan on my engine. The accusump plugs directly on it, which is nice.

@rockcity : I heard the same thing, but I got plenty of friends with Tilden pans, and other fabricated units without any issues. They are pretty much all the same.

The Canton ones are very nice.

Careful though, the FBody ones don't all have the trap doors, I believe it's an add-on you can buy at Improved Racing.

I believe the Holley muscle car swap pan is one of the the shallowest one.

I’m getting off on a tangent but how do you feel about the accusump accumulator? This is something I need to research more as well.


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[rockcity]

I’m getting off on a tangent but how do you feel about the accusump accumulator? This is something I need to research more as well.


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i have one as well as the trap door baffle. I’ve used it when on a steep incline. It helps to keep feeding the engine of oil until you level out or turn it off. I like it as it adds added piece of mind.

plus, when I blew an oil cooler line, I automatically had 2 extra quarts of oil in reserve after the repair of the line. Having those extra 2 quarts was a nice feature.

 

[Bebop]

I’m getting off on a tangent but how do you feel about the accusump accumulator? This is something I need to research more as well.

BKOR did a video on them very recently.


I love them, won't run a nice engine without them. That said, they aren't a guaranteed fail-safe and I wiped the rod bearings on #7 and #8 while running one.

For the price i'd say they're a good investment.

Edit : If you run a stock engine, I agree with Jake on the oil pump comment. Depending on bearing clearances, you may benefit from a high volume/pressure pump.