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And onto the chassis.... Almost I thought it would be handy to have a way of mounting the axle to the chassis so I marked out a couple of squares of steel, cut them out, tack welded together, but it was only when I started to bore the centers out on the lathe that I realized the square plates were going to be too small!! Take 2 on a slightly bigger scale.. That's take 1 on the bench behind it! A perfect fit around this axle off cut.. Chopped in half's and tacked on to the axle.. The sticking up bit's at the back are temporary and were only added to keep the plates the right distance apart for tacking onto the axle... Strengthening will be added but on when I have the chassis sorted.. And finally the first 2 new bit's of chassis roughly in place.. Working out the step up and step out so the rails line up with the axle mounts is going to be fun

...and a shelf for the Kleenex and wurthers originals

I wish I had more of an update on Why Not for you guy's, but as my ordered steel has yet to turn up (fingers crossed for tomorrow he says yet again ) I've not been able to get on with much.. These two bits of blue box have been welded to the back of the body and screwed to the bench.. And a couple more lengths at the front.. These hold the bodywork in the right place so I can work out how the new chassis rails will run.. Nothing is set in stone yet, but I do know I want the top rails to run inside the bodywork.. Roll on when the steel arrives, it will look better and be a bit stronger than the lengths of wood

Well, the time had come to get cracking on with building the rest of "Why Not's" chassis, but before I could do that I needed to make sure the rear axle was in the right place and would stay there.. So I dug out some old angle iron to make a pair of bolt on axle stands.. But how to find the center of the axle!! Not a problem... I bolted a thin steel plate over the hole and gently tapped around the edges of the bearing hole which kinda gave me an outline, but a rough one.. Once the plate was removed it had a nice smooth sharp bearing hole mark... Just right for marking out the middle The center mark was given a light nudge with a punch so it could be seen on the outside and then bolted back to the axle like so A view from the rear.. The axle is 100% in the right place now and is firmly fixed down to the bench.. And the prop shaft mocked up..

A short video of tonight's adventures with the crawler on its first test run

here's the rest...not my hood - stole it from Ewan, also still 4x2 - I needed the tin work in place before I finished the idler and 4WD select/difflock and the obligatory video

It lives!!! What a great machine.. I can see it getting driven plenty just for the fun of it

Evolution out of control I think your build knows the route it wants to take.. A tractor unit sounds a fine idea and something different

Not wishing to spoil Ian's welding trolley thread, here is my offering attachment=6329:image.jpg] It was one of those things you have a tray on, whilst sitting in your arm chair. As you can see, it has been extensively modified, with much time and effort spent. Came from a house a friend of mine bought, that had belonged to an elderly lady. Out of quite a bit of invalidity equipment left. behind, I thought it would come in for some use when offered me. I did turn down the commode though. Can some kind person put it the right way up. I've tried without success.[done] mark

Thanks Paul, it is getting there.. Slowly but moving in the right direction I will do when I can... It's just getting a lift over.. No Pete for a couple of weeks now. Thanks James.. It was the only way I could think of finding the center point without putting an axle back in.. And they are still a bit too long to fit Why Not now officially has lower chassis rails... Only tacked together and in need of a few cross members but they are there all the same The angles look a bit strange in the photo's but the rails kick out and the up to reach the axle..

Looking good like your imaginative marking out skills

Getting there mate :thumbs:

So it looks like the 4x6 maybe some sort of tractor unit / logger / tractor I'm getting excited

blimey ben its a monster looking good mate, it needs a basket like mine, then we can go for a ride together down the prom

managed to get a few minutes on this one today its finally coming together here are a couple of pictures there are still bits to be done and i am going to change a few little bits that im not happy with

another video for you all

Thanks Gents and for looking in on this thread. Yeah!, bit of a jigsaw Ian . Started the partial reassembly and then decided that several bits of the Clutch Linkage are too sloppy, worn and pitted. Don't want to 'Spoil the Ship for a Ha'p'orth of Tar', so I'll make new bits during the forecast rainy days ahead - Hit the Wheels the other day, full of the usual dirt n detritus mixed with Grease n Oil- Slow job cleaning out all the 'Cast In' gear teeth while trying to avoid getting any solvent in the gap between tyre and rim. Bushings showed a bit of wear, Stub axles are good, so extracted them and ordered replacements the other day. Gave the wheels a few coats of paint and left them to dry. Bushings arrived today so fitted those and now feels a smooth 'running fit' - Gave the tyre walls a clean and a coat of Holts Tyre Wall Black (old stock of some 40yrs) to seal the surfaces. I'm leaving the 'Tread' pattern and the Hub Cover issues until it is up and running. Next is more Blasting, Etch Priming and 'E' Bucketing parts before painting and assembly. Would be nice to get a Test Cut in before the winter if I can.

With no more steel to hand to make any more of the frame (an order was put in today), I turned my thought to narrowing the rear axle.. Time to get serious and work out how narrow it needs to go. So the chassis was welded to some bit's of box at the right height... This is the rear.. Did I mention I like MIG welding? And once I was sure the chassis was central on the bench (I had drawn a big rectangle around the bench with a line right through the center), the bit's of box were firmly screwed down.. The chassis isn't going anywhere now So out came the wheels, bit's of bodywork and the odd bit of wood for some mocking up.. Moving the rear wheel in and out, backward and forwards until I hit the "Grin spot".! The "Grin spot" is when you know you have got it just right and a big grin breaks out on ones face quite often followed by some silly giggling Once I'd had a coffee and calmed down a bit, out came the tripe measure followed by some scribbling and head scratching.. The standard width Reliant axle is 1288mm hub to hub.. I need one that's 780mm in width.. So I need to narrow it by 508mm or 254mm each side, or the bit between the masking tape need to be cut out!! I won't be doing any cutting here though, Nigel has a powersaw thingy that's far more accurate than anything I have here.. So see you soon for some metal sawing Nigel Oh, for me one of the best views of Why Not is from the front.. The trouble is there is not enough space to get a camera in to take the shot.... So I tried the Panarama setting on my phones camera... Not quite the result I was after Thought I'd better add this as well... The latest Project "Why Not " video Thanks Mark