Thiokol Imp 1402 OpenTop # 129 by Nikson

[anthonydoldd]

That looks like it will work great! Did you keep it around the weight you were shooting for? Excellent workmanship, excited to see it when you get it all sheeted!!

 

[muleman]

Coming together nicely. Have you thought about it wanting to nose dive without the back cab on? I love the concept of it being removable though.

 

[Nikson]

That looks like it will work great! Did you keep it around the weight you were shooting for? Excellent workmanship, excited to see it when you get it all sheeted!!

Thanks Buddy...

So far - so good. Cant really comment much on the projected weight, since I just did what I thought was necessary for the option I was shooting for at this point.

Rear cab will be a soft top, since I just dont see the point of spending all that money to do it in aluminum, as well as weight difference with soft top option, which I plan to use the semi-truck trailer material which is pretty rip proof as well as really durable over all on the wear-n-tear.

At this point all I can say is that my buddy and I are able to somewhat easily lift it off the bed and move it around from garage to garage, not much of an issue with weight I guess... Dont seem like it will be at all heavy.

I figured that stretching out the jack supports will definitely help me keeping it more stable, keeping in mind that tent will have 4 adults sleeping in it. Worse case scenario, I'll be able to put the cat under the cab for the night to make it more stable it that becomes a concern, which I dont really see at this point as one.

Got the wiper motors & arms in today, so will be starting to get the sheeting measured out and fabbed to be put on.

 

[Nikson]

Coming together nicely. Have you thought about it wanting to nose dive without the back cab on? I love the concept of it being removable though.

Thanks,

Any reason to worry about it being "front heavy"?

 

[muleman]

I was thinking about steep downhill conditions where most of the weight is up front.

 

[Nikson]

I was thinking about steep downhill conditions where most of the weight is up front.

I plan on using it on snowed in roads in the mountains, no plans on climbing steep stuff... but I guess you never know.

Considering all this thou, I dont see how its too heavy on the front thou, its just the cab in the front, which wont outweigh the rear by that much...

 

[Nikson]

Re: aluminum sheeting

Got some sheetmetal done yesterday...

Cold evenings make is "no so fun to be in the garage" times...

Side panes & floor bottoms... 1/8th thickness...

Front had to get some bends into it, upper & lower lips to wrap around...

Took a Dremel tool with cutting wheel - cut a line 1/2 depth of the sheet in the location of the bend (from inside), then just clamped it on my welding table and hand bent it to the right angles... Came out farely easy and simple...

 

[Fritzhaus]

Awesome work! Can't wait to see it on snow.

 

[Nikson]

Awesome work! Can't wait to see it on snow.

I'm in the same boat... cant wait to see it in the snow...

 

[Nikson]

Re: Cab coverings...

Time to update...

over the past couple of weeks, got the rear cab covered in aluminum, went with 1/18 thickness...

so it looked like that before the works...

baby steps...

nice to be able to just cut this up with my plasma (only a 110v)

primered the cab, and cut out the side windows...

found a truck canopy off craigslist for $25, so windows are the right size & kind and only $25...

front cab wasnt much different... just a little more detail on smaller pieces...

LOTS OF SCREWING...

haven't had much luck finding a right size windows to put into the doors, so I've thought about making my own out of plexi-glass, and just use some aluminum u-channel for the front slider part.

so... day goes one... work goes on...

stay tuned... we are almost there...

(gonna order the windshield sometime this week, Cascades are going to be getting snow this coming weekend)

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

i've got acrylic plexi c glass in my jeep for a side window that was missing in my acme door on the driveers sid eit's starting to frost up a bit now if i were to do it again i would use aircraft grade lexan it will last much longer and won't frost up in sunlight

 

[Nikson]

i've got acrylic plexi c glass in my jeep for a side window that was missing in my acme door on the driveers sid eit's starting to frost up a bit now if i were to do it again i would use aircraft grade lexan it will last much longer and won't frost up in sunlight

Where do I source that out? I've got plenty of that plexi-glass at home, and I could easily replace it if needed.

In long run, I'm sure I should be able to find a good glass windows that I'll put in anyway, so this stuff will be a temporary thing.

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

i had plex at home that is why i did it and also to see if it would work. i would get ahold of some one at your local airport they should have a supplier for it keep in mind with a little care some of that lexan has stood up in aircraft for over 20 years ,and it's easy to work with at home around here i would go through aviall of course we have lots of small planes up here may take a trip a couple of towns over where you are at. all my stuff is mail order or i buy it at a primium at the local air taxies. forgot sighn shops will have standrad lexan but the aircraft stuff is more clear and has better resistance to scratching

 

[brianf]

go to glass shop and have them cut safety glass, cost is about the same as lexan or plexi glass, but you do it once and will not scratch very easy,

 

[anthonydoldd]

Nikson,

Looking good!! are you going to use any insulation in the cabs? I plan to use rboard or some thing similar. Should reinforce the aluminum to a small extent but noise and heat insulation will be nice.

Good work

Keep us posted!!

 

[Nikson]

go to glass shop and have them cut safety glass, cost is about the same as lexan or plexi glass, but you do it once and will not scratch very easy,

I've just contacted the local glass shops for the windshield quotes, gave them the sized on the door glass as well... we'll see what they'll come up with.

 

[muleman]

We tried the plexiglass once in a track loader. 8 months later pulled it out and the local glass shop used it for a template to cut safety glass. The plastic had gotten progressively worse to clean and see through.

 

[Nikson]

Nikson,

Looking good!! are you going to use any insulation in the cabs? I plan to use rboard or some thing similar. Should reinforce the aluminum to a small extent but noise and heat insulation will be nice.

Good work

Keep us posted!!

Anthony,

At this point I just plan to use exterior carpeting that I used for the floor in the rear cab, to have that put onto the interior walls of the front/rear cab.

I'm not too worried about it being "warm & insulated", but noise & overall vibes will be nice to stay away from.

I've done carpet on the hardtop of my Jeep Wrangler (used same material as they use to wrap sub-woofer/speaker boxes) - worked out real well, just gives it a very "homey & comforting" feeling to it, thats for sure.

To give you an idea of a carpeted top...

In our neck of the woods, it dont get freezing cold much - lowest it gets at night is probably like 20s... so I'm not too concerned about the insulation factor at this point.

If all goes towards the fact that I'll put in a watercooled engine sometime in the future, than I might consider just throwing in some heaters & doing a better insulation job, but I think my next cat-camper will be totally different.

Cheers...

 

[Nikson]

We tried the plexiglass once in a track loader. 8 months later pulled it out and the local glass shop used it for a template to cut safety glass. The plastic had gotten progressively worse to clean and see through.

Just got a quote for the glass works...

Windshield is going to run $260 (thats for 59 1/8 X 35 size) including gasket seal, and the little ones for the front doors will run about $90/pair.

I guess glass it is...

Need to finish up the cab works & get her painted so I can get the glass put in.

 

[Nikson]

Re: GoPro3

put the pre-order for the new cam GoPro3 Black Edition, now will get some high quality video of the trips...

 

[Nikson]

Re: tune-up

Had the engine with carb tuned up properly by my good buddy mechanic.

now it runs perfect...

oh, thats me doing cookies...

 

[Nikson]

Re: doors

Finished both doors last night... left garage at 1 A.M., crazy tired, but end result was very satisfactory.

Had the glass guy look over the doors & round ends... said it will be perfect.

 

[Mtn-Track]

I like what you're doing here! Nice! Can't wait to see the final product,.....

if there is such a thing as 'final' on any cat...

 

[Nikson]

I like what you're doing here! Nice! Can't wait to see the final product,.....

if there is such a thing as 'final' on any cat...

Very likely - that the light at the end of the tunnel is "imaginary" LOL

So far, I have to agree - liking the process... and cant wait to try her out.

Have to come up with a name now...

 

[muleman]

Work in progress would work. Those doors look great. The radius corners are important to help them last.

 

[Nikson]

Work in progress would work. Those doors look great. The radius corners are important to help them last.

Life supposed to be progressive... LOL

Just a few more baby steps... and we are there...

now just have to hope that it snows...

 

[Nikson]

Re: Cabs are on...

"Success - a progressive realization of a worthy ideal!"

The cat is pretty worthy ideal... and seems like so far its a successful project.

Anyways... getting ready to paint and putting on the final touches.....

so here we go...

the whole idea behind removable cab...

so far looks pretty sweet...

and a little video to finish it up...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KJyFIGuMfY&feature=share&list=UUiTvqT1musPzdkZJT3OyHHg"]Cabin setup on the redesigned Thiokol Imp 1402 - YouTube[/ame]

P.s. some bullet proof machines... lol

 

[Snowtrac Nome]

my guess is the little wisconson might be a bit on the gutlass side on the plus side it. like the vw' simple with minamal fluids and accessorys. you have done an outstanding job and i like that big green house windshield

 

[Northcoast]

Thanks for sharing your project, should be a lot of fun. Love the removable cabin idea,opens up a lot of possibilities for usability. Great fabrication !

 

[300 H and H]

Nikson,

Very nice work! I am wondering how hard it was to work with the indoor-outdoor carpeting for the interior. Will it form into corners that are rounded? What adhesive are you using to glue it on?

Regards, Kirk