DarkMonohue said:
NOHOME said:
MG Midget on Suzuki Samurai chassis? They do share a wheelbase and the short overhang would be good for off road approach angles.
I'm sure you could do a better job than the pic of you wanted to.
A late friend of mine did a better job of Suzukifying a Midget, though he built his own frame. And his own fender flares. And his own just about everything, given the opportunity.
Since Kreb is on the rust-free west coast, I'm voting Jeep XJ or ZJ running gear with a simple tube frame integrated into the host body. Both are elderly now, but common enough to make parts easy. It wouldn't be less elegant than a bulky OEM frame hanging below a body that wasn't made to conceal it...
The best 4 x 4 conversions are done this way. One of the best examples is the Morrvair.
Jesse Ransom said:
93gsxturbo said:
Cars on truck/SUV frames rarely look right because the frame sticks so low below the body. I say up your fab skillz and DIY a frame with straight axles under your preferred body.
It hadn't occurred to me that it would be anything other than a vintage body-on-frame vehicle, like an old truck.
I think you're right, though; most car-on-a-truck contraptions look pretty ungainly, though I bet some combinations are better suited than others.
I wonder, if you're working from a unibody, whether you could cut up a chassis and more or less make subframes out of it? More or less keep it as brackets for the bouncy bits?
Even vintage car frame does not equal vintage truck frame. It will still make people look at it and say "what the meth?" unles the chassis rails are tucked up into the body pretty nice.
Just a buggy or 4x4er does not need the sort of frame that a truck or SUV has unless you want to tow or yank with it, and you probably are not gonna do much of either with a properly built offroader.
You can always body drop it the way lowrider guys do to get the body sitting right on the frame, but then when its body dropped the wheelwells get too low for big meats unless the wheelwells are cosmetic only...its complicated.
In my market, the pathfinder/Xterra seems like a good value. I've owned two Nissan 4-cylinder trucks, and both were bland but bulletproof.
2.5 gen Montero - very capable, modern enough you can still get parts and it has some modern amenities. Mid-size so you can probably stick it under all kinds of stuff. And can still be found pretty cheap.
Alternate - earlier 2nd gen Montys, and 3rd gen Montys.
