LX450 + CHINOOK CONVERSION

[Itsavanman]

'glass is easy, just time consuming.. but my advice for strength, if you do wind up making your own 'glass boxes, use epoxy resin, its waaaay stronger than regular polyester resin, its only draw back is its pricey.. but well worth it on something that's gonna see some flex...

 

[swcruiser]

yes i would love to do them in glass but am under time constraints. When i contacted resin suppliers I originally wanted epoxy but most steared me into poly. They argued that the new poly resins were just as good. Price wise their wasn't a huge difference between the two. structurally they probably don't need to be extraordinarily strong as I will have sliders for protection and plan to add additional protection also. I will look into the poly vs. expoxy after I do a mock up of the storage boxes. I may op to make them of steel or a combination of the two since i have some metal sheet laying around.

 

[Itsavanman]

steel works too, if ya have it lying around... here's what i have found on the poly vs epoxy debate, non waxed polyester resin is fine for new lay ups, all boats are built this way to my knowledge, but make sure ya have the non finish non waxed resin, it will stay sticky so the final layer will either have to be a finish resin, or possibly finished with a gel coat, not sure on the gel coat thing though... poly would be fine in your application, as it doesn't need to be super strong, the drawbacks to poly are when its used for repairs, it doesn't adhere to itself very well, and its not as strong as epoxy resin, but seeing as those boxes would be mainly cosmetic, i think poly would be fine.
- edit -
there i go contradicting myself, lol i think i was tired when i wrote the first one lol.. yeah thats my excuse...

 

[Mauka2Makai]

I really like what you've done with your LX, great out of the box thinking. Looking forward to the completion of the interior and seeing it in use. Keep the pics coming.

 

[swcruiser]

Mauka2,

Thanks! its nice to get compliments.. definitely makes me try and move faster to get everything finished.

Itsavanman,
Just a clarification. Poly binds to polyresin on fixes no problem. People have issues when they try to apply poly resin over epoxy. Epoxy can be applied over either. The initial Chinook build was out of Poly resin and ive made repairs on two of them with poly. no problems thus far but i haven't put it to any major tests yet. I was pretty careful before going the poly route but please correct me if Im wrong. Most of the poly resins I looked into buying had the wax as an additive. you would use on the topcoat as you mentioned. If you wanted to reapply over they suggested sanding the wax surface first. Hope this helps some people looking into fiberglass. Also don't by the Walmart or autoparts place resins. These are substandard compared to the marine industries. There are a variety of poly resins that have variations in properties. These also have a pot life so you need to be careful when ordering. I just started fiberglassing and like welding it opens up numerous NEW projects.. i don't need anymore. :sombrero: after this one Im on expedition vacation...:smiley_drive:

 

[Truck Camper Porn]

This is awesome!

Hello all! I've been a lurker on the site for awhile and have been inspired by many of the things I have seen here. I frequent the Ih8mud site which i know has some crossover in members and posts. I have an expedition style lx450 which has been an amazing vehicle. Last year i was introduced to the 70s era Chinooks and got the itch to mate the two together. For my needs it would be an excellent fit. Providing full services but maintaining low COG and can get me pretty much anywhere the lx450 could go on its own. i do a lot of hunting and backcountry stuff so I'm frequently away from small towns. A pop up would let me have many conveniences and be much easier than pulling my expedition trailer all over. I have been reading a lot of people wanting to utilize the chinook bodies on other platforms and hope my efforts will be helpful and/or inspiring...

Anyway here is the list of whats happening:

1996 lexus lx450 (bought another LX from a board member that had a rear end collision)
1976 Toyota chinook
metal frame built on lx rear bed
below body storage
freezer
asme horizontal propane tank
hot water heater
25ish gallon water tank. would like more but don't think i will have room
awning attached to chinook metal frame
outside shower
inside smev combo stove, sink and cutting board
couch which doubles as bed
outside cargo boxes
solar panel + controller
deep cycle battery
heater with digital control
seamark digital gauges for water, propane, battery
hydrualic winch
35" MT
3 " super HD 868 OME coils rear and heavy in the front

i have posted most of the build thread on mud so i don't want to duplicate but i will post when i have major advances.View attachment 130402View attachment 130403View attachment 130404

View attachment 130408View attachment 130409View attachment 130410


Here are some pics of the recent progress... you can also check out the posts on MUD... http://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/593286-lexus-lx450-chinook-expedition-vehicle.html

 

[swcruiser]

Interior Updates

So I finally returned back to AZ to get a good solid 4 days on the chinook... A lot of work completed and its finally looking livable....:wings::wings:

Things completed
winch hard lines and interior controls
dual battery setup (2 battery) with additional 2/0 cable to mount a third.
Kitchen Counters (still drawers to do)
seating area (bed fold out still to do)

Here is an outside pic for memory.

next is a few bolts showing how I will attach things externally. Especially things like a fold down table surface. These are attached to the metal frame on the inside.

Other pic is of the fuse box, circuit breaker and fridge cord. All of these will be secured later..

 

[swcruiser]

Interior

I started with the kitchen because i was too anxious and wanted to see how it all tied together... I used 3/4 ply for the verticals and counter top and 1/2 for everything else. I also used heavy duty metal roller slides and if needed will add the magnetic stays.

For the tall verticals in the rear I made sure to tie into the metal frame.

 

[mhiscox]

Thanks for posting up more. This build remains sooooo cool. Just getting the two parts mated wins the Talent and Guts Trophy in my book. We're not worthy. :bowdown:

 

[swcruiser]

Interior 2

I haven't finished the drawers yet for under the sink but thats next time. I moved to the seating/ sleeping area... There was a lot of figuring out the height and width... most bench seats are 16-18 inches... If i did 18 anyone that is 6'2" would hit the roof when collapsed so i decided 16 was good. The width ended up being 24" from the side. This gives ALOT of storage space and also makes for a nice 1 person sleeping area on the solo hunting trips. :ylsmoke::smiley_drive:

The vertical supports were made of 3/4 ply. I tried to keep the weight down and made cut outs.

I made the supports in the rear of the bench lengthwise to account for different size items... I can almost get an elk quarter in there!

I will probably end of fiberglassing the lids for rigidity and so they are more resistant to abbrasion. I will also add a hinge to the back and i have a crafty way of keeping the lids from jumping planned for the next build series.

 

[swcruiser]

Generator and porto potty

Of course the lady needs the potty... when she's not on the trip I will put the generator in this spot.

 

[swcruiser]

Gauges

Its a little premature but i had to mount one of the gauges and lights for cool factor....:sombrero:

 

[pods8]

Cool build, just noticed it.

On the epoxy front check out http://www.uscomposites.com/epoxy.html I've been using their 635 resin with the 3:1 and 4:1 hardeners on my build. Even when you factor in shipping the pricing is pretty good still, I ordered up a 6.6gal kit a month or two ago and cost per gallon with shipping was about $55+/- a couple bucks off the top of my head. The 4:1 resin is a bit thick and harder to pump out but I've used a lot of it as I've seemed to do a lot of work over the winter/spring and that 45F tolerance is needed. The 3:1 pumps awesome and is easy to mix, just need the warmer temps to make it happen which I'm now into. I get a combo of the two hardeners to have flexibility. I also picked up the weight ratios and use a kitchen scale to meter out now, its so much easier to just mix into a solo cup and toss at the end. No cleaning and no trying to measure volumes.

 

[swcruiser]

Resin

Thanks for the info on the resin. I originally bought resin from them for Chinook II. I don't recall what I bought but I didn't do any glassing over the winter months as I have to work outside on this one.:Wow1: I need to order some more for the bench seats so the info is timely. Im also going to be making the lower cargo boxes in fiberglass to match the front. One of the guys on IH8mud gave me all the side panels for lx so will use these as a template....

 

[JCMatthews]

bump