Chenowth Light Strike Vehicle

[Bad Frog]

Some of the suspension components are a bit dated but they are quite capable, even fully burdened with weapons and ammo. They could always get up and go when needed in open terrain. Not a lot of cover or concealment (or ballistic protection) in a firefight, but when working in tandem trained operators could lay down some hellacious fire with the M2 (50 cal) and M240 (7.62) weapons. I was always a fan. Very good score on your part. Thanks for saving a piece of SEAL Team history!

[baja5]

The suspension will remain mostly the same other that a shock upgrade. I wanted to keep the same shocks but the shafts are pretty rusty so new ones are in order. I plan to put a single coil over with a bypass on front. The rear will most likely lose 1 shock per side but get remote reservoir. The engine will be a Honda v6 but I don’t plan on anything that can’t be reversed if I ever wanted to do a real restoration. The gunner seat is awesome but not real practical so it will become a bolt on unit. Overall it really doesn’t need much work other that some brake rebuilding, paint, electrical,shocks and seats. Easy deal, be running in no time.

[Leatherneck]

Easy peasy few bucks and your on the trail.

[Wolfin]

Cool find! I've thought about building a scaled down dual Bofors cannon for the top of my rail. Remote control so I can elevate it and pivot it. My Wife said she wasn't going to bail me out of jail though!

Are the dual cannons going to face backwards to help you climb and jump hills or for acceleration when you are being chased .

Lee

No they'd be in a mini turret that I can control with a joystick. )I don't need them for acceleration because that's what the Jato units are for! lol!) They'd be able to rotate 360 degrees and I could elevate the guns. I decided on building scaled down replicas of the Dual Bofors 40mm cannons because they are so recognizable. At least to anybody who watched WWII Navy war movies! Who doesn't remember the Pom Pom Guns with their big recoil springs and Brass flash suppressors? I'm thinking of using a propane/oxygen injector to simulate canon fire but I'm pretty sure that would really cause me to end up in some kind of trouble! Maybe I'll just set them up as small bore Potato launchers firing Marshmallows. "No Ossifer! I did not shoot marshmallows at that that jerks car. That must be bird turds!".

[Ol'fogasaurus]

If you painted it a good camouflage color (I have seen sand rails painted camouflage on the dunes) most people would not know where the gun and rocket flashes came from .

This would not be legal in WA also as rails were banned from being driven on streets, highways, etc. many years ago (there has been a recent very limited change to that though). I have seen them on the freeway, before they were banned, and they were very hard to see even on a sunny day during daylight and even when doing the speed limit. On low visibility days (and during darkness), and we have a lot of them here, they almost completely disappear.

Lee

[Wolfin]

If you painted it a good camouflage color (I have seen sand rails painted camouflage on the dunes) most people would not know where the gun and rocket flashes came from .

This would not be legal in WA also as rails were banned from being driven on streets, highways, etc. many years ago (there has been a recent very limited change to that though). I have seen them on the freeway, before they were banned, and they were very hard to see even on a sunny day during daylight and even when doing the speed limit. On low visibility days (and during darkness), and we have a lot of them here, they almost completely disappear.

Lee

Funny you should say that!

Yeah, it's street legal. It's powered by a hot little Ford V6 so I can keep up with traffic with no problem. It has lot's of marker lights all over the front end, rear end and sides plus numerous brake lights. Course, none of that will keep some idiot from running me over but if he couldn't see me, he couldn't see anybody!

[Ol'fogasaurus]

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I'm running a 2.8 Cologne V6 bored 0.30 over, running a 350 Holly 2bbl with a center pivot float in my project buggy myself. I'm tied to a 6 rib bus trans. The cam is a custom grind: high lift short duration for low end torque ("grunt" is the word). The valves have yet to be adjusted after all these years.

It looks like you are using a BJ beam up front which I am also running but will be modified I think a bit differently.

The narrow tubes in the buggy don't show up well going into the sun, flying along with the sun to the side or in really bright lights. There was one I used to see every-so-often before they were banned but yours has more depth to it because of everything you have there, not just the bare tube frame. Off road is one thing but on the freeway during morning or evening rush hour is another thing.

Looks like a pretty compact rig you have... good job!

Lee

[Wolfin]

Mine is a 2.8 Cologne too. It must have been a popular swap at one time. Mine has headers, a Holley 4412 500cfm sitting on top of a 6 inch riser. The cam isn't stock but I don't remember what the grind is. It has a little bit of lope but not a lot. The tall riser under the carb is free grunt power. It helps to straighten the flow of the mixture charge into the top of the manifold to give more equal charges into the cylinders. The ignition system is a creation all by itself! The distributor is a Mallory Dual Point Marine unit. I'm using an old school Delta 10 ignition unit to isolate the points and boost the spark with CDI firing thru a Mallory Super coil. The spark is frightening! I'm still using a Type 1 trans. (I think!) It's what's known as a Freeway Flyer. I want to get a heavier trans so I can drive it more aggressively but I like the gearing. The engine has plenty of power and can power me along the Interstate at 80mph with power left over.

[baja5]

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So CJ and I had some time to work on the car today. We cut the gunners seat and cage off (don’t worry purists, it will be saved and converted to a bolt on unit). Looks more like a race car now . Wa also removed the engine and bolted the rear cage back on so I could take a few measurements. Looks like there is plenty of room for the V6 but I may have to modify a tube or 2 on the rear cage itself. Also remove a couple of the shocks to measure the stroke length. Seems a 12 should do it in the rear and a 10 up front. So, if anyone has anything they are looking to part with hit me up.planning to just replace 4 rear shocks with similar to what’s there. Up front I plan on a more modern coil over with a bypass.

[baja5]

The pics are upside down, weird. If you click on them the come up the right way. Odd.

[Wolfin]

Looking good except try to keep it right side up when you drive it! The pictures are upside down! You know, you could make money with the gunners seat. Rent out rides to photographers!

[Ol'fogasaurus]

"It looks like you are using a BJ beam up front which I am also running but will be modified I think a bit differently."

I stand corrected, the front end looks different at this angle and is more like the rails you see with K&L front beams w/no torsion bars. If you click on the photos they do come up right side up but if you click on them a second time you get a close up pix. Different but allows more insight (pun not intended).

I am not 100% sure but in the bottom pix the trans looks like the trans has either 5 or 6 ribs (a tube in the way).

It looks beefy and should give you a lot of pleasure when done.

Lee

[baja5]

It is a wider L/P beam with long arms and through rods. Still has the shocks on it for now so I’m not sure how much travel it has. Somewhere around 13-14 I’m guessing. The front end feels pretty bound up right now so I will get it all on stands and start to take it apart for a good cleaning.

[Leatherneck]

Cool looking buggy. If you can get a (better) deal for 4 vice 2, 10” bypasses for the front I’m good for two. Yeah strapping me down with a strap to the roof just wouldn’t be the same.

Tell ya guys paintball and buggies got to be fun.

[Skidmark]

Damn, Denny... you rolled it already??!!!