I was rebuilding this Max IV that I picked up out of Atlanta last year thanks to a hot tip from jpswift1. Jennifer decided that it was the one that she wanted (even though I tried to talk her into a Max II ). So I finished sanding the frame, painting everything, replacing all of the flanges, bearings, axles (thanks to RI for the flanges & bearings and Whipper for the axles). While we were putting it back together we started with a lot of "what-if's" like:
What if we move the seat back about a foot?
What if we just make it a one seater with a suspension seat?
What if we move the T20 forward and lower the motor?
In the end, Jennifer said I could do whatever I wanted to with it but the only request that she had was that it had a windshield...easy enough.
Really the only thing that we compromised on was the T20. I initially wanted to move it forward (like Whipper has done on Godzilla) but after looking at the frame and seeing what was involved and questioning whether or not I could make the clutch fit on a non-springer Max, I decided to do the next best (and easiest) thing. I left the T20 where it was and moved the engine forward down into the tub.
So here are the changes that we made to date:
-Cut the stock roll cage down so that it was a few inches lower
-Welded some tabs on the roll bar and made a windshield to fit it
-Removed all of the seats and replaced them with one high back seat w/ 5 point harness on a suspension pedestal. The seat was located further back for comfort and hopefully a better ride overall.
-Made some new adjustments for the laterals to move them back
-Removed the engine stand and bent a mount that would span the entire frame so that I could mount the motor and battery down low.
-This Max didn't come with a motor so I got her a new Bandolero motor
Things left to do:
-Find a belt that will work
-Finalize engine location
-Fabricate an exhaust
-Make sure that the oil filter will clear the T20 shift linkage
-Purchase new tires/wheels
So hopefully in the end Jennifer will have a decent riding Max IV with some power. I will probably end up putting the Vampire ASX tires on it but I haven't completely made my mind up on those yet.
Thanks to all of you who helped me make some decisions. You know who you are. Here's the pictures so far. I will update the thread as I go:
Here's the suspension seat mounted: