Baja sears suburban

Entered into 2014 Build-Off. View thread here: http://www.atltf.com/t3157-baja-sears-build

Starting a new project based on this sears suburban frame that I was going to make a circle tracker out of.


The circle track bumper is out, so I took care of that with the torch.


Planning on using an 11hp Briggs I/C





Some used atv tires will go on the rear rims


Planning on using hydraulic brakes. I have to look for a small rotor and caliper for the
rear axle, maybe off a small toyota something of that nature.


I'm also going to mount the seat on some springs again, but I'm going to leave it as low as possible. Locking the rear, already put a smaller pulley on the original transmission pulley hub when I was working on it before. I'll probably put some beefier tie rod ends on it. Front axle is either going to have some shocks attached to it, or I'm going to make an independent front suspension setup. Just welding on some shocks would be quick and easy and still look cool, but IFS might make banging over stuff a bit easier. Thinking of making a hood that's about a third lower than it would have been stock and having the engine stick through it. Not sure if i'll stick with the stock dash or make my own. Of course It'll have a cool front bumper and some kind of nifty exhaust... Open to suggestions on pretty much anything about the project.

That's pretty cool

Sweet base to start with. I've made a custom mesh grille if that helps out. Ill suggest a front and rear bumper, lights, and maybe rear fenders.

I don't know yet if i'm going to put fenders on or just leave it open. I do have another complete tractor that I could use fenders grill and hood off of, But it might be nice to keep that one original and get it going again so you can see what this one started from. If I leave the fenders off, any water will be a real pain unless your crawling through it. I'm going to try to get the motor running today.

I've decided to leave the front axle in one piece and just add some shocks. I can always make it into an independent setup later if I need too without too much trouble. I'll weld some brackets on the axles to hold the bottom of the shocks, and make some kind of T bar type structure to hold the top.


I torched off the brackets that used to hold up your plow/mower deck because I didn't like the look of them and I was going to reuse them to hold the bottom of the shocks. Once I got them off I realized the holes were a bit too big and they were pretty heavy. I don't think it's worth bothering with them. I'll make my own out of something a little lighter.


I didn't want the axle to warp while cutting off the brackets, so I put it on a jack stand to take the weight off of it.

I also had the motor running a little over the weekend although the carb needs to be cleaned out. I might use a different one later anyway.

Good progress. im putting car shocks on mine. im just going to get a bolt and weld it to the side of my axle and the same with a angle iron shock tower.

lookin good. i like the strut ides

I'm planning on doin that kind of shocks on my hot rod. Everyone's been doin independent and it seems like a lot of work, Celt mine will just be little springs.... Cuz it's gonna be lowered and not have very much travel.. But I like this thing man lookin sweet!

I drilled some holes through a piece of steel I had for my lower shock mounts. My new to me drill press worked pretty good although I don't have a vice for it yet.

Cut the brackets to length, then mocked everything up with the drill bit until I get bolts that fit.

Put the front end up on a jack and measured maximum travel at the point where the shock is to be mounted. About 4 1/4 inches.

I fully compressed the shock and made a mark where the dust skirt came down to on the shock body. Next I measured up 4 1/4 inches and made another mark.

I moved the axle on the side I was working on back to the lowest point. Then put my shock so it was an inch or so above my upper mark, and marked my shock tower steel to be cut. The extra was just to ensure the axle would bottom out against the tractor frame and not on the shock itself. I think the max travel on these shocks are around 6 or 7 inches, so I have plenty to play with.

I cut some pieces of steel out for the shock towers. I think it was part of an overhead door track. Gives it a little different look than the bed frame angle iron I usually use. All thats left is the top piece and to weld everything together.

Already having thoughts about flipping the intake and mounting this down draft carb off a two cylinder. I'm not sure what i'm going to do about that yet. I'm not sure if I want the carb sticking out through the hood.

Not that anyone cares but, in case you were wondering, the shocks came off the back of a 67 pontiac firebird (not mine). I'm not sure whats up with the weird spiral groove on them or what brand they are. I was thinking of painting them yellow and painting the groove black.

That's sweet man, got ome firebird shocks on there you should put the bird logo on the hood now lol

If I had a hood!

Haha I need to fix my plastic tabs on mine... They broke off like plastic does lol

I second that. I firebird paint job would be badass!

I've got the front "suspension" completed. I actually got everything lined up pretty close this time. Next I'm going to get a pulley for the motor and line it up with the transmission so I can drill some mounting holes. It's going to be back a couple inches more than the original engine was since the shocks and assosiated junk are in the way now. Maybe moving the engine back will make it handle a little better by keeping the weight centered a bit better. I think the battery is going to go right in front of the steering column and i'll move the gas tank behind me right over where the hitch is. My rear bumper will wrap around the gas tank to protect it like the rear bumper cage on a baja bug. Of course i'll have to use a vaccum fuel pump to get the fuel up to the carb, but thats not a big deal.

Could use a small electrical sending unit too.

Otherwise very cool!

This is very cool. To go with the theme, what about a light bar on the consle in front of the steering wheel with like 4 circle lights?

I was thinking about that. I did some checking and found some that are relatively cheap at $25-50. Something to think about anyway.

i always thought a LED bar (like 16" or whatever) would be cool, but then i saw how much they cost.....   

I think 3 would look great. Put an exo cage around em and be ready to roll.

Maybe that’s what i'll end up doing. The other thing to worry about is how much power your going to draw with all these lights. My simplicity is just above breaking even with the two napa lights and one tail light. Of course I don't use them much. Maybe I can find some LED headlights that won't draw so much juice. I was going to use a small automotive alternator, but decided not to since I don't have as much space as I thought and also, I don't want to keep adding extra weight to this thing. I have a third stop light from a 2003 or so chevy cavalier that I think would work pretty good for a tail light. It looks more yellow than red in the picture. Pretty bright compared to a regular light.

Looking good!

Lined up the motor with a belt and pulley I had, this should be about where it ends up. Here's how much clearance you have between the shocks and carb. To the rear, the mounting bolts hang over the rear of the frame. I'll have to weld some tabs or something back there. A much closer fit than I thought, but it's do-able. I put the carb back together, but I didn't try to run it again yet.

I've been trying to get the motor running but had a lot of trouble. After I got the carb put back on, it still wouldn't run. It fired here and there, but I couldn't keep it going. I thought I missed something in the carb (like I usually do) so I took it back apart. Still didn't run. So I finally pulled the head off to see if a valve was hung up a bit or something like that, since it seemed a little dead on compression. I found out the head gasket had a serious spot in it. Maybe somebody took it off at one point and ripped it, then put it back together with the old gasket and it blew out or maybe it blew out on it's own. I think everything else is ok, so it should run once I get a gasket for it. I might pick up a carb kit too, the needle would stick open here and there while I was fooling around trying to get it started. It's one of those rubber tipped deals.



More or less where the gas tank should end up, with an idea of the bumper size...


Getting technical now, trying to keep dirt out and everything...Maybe a bit lazy too, with how close the motor is to that chair...

Im a big fan of the old sears, and I like that your taking a out of the box approach. also digging the rear gas tank/bumper setup