Mr.Modified's Simplicity Adventure Edition [2016 Build-Off Finalist]

Welding in the extensions for the bumper.


Bumper installed.


Everything fits pretty good. Needed the bumper out in front of the winch enough that trees would hit the bumper first, but not too far or it would restrict how much angle you could have on the winch cable. The way it is now you can go about 45 degrees before the cable scrubs the bars in the bumper. If you really need to, you could just let it drag, just digs the heck out of it is all. I think usually your working in a generally forward direction anyway.


Designed the bumper to fit these LED lights. They should be pretty well protected in there. Could even weld some more thin rods across in front of the lights. Undecided if there will be a couple more lights up near the steering wheel on the sides of the hood.

Lookin good mang. Have you tried to jump on the coilovers to see how stiff? Can you articulate it (lift up one tire) without the other tire picking up?

Cool! Bumper looks right at home on there. Should protect everything well

Yeah I think Ive just lost haha. Which reminds me, I gotta get back to my buildoff tractor sometime

Thanks. I jumped up and down on the frame some when I first got the brackets done. If I really bounce on it hard I can almost hit the stops but not quite. Should be perfect. It will flex without affecting the other side. Next couple things on the list: Rear hood support, finish clutch, fuel tank. Gas tank is going to end up in the rear like the baja sears due to space restrictions, but not stick out nearly as far. I'll still be able to use the stock hitch and it shouldn't stick out past the rear tires.

Thing is looking tougher an tougher everyday.

Thanks. I got the gas tank mount/rear bumper started and also eliminated the gas filler hole in the hood since it was close to the spark plug boot with the hood level.

I cut around the filler hole and then welded a square of steel under it. Still have to fill it in with some body filler to smooth it out.


Gas tank will get tucked in here. 16 gauge square tube for a rear bumper welded to some angle iron. Still needs an extra brace on each side to beef it up in case I get ran into or back into a tree. Also need to weld the filler neck to the tank.


Bumper high enough to clear the off road trailer at the bottom of hills or steep angles. Tail light will probably end up top center of the bumper.

Nice! that hole in the hood is too small to take the gas cap off anyway, at least for me, I have big hands. Its looking good!

Just a side view of what it's going to look like. Seat from a sears custom with foam and cover. Under the cover is just a regular steel seat. If your going to be in deep water you can just remove the cover and padding to keep it dry.

Slap some belts on and go!

We're getting there, but I still don't have a clutch or the carb mounted. This week I have off, so I should be able to get a lot done if I don't waste too much time doing other things. At least now almost everything is roughed out with all the major stuff except the battery where it needs to be. On the other hand almost nothing is 100% done. Everything has small things that need to be taken care of. But I should be ready for Haspin.

Clutch from the top.


Clutch 99% done. Might need a sleeve or extra bracing of some sort to prevent that threaded rod from flexing. But at least the arm is on there and everything is lined up now. You can see a second piece of steel with a second hole under the pulley. That's just another place to bolt the pulley if the belt stretches too much or if I don't have things figured quite right since the rod is welded in place.


Found this plastic adapter for the carb. Snorkel tube will slide over that and lead to the airbox at the rear of the hood.

Pretty much finished the rub rails. Just added a brace on both sides. On this side the brace is at a slightly different angle since part of the frame is gone to make room for the tensioner pulley. I welded the ends of the tube shut and rounded it off as much as possible so it doesn't take a chunk out of someones leg.


Start of a battery tray under the seat. It's a close fit, but I think the terminals should clear ok. I can put a stop on the seat if I have to so it can't come in contact with the battery or maybe I'll make that part of the battery hold down.


Welded in these rods in front of where the headlights will go.


Also added a couple of rods to the rear bumper for extra support and made the structure which will hold the hood, visible just in front of the steering column. I think the air box is going to end up on the side of the hood. Main issues now are brakes and dash. For the dash there are a lot of weird angles and the belt system to cover up, so that might be a bit interesting.

Looks so good! Do you not think that the battery might be a bit close to mud/water or are you gonna make a cover for it?

Thanks! I might have a cover on it, not sure. I don't think water or mud splashing on it will hurt though. There might be an inner fender between the battery and the tire also.

Nice! How are you going to do the brakes? Hydraulic like the Baja?

Brakes are going to be super low tech this time. Around each wheel hub will be a band, either rubber or an actual go kart band. Instead of a foot brake, most likely I think I'll have a hand lever. The issue is that the hub's diameter is pretty small, so your not going to have as much leverage to work with. Basically, less braking effort. The main reason for doing it this way this time is just to avoid adapting a rotor. On the baja sears, I had to make studs that held the rotor behind the hub. Also, the whole brake setup on the baja sears was heavy and overkill for the relatively low speeds your traveling at.

Today I worked on making a guard for the belts. Needed it sealed up good to keep water from dumping in your lap when your in a stream. I thought about making a bolt on guard, but it was easier to just weld everything together. Guard also helps brace the jackshaft plate.


Plenty of room for getting the belt on and off easily. The rear belt shouldn't need much attention anyway.


Outter cover is aluminum which fits on 4 pegs. Pegs are drilled for clips like hood pins. The forward belt will be partly covered, but it's far forward enough where you can't really reach it while in the seat. The cover makes a great place for stickers.

Those rounded guards make it look a bit like a steam engine. Band brakes sound good. I've always thought of having the brake lever right up at the steering wheel but not attached to it. More like the throttle on old tractors.

The way your doing the guards is really neat. I agree that band brakes is really all youll need for all the speed this thing will probably do.

Thanks. Finished up the dash.


Plenty of room for switches or whatever you want to put in. I think I'll put a light under the edge of the hood which will shine out on the dash at night.


Battery will clear no problem. Made a battery hold down. Still needs one more edge welded on to keep the battery from sliding towards the wheel. Still need to weld up the fuel tank and make a strap to hold it.


Front axle flipped upside down. I had planned on making a full skid plate over the steering, but the steering pivot is removed from the bottom, so I would have to bolt on a plate. Also there is only a small area where you can weld supports on the wishbone without getting in the way of steering rods. I decided to just make this guard that sticks down a little lower than the tie rods. This way you end up with a little better ground clearance than a full skid plate and it should help in most cases, unless you get into really jagged rocks. At least at speed a rock shouldn't clear the tie rods right off the bottom of the tractor. I still need to order some better rods.

Got the paint off the gas tank and welded the filler neck on. Still need to add the pickup tube and cover over a couple holes.


Strap finished. Front bolts on the seat spring bolt. Rear has an adjuster that goes through a bracket welded on the bottom of the bumper.

Bracing on the filler neck?

I thought about it but I think it should be ok without any extra bracing. I bought a quart of POR 15 fuel tank sealer. All I need to do with the tank is make sure it's cleaned out good, then weld that hole closed. Then just coat the inside and paint the outside.

Love this build! Can't wait to see it in person!

Thanks. As long as I can stay working on it the next couple weekends it'll be there.

I finished welding up the gas tank. This is just a view from inside showing the pickup tube. The hole I torched out and patched over at the bottom. The angle it is in the picture is about the angle it will be at in the tractor. I just have to rinse it out with gas then dry it out good and coat.


Hood rack welded up except the brackets to bolt it to the hood. I could have just put some hooks on the hood to attach straps to, but this is mainly to keep your gear from rubbing the paint off the hood. It'll be bolted about a 1/4" up off the hood. Made from steel rod.