the wheel purchase is DONE!!!

i have to give a big thanks to jon at driverz inc and jason rushforth. ive bugged the crap out of them for the two years since i put my deposit down (no, im not kidding its really been two years) and they are both awesome to work with.

the wheels are going to be 3 piece stepped lip, brushed outers, grey centers and 19x9.5 fronts and 20x11 rears. the stepped lip gives me the same centers as a 18/19 combo and the hoops are a little lighter as well. i also decided to go back to the original 275/35 front to match the sidewalls a little better with the 315/35 rear.

the style? well i'll keep that a secret until i have some pictures. i want people to keep reading my thread so i can get help and advice, and i don't want anyone putting me on their "banned" list. once you see them, i hope you all agree that they fit the car.

the plan is to have the frame at the blasters sometime in july and have it painted and assembled by the end of july. because i have to notch the frame a little to clear the 315's i wanted to push forward with the wheel order so i have them to know what needs to be clearanced. i also have to get the exhaust done since it needs to run through a crossmember and another has to be notched as well. in addition, i had never bent up the bars that go between the mid crossmember and the upper control arm crossmember and those have to be welded in. so, i borrowed a coworkers tubing bender and got those done. while i had it, i also rebuilt the tranny crossmember.

the original idea was that i wanted something that tucked up tight for exhaust clearance and didnt require the removal of the exhaust to drop the tranny. but since i was going to have to notch the outer "wings" anyways and i didnt like the amount of meat left for the tabs that sandwiched the drop out piece i just fabbed a new one.

the old was 1.5"x3" .120 wall tube with 1.5" dom in the middle. the new is a double 1" .120 wall all the way across. because there is no hinged joint in the bends, its acutally much stronger than the old one. and since its so small, i think i might still be able to get away with not dropping the exhaust. if i do, the v band clamps will make that pretty simple.

here are some pics. clearance is 1/4" to the floor, and the floor doesnt give when i am sitting in the drivers seat.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8429.jpg
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8433.jpg
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8430.jpg

Keep up the great work man.
Can't wait to see those "secret" wheels!!!:unibrow: :thumbsup:

Nice work on the crossmember it looks like it has plenty of room for the exhaust. you did a nice job tucking the tank up there out of the way too.

hopefully in 6 weeks i'll have some good pics!

Great job on the bumper...looks awesome!:thumbsup:
Can't wait to see the new secret wheels...:_paranoid

first, a small update on the wheels. i narrowed my rear more than i thought which left 4.25" bs on an 11" wheel. i do have a 1.5" pad for the z06 brakes but that still left a large lip. since it isnt a stocked size and would take a while to get, plus the fact that it was costing more since its really not that popular right now, i decided to change to the smooth lip wheels. hopefully only a few more weeks. jason is also looking into some extra programming to get the wheels lightened from the rear of the center. my fingers are crossed.

i need to get the exhaust done so i can get the frame to the blasters and get it all in paint by the end of the summer. its taken a lot longer than expected, and my few hours in the garage at a time goes by really fast.

i started with a mix of 3" and 2.5" tubing and transitions from columbia river, and bends from pypes all in 304 stainless. i spent some time polishing all the stuff from CR since it didnt come done. overall, im pretty happy with all the pieces i purchased.

now the issues...... i had debated whether to keep the donut gasketed joint from the edelbrock headers, or cut it off at the collector and do v-bands. im glad i left it alone, but i hope it doesnt leak. assembling and disassembling has really done a number on the gasket. i hope to get some more before its put together for the final time.

issue two.... don't make a 16ga stainless exhaust your first tig project ever. i practiced a little before the tacks, but fitment has to be dead nuts perfect or i blow a hole. and i do mean PERFECT! and i still havent figured out how to fill a damn hole. some pieces are tacked without issue, especially those done on the bench, but it seems that if i blow in one there are a few more holes before it sticks. im still tacking everything together, so hopefully i can practice a little more and maybe the back purge will help things a little. i am AMAZED at how well a tig tack holds though. 2 tacks on a piece and i cant break it apart. i have to knick the tack with a grinding wheel to make it work.

issue three..... maybe i dont understand the mandrel bending process, but i was hoping that if i cut a piece in the middle of a bend that it would be the same size as a piece cut from any other random part of any other tube. its not! the bent piece is smaller and that has led to some fun issues. its not a huge difference, but the extreme ones are about 1/16" different. that means when joined, one has a ring exposed all the way around the joint. i have a feeling these are going to be fun to final weld.

i could talk for hours on the "experience" i have had so far. if you see something, i probably have an answer for it, but id rather not bore you with any more babble. here are the pics of where i am now.

flex joints so that the rest can be solid/poly mounted.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8487.jpg

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8495.jpg

there is more room here than it appears. this was all complicated by flowmaster not having the muffler in a offset in/out. no hangers are in place yet, so its resting on the holes in the mid crossmember. this is the easy side though. the watts link is 6" higher on the other side. its going to be interesting to say the least.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8492.jpg

i have it coming under the frame behind the tire now. i just need to decide where to run it, and whether it will come out under or through the rear bumper lower valance.

You're doing a great job on the car. Keep it up!:thumbsup:

i hope to have some more pics in the next few days. i need to notch the watts/shock crossmember, so its going to take some time.

so i had some decisions to make on the mufflers. the wife wanted it quieter than before, but i still wanted it to sound good. i ended up buying the stainless 50 series deltas back in december when bing was giving 20% off ebay purchases. ever since then i have somewhat regretted not going with the 40 deltas like i had before. i figured that the bigger motor and larger piping would make it louder, but that the increased insulation, carpet and x-pipe would mellow it out a little. a wash? im not sure.

since i had to open one up (i'll get to that later) and i had already polished them and couldnt return them, i had three choices. leave them as is, weld up the resonator chamber in each muffler essentially making it just a longer 40, or removing the extra 4" and making a 40 series. i ended up just leaving them as is, but if i want it louder after its been on the road, i will take the full 4" out at that time.

then there was the other issue (the part i said i would get to). flowmaster only makes one part number per style (inlet/outlet) of muffler. so, if you need two mufflers with offset inlets that are next to each other (our chevelles), one muffler has to be flipped over. when you flip a flowmaster, you get the ugly case seam. and since i was polishing them, that wouldnt work. below are the pics of what i ended up doing. cut the end off and grind away their weld until the stamped plug end was back to normal. then just flip, reinsert and reweld. now i have a matched set.......

here you can see the inlet side of the muffler. the small hole to the right is the inlet to the resonator chamber. that is what i had planned to weld up.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8935.jpg

here it is flipped and rewelded. i cant get any good pics of the welds. they just look blurry.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8949.jpg

here are the rest of the exhaust pics. about 100 hours later and i never imagined it taking this long. but i am damn happy to be done.... well somewhat. i need to learn how to tig with filler a little better so i can attach the hangers that are just tacked on.

like i said before, an average of a B/B+ on weld appearance. some are D's mainly on the right rear tailpipe since i did it first, but there are a few A's as well. did i heat it too much and lose the stainless properties? only time will tell. i have a pretty good rainbow effect, and the haz isnt too wide, so i hope im fine.

the first two show how the frame was cut to allow the exhaust to sit up higher. i would have loved to have made them go through the frame for a little more rigidity, but i would have needed another two vband clamps to make it work and the hole for those flanges needs to be pretty big. i also got the mounts from the roadster shop. im hoping i dont end up melting the ones closer to the motor.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8965.jpg

the exhaust will exit through the valance below the bumper. i have some transitions to make the tips 3" and i plan to make them slightly oval. that work will come once the frames done and the bumper gets completed.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8968.jpg

here you can see the tight spot. if i would have welded the watts connector on at more of an angle and given myself another 1" of clearance, i would have saved a few days work. this was a TOTAL PAIN IN THE ASS!!!!! the watts crossmember had to be notched to make it work. this was another time where changing build plans bit me in the ass. i never expected to have the car so low that 1/4" of travel mattered. the rear never went this low when i set up the watts since it wasnt until after that i notched the fram.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8967.jpg

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8975.jpg

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8976.jpg

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8981.jpg

WOW!!! You are doing a great job on this car. The welds look really good to me. Keep up the great work and keep us posted. I can't wait to see this bad boy complete!:thumbsup: :cheers:

i can't wait either. the body will get pulled off next week so i can start finishing up the frame prior to paint. i hope to have it all nice and pretty in one month.

Very cool man!:thumbsup: :cheers:

today was the first of 10 work days to get the frame off to the blaster. i actually made a timeline, and if i stick to it, i will have frame paint pics on the 31st of this month.

today the body got pulled and put on stands in the garage. i then had to pull the motor and trans and get the frame up on the rotisserie. i also started to weld up the rear section of the frame that was notched for the exhaust.

so, 1 day down and 9 to go. and im currently on schedule!!!! days 2-5 will come at the end of next week on my 4 day. i work a few shifts with a damn wedding in between.

Very cool. I will be on the lookout for the updates. Have fun man!:cheers:

here are a few pics from today. i got both sides fully notched and cleaned up in the rear. i had planned on welding up the 4" holes in the mid cross, but that will be tomorrow morning.

you can also see how much having the body on the jack stands and the frame on the rotisserie screws up the garage. if its the other way around, the body can hover on the rotisserie almost above the frame and take up a ton less room. i cant wait until the frame is on the ground for good!!!!

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_0161.jpg

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_0159.jpg

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_0160.jpg

I have to say, I'm really impressed especially since it's your first build. Nice work!

Looks awesome! Good job!:thumbsup: :cheers:

Very nice work!

Wow!!!Really nice fabrication work.Can't wait to see more.:thumbsup:

i got a little more done today. unfortunately the watts crossmember had to be notched for exhaust clearance. if i would have known how low i was going to make it sit i would have welded the attachment points on the 12 bolt at a different angle. at the time i set it up, the rearend was hitting the frame at the end of its travel and there was still plenty of room for the exhaust.

so, the rear cross was notched and i got it smoothed today. i also finished the mid cross through holes, finished welding up the trans mounting points, took care of the droop stops to keep the front uca's from hitting the frame when jacking up the front end and also ground all the paint and filler out of the frame seams so i can weld them up more than the factory did. i never did it the first time, but i'm going to take the time now.

also, my wheels are supposed to be dropped off tomorrow morning!!!! i plan to take them out to jon for tires some time in the afternoon.

check out a pic of how some of the factory seams look??????? did they put a roll of 70s6 in a flux machine, or just run out of gas???

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_0174.jpg

another small update.

i got the frame seams mostly ground out and welded. i will do some more once its completely disassembled.

i also checked the watts one last time and it came up perfectly centered. the old tires were off 1/4" as they rotate, so lesson learned on using them for measuring. the new wheels and tires are pretty perfect, so i used them to center and no changes are needed.

i moved the shocks over about 3/4" to allow for more exhaust and watts clearance. its pretty amazing how that little change can affect the spring rates. before i could get the frame to sit on the axle, and now the lowest i can get it is about 1" from the axle. i went from about 8-10* to 4* on my shock angles.

i do need to narrow the frame, so that is the next job to be completed on tuesday. then its just little stuff like welding the control arms, cutting off the ears on the 12 bolt...........

more to come!

I'll be on the lookout man!:thumbsup: :cheers:

The exhaust is beautiful!!!! :bow:

Can I drop mine off:lol:

Nice work, I love the trans tunnel its given me some idea's for my project. keep up the good work......

the frame got narrowed today. its not as pretty as i would like since it should have been done the first time and the notch reinforcement complicated things. but, it is done.

i have a whole list of stuff to do tomorrow and then i wont be back on it until next wednesday. i promised the wife i would take friday off from the car, and i leave saturday for a boys trip to vegas. i just hope im still married when i come back.........

heres a couple teaser wheel pics to hold you over. this is about .5" above ride height at the rear, and really high at the front. it still measures higher than i wanted, but the wheel is also 28.5" tall! they also sit in a tad more than i would like, but theres nothing more i could do at this ride height. at full compression they are pretty dang tight to the outside of my tubs, and my tubs have about a 1/16" gap to the quarter at this spot. wheels are rushforths with nitto nto5 315/35/20's. centers are custom matched to the code i gave them which will be the color on the frame in a couple of weeks.

i'll get some real pics once the frame is painted and assembled.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_9148.jpg

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_9163.jpg

Looks SICK!

this is a killer build man, finally someone going LOW around here:D :thumbsup:

http://www.4thletter.net/damnnn.gif

DAMNNNNNNNNNNNN!

Looks killer man! You're doing a great job on it. Should be a killer machine when complete!:thumbsup: :cheers:

I love the Rushforth FAT LIP!!!!!:thumbsup:

i could have got you a measurement a few days ago, but it wont be back on the frame until after paint. it is pretty damn low though. im about 2.5-3" from the axle hitting the frame, and thats after notching for an extra 2".

Very nice! So to confirm, those are 20x10.5's w/315/35's?

20x11 with the nt05 315/35/20

I've had 20x10's under my g-body Malibu & might be able to squeeze an xtra .500 each side :unibrow: .

i ended up taking 3/4" out of the frame so that i would have the full 3/4" inside clearance that i wanted. i only have about 1/4" at full compression on the outside.

I would most definitely need to upgrade to a Watts set-up. Those a-bodies are a little bigger & the 20's work well in the rear. On my G-body, the 20's looked pretty big (w/a 295-40-20)..... so much so that I was considering limiting the car to a 18 or 19" max diameter rear wheel.

I'm looking forward to your progress!

I hate you!!! :lol: :cheers: