Michael, Your doing a great job. I hope the trans bracket worked to solve the problem of trans crossmember tab being a little short(and the tig welds looked OK) . I based That bracket length off info & 4L60E measurements I got from the auto recycle yard.Sorry for the inconvenience.:thankyou:

Thanks!
 

:thankyou: Keeps me outa the bars!

:thankyou: Scott did a great job fabbing, and then I welded it to the xmember. Its installed finally!

I read your thread .... everything is fine here, I can't go much lower than 27" and then I don't have any travel left. So .... I'm gonna raise the trunk above the diff and clearance the sway bar mounting bar some.

There's always more to come :thankyou:

When time is precious you gotta get going and make a goal to finish something!


:thankyou: Scott, that bracket was great! I will get you the measurements from bell housing to mounting bolt center one of these days .... I'll put it on my list!



Thanks for looking ....

Looking good.

Keeping warm by the
 

Thanks JJ .... keep picking at it and it will be done!!


welder the last two days! Wanted to get the RT brackets welded on the 12bolt before it got too cold to be in the garage. Measure 12 times and weld once, came out good, I think its only a 1/16 off in the C2C mesurement!

In hindsight I should have moved the Camaro further into the garage before I put it on jackstand .... I didn't have much room to work on the axle, but it keep the heat isolated :confused59:


http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...540/uGhNLH.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...540/x0P4ey.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...540/NuCUcz.jpg


I wish everyone a Happy Holiday!!! Cherish the times spent w family and friends and remember those that are serving our country and can't be with their family and friends :military:

Thanks for looking ... see ya!

Michael

Looks great Michael , can't wait to see it on all fours. Merry Christmas to you too!
Kevin

Merry Christmas to you and yours as well Chief, Thank you.

Great pictures of great looking brackets, I like the little Ridetech symbols laser cut in them. That's a cool detail I had not previously noticed.

Merry Christmas to you and your family Chief. Its looking good.

Merry Christmas Micheal,I wish I could weld that nice,looking good:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

That's looking really good. And to continue the theme have a Merry Christmas !

+1. And Merry Christmas.

Thanks!
 

:thankyou: Have a Happy Holiday ... might get snow!

:thankyou: Its a pretty sweet setup, Happy Holidays!

:thankyou: :flag2: and Merry Christmas to you and family!

:thankyou: I make due :confused59: Merry Christmas!

:thankyou: Your car is looking great, love the blue! Merry Christmas!

:thankyou: Have a Merry Christmas!

No Longer
 

on jackstands! :headspin: Not much of an update today, but I did get the rear suspended on its own ... I know they are not RT coilovers, but they'll do to move the car around and finish the build!

Santa is bringing me my ....., well you'll see on Friday! I also ordered a .... that will have to be modified to fit, hopefully it will work! No one else is going this route so its up to me to figure it out :popcorn2:

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...661/q5YVga.jpg
Sitting on er own .... might be a little low!

Happy Holidays to all!

Thanks for looking .... I have homework to do!

Michael

Looking forward to the next update. Merry Christmas Michael

Check First
 

Just a suggestion, but 90% of the time while adding/welding suspension brackets AFTER housing ends have been installed, you will find if checked, that your wheels are now toed/cambered and even worse each side is different creating anything but a harmonious situation between opposing wheels.

A fairly simple check can be done and may take two people to get accurate numbers.

If possible, and with wheels bolted on (or bolt on toe plates if you have some), pull a measurement from drivers side to passenger side across rearend, from back side of wheel to back side of wheel "lip"

1st check across the back side of the rearend, 2nd at the front side of the rearend and compare the numbers (they should be the same). 3rd check across the top side of the rearend, and 4th check across the bottom side of the rearend (again, these numbers should be the same). If these numbers are all the same, then you are running parallel and should allow perfect alignment between both rear wheels and with your front.
If these numbers are not the same then you need to correct by laying down a few stitches/welds (that will need to be ground in the direction you want to pull it back in and possibly even quenching with water immediately after to get the needed results. I cannot tell you how many people NEVER check this critical measurement and assume that all is good. Even NEW complete housings should be checked because I have personally seen many big brand name complete housings that failed horribly... I hope this is not your case but figured I would mention before you powder coat.

Jay

Merry Christmas to you as well!


Jay .... thanks for the advise, I will certainly check these measurements to ensure the axle is true, I didn't weld on the c-clip eliminators but I did check the axle with a straight edge.

Again, thanks for the advise .... learn something new everyday, KOOL!

Happy Holidays to all ...... supposed to get 10 inches of snow here!!!!

Great progress Michael,hope you had a great Christmas . I will check in tomorrow to see what Santa is bring you.
Kevin

Santa stopped by
 

and brought some car stuff, he's cool! :ups: So I figures just cuz there's 7 inches of snow and its 23 degrees out I should get in the garage and test fit the rack. I did change up from the norm cuz I'm going w a manual rack and an EPS unit from GM (that'll be later), but I didn't plan on the dimensions being different from a power unit .... that's hot rodding!

So the game plan is to modify the drivers side motor mount to clear a DD joint, not sure yet how to do this .... Scott might have some ideas. Then the C5 knuckle needs a mod to flush up the steering arm on the knuckle. And the front brace needs clearance for the rack to frame bolt, thinking cut at the front and score the back and bend it to 90 towards the front and weld. Any suggestions would be appreciated!!! :popcorn2:

Here's the rack installed and the trouble areas ..... may need to send it back!!!!


http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...538/aqpuDE.jpg
Thanks to my sister!

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...537/dRaBUl.jpg
A little too tight here!

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...540/m8KXCp.jpg
Need to clearance this for the bolt head!

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...905/WLcdep.jpg
Drivers side assembled

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...540/KGgsdD.jpg
Need to flush up this pad for the steering arm to sit flush!

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...540/ZJ3mYl.jpg
Overall view!

I still need to get over to Fastenal and get the metric bolts for the knuckle to steering arm and order some pinch clamps to get rid of those zipties ...

Anyway, good to get something done and make a plan to get all this working.

Thanks for looking .... hope Santa brought yous guys cool stuff too!

Now that Santa brought you this to continue with the build you'll forget all about the snow and cold once you get into it. Nice!

Wow Michael everything is looking great are you spraying the subframe or having it powdercoated?
Kevin

What snow? As long as it stays outa my garage I'm good. No snow up there? :thankyou:

Kevin ... I'm gonna just paint it myself when I do the underside of the Camaro, that's the plan anyway?

Aftermarket rack's are slightly different then (FOMOCO) made racks. I test fit every frame w/a rack so I know the gusset will clear. On the mullet car john used a flaming river rack, I needed to grind some of the gusset back to clear it also. But a real ford rack fits.

Scott, thanks for looking, do you think I should send this back and get a FOMOCO rack then? Is this gonna hold up? I thought as a kit it would work out better, guess not.

Looks like you could grind material off the front rack mount to clear the mounting bolt.

Yeah I flipped it 180* it won't fit either way ... a button head 5/8 bolt might help thou!

Or maybe swap to an Allen head bolt? It may take awhile to tighten tho. I had the same problem on my mustang rack but I'm just going to grind the front mounting brackets where the bolts are hitting .

Do none of that:

Offset rack and pinion bushings:

http://www.summitracing.com/search/p...et-bushing/yes

Michael,how about I send my new design for free on Monday. I can send you the alum. parts and you can just cut off the bent bracket drill 2 holes and your done.

Or way and above and beyond the call of duty: Scott does it again.

Edit: with the offset bushings I linked, it will move the rack input away from the gusset.

Scott .... just have to get longer bolts for the Al standoffs?

Thanks again for willing to solve problems, I do appreciate it!

Jay .... I see what you're stepping in, use the offset bushing to the pass side instead of its intended use for lowered vehicle ( put em @ 9 o'clock instead of 6 o'clock).

I'll try the offset bushings and mod the front if I have too!

Thanks for helping guys!!!

Correct. There is enough threads on the rack ends to take up the offset of the rack to clear the steering input.

Two great fixes !

I'll send longer bolt's also.

Michael, As promised I was able to get the alum. center support fabbed and welded for you. I Don't have any 3/8 x 5.5" grade 8 bolt's in stock.I will pick up some bolts when I go to town to ship this out to you N/C. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Thanks Scott!
 

Scott ... that is gorgeous!!! No problem here, my bad by not getting a FOMOCO rack, but your solution is great. I ordered the offset bushings already, hopefully that'll take care of this part.

Thank you,

Michael

Michael,I thought I would show the different Rack & Pinion steering shaft angles. See how close the shaft from the jegs rack is very close to the top of the motor mount. And how much clearance there is on john's flaming river rack. The shaft angle is steeper on your rack.

Scott ... I see the difference. Wouldn't it be nice if you could clock the rack to suite your needs?

Changing the angle of the dangle :y0!:

Thanks Scott

Michael, if I were you I'd cut off the 5/8 threaded rack mounting bungs that I welded on and build some mustang II style rack mount's you could keep this manual rack.I will find a photo and post up. Welders series co. builds some.These are $8.00 dollars each and will fix your problems.http://www.welderseries.com/blog/?s=must+II+rack+mount

The above bracket from welders series will allow you too keep your rack and get the ujoint clearance you need all for $16.00 plus shipping.Cheaper than the the cost of shipping your rack back too jegs.

Scott ... thanks for the link, that is outstanding idea there, coming soon to me :ups:

Update 1/6
 

Good day in the garage, suppose to get up to 50 so that's good enough for me, I wanted to get the drivers side suspension done before the temps drop! I received the bracket the Scott made for the rack mount, and received the offset bushings.

I can't use the bushings yet my rack mount does not have a metal sleeve .... which the new bushings don't' come with, maybe order some! Mocked up it didn't provide enough clearance so I put it back together and fitted the bracket to the mounts ... I may need to shim w some nylon washers to bring it out flush with the lower arm bolts.

Anyway ... got the drivers side pad flushed with the steering arm mount, drilled the knuckle mount to 12mm and mounted the steering arm and re assembled the unit .... done for now, just need to do the same for the other side and get some alignment base numbers for mockup of wheel and such.

Ground down the lower pad for the arm to sit flush and square!
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...661/Afu0ud.jpg

Forward steering arm hole needed to be 12mm for the through bolt ... check!
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...673/9U98qA.jpg

Checking geometry for the swar bar through travel!
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...673/MukmzV.jpg

Cut off the old mounts and put on the new version that Scott made ... may need to shim the bracket, little bow when tightened!
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...673/IXClNm.jpg

Now this mess is for tomorrow!!!
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...913/AqomX7.jpg


I am waiting on the rack mount from Welders Series .... tomorrow? Now that I have some time on my hands (my semester is over the 12th) I plan as much done .... weather permitting of course :popcorn2:

Thanks for looking .... Scott thanks for the bracket!!