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Here are some shots of the Speedway tubing notcher. It's ultra simple and very easy to use. Only 2 complaints- the numbers are a sticker. Human error shows it's placed about 2 degrees off, but that's easy enough to compensate for when measuring. But also, just the fact that it's a sticker and the WD-40 I use to lube the saw as its cutting soaked right into it. I know eventually it'll peel off so at some point I need to get the dremel tool out and grind all the marks permanent.
Cutting the tubing this way went so well. The first few cuts were off slightly but still weldable. After I got a good feel for how to use it resulted in some real nice snug fitment. I LIKE IT! One of the best $100 I've spent. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...Tubenotch1.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...Tubenotch2.jpg Here's the mock up of the cage so far. The back half is all welded as a unit as is the main hoop. I started on the front bars today and by Thursday I should have all the sections in the car and welded together. Because of pipe limitation I decided to triangulate the braces instead of doing an x brace. Should still be pretty stiff. I've decided to paint it Krylon aluminum with a satin clear to match the silver accents on the black and orange interior. The photo shows it in bare metal. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...r/rollbar2.jpg I should have the rotisserie to the school by Friday so early next week I'll have the frame out and then the fun really begins! |
Ben its looking great,you got some talent man! Very Nice.
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A few more photos...
Here's the complete roll bar mocked up in the car. Again I wasn't necessarily after conforming to any particular type/ class of racing, although I think if I did the correct door bars it would be legal for under 11.90s at the strip. The biggest reasons for building it were 1. To learn how to build one from scratch, 2. To stiffen up the car, and 3. To create something that didn't look like a mass produced unit yet still have the strength of one, and 4. add a cool element of design. I didn't want to weld the bar to the frame, mostly because I wanted the bars in the car for strength when I put the body on the rotisserie so I can start strengthening the chassis and building the rear suspension. While I'm in there welding up the bars I will weld them to 1/8" thick plates which will be welded to the floor. When it's all back together bolts will go through the floor and down through the frame to tie it all together. Without the seats in... http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...tor/roll21.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...tor/roll22.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...tor/roll23.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...tor/roll24.jpg Notice in the photos above that the cage sits on a ledge from the main hoop forward. I knew once I got the rear section welded to the hoop welding the last little bit on the top was going to be difficult, especially since I've never done anything like this before. I know its typical to cut the floor out and drop the cage down but it's so tight to the roof I didn't think there'd be enough room since the frame is not far from the floor here. Several of the older guys in the program suggested cutting a couple holes in the roof, weld up the bars and then welding roof patches in. I didn't want to do that so a hunch said cut the body seam on the floor and bend it down (red arrow), bang the top seam out of the way (green arrow) then tugging on the partially welded cage would allow access to the top as it dropped out of the car on one side and down into the feet well on the other side. I got it within 1/8" of dropping down and it was pretty much stuck. Not willing to give up I gave the side that would drop into the feet well a little kick and the bar had enough flex to drop down and it fell right out of the car on the other side. This allowed plenty of welding access and it didn't take that much effort to get it back into place. I did the same on the opposite side, a little kick and it popped right out. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../rollbar27.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../rollbar28.jpg |
One problem I ran into while making the front bars was I ran out of bar. The last bar to bend was the floor bar for the passenger side and it was about 6 or 7" too short. So I grabbed piece of scrap practice tubing and carefully stitch welded them together. In the second photo you can see the end result, it came out pretty nice. There was some mild warpage and you can still feel where the weld was but I think it's good enough that if I didn't say anything it won't be noticed. Although I originally was going to have plain painted bars I may cover these floor bars with some vinyl that matches the seats. The rest of these photos are pre-welding, testing fit with the seats in. I need to oblong the driver's seat bolt holes a little to move the seat inward about 1/4" for door bar clearance, but other than that everything fits great.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...tor/roll25.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...tor/roll26.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...tor/roll11.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...tor/roll12.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...tor/roll18.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...tor/roll13.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...tor/roll14.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...tor/roll15.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...tor/roll19.jpg |
your project is looking great! If I were you though, I would have put an insert where you butt welded the bar on your last photos. The way I was trained on something like that is to do an insert with three plug welds around the pipe on either end if the weld. This will prevent the tube from pulling apart and bending at the weld because of the added inner tube. other then that looks great man!
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You're right, and that's good advice for anyone that may need to do this on their car. I didn't have any scraps that would fit inside but also I was in a bit of a hurry and didn't think of it until after it was done. Adding an insert will also help strengthen the bar. Since this isn't really a support bar I think I can get away with it. Thanks for the compliments!
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wow this is looking great!
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A few more pics-
To weld the cage into the car I used our platform mounted plasma cutter on manual mode to cut out some 1/8" thick 4x4" plates and bent them with the metal brake to contour the floor pan. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...tor/roll29.jpg For the back two bars I had to make custom plates that contoured around the body bushing bumps in the sheet metal. To do this I first cut out the shape I needed from white poster board. The light beam follows the lines of the cutout... http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...or/plasma1.jpg ...and transfers that to the cutter. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...or/plasma2.jpg Maybe not as precise as processes like cnc water jetting but it did a great job. I used the machine again to fabricate some brackets for the trailer hitch, more coming on that soon. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...or/plasma3.jpg Originally I started to rattle can the roll cage satin aluminum but it was too bright and shiny and showed all the nicks and imperfections in the tubing. I decided to go with a more traditional satin black instead. The paint in this photo is fresh so it still looks fairly shiny, but it dulls down a bit as it dries. It should be just about the same sheen as the dash, console, and door panels when dry. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...tor/roll30.jpg |
Updates- Trailer hitch is in!
A couple pages ago I mentioned that I scored a $25 g-body El Camino trailer hitch from the junkyard. I'll be using it to tow my street/strip Nova to Georgia when I relocate in a few months and to the track when I get the itch to go drag racing again. Two problems with a hitch is there's no room because I will be running the exhaust tips right under the center of the rear bumper and I also don't want an ugly trailer receiver visible from behind. So I decided to figure out how to hide it behind the bumper.... The hitch... http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...tor/Hitch1.jpg Here's the original bumper shock/ mount. I used a die grinder to cut a small slit in the body (not visible, it extends about 8" into the frame) to drain the oil. I did this pointed away from me inside the trash can because the oil is a bit under pressure and sprays out. (I learned this by accident practicing on one of the front bumper mounts. Lol, it sprayed about 10 feet in the air and got oil everywhere in about a 4 foot radius!) After the oil was drained I welded up the slit and sand blasted them. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...mpbracket1.jpg I then cut off the factory Draw-tite brackets. Using the bumper shocks to help make a poster board template I plasma cut out some C shape brackets from the 1/8" steel sheet and some C shape brackets from the left over hitch brackets. For strength I drilled out all the holes from the smaller metric to 3/8" and used grade 8 bolts. Here it is all welded and in place. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...pbracket2a.jpg For clearance I had to persuade the spare tire well a little with a small sledge. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...mpbracket2.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...mpbracket3.jpg I then cut off the ends of the bumper support bracket and bolted them on. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...mpbracket4.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...mpbracket5.jpg Here is the first test fit with the bumper. It looks like a large gap but once the tailgate and the plastic piece that fills the rest of the gap is installed it looks better. Once all back together I will actually tuck the bumper closer to the body, another reason for draining the oil. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...mpbracket6.jpg Measuring out a rectangle in the center of the bumper I cut it out with a die grinder. The cut out piece will be welded to some square tubing that will insert into the receiver when the race tow hook or the trailer ball is not being used. The panel will hide everything except the small gap outline around the rectangle. The bumper will be black so it shouldn't be very noticeable. I got the tow hook from Harbor Freight on sale for $10. Not sure yet if it's SCCA legal but for the price I figured I'd grab it. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...mpbracket7.jpg Next I need to build support brackets that will be welded to the hitch and bolted to the frame about 10" inward. More on that soon. Overall I think it turned out great and really ads to the car's versatility without sacrificing a clean look out back. |
Now that the hitch was in and tied the rear frame rails together, the big highlight of today was pulling the body. Woohoo!
There are 12 body mounts on the wagon, 10 of them are bolted in, 2 are pushed in. 7 of the 10 bolts came out easily. 2 of them, both 4th back from the front, were so rusted that there was pretty much nothing left of them. I'm surprised they didn't just fall out of the car. number 3 bolt on the driver's side froze up after a few turns. Then it started spinning freely. I thought the bolt broke but actually the tapped plate started spinning inside the body and karate chopped through the floor sheet metal. I cut around it to peel up the sheet metal and spot welded the plate back down. After that and a bigger impact gun it came right out. Notice the torn sheet metal at the top of the photo, wow. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../Bodybolt1.jpg We have a rolling electric winch on beam track that spans the shop. Using a heavy tow strap I found the balance point in the rear door openings and pulled it up. I wish I could tell you guys how exciting today was. After fixing a couple things and some fabrication to beef up the frame it will head to the sandblaster. Once it's back and painted it's all bolting on parts from here on out. This was a huge milestone and I'm totally stoked. And yes, I know the front tires are on backwards. ;) http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...or/bodyoff.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...or/frame01.jpg |
I enjoy seeing updates on this build, great progress!
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Dark painted rollcages are always way more subtile and discrete than light ones.... see your drawing with black tainted windows and imagine the silver rollcage flashing behind the windscreen :) |
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Progress for today...
I always stay as late as I can to work in the shop so most everyone was gone when I pulled the body off yesterday. I feel like I spent half of shop time today explaining over and over what I plan to do with the frame.:beathorse I did strip off all the brake and fuel lines and unbolted the rear shocks. The driver's side rear spring cup was torn, so I got this welded up too. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../springcup.jpg Then I addressed the retarded G-body trans cross member. For those that own these cars understand my pain because the g-bodies are set up for only single exhaust. Unless you can fab up something you're going to be out about $150+ for a cross member with a driver's side exhaust tube clearance. I looked at a couple aftermarket and a few custom dealios on the net and decided that the easiest and cheapest thing to do was modify mine. Quick and dirty, the hand held plasma cutter hacked the thick tube easily. Unless you have a surgeon's steady hands, which I clearly don't :), you end up with something like this. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ansmount01.jpg A couple minutes with the grinder smoothed it enough to weld. I think with keeping about 1/2" of the vertical sides it should be structurally strong enough to hold the tail of the tranny. To box and finish it I grabbed a scrap of 18 ga sheet, bent it to the shape of the void and welded it on. I could've stopped there but I wanted it to look like it was supposed to be like this from the factory so I took some time and metal finished it instead. Once it's painted it should look like it was formed that way. Here are a few shots from different views. I'm pretty happy with the end result. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ansmount02.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ansmount03.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ansmount04.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ansmount05.jpg Tomorrow I start boxing the frame! :yes: |
Someone on another forum asked if I thought the trans crossmember was strong enough the way I modified it. Really, with the front motor mounts holding up the bulk of the weight, there isn't much weight on the trans cross member. It's almost more like a resting spot to bolt down the trans. Just to be safe I had my good friend Jay stand on it for me. It flexed about 1/8" but at 260 lbs. Jay probably weighs twice what a TH350 does.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...JayonTxmem.jpg |
Updates...
I went to the local metal supplier and bought some more 1/8" sheet stock and some sections of 1", 3/16ths wall tubing from the scrap area. 37 lbs total at .79 per pound. First job was tack weld the trans cross member nuts to the member so that I don't need a wrench anymore to install the bolts. I then straightened the frame rails where a floor jack had bent them up a little and prepped them for welding by grinding the surface rust off. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...framebox01.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...framebox02.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...framebox03.jpg A design cue and one issue to deal with here- Notice I put the sheet stock in the brake to bend it slightly, matching the design cues from the front frame rails. Just a little added visual touch that only took a couple extra minutes. Also the body mount area needed some working. It's curved at the top and you need to leave it open so you can get a body bushing up in there. After welding on the longer sections, I made the smaller body mount sections using the table mounted plasma cutter. Once they were tacked into place it was fairly easy to get them to contour to the curved upper rail. I'll have the open gaps where the factory boxed rails meet mine boxed in tomoorow, and then it's on to building some bracing into the frame... http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...framebox04.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...framebox05.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...framebox08.jpg |
Nice work its looking good.
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I started reading this and realized I've seen your Cutlass in the parking lot of the SS Walmart, and to top it off I'm the director of admissions at UVU, such a small world. I think it's awesome you are creating such a unique car, I have a 2wd lowered Tahoe in Utah and everyone thinks I'm crazy. Keep up the good work.
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Wow, it is a small world. I live in the Ranches @ EM. If you drive the Tahoe a lot I've probably noticed it, a lowered truck looks very refreshing after seeing so many lifted diesels. :lol: I have a 2 wheel drive 77 Suburban that will be getting dropped 6" after the wagon's done. I also have a '76 Suburban that's lifted and I wanna sell it.
If you get a minute stop by the street rod shop in the automotive building some time and chat. I'm usually there from 9 am to 2 pm. |
It's all looking great Ben. Keep at it.
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Thanks Sam! Unfortunately I will be finishing it up and heading back east shortly after. I won't be able to show it off on any cruises here this year. :(
Got my rear bracing finished up Friday. First I started by doing some measuring and with the table plasma cutter cut out some rectangular 1/8" thick plates. I tack welded them to the frame rails and then drilled some bolt holes. Right side then left side... http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...earbrace01.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...earbrace02.jpg Then I took some 1 5/8" tubing and bent it according to a design I've been working out. Got it welded in and started on the bars to connect the control arms. Again I started with cutting out some mounting plates and used the control arm bolts to hold them in place. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...earbrace04.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...earbrace05.jpg I used the tubing bender to slightly curve some 1" tube, then flattened the ends in the press, and then welded them all together. Here's the end result. The smaller tubes on the cross tube go to holes that are pre drilled in the frame. I'm patent pending working out mass producing this brace so hopefully I can sell some in the near future. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...earbrace06.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...earbrace07.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...earbrace08.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...earbrace09.jpg And I tried out some orange paint on them. On a black frame with orange suspension parts these should look pretty cool. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...earbrace10.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...earbrace11.jpg My last little bit Friday I started on the heavy trailer hitch brackets. No school Monday so I'll wrap them up Tuesday and start bracing the front. By the time I'm done this car should be one rigid bad doggie. |
Looks like you've making some good progress Ben! I'm really digging that rear brace. The Sprint might need something similar if it ever gets to this stage.
Don't know why I didn't think to look for you on this forum before now. Good to see the updates. |
Got some updates-
I picked up a couple new used items. Mark at SC&C gave me a great deal of info when we talked the other day. One of the things he talked about is how ineffective the g-body rear sway bar is and how a link style bar is way better. To keep it budget minded I went to the wrecking yard again and found a 7/8" bar (same as the largest factory g-body bar) on an early 90's f-body. I also bought a pair of Cutlass Salon grilles off ebay. I like them because they're deeper than my originals. Unfortunately they're beat up a little more than the seller led on. He said there were "light scratches" but forgot to mention one of the bolt tabs was broken off, one of the grilles is cracked front to back, one has been melted, the chrome is peeling in areas on both, and both are warped as seen in the photo. Why can't folks just be honest? At $55 "buy it now" I pretty much think I paid too much. Oh well, I'll try to salvage them. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ongrille01.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ongrille02.jpg I finished up the trailer hitch brackets. I bent a couple small lengths of 1 5/8" tubing and used some angle iron to make the bracket. To keep it sturdy I welded a 1/2" pipe through the frame for the 1/2" grade 8 bolts. It may not be suitable for a lot of tongue weight but it should pull (flat tow) just fine. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../framebolt.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ilerbrack2.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ilerbrack1.jpg |
Got the frame notch knocked out. The plasma cutter made quick work of cutting it out. The cut out side was trimmed down just enough to slip between the top and bottom of the rail to help with support and to get a better weld. Again these are 274-40-17 on a 9.5" wheel with 5.5" of backspace and a 1/4" spacer between the wheel and drum. Before there was just a hair of clearance, now it has a little over an inch of extra clearance. While I was in there I beefed up the factory weld area on the top too.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...earbrace08.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...amenotch02.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...amenotch03.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...amenotch04.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...amenotch05.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...amenotch06.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...amenotch07.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...amenotch08.jpg |
Got some good and bad news...
First the bad- my professor has had some hereditary heart issues for most of his life but he never told any of us. After a recent check up the docs told him he needed a heart valve and part of his aorta replaced like yesterday. Sounds like it's common procedure but we may not see him for the rest of the semester. We're all praying for him that all will go well. On a side note the sub we have is there more to cover Cris' notes in lecture time and open the shop for us. They don't have Cris' knowledge and the shop now closes at 12:00 instead of 3:00 so I'll be dropping my weekly shop time by about 15 hours. As a result there will be a couple things, such as narrowing the 9" rear, I need to hold off on until I get out to Georgia and start working at Bulldawg. Joe has stepped up and has assured me that all the help I may need is waiting for me there. It's nice knowing I'm going from one shop to another, otherwise finishing my car would take a whole lot longer. I guess I just got a reminder of what it's like to build a car on the side as a hobby instead of basically full time. That's a bit humbling and a big pat on the back for all you guys who are persistent and get the garage builds done. Now the good news... More chassis work completed. First off I took a break from the rear half and fixed a common G-body problem: LS headers hitting the right frame rail requiring the header tube to be modified. For now I have a set of cheapie used Flowtech headers I got for next to nothing. I really didn't want to bang them up and cause potential flow issues and eventually I will switch to Pacesetters, so I opted to fix the issue itself. With the motor out, a cut off wheel, a 5lb sledge hammer and a welder anybody can do this simple mod. First I used the plasma cutter to cut a triangle shape from the frame. Notice I cut a vertical line to make room for the two sides to come together, and I scored the rail with the cut off wheel on either side to control the bending motion and make sure I didn't affect the control arm mount position at all. Once to this point I simply banged on it a bit with the small sledge hammer which closed up all the gaps and created about 1/2" of clearance. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...derframe01.jpg Next I did some preliminary welding and repeated the process to get a little more movement inward. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...derframe02.jpg Here's the end result after welding all gaps, score lines, and grinding it all smooth. It made quite a difference. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...derframe03.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...derframe01.jpg |
Slick fix! Nice work.
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Thanks!
Updates- I have had this week off for spring break and I'm going through withdrawal symptoms for not being able to work on my car. :( I am taking this time to get caught up on a bunch of client's car renderings though so it's been a good thing. I did make a little progress on the car, sort of. The rest of my parts finally arrived from SC&C. I got the first shipment last week, in this photo you can see the Spohn adjustable rear upper control arms I ordered from them. I could have gotten them direct from Spohn but Marc assured me that when I buy from him it's a full package- not only do I get parts but I get tuning instruction / coaching. He encouraged me to set it all up, beat on it, call him and get some feedback and fine tuning instructions, and then repeat process until the car is doing what I want it too. We chatted for 2.5 hours on the first phone call and he filled me with knowledge and advice so I wouldn't doubt he meant that he'll be there to help dial the car in. You can't beat that type of customer service so I feel good about sending the $ his way. Spohn is still selling parts so it looks like a 3 way win here. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...orearbar01.jpg This week my front upper control arms arrived, they're the Stage 2 Plus kit, SPC adjustable arms with tall screw in upper ball joints and tall lower ball joints. These, besides the wheels and tires combined, have been my most spendy expense, over twice what I paid for the car itself, lol! They also weren't what I had wanted to buy when I called Marcus but after talking to him he obviously knows more about my car than I do so I eagerly accepted his suggestions. According to him these arms should bring my old lousy geometry pretty close to a new Vette, Camaro or Mustang. At this point I'm leaning more and more to make this thing a serious contender on the track rather than just a mild P-T car so as thrifty (read cheap and empty pocketed) as I am I'm feeling like the expense was worth it. At the very least I won't be spending more later on to upgrade from the less expensive upper arms I originally wanted. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ntuparms01.jpg I also ordered a pair of these progressive rate control arm bumpers. As you guys know I first lowered my car about 3-3.5" by cutting springs. Eventually they sagged and they were resting on the now squashed rubber bumpers. Every decent bump in the road the car would rebound and bounce upwards. Marc said these absorb the bumps rather than rebounding and making the suspension bounce. The way it drove before got a little scary at speed so really that was a major factor in deciding on tearing everything down and starting fresh on the wagon rather than finishing my street-strip Nova. I'm really excited about this project. I've had fast cars in the past but never have I done a build to this caliber. I think the day I parked the car in the shop at school, even then I didn't realize just how bad this car will be when I'm done. Recently I got a call from a friend that owns his own design agency and mentioned he had another friend that needs a graphic designer for his agency and asked if I was interested. I told him about school, my car project, and going to work for Joe at Bulldawg in a couple months. All he could say was, "wow, you're living the dream." I think it really hit me then how much my life has changed since last August and I got a real feel for what the future holds. Yeah, to say I'm stoked is an understatement. |
Last night on date night my wife and I stopped by a store to pick up a few T-shirts for my son. I saw one there I couldn't resist so I grabbed it for myself. Although I have a degree from BYU and soon to be a degree from UVU, in honor of all my new friends in GA (and to try to somehow, when I move there in May, blend in with all those folks that talk funny)...
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...r/Bulldogs.jpg If any of you guys are around the Atlanta area, I'll be in Acworth, NW of Atlanta, and I look forward to meeting "y'all" at events. :) :) |
Today's Friday March 30th. Last day of classes is May 19th, so I have roughly 3 weeks, or around +/- 52 hours to get a car that's completely disassembled back to a driveable vehicle. I'm scheduled to head to Georgia around May 15th, so I have a couple weeks at home to finalize things but I have a ton of other stuff to do to get ready for the move so really not a lot of car time. My hope is to get it to the point that last day of school everything will be ready to hop in and drive cross country, only the alignment needing to be set will be left for outside of school. I'll trailer it from school to a friend's garage where he'll knock out the alignment and then I'll start driving it a bunch around here to make sure everything is working the way it should. The countdown begins Monday...
My latest updates are with getting the frame and associated parts sandblasted, FINALLY! Cost was $198 for 2 hours of blasting. Spendy but worth it, the frame was pretty rusty and a bit scaly before. Now I get to start with a clean slate. I first coated the frame with gray POR 15 undercoat. Most folks like black but I figured if I did gray, I could see if I missed any spots when I top coat. It worked out perfectly and helped ensure everything was coated. My professor swears by Rustoleum for frames, so following POR's top coat directions I saved the cost of of their top coat by using 3 rattle cans of Rustoleum semi-gloss black. It turned out really nice. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ameparts01.jpg Next was the sway bars and chassis bracing. I had just a little black Por-15 left over from another project so I painted all these items with it. A little paint goes a long way. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ameparts02.jpg Once they set up I sprayed them with the VHT "Burnt Copper". This paint is metallic but also has a semi-gloss sheen. This is the closest rattle paint I could find to the Dodge Toxic Orange. The end result looks great and on the black frame they look way cool! Pics of the complete frame coming soon... http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ameparts03.jpg Finally a few more parts I will be painting at home next weekend, the bumper mounts, hitch, and rad support. More soon... http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ameparts04.jpg |
Looking good. Bet you're excited to start putting it back together again.
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That I am. Even more so I'm excited about narrowing and installing the 9" rear and LS motor once I get to Georgia. The goal is to have it complete, hopefully painted and all, by the LS fest in September.
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I enjoyed reading through your thread. You're very thorough and have good pics to go along with it. I'm looking forward to seeing this thing go back together. Keep up the good work.
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Thanks!
New parts came in... Inside my fuel tank was pretty nasty so I opted for a new one. Best price I could find was from Rock Auto. It came with the filler tube soldered in. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...fueltank01.jpg Next is my '98-02 F-body calipers, shown next to a g-body caliper. These also came from Rock Auto. Outright the calipers were slightly cheaper from the local parts stores but their core charge was as much as the calipers, whereas Rock Auto's core was only $10. I didn't have cores so I went with RA and saved a bunch overall. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rcompare01.jpg |
Today I moved the frame from the collision repair shop back to the street rod shop. It's a bit of a truck around the buildings, and this cart from innovativetools.com worked great! They claim it can handle 125 lbs per shelf, and folds up for easy storage. The shelves can be attached on either side and raised or lowered to a bunch of positions.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ameparts12.jpg here it is back in it's happy home. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ameparts14.jpg A little closer view of the front frame rail brace. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ameparts13.jpg Here's a great idea for all those no partner or holes in the heel sport socks- they make great frame paint protectors for jack stands! http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...nator/sock.jpg And last for today I took the 7.5 rear partially apart to change the right side axle seal. Although a very small leak it made a mess in there. Luckily I nabbed the good brakes off my parts wagon so to swap this out it'll only cost the price of the seal and top off the gear lube. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...axleseal01.jpg |
What's with the tranny cross member? It looks all bent up
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That's the way the factory designed it, it's pretty goofy. These cars are designed for single exhaust and for exhaust clearance the cross member follows the contour of the floor pan on the passenger side.
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Looking great Ben.. keep it up, hope to see you and the wagon here this year.
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It looks great! Nice work.
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Looking forward to it Tony!
Thanks Wayne! A little more progress- The rear suspension is mostly in, still waiting on shocks and springs. I did a quick clean and spray on the rear axle. Up close it doesn't look as nice as the frame, but when I swap the 9" in there I'll take a little more time to make it look nice. To save time I also left the Spohn control arms red for now. I'm a bit worried about the VHT orange paint not being very durable. I noticed that Eastwood has a burnt orange powder coat paint, so I figure if they have it, it should be available commercially as well. Once I get to GA I plan on looking into having all the orange parts powder coated, including the Spohn arms. Still havta fabricate a way to attach the rear Camaro sway bar... http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ameparts16.jpg http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ameparts15.jpg I also got a shipment from Summit. Drag Bags for easy spring rate adjustments at the track and to help with keeping things level after packing my car for my move, Energy Suspension Body mount, front lower control arm, and 36mm sway bar mount bushings, some all black sway bar end links, and gaskets to put my 406 back together. To get the car together on the cheap I bought Moog springs for now. I've heard both positive and negative about these, but Summit sells them for $54 for the pair and I needed something cheap for now. They're #5660, rated at 598 lbs. A lot of guys run the 5662 which are 748 lbs, but that sounds a bit stiff and Marc from SC&C suggested something around 550 lbs is a decent rate for what I'm after. Once I get the fiberglass hood and swap in the lighter LS based motor they should be just about right. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...newparts01.jpg |
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