Looks like the weather this weekend is going to be good finally, although a bit cool. You mentioned you were out of town. I should be around and available most of the weekend, so touch base when you're back, and let's hook up. I would just pull a couple of wheels off and bring them over, but I don't have my jack and stands here at my place yet... Maybe I'll go get those today. :)

I need to check out all those cool parts you have been ordering too!

Hey Bryan - I'll be back in town late tonight and around all weekend working on the car. I'll give you a call tomorrow and see what's up. I have an extra jack and jack stands we can use unless you just want to get some anyways

The rear is 345/19.

Let me know if you need a set of Forgelines. I can drop ship and get you free shipping.

Call Travis at Formula 43. He can set you up with what you want. If you like the look of the CCW his RAD20s have a similar look.

A couple used tires, an afternoon with the wheelfit tool and a call to Travis can get you dialed.:popcorn2:

:cheers:

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...psba092566.jpg

Some tinted clear powdercoat RAD6s wouldn't look too shabby.

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps67d658eb.jpg

Formula 43 is on the list of increased budget wheels. I was focusing on the two you have listed here as well. I'm going to call on Monday

Here's a few pick of the rear wheel/tire on the front. The wheel is a 17X9.5 with 5.5 BS. It fits pretty well without the brake rotor on but does scrub the fender at full lock. I'll definitely get at least a 6" BS and may even try to see if I can get 6 1/4 or 6 1/2" in there so I don't have to worry about rubbing the fender.

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I was pretty happy with the way my final welds came out. Think I'm starting to figure things out a little bit
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Is the tire hitting the rear section of wheel well or the outer lip area?

When turned to the drivers side it hits the inner wheel well near the middle of the fender lip if that makes sense. If the wheel had 1/4 more BS then it would clear due to the curvature of the tire. I could also try to roll the inner fender a bit and make it fit

I have finally made a little more progress over the weekend. The frames are now bolted back together and the mini tubs have begun. It's pretty scary adding a huge hole to the car but so far the mini tubs seem very straight forward. I hope to have the first tub complete by the end of next weekend if I can find some time outside of work


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No going back now! :)

Cut the sucker! Keep truckin Steve!

Hopefully not too much more cutting. Need to finish up this side and start the other. I might also cut out the back seat support and put some flat or maybe some rolled sheet metal in to make it all look nicer. I'm not planning to put the back seat back in. But that should be all the cutting

Although I am still trying to figure out the exhaust and really thinking to cut a hole in the quarter panel behind the door for an exit like Brian Hobaugh's car....

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That only works if your planning on having the mufflers in the back seat.

but yes it looks bad ass but I would have made it exit on the passenger side. So when your sitting and someone walks up to you in the car you can actually here them over the exhaust.

Plus it sure makes it easier in the drive through

I'm pulling the back seat so it might not be an issues. I would like the ground clearance too. You make a good point about the noise. I'm running duals so think I'd run on both sides.

I assume Brian set his up on the drive side due to Thunder Hill noise restrictions and the noise meter on turn 15 but I could be wrong. I saw lots of people at that track directing their exhaust to the driver side.

Finally had some time to work on the car this week. I got the first tub complete and picked up the engine for the new next step in the evolution.


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Nice! Clean up that tranny and my guess is 2k to the right party....so you'll get one kick butt engine for 3k? i paid 3200 for mine (as a base hehehehe)....I've got a really knowledgable LS guy if you run into any electrical gremlins...

I threw the trans on craigslist this morning for 1500 and have a solid bite on it. Hopefully it will be gone by the weekend.

I'll hit you up if I have issues. Right now Im search for the best info on converting to a stand alone harness. I'm pretty much going to leave it alone until all the suspension is 100% complete....so hopefully that means saturday

Nice! its looking good.

Driver side tub installed and I think I'm done with the major fab work. I have to say the second tub was much easier than the first. Beside the overall fear of cutting the car up the mini tub install was very straight forward and not too difficult. All that's left now is

-Seal tub seams and paint trunk

-Reinstall the rear suspension

-Lube the axle bearings and install the seals

-Connect the master cylinder

-Tighten all suspension bolts

-Bend up the brake lines

-Install the parking break cables

-Reinstall roll bar and all interior

-Pull SBC

-Install hydraulic clutch

-Install LS3

-Wire LS3

-Build exhaust

No big deal...that should be a week, right?:hairpullout:

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^ looks real good! :thumbsup:

Made a little more progress on the car this week but not too much. The rear suspension is back in and hopefully for the last time. I'm now concentrating on getting the wheels ordered up. This part is driving me nuts...

I've decided on Formula 43 wheels and 275/335 18's based on feedback from a few people. I may play around with the possibility of a 295 but probably not. Luckily Travis at Formula 43 is VSRY patient.

The fronts I'm thinking a 10" rim with 6.75 BS. I could push it out a bit more but I'm debating because I really don't want any front rubbing when the suspension compresses. I'm going to check it again to see if 6.5" will be ok.

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The backs i'm debating 12-12.5 rim. Overall the rear is a very tight fit even with the tubs. I think I screwed up and should have stretched the tubs more when I installed them. Another 1/4" would have made things much easier. As of now with a 12.5" setup mocked in place I only have ~3/8 clearance inside and out when the suspension is fully compressed. I think it's going to rub. Most likely I'm going to try to cut the floors and stretch the tubs this weekend.

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I'm measuring everything at full compression for worst case but I don't really know if I'm over compressing the suspension. I assume 2" compression would be accurate, is this correct?

watch out for that little bump out an inch above the wheel lip. you can chop it out and modify it and it gives you a ton of room.

Good tip. Looks like the suspension is coming back off for some more cutting and welding. 1 step forward 2 steps back... lesson learned.

Tip for anyone else fitting big tires by mini tubbing. Get the tires test fitted before final welding the mini tubs and before seam sealing and painting/undercoating everything. I thought there would be plenty of clearance but it seems I thought wrong. It's still a bit tight.

Take a day off -- get Bryan and head for The Salt Lick.... then come home and you'll feel all mo beta.


Seriously Steve - you're tackling a huge project trying to do all this the first time around and at home. So KUDOS to you! Keep telling yourself "it's all part of the hobby and I'm having so much fun!"


:BlahBlah: :BlahBlah: :lol: :lol: :lol:

No time for a break, need to get this done and only get 1-1. days per week to tackle it. Although, Salt Lick does sound good......

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'm not frustrated by the issues I found, I'm used to learning by doing things wrong. Been doing it all my life. I am having fun and learning a great deal.

Vince - One question. I'm thinking to cut the inner fender but leave it attached at the edge by the quarter panel. Then I'm thinking to reform it in the car and weld the 3 cuts back together. Is this what you recommend or should I cut the whole section out reform it and weld it all back? I think I'm going to go ahead and to the same thing for the fronts before I get the wheels ordered up.

I ran into the same problem in the rear with my car. DSE Instruction are very vaque and leave you quessing at most steps.

It's not to late to go back and remove another inch so you can fit the tires you actually want on the car.

Don't forget that you can always run a small spacer behind the wheel if you decide you need it. So I would err on the side of tucking the wheel a little more than you think necessary if you are uncertain, and a 1/8" or so spacer will be your friend in the end if needed!

Not sure if I can help, but call if you need it. As we discovered, I'm about a mile away. I will be at The Driveway all day tomorrow though for my first track day. So get this thing together so you can join me soon!

and shoot me your address and I will send you the fender roller.

Agree completely, I'm measuring with the thought of the 1/8" spacer just in case. Much easier than sending the wheel back.

That would be awesome. I'll shoot you a PM

:popcorn2:

Depends on your skill set...the goal is to have the inner wheel house go straight all the way up. You could cut it out, hammer massage the roll in it then fit it back up.

I usually cut the wheel lip off ( leave a 1/4" to the outer quarter panel) and weld in a piece of 3/16" cold rolled rod to it. Then make a new outer wheel house section and weld that to the top of the 3/16" rod. It makes a nice smooth transition.

If you want the fat tires you gotta do the work.

Using the rod sounds like a very good plan. I'll see what I can do. Even without the skills I'll still try it and see what happens....

Keep at it, you'll definitely get it done.

Nice Marty!

I like Vince's approach. Seems to create the most clearance. :superhack:

Ended up cutting all but ~3/16 of the wheel lip out and leaving the inner fender as is. The inner fender follows the contour if the qtr panel so any more change would mean a paint job which isn't in the budget right now. I also cut ~3/16 out of the floor behind the wheel tubs which allowed me to stretch the tub for a little more clearance.

Looks like a 12.5x 18 with 7 3/8 BS is perfect. With this spacing I have ~3/8 room all around for tire flex. Based on discussions with Travis at Formula 43 1/4' tire flex should be expected. I'm thinking to order 7.5" BS and plan to use a 1/8 spacer

Still debating on the front. Looks like 18x10 with 6.75 BS is best for the outer clearance but the wheel tool hits the sway bar and lower control arm at full lock. Think I need to pull the inner fenders tomorrow to see what mods can be done.

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looking good!!

You can always narrow your rear end housing 2" on each side and run a 5 3/8" back space....:thankyou:

It's narrowed 1" each side already and cost far too much to have built. I'll stick with what I have for now.

I was mostly teezing.