I had a friend with a Cuda have the same hack work done, but that was twenty years ago.....it's a shame people don't check out referances BEFORE handing over the car and handing out the cash......

I have seen the work Bruning is doing first hand, and being biased because I know Tim and his work, I would take advantage of the fact the car is there now and the price is most definately right for the level of work.:thumbsup:

For the other Mopar guys, and Bob's Camero.....Tim is in no way partial to cutting up any make of car to make it better. A Challenger or Cuda will stand out in the sea of Nova's and Camero's for sure, but like any car, it's all in the deatils and the less obvious the mods, the better the job.

Tony

I used to like this guy, I thought we might be good friends. Work on a few projects together, until he said CAMERO. Must be a mopar or ford guy!!
BLAMPHAMY!!!! LOL

Stupid thing is Bob, I owned a 68 Camaro...........:hail:

Chalk it up to hunt and peck typing and 14hr days..hahaha

okay you redeemed yourself

Ned - Great to see the progress that is going on the right direction. You are building one over-the-top cuda and I have to say I'm jealous as heck. Good luck in the coming months with all the details coming together. Has your paint scheme changed since you moved the car to Brunig? Keep us up to date.

Tony Edler
Classic Mopar 5 Speed

More updates..I had Air Ride install the internal ride sensors in my Shockwaves and then had them sent to Bruning so we could use them for mock up.. I also got some air lines etc so we could air it up and down easily

The front rim/tire is from Robs Demon...thanks Rob :)... it really helps to have an actual rim and tire rather than just a tire.....much easier to really get the overall look by having a center etc. My front tire diameter will be about an inch bigger than Robs, so raise the car alittle more from here too....

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...ndardrideh.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...ndardrideh.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...ndardrideh.jpg

Now tell me the car doesnt sit too high !!! It looks like a frickin 4x4 with a 19/20 combo at the standard Air Ride ride height...... so more changes :)

This is the car with the "standard" brackets etc with the car completely aired out.......now it looks cool, but this is with it dropped all the way !!!


http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...p005airout.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...p004airout.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...p003airout.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...p001airout.jpg

Its got a cool stance now.....but once again this is with it all aired out, so the from crossmember is like 2 inches off the ground..not driveable at all

This is the proposed new stance once the front k-member and rear brackets are modified. The plan is to basically "notch" the front frame, move the k-members up into the frame and then "shorten" the rear upper shock mounts

This will make the new ride height be almost as low as the "fully dropped" original stance if I leave the "standard" set up

By doing this it will still allow me to have about 5 inches ground clearence at the lowest point of the crossmember at ride height and plenty of clearence in the back. I will need to mod the tunnel to clear the driveshaft, but not a big deal... so a much better stance without making the car have undriveable ground clearence..

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...eheight001.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...eheight002.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...eheight003.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...eheight004.jpg

A 1000x better....much more aggressive of a look. I can also fine tune it with the Air Ride......its gonna be more work and more $$ but the 4x4 look would kill the rest of the car..... if it doesnt sit right, the rest of the cars can be wicked but it will never be "right'

As many K members i have heard about being modified this way, I am suprised they have not changed the design. looks awesome

I agree - the ride height was high. Are you going to have to notch the rear frame to tuck the axle ?

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:Looks good, as I was reading the first couple of posts I was saying to myself, "he's going to have to modify the K-Member...." LOL! Glad you are going this route, it will look so much better.

No, plenty of clearance between the axle and the frame rail. After modifying the upper shock mounts, there will be ~3 1/2" of clearance at the new ride height.

Most of the Mopar suspension kits are designed to bolt-in with minimal fabrication. Ned's already past the point of no return... :unibrow:

No I shouldnt have to notch the frame in the rear...its not going to be that low... I think :)...I may have the notch the rear crossmember so the pumpkin doesnt hit....but I think the axle tubes should be fine

As for the k-frame design....the RMS (and the other 2....Magnumforce and XV) is really designed for "less aggressive stance" of a car...i.e not running 19 inch front rims and 20 rears.....not shooting for the total "in the weeds" look etc. It has a much bigger market of the "average guy" thay just wants to get rid of the 30 year old torsion bar style suspension in the Mopars...plus there are just fewer guys cutting up Mopars and doing wild stuff... their numbers are growing but not nearly as many as Chevy and Ford etc.

So I cant fault RMS for staying more "in the middle of the road" for their design

Know the feeling !! This started out as an XV back half. What's left is the lower control arms and shocks.

Mark that is a sweet setup you have there.

yeah with the old 20/20 hindsight, I should have just bought the Shockwaves and had everything fabricated custom. Probably would have been close to a wash as far as overall price....

Well probably not....but the overall custom design may have been worth the extra $$....mounts on th rearend rather than bolt on with U-bolts etc etc etc...

One comment on the Air Ride.... the plate that holds the U-bolts is bending already...would have been nice to be alittle thicker.... I'll fix that once I get the rearend finalized.

Thanks alot.

With the lowering of the car in the rear, will you have to modify your outer wheel tubs for clearance? Basically doing a "bump" to the outer to make room for the tire? The mini tub does the inside nicely but so many mopars are tight on the outer. Without sucking the tires in they are very close to the outer tub as I'm sure you know. I'm building a Challenger and I keep looking at this while doing mock up that's why I'm asking and looking for ideas from a Pro Build.....

Thanks! Wes

Does look nice, lower.

When are you going to get wheels for the car?

Ned had the tubs done at the last shop and there is plenty of room. Also, Challengers are wider at the belt line than Cudas (1 1/2") which makes it difficult to bring the wheel out as far since there is less clearance at the top of the tire.

Bob, you feeling ok? :lol:

well once you put an actuall wheel in there it looked like it needed to be lower.

Ned thats perfect !!! Thats the way it should be I like the fender edge just above the rim lip :thumbsup: :hail:

:thumbsup: ........never thought those rims could look too small on the front of a car, good choice goin 19's

New ride height looks good.:cool:



-Rob

My thought exactly Rob...... the 18 looks small to me too.

Yeah the wheel openings are huge on the e-bodies... thats why I felt going with a 19/20 combo would be perfect. I'm not a big fan of the huge wheel look on alot of cars, but the bottom line is that an e-body is a pretty big car...so it works.

My goal was to have a ride height stance where the rim edge was very close to the wheelhouse edge....barely/no sidewall showing up top

Yes the car is minitubbed in the rear...done at the last shop...to put it nicely...they work but its not very pretty back there....

coming along great, love the ride height

Thats my favorite year Cuda and its looking great so far. If I was to ever buy another car project it would definetly be a 70 Cuda.

This is with a 19 out back. I personally would like it a little lower but that's what the owner want's. These cars are a little tricky to make look right.

Mark....that stance is pretty damn nice too..but I agree that it could go just a tad lower (especially since you are doing so much fab you can set it lower but not compromise clearence etc etc).

I had to do a double take on the rim... it took me a minute to realize that you had the center but not the hoop :)

I love the work you are doing on that car....very nice.

I agree on going a bit lower, but then again I like em' low!

19/20 combo
http://www.garagescene.net/gallery2/...t+001+_32_.JPG

http://www.garagescene.net/gallery2/...t+001+_33_.JPG

edit - Tim built a custom oil pan that doesn't hang below the car/chassis, so no less than 5" ground clearance at this height...

Now that stance looks perfect. :thumbsup:

hoops are there, but black

I looked again...hoops are there :willy: .....on the 3/4 view of the back it looked like I could see inside the tire itself...my mistake....its just the reflection on the hoop.....

Funny you say that. A buddy of mine came buy and was actually touching the tire and thought the same thing.:lol:

T.J.
When I was first setting up ride hight I showed the customer those same pics. Problem is he's a little old school and likes them sitting a little higher.

Buy the way your car is BAD A$$ !!!!!

I agree.
Looks killer!!:thumbsup: :hail:

Thanks Mark! Sounds like your customer is coming around for an "old school" kinda guy considering what your doing with his Cuda. Nice fab work as usual - looking forward to seeing the finished build. :cool:

XV runs 335/30/18's on the rear of their cars and they told me all they had to do was roll the wheel lip. I was kinda hoping to do the same on my cuda. I dig the 19 inch tires and the look, but my srt4 came stock with 19 and the tire price is high and they dont make alot of different sizes yet that I know of. I guess I am just hoping for big rubber with less work :thumbsup:

I dont know I believe that... the stock tubs are decent size but I think a 335 would be real tight. It also depends on how the car sits....if you dont mind it sitting kinda high and roll the outer lip it might just fit. Plus "fitting" and "fitting right" aren always the same thing. If you dont mind alittle rubbing from time to time, then okay.

A 315 probably but a 335 is cutting it pretty close in my opinion. And yes, the range of 19 tires is alittle smaller than the 18 or 20's

If you go to my pix link below I have some pix of the 335 being fit into the cut out stock tub location..... this was done at the previous shop, so don't pay attention to the quality of the fab work :)