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Anyone built a 68 mid-engine ? You could be the first !
If you're into that kinda thing .... :) |
CC,
All of the items you discussed are all valid and important considerations. Thanks for the comments, it is something I have to go back and forth on because it will continue to pick at me. For now, I'll probably stuff it back as close to the firewall as possible and or reshape the firewall to retain pedal and AC space. Either way, I'll post a couple picks. Thanks, JE |
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More Updates!
Well here are are some photos of the latest project. We are working on raising the floor so that it won't have a hump over the rear clip. Not sexy, but necessary. Enjoy and as always comments good and bad welcome.
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_2216.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_2193.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_2194.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_2195.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_2197.jpg ..............more |
More!
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_2206.jpg
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_2209.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_2215.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_2210.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_2213.jpg That is all for now. Thanks for looking! Later, |
Looking great Chad!
--Eric |
Nice Chad.... :cheers:
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Very Nice.
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Exellent!
Greg |
The Bed is "Starting" to come together!
Well the wheel tubs are stretched and the interior bed sides are sectioned to raise the bed floor. It's all tacked together. Now I just have to figure out how I want to attach the wheel tubs to the bed sides. I had to remove the stock bolt in flange to raise the tub and allow the wheel/tire to be moved out toward the wheel well lip. I'm considering welding it together? HMMMM The only reason I can see it was bolted in to begin with is for production reasons. Oh well, looks like I'll be laying awake at night some more to figure this out. Anyway, here is how it is coming together.
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_2425.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_2426.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_2427.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_2430.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_2428.jpg Once I figure the wheel tub mounting out, I can move on to building the bed supports and the fuel cell. I love progress and as always, thanks for looking! |
Its looking good.
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Chad, Great project . I just went through this entire post and can't believe I've missed it. This truck is going to be bad a$$. Keep us posted on progress.:thumbsup: Joe
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Temporary Change of Plans!
We have purchased another truck project that is very similar to this one, but further along. We are going to finish it so that my Dad can have something to play with next summer. We will then get back to this project while he has something to drive unless he gets an offer he can't refuse.:D Check out the new project at the link in my signature. Enjoy!:cheers:
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Plans Keep Changing!
The new project has been sold. A friend decided he wanted it and made an offer my Dad did not refuse! LOL This truck is back underway. I will try to post updates soon. I will also keep the other build thread alive. Since a friend has purchased it, I will try to post updates as I get them. :D
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Good! Glad to hear, I really like the old project...I was tempted to make an offer on it. I have a 1968 GMC that I haven't gotten much work done on either, hot summer and I don't have AC yet, but I keep buying more stuff because there are good deals out there.
I am keeping the stock frame but have gone to air ride front suspension and am correcting the geometry on the trailing arm rear suspension, full air bags all around. Nothing special, but should handle a lot better. I also bought an LY6 6.0 LS engine, don't know if I want to switch from 383 SBC yet. Bottom line, is that this is a fantastic project and I you have to get it done! Too cool. JE |
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Thanks for the good words. I'm ready to keep moving! |
Very nice ride. Thanks for sharing the detailed pictures.
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Thanks, I have some people interested in the 383 and trans, I may revisit. I want to stay old school SBC so bad, but the LS motors are too impressive.
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Some Progress
We have made some more progress since we cured the "Brain Damage"! Although, the progress is not exactly on the truck. We have a new addition to the tool family:
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...c/IMG_3900.jpg It's a Lincoln Precision TIG 225 Square Wave TIG. Guess I have some learning to do. LOL We also got it so that our "Pro" welder can come to our shop rather than me taking everything to his place. Well with the new addition we needed to consolidate space. So, a new welding cart is in order. This is what we quickly came up with. http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...c/IMG_3903.jpg The other welder is an SP-125 Plus MIG. We have had it since 1996. What an awesome little welder it has been! http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...c/IMG_3904.jpg Now, back to the truck! Stay tuned. |
EEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAA
That's a real welder! Sweet! |
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Can't say enough for the folks at Lincoln. We started looking in Columbus since they had a truck there. When we decided what we liked, they hooked us up with a great deal. There were a couple hic-ups in the order process, so they sent us some tungsten and filler material for the trouble. Very good customer service in my opinion. |
Sweet!
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Actual Progress
It may be hard to tell from the previous pictures but we have made official progress ON the truck. The stretched wheel tubs are finally fit. I will get the bare metal on the bed sides painted and then get the tubs welded in. After that I will finish off the welds from the sectioning of the bed sides as well as the stretching of the tubs. Not much, but we are further ahead! :woot: Enjoy:
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...c/IMG_3990.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...c/IMG_3991.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...c/IMG_3992.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...c/IMG_3997.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...c/IMG_3998.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...c/IMG_3993.jpg Thanks for looking! |
Progress!
Chad,
I'm glad you are back on your project....... Now I just have to get my butt in gear and work on mine. Keep the pics coming. --Eric |
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I knew you'd see my response..... Always lurking! --Eric |
Do you guys have phones? LOL It is good to back at it. The summer was rough. My girls have social lives at 6 that I never would have imagined. My Dad also has rental properties that allows him to do this project. Unfortunately he had some less than desirable renters recently and had to spend a lot of time remodeling them. Anyway, back at it. Is your car home? Get on that thing and post some pictures.
Later, |
Looking good Chad. Glad to see you back at it.:thumbsup:
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More Done!
Have you guys ever wondered why it doesn't look like more has been made when you have spent countless hours working at it? I'll bet you there is 60 hours in the pictures I am about to post. It sure doesn't look like it to me, but hey it's progress. I guess it takes time to try and do it right.
So, we put the tailgate on to see if everything fits and to check the rolled pan fit before we take the bed back apart to weld it all up. Sounds easy, right? WRONG New bed sides, new tail gate, new tail gate hinges well it didn't even close. When I did get it to close after tweaking some holes the top of the tail gate ended up 3/8" below the top of the bed sides. That's right 3/8". You can't slot holes that much, plus the holes in the bed sides had nuts welded to the back. Well, here is what I did to fix it. I used a hole saw to cut the old hole and nut away but on center for the new hinge location. I then welded a flange nut to the back of a heavy washer. I then tacked the washer into the hole. I did it for both holes that mount the hinge to move it up 3/8". I will finish weld and grind it down when I take the bed sides back off for welding. Here is what I ended up with. http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...c/IMG_4574.jpg After this was done the tailgate still would not close. On these old trucks there are two tabs, one on each side of the top of the tail gate. They engage slots in the bed sides to keep the tail gate centered and support the bed sides when the gate is closed. These are now guess what, yep 3/8" to high. So I had to cut them off and move them up. Geez! I bet I have 20 hours just getting the tail gate to close and get roughly aligned. After that we moved onto making the mounts for the chassis to bolt the bed to. I think we came up with a clean/strong solution that matches the style of the chassis. We set them up to have 3/16" shim on them right now so that we have room to align everything later down the road. Here is what they look like. http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...c/IMG_4571.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...c/IMG_4569.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...c/IMG_4576.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...c/IMG_4575.jpg By the way, I welded these brackets. I'm not as good as my welder, Harry but I am getting better. I just need to learn how to use that TIG now! Anyway, a couple more hours and the bed will officially bolt to the chassis. Now that the bed is mounted and I know what kind of space I have, it is about time to design the gas tank. After that it is off to the front of the truck. Progress, love it. Thanks for looking. As always, feel free to comment. Good or bad, I want it right. |
Looks great Chad!
A little here - a little there - next thing you know - you're doing doughnut burnouts! |
Nice work Chad.:thumbsup:
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Update
I just realized this is the first update for 2011! Happy New Year! :P Progress is being made although it is not exactly photo worthy. A lot of welding, grinding, hammering etc. I have also been putting a lot of time into designing the fuel tank for the truck. GarageDog and I were putting a lot of time into researching factory pumps and specs. After discussing it we were looking at late model Vette pumps. Then I thought what about the new Camaro. As I uncovered some specs, (Not Easy)I pretty much decided that for GarageDog and I the 2010 SS Camaro pump would work well for the power levels we were going to have. Just when I started to look into it more, Rick's announced the Vaporworx tank using this same pump. So, I started researching Vaporworx without finding much. After some internet stalking LOL, It turns out that Vaporworx is our very own Carl Casenova! He has put a huge amount of time and effort into applying this fuel pump module to our hobby. Since I have brain damage and want to do as much myself as possible, I contacted him. On a side note, If you do not posses the skills and equipment to fabricate a quality tank then by all means contact Rick's or one of their dealers and get one of the Vaporworx tanks. They are by far in my humble opinion the most advanced application of factory technology for fuel systems in our hobby. OK, back to our regularly scheduled program. Carl and I corresponded for a few weeks and I have to say that he has been very very helpful. He has gone out of his way to educate me on some of the aspects of this project I hadn't thought of yet. He absolutely did not have to go as far as he has. I believe I would have made it to my goal but it would have been a much bumpier road. My hats off to Carl and what he has been willing to share. You can check out much more detail on his system over at Pro-Touring.com. Look in the new products section and read. He has it all laid out in the thread. I didn't post a link as I am not sure if that is frowned upon. If Scott reads this and is OK with it I'll link it. I have a whole slew of parts and am modeling components in solidworks for my application. I have attached a picture of what I have modeled so far. When GagrageDog is ready we will reconfigure it for his application to show how it can be applied in various ways. Stay tuned as I move down this road. Again a big thanks to Carl! :hail: :cheers: Let me know what you guys think! If you check out the Vaporworx tank, you will obviously see where this came from. Definitely Carl's influence! Enjoy!
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...asTankRev3.jpg |
If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for your solidworks lisence? I have a student version from college that is out of date, and I would love to have it back up and running for my project.
Couple other questions regarding your truck. Please don't take any of this as criticism, they are all honest questions, and the only way for me to learn is to ask. So, with that said, It seems to me that your engine is angled down in the rear quite a bit more than I am used to seeing. Is it just the pictures messing with me, or do you have a reason for that? Also, when I have seen people weld (granted, it was TIG) they strongly stressed that the metal cannot have paint on it, you have to scotchbrite it, and then clean it with acetone. It appears that you tacked directly onto your painted frame. Is a MIG different? Nice welder you snatched up there! I went to Lincoln's website and poked around. I would love to start out with a TIG, but I think your's might be a hair rich for my current financial situation :) Do you think the ~$1500 square wave (non precision model line) would work alright for automotive fabrication like what you are doing? Any advice for picking one up for cheaper than the list price on their site? Maybe I should look for a used one instead? Thanks for any help you can give! |
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I welcome all comments good and bad. No matter how long anyone has been doing this, we are all still learning. The engine is angled to the rear 4.5 degrees to level. The chassis is raked to the front 1 degree. While all engines should be angled so that the front is higher, I am probably at the max you should go. This all came about based on several things. One is oil pan to rack clearance. The other was the placement of the output shaft of the tranny inside the frame rails. One thing always affects another. In most cases I have only cleaned the primer off the chassis in the area of the welds and not much more. Mostly just to keep rust from having too much area to attack. Our intent is that when most all the tacking is done, we are going to get those areas blasted before the finish welding. I agree with your statement although I'm not sure how many people clean with acetone before welding unless the base metal was oily or greasy. In that case I would use the acetone before sanding or scotch brite so you don't drive the oil into the metal. Thanks, I'm really liking it so far. Although, I am still learning. We made our decision after the Columbus Goodguys show in July. Both Miller and Lincoln had trucks with welders being demonstrated on site. After going back and forth we decided on the lincoln. It seemed the best bang for our buck. I really don't want to mislead you, I am definitely not an expert. If you look in the equipment section of the forum there are some good discussions. I would definitely say from my point of view though if I only had one welder, it would be a MIG. For me being a novice it is more flexible. I would not even try crawling under the truck and weld something out of position with the TIG right now. The MIG, no problem. With your budget, you could get set up with a nice MIG. I would recommend a nice 220volt machine. Miller has a nice one that will run both 110 and 220. Not sure of the model number. You can almost always get better deals on new ones at shows. That is how we got ours. They had a special going on for the Goodguys event. I honestly haven't found any great deals used in my area. People seem to think used welders should cost as much as new around here. I hope some of this helped. Thanks for taking the time to check our project out! :cheers: :lateral: |
Worked on Today!
Here is what I was working on the last couple days. These trucks have big ugly door latches. Since we are shaving the door handles and putting remote door releases we decided to use bear claw latches. We are going to put the latches in the jamb and the pins on the door. So I started fabbing them in. I decided to try my hand at hammer forming. Man I should have tried my first shot on something thinner than 16 ga. :( Man I am a glutten for punishment. Anyway, here some photos of what I have so far.
The stock jamb. http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_4794.jpg Cut out. http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_4793.jpg Hammer Forming. http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_4797.jpg Fitting. http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_4792.jpg That's it for now. Thanks for looking. |
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I've always just kinda dove in head first and got my hands dirty with my cars, but that was usually reversable modifications. Once I get into cutting up my firewall and welding in sheetmetal or re-doing the frame, I want to ask the guys that have been there and done that before I make a mistake. I'm sure I will be posting tons of questions in the future too. |
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Junk ...... :lol: |
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Door Jamb Progress
I got some more done on the bear claw latch install. Moving along. Check it out.
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_4799.jpg http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_4802.jpg What do you guys think? |
I love this build. Its looking great!!
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