i got the passenger side shell lined up. i had previously fit the old door to the new fender and had made a bunch of relief cuts to make it work. i ended up having to do it all over again, but the results are well worth it. i still have about 6" to go on the bottom of the door and then i'll throw the hood back on and keep working it.

also, i contribute pics but very little tech. so.... heres some for you. if you are going with a magnum for your car and you buy the bare trans, the chevy t56 wiring pigtails wont work with the chevy magnum. the reverse solenoid is the same, but the reverse lights are different and the vss is from a ford. i ended up getting the reverse solenoid and light harnesses from Bill Harloe ([email protected]). $24 shipped to my door and the tremec vendors wanted $60 plus shipping. i have sourced the vss for $8 and will be ordering it in a couple days.

heres a pic of the door to fender.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1106.jpg

Looking good I should have came by and watched you do your gaps you seem to have it down pretty well. I still gotta come by and drop that wheel off.

its actually very easy, just insanely time consuming. ive literally taken each fender off about 100 times. let me know when you want to drop by.


i finished up the passenger side fender and remounted the hood today. if its not raining tomorrow i will get the hood gaps complete. if it is raining i plan on remaking the seat brackets to drop the seat another 1 3/4". im also going to get the harness bar bent while i still have the bender. i need to take it back on sunday so ive got to be done.

here is a pic of the harnesses from the source posted above. these are for the reverse solenoid and the reverse lights. the vss will be coming soon.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1118.jpg

i finished up the hood today and will blow it apart later this week to gap the doors and the fenders. so far i have just got the contours on the door and fenders to match. i now need to go back and weld up the relief cuts and then spend a lot of time evening out the gaps.

i also got the harness bar bent up and the seats lowered. the seats ended up dropping 1 3/4 in the rear and about 3/4 up front. i wanted the base rocked back a little and the new mounts do that really well. my head is now much further from the roof and i think the seats look a lot better in the car as well. i dont like seats that are too tall, and these seem to fit good. as far as the harness bar, the plan is to make it removable and use the permanent stubs to mount my 3 point belts. i would really like to make it so that i dont have to remove the 3pts to mount the bar, but im not thinking its going to work out that way. im VERY concerned with the stubs sticking out past the door panel and becoming an object that a rear seat passenger could strike their head on. i have a few ideas to keep them recessed with very little (<1") exposed. more to come.

i know a lot of guys dont like screwing with safety systems that the oem put in their cars (for very good reasons), but i have every bit of confidence that the plan is extremely over engineered. the amount of weld surface holding the stubs and the strength of the material that its being welded to only reinforce my confidence. one only has to look under the car near the rear seat to find a 1/8" plate on the underside of the sheetmetal that the seatbelts bolt to. this plate spreads the load on the stock sheemetal floor and was suffiicent enough that 4 bolts held 3 bodies. since im already having to do the same thing on my trans tunnel to get the inside bolts for the front seats, im not worried about having to do it for the harness bar.

some may question the belt angle needed to achieve my goals. after a lot of research, ive found that the best angle is 0*. either up or down starts to comprimise the belts ability to do its job, and too far down can compress the spine as well. i have read and been told by a couple different seat belt manufactures and a seat company that anything less than 20* is perfectly acceptable. with my 6'3" frame, im the worst case scenario in my car. my shoulder height with the new seat brackets is 24" from a reference point. the center of the tubing is at about 21.5" and im thinking that i can get the belt at somewhere north of 20". the belt will also mount 16" behind my shoulder. the math shows ~14* for the 4" drop and allows a 5.82" drop before i hit 20*. i think im well within the spec. i had considered the belt slipping off my shoulder due to its lower height, but mockup shows that with the distance behind the shoulder this doesnt even come close to happening.

photobucket is down right now, so i'll post up some pics when i can.

I might have missed it in the thread, but where did you end up picking up the Magnum from?

$2634 shipped to my door. i got one of the summit 10% off coupons. they are now only handing them out at shows and the code is a one time use.

Best deal going Tim!

seriously. i spent a ton of time looking for one of those coupons though.

i didnt get much done today. i started welding up all the relief cuts in the drivers side fender, but some of the welds decided to move a little. i spent the day making it all work again.

here are the pics of the harness bar. i will get better pics once the installation gets a little further.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1133.jpg
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1136.jpg

.0000005 lookin good, as usual Bro!

I dig the harness bar. Is that custom? cant wait to see more!

ha. to much time doing what filler could do in 30 seconds. i'll have a better idea of how far i need to go when it comes to the next car.

its a custom deal. im still trying to find new car test criteria and running some numbers to see how much force it needs to withstand. so far ive found numbers of ~1700lbs when 3000lbs is applied to both the chest and the abdomen at the same time. a lot less than i would have expected for a total of 6000lbs. that 6000lbs is what a 200lb driver would see in a crash from 60mph that stops in 3.5' with .5' of belt stretch. 30g's! even hitting a solid wall, the 3.5' would be the front of the car crunching. im not sure a seat belt would save any of us in a crash like this in our old cars.

maybe an engineer can shed some light on the forces.

well, im still working on the gapping. never in a million years would i have expected it to take this long. if i can keep on my current schedule, ill be done with the sheetmetal in mid may. thats about 2 months behind schedule.

ive been looking into seatbelts some more and i am trying to narrow down my choices. i would really like to just call up morris classics, but he repackages belts into kits that fit our cars. since i dont need a kit, most of the pieces and a lot of money would be wasted. so ive found a few options that are still made in the USA.

what im trying to decide on right now is which buckle im going to choose. i originally wanted a more modern buckle, but after looking at all of the website pics im now leaning towards the chrome "lift latch" style. i would brush the chrome to fit the rest of the car. the problem is that all of the vendors seem to sell the same set, and im not a fan of the male portion of the buckle (see pic). i would either need to fab us some kind of cover, or find a manufacture that has one already done. there is one other choice that is more modern and all black.

what do you guys think?

here is the non retractable version that shows a good pic of the latch. i dont really like the male end. it just seems as if something is missing.
http://www.gotbelts.com/sites/seatbe...ts/352115.jpeg

here is one with a cover. not what im looking for, but im not sure why there isnt a cover on the lift latch.
http://www.gotbelts.com/sites/seatbe...eries_Text.JPG

here is what i would consider a more modern latch. it may have the red "push" button that im not a fan of though.
http://www.gotbelts.com/sites/seatbe...511_Series.jpg

I like that bottom one.. agree it has a much more modern feel to it.

youre right it does. im still wondering how the lift latch would look brushed though.

the other problem is that the ends are going to be mostly hidden anyways. the fronts will be next to the seat and the rears arent going to be that long.

well, im still searching for seat belts. from what ive found the main manufacture that everybody else sells is beams in oklahoma. they claim to be made 100% in the USA and hopefully that ends up being true. there do appear to be two different retractors though. one has some "knobs" on either end and the other is smooth. theres a picture of each earlier in the thread. i know for a fact that beams makes the knob version, but i was told today by a reseller that their smooth version is made in oklahoma as well. not sure if its beams or not. this seems to be the same retractor that morris uses as well.

im still havent made up my mind on the buckle. i thought i narrowed it down, but it appears that any style female end can be purchased with a locking style male end. not that i think my mounting won't work, but if for some freak reason something happened with my shoulder harness, i would still at least have a lap belt.

i also struggled with the decision of lap or 3 pts in the rear. the plan is to attempt them with 3 points that mount the retractor below the rear deck. i will need to reinforce the deck and the mounting point for the retractor. since the belt will be traveling up through the sheetmetal, i will need to make something to redirect the belt that wont shear it when force is applied. since the factory has been using 1/4" d-rings, my thought is anything with a radius will work. the plan is to either mount some delrin or aluminum that has a radiused slot. if anybody knows of something already out there, im all ears. ive also been concerned with the angle of the slot. when the belt gets pulled out, it doesnt get pulled straight forward. rather, it gets pulled across the body. im thinking this slot will have to be aimed in the direction of the pull. not a huge deal, just more on my mind. ive also thought about putting some bearings on it and making it swivel. this would allow it to retract and extend correctly and my wifes car has something similar on the B post. i havent thought a lot about how i would make it though.

other than that, progress is still going on with the sheetmetal. im also hoping to pick up my door handles from ring brothers in the next couple days. staci is supposed to be setting up a group purchase and as those that have been following know, im a sucker for a deal.....

well im way behind on my sheetmetal work. i wanted to be done by now, and that was worst case scenario. im still on the drivers side. its going to be middle june before im done, and its looking like novemeber at the earliest for paint.

i did pick up my door handles from ring brothers. they are currently having a group purchase with 10% off and free shipping. call staci if you want parts!!!

Just purchased or have in your hands....I hope if you have them in hand you would post pics:unibrow:

just got them in the mail today. i ended up getting their last set of full sand blasted that they are making. its the perfect platform for paint, so i will either paint them the grey, or sand them to a brushed finish. not quite sure yet.

the wife has the camera tonight, so i will get some pics up on saturday. they look sick!

i finally finished the drivers side. i will start working the passenger door tomorrow. heres a before and after of the door to fender gap. one area in the middle looks a little tight in the pic, but i dont see it in person and it measures perfect.

also, ring bros door handle pics up tomorrow. i promise!!!

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1426.jpg

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1489.jpg

Nice work Tim! I have gap envy...:lol:

thanks buddy :thumbsup: . when im tired of working, i just remember that i have to keep going to keep you impressed:yes:

heres the starting point on the passenger door gap and a crappy pic of the door handles. i'll see if i can get a better one.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1518.jpg

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1503.jpg

Very nice Tim. Those gaps look great.:thumbsup:

Thanks!!!

passenger side door is done. the bottom looks fine in person, but showing up tight in the image.

i started working on the fender to door gap and should be done by early next week.

before
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1518.jpg

after
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1551.jpg

Looks real good Tim. Keep goin' Bro...:thumbsup:

its been a little while since an update. i had a few questions on how ive been gapping, so i plan on posting that up tomorrow night. here are a couple pics of the almost finished passenger fender. i just need to finish the very top where it is flat. i will do that on thursday, mount the hood and start on the fender extensions.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1712.jpg
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1706.jpg

They look great, nice work.

i still havent researched the headlights yet, and i probably wont touch the chevelle much in the next couple weeks. life is getting in the way of my hobby again. oh well.

here is a brief "how to" on gapping. it probably isnt perfect, and the experts can feel free to chime in. i must have 200 hours into the doors, fenders and hood so far. i learned that every little change changes something else. and when youre trying to work with .005, you dont need much.

before you start, you will need to make sure that the front end is square since any movement of the front of the fender will either open or close the gap. you also need to make sure that you have the door edges pulled out where you want them and also the contour already needs to match.

this is how it all started. i got the other side done after squaring the front end based on the hood. the other fender was tight to the door in some areas <150, but this one was about .190 at its closest. it was actually over .300 at the bottom.
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1670.jpg

this shows how i add to the door. i took some copper tubing, slit it down the middle and beat it flat. i rough contour it to the back of the door and attach it with the vice grips. the vice grips suck it in the rest of the way and leave no gap. this helps greatly in the cleanup of the weld on the back. also, if you look at the top fender bolt you'll see two little pieces of sheetmetal welded to the cowl. the fender mount rests up against these to position the fender quickly. its simple to grind the back of the door since you can open it, not so much with the fenders. youll also see my impact wrech laying there. i just picked it up prior to the sheetmetal project and it has saved me hours. i cant imagine having to use a socket wrench like i used to. 65 bucks brand new on ebay since it didnt have a battery or a case.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1679.jpg

this is how it looks when im done with all the tacks. i would do a series of 5 tacks in a row and then skip to another area. since i had two pieces of copper going, i would do one set up top and then move to the other piece. i usually had two areas per piece of copper (between vice grips) and would do all 4 areas and then let it cool really good. if it was warm when resting my hand on an area before starting it would get cooled before starting. no reason to push too fast and make more work for myself.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1684.jpg

this is what it looks like when all the the tacks are knocked down. i use three tools that work really well for me; an 80 grit flap disc, fiber wheel and a sander conversion with 50 grit. all of this goes on my variable speed grinder which is key. im not sure any of this would work at 15000 rpm. i would knock down the gap with the 50 grit until all the peaks and valleys were gone and i would use the flap disc and fiber wheel to knock down the outside. i used to use just grinding wheels until i found the flap disc. then i used the flap wheels until i found the fiber discs. i dont think im going to find anything else that amazes me like this combo. the flap discs do a good job of quickly knocking down the high spots and they dont gouge like a grinding wheel. then when its close, the fiber disc finishes it off and leave a nice hatch pattern.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1691.jpg

another picture after the first knock down. you can see its no where near perfect, but the major stuff is flat. this is also the time to check how flat the end of the panel is. i had most areas pull in slightly with the heat, so a hammer and dolly knocks the whole edge back out in less than 10 minutes.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1695.jpg

now comes the time consuming part. my ideal spec was .175. my acceptable spec was +/- .005 as long as that wasnt right next to each other. my eyes can easily pick up .010, but not when they are 2 feet apart and the countour of the panel is in play. so i start by using the 50 grit paper on the grinder to get everything to .150. there are some high spots that need more love. then it all goes to .160 the same way. i used two points just to keep from going too far. for the .150 youre working small areas. once at .150 youre most likely running the entire edge to get to .160. youll see some .175 markings, but that was before i found a metal shaving in between my stop at the fender bolt. i used a reference point every time after to make sure the stop was working.


http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1696.jpg

and done. it looks much better in person. the camera has a way of ruining the depth of the panel and making it look tight down at the bottom where it curves back in.

it will also now get coated with gibbs to keep the rust off until it gets painted. before final paint the whole gap will get a coat of filler. its REALLY close, but blocking will make it perfect.

also, the rocker isnt as tight to the door as it looks. its ~.160 but this pic makes it look more like .100.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1703.jpg

another profile pic. i wish i would have taken more in the beginning. i cant believe how far its come. i hope somebody knows of a better way to fix the profile than all the work i did to the back. but its the only way i knew how.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1709.jpg

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1712.jpg

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1716.jpg

thanks for that little write up. think that will be the way i will end up doing it.

Thanks for showing how this is done. I have followed your thread and have been amazed at the gaps. Now you have show the technique.
Thanks.

Tim - looking good man, progress is making me :drool:

Question, so we run the same UCA's and I see on your old frame and UCA you are contacting the frame at full drop, then I see the new updated frame pics and now you installed a drop out bump pad. Did you have problems in that area with the UCA contacting? I wrapped mine with a rag while we had it off and on the lift and I was really surprised it was that way, would have thought SPC would have not had it that way but I also might be over looking something as I don't recall the install sheet, been a while from when I first mounted them. I have bump pads here and I was going to do the same so I don't tear up the adjuster contacting, my car is so low I can't see it touching under normal driving more than when I put it up on the lift and the suspension hangs.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1907.jpg

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_9881.jpg

Great work Tim. Gaps look good.
Keep us posted.

i only did it to keep it from hitting when on a jack or stands. i dont think spc ever designed these for our cars, rather adapted another design. most aftermarket arms kick up before coming back down to the bj. these, not so much..... i used to use a towel as well, but decided that when repainting i would just add the stop.

btw, yours is killer. i wish i was driving mine........

so...... you know that feeling you get when youre about to make a huge mistake and then you catch yourself. well, i didnt feel it, but i wish i did......

i just got the driveshaft back from dennys after a $115 round trip. i had to have it shortened since the magnum is longer than the tko. dennys is nice enough to supply you with a sheet to make measuring super easy, and it was. and my measurements were spot on. problem was i painted the rear when i did the frame and i sent my yoke off to have it coated. when i got it back i put it on the splines and slid it until it stopped. "stopped" is the key word which should have been replaced by seated. but it didnt get seated until today when i jacked the rear of the car up to put the driveshaft in and noticed that the yoke looked a little funny sticking out like it was. when i measured for the first time for the diagram i had jacked up the front of the car and couldnt actually get my head into a spot to notice.

so..... dennys wants 3/4" slip at ride height and i have 1 1/8" now. i dont think its going to be a huge deal. in fact, i dont think its going to be any deal. it just that little things like this piss me off. my only concern would be less support and extra vibration which is something i really dont want. im going to call tomorrow but i dont expect him to tell me to send it back.

well i called dennys and they said there would be no issues. they nomally shoot for ~1", so my 1 1/8" isnt too much. he said that if it were 1 5/8" he would worry a little. i never really asked what the issue would be if it were a little shorter. im not sure if it would be a vibration that would ruin the bearings on the output shaft, or if the reduced spline engagement would result in a failure from twisting.

i also started on the fender extensions today. although the first pic is the opposite side, both were about the same. even though it appears the hood could have been shifted back to get a good gap, the angle at the front of the fenders were wrong leading to a crooked gap if the hood was back and the extension was flush on the fender. i welded up the gap along the top and down the side and filed it down to fit. i still need to work the area towards the center of the hood since its about .030 too tight. so far i have about 4 hours in this since it took a lot of twisting and hammering to get it to fit pretty good before working the gap.

heres the first pic. in order to get .175 across the entire gap, it had to be pulled out. i had thought about spliting the extension and tweaking only the hood side out, but decided this would be cleaner.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1973.jpg

heres the second pic. it snugs up a little more, but im holding it in place with one hand and snapping the pic with the other.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1967.jpg


and heres the other project ive been working on. so far i have about 4 hours in this as well. way too much time for how little work it appears, but getting it all set up and repositioning takes a lot of time. plus i can only take about .050 in depth and side bite at a time. it will get recessed in the trans tunnel and it will be held in place with some screws that i havent drilled for yet. its obviously not necessary, but i like playing with the mill. each project shows me how much money i need to invest in good tooling.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1983.jpg

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1978.jpg

I just went back and looked through your thread again. You do excelent work.

the sheetmetal work is done for now. i finally finished up the front fender extensions and the bottom of both doors. ive now started on the bumper. in the next month i hope to get the bumper narrowed, tucked, shaved and the plate area filled in. i also tossed the idea of a turn signal incoporated in the headlight and will instead find a thin light that can be mounted in the stock bumper area. the plan is still to open up the stock hole a little more and put the light behind a honeycomb cover. the rest of the hole thats not taken up by the light can serve as some sort of air inlet later if i choose.

the other plan is to get started on the grille. i had thought about a billet style slat grille, but it really doesnt flow. so my thoughts are a stock shaped grille, but 4 sections of honeycomb instead of the stock slats. plans are a bunch of 3/4" square aluminum stock that will get cut and welded with the honeycomb inset. my only other thought is to remove the horizontal divider, but i'll have to see how it all goes.

I have planned also to fill the plate area on my front bumper. It has been a long time since my car was together. Can't remember where the hood release came out. Is it right over the plate through the bumper? If so, what are your plans for the release?
Great work by the way.

Thanks,
HEEP

yep. right in the area thats getting shaved. i havent mocked up the latch yet, but im thinking an actuator controlled by a button in the cabin and one on the key fob.

ive placed a few orders in the last week. the first was for glass from auto city. contrary to popular belief, money is tight and needs to be spread out as much as possible. i have a closet full of parts for this reason. so i picked up all the glass this month. price was 750 shipped to my door. i ended up getting all smoked glass other than the front window. i requested the front without the strip up top as well. ive never like it or seemed to notice any difference with it.

i also started picking up the pieces for the front end. the first pieces were some led lights for the turn signals. i bought 2 15 bulb strips, but may order 2 more depending on how bright these are. i also ordered a sheet of aluminum hexagon mesh tonight from grainger and im going to pick up the 3/4 bar tomorrow. im slightly worried that the 20ga aluminum mesh is going to be too fragile, but i'll have to see when it gets here. the only other material i could find was stainless and the smallest sheet i could find was over 200 bucks.

the bumper is also about as far as i can get it for now. i took 3/4" out of the middle and am going to pick up some 14ga to shave the license plate recess when im at the metal shop tomorrow. the brackets were also reworked and are now welded to the bumper. i also decided to reshape the ends of the bumper where it wraps around. the bumper has a nice tight radiused end and the fender has a larger radius. the plan is to make both the same. more to come......