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Project WidowMaker - The Build Thread
i posted this on a couple other forums about 6 months ago and had issues imbedding pics here, now that i got the issue sorted i figured i'd throw the project up here as well.
About 3 years ago I decided to embark on this journey; build the baddest garage built p-t car that my skills and wallet would allow without farming out any work. “Skills” is a relative term for me since I’m a self taught 27 year old, married, father of two boys (2 1/2 years and 7 months). I’ve never had any official training, and while most who do everything on their own have an automotive background, I work for the Orange County Fire Authority as a professional firefighter. My job does require a vast mechanical knowledge, but that still doesn’t help me fabricate or paint. This has been a great learning experience so far and I can guarantee this; if its not done right the first time, I won’t stop until its perfect. A little history; I originally bought the car when I was 16 and used it as my daily driver for both high school and college. I street raced the crap out of it, got a few tickets including an exhibition of speed for doing a massive burnout in front of a bus of cheerleaders, was yelled at a few times, then decided to grow up. Seeing the carnage that I see now makes me feel lucky to be alive and I feel like an old man every time I want to yell at some idiot kid doing the same things that I used to do. Over the years, I built a new motor, rebuilt the trans and rear end, and took on numerous other projects. But, the car never felt complete and every time I attempted to change something about it, it ruined something I had done before. There were plans along the way for a new paint job, interior and a big block, but time passed and the money wasn’t there. It wasn’t until I had a stable career, the funds and had bought a house, that I finally decided to do it once and to do it right. Below you will find the specs, pics and progress from my chevelle build. The car has come along way in the last 3 years and it still has a long way to go. The whole story isn’t in complete order and some pics may show things that haven’t been talked about, but you should be all caught up by the end. Have fun reading, and I welcome any and all critiques and criticisms. It’s the only way I know how to learn. -Build Specs- -Motor- - Wegner or Mast 416 - Autokraft Oil Pan & Motor Mounts - Wegner Pulley System - Edelbrock Stepped Headers - Custom 304 Stainless Steel Full Length Exhaust with X Pipe - PRC Radiator with Dual Fans and Oil Cooler -Suspension & Steering- - ATS Billet Aluminum Spindles and Steering Arms (I got these a while ago) - SC&C Front Upper Control Arms - Global West Front LCA’s - Varishock Coilover Rear Shocks - Custom Parallel 4 Link Rear Suspension - Custom Upper & Lower Rear Control Arms with Johnny Joints - Custom Watts Link Axle Locator - Currie Enterprises Performance Axles - Custom ½ Height Body Bushings - Tom Lee 670 Steering Box - Ididit’s New Collapsible Steering Column (not just a collapsible shaft) - Drivetrain - - Tremec T56 Magnum 6 Speed Transmission - McLeod Bellhousing - McLeod Billet Steel Flywheel - McLeod RXT Twin Clutch - Somebody’s Hydraulic T/O Bearing - Denny’s Drive Shaft - 1350 U- Joints - Wheels & Brakes - - 19x9.5 / 20x10.5 Rushforth Wheels 3 piece - 275/35/19 and 315/35/20 Nitto NT05 Tires - 14” 6 Piston Kore 3 Front Brakes - 13.5” 4 Piston Kore 3 Rear Brakes - DBA Slotted Rotors - Wilwood Pedals and Triple Master Cylinders - The Extra’s - - ISIS Mutiplex Wiring System - Vintage Air A/C - Ring Bros Hood Hinges - Ring Bros Hood Adjusters - Ring Bros Door Strikers Special thanks to the following: Jason Rushforth – Wheels And Rendering Jon Henderson @ Driverzinc - Numerous Parts And The Rushforth Wheels and Nitto tires. This guy knows his stuff and has been EXTREMELY patient with me. Tobin @ Kore3.com – C6 Z06 Brake Kit Including the Parking Brake and the ability to pick his brain. Frank - all the time, knowledge and parts hes supplied Mark @ SC&C – I’ve had many LONG conversations with him, but he supplied the ATS stuff along with the LEE box and SPC arms |
These are a couple of before pictures. Although I took tons of pics to remember where parts went, I made the mistake of not taking enough overall pics. Here are a few that I have.
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The first thing I did was start to repair and replace the ugly sheet metal. Having a vinyl top killed the metal on this car. I started by cutting out all of the bad parts, and welding in a bunch of patch panels. When I was good and satisfied with a job well done, and a lot of time invested, I cut off the panels and put on two new quarters (you’ll start to see a theme forming). Here are some pics of the original repairs, and then of the new quarters.
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These are some pics from when I thought I was done with the frame. I built a temporary booth in my back yard with 3 positive pressure fans and filters on the intake and exhaust sides. I used all of SPI products, other than the PPG gray paint. The red is called “SPI Red”. I shot all my primers, including the feather fill with an Astro gun with 1.5 and 2.0 tips. I used a SATA 3000 RP digital for all the base and clear. This was my first time shooting automotive paint, and my first time shooting anything this large. Other than small wood lacquer projects, I had no experience with a gun.
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Here are some of the frame rebuild pics. A few things have led to the almost complete rebuild, but the ride height was the main item. I really couldn’t drop the car to where I wanted without a major overhaul, so after spending all that time painting the frame, it got cut and ground back up.
So a “few” things happened in order to make the ride height happen. The first issue was that the short springs I put in the rear just weren’t short enough. In order to get it to a good ride height, it took 600 lbs in the trunk. At this point, the springs were almost compressed, and the top and bottom perches weren’t lining up (the top and bottom perches were perpendicular to the ground, but they were about 3” off fore and aft from each other). So, I decided that if I had to get rid of the stock spring perches, I would convert to coilovers in the rear. In addition to the issues with the springs, the geometry of the stock suspension went to crap at the lowered ride height. My antisquat was through the roof, and I had introduced roll steer with the angle of the lca’s in addition to raising my RRCH even further. So I designed some new axle brackets that did a few things; first they allowed multiple height adjustments for the lca to change anti squat and roll steer, plus they also adapted the Chris Alston’s chassis works shock mounts with ride height adjustment for the coilovers. 40 hours of Corel Draw (a lot of different ideas) and $200 in waterjetting later, this solved both the geometry and the shock issues. The other issue with the stock suspension was the converging upper control arms. To eliminate the binding associated with this suspension, I fabbed up some new uca’s and mounted them parallel with the frame centerline. They also have adjustments in height at the front and rear for antisquat, and they are of course adjustable for pinion angle adjustments. Since the UCA’s no longer controlled side to side axle migration, I built a watts link. I looked into a phb before I considered the watts, but packaging was still a nightmare and there were other inherent issues with it as well. One of those issues became apparent while talking with Mark. He had a customer that kept ripping his phb mounts off the frame. He wasn’t breaking the welds, he was tearing the frame itself. In addition to that, if the frame didn’t have a crossmember, it was likely that the side with the frame mount for the bar would actually get sucked in during hard cornering. So since I needed a crossmember to keep all of that from happening (plus I needed one for the coilovers anyways), the only difference between the two systems was the cradle. After doing a whole bunch of mockup and searching for ideas, I ended up with something that resembles the lat dynamics 3 link setup. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_4690.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_4691.jpg SIZE=3]http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_4592.jpg[/SIZE] Once all the welding was done on the housing, I shipped it off (well, actually I drove it) to Currie to have it narrowed and have 9” ends welded on. They gave it back to me set up with new axles, straightened and with the gears setup. |
Looks really good. You're doing a great job. Gotta love those '70 Chevelles.
Keep us posted.:thumbsup: |
Nice work it looks great.
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As I began to get more and more work done on the frame, I couldn’t help but notice all of its flex. With the frame on the rotisserie and one sides rotation locked, I could take the other side and actually twist the frame a good amount. WAY more than I had ever thought possible with such little effort. So I started to look into it. I found that most people consider the chevelle a unibody with a complete frame. Meaning, that the body supplies most of the resistance to twist. To remedy this I started to look into what the aftermarket was doing. The first was that nothing comes with c channel anymore, so away it went and now the center section is boxed. The next thing is the inner webbing. Most will argue that a third dimension is needed in order to combat the twist, and only a roll cage will do this, not the webbing. But from my testing of the twist on the rotisserie, I found that it again greatly reduced after I had already welded the c-channel and while only having the webbing tacked in. Was it worth it? I don’t really know. It added weight, but it also added another crossmember, and that in it self helps with the twist. It will also GREATLY help if I’m t-boned and the car hitting me actually contacts the frame, not just the body.
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Next are some shots of the swaybars. I got all of my parts from speedway, and they are great to work with. I figured my rates using the free trial of the suspension analyzer program. It spit out some numbers based on my inputs. They are a starting point and will be swapped out for other bars if needed. The rear bar mounts to the frame, and the adjustable links then mount to the axle. It still needs the corners of the axle mounts rounded, and I’m going to machine some more out of the arms. They were about a foot longer, but were cut to fit the limited space. They are way too beefy for the job they are doing.
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_6516.jpg The front bar required custom pillow blocks and delrin bushings to be made. It took me a little while, but aluminum and delrin are easy to work with. The speedway arms also have to be bent to fit the around the tires, frame and springs. For me, a simple ~30* bend was all that was necessary. The arms will attach to the global west lowers via a custom little mount and have adjustability for different rates (that project to come next week since my endlinks were special ordered). The endlinks are qa1 xm series rod ends with a built in stud. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_6221.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_6231.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_6232.jpg |
The motor was originally going to be mounted with the frame stands in the stock location. But after looking at all the room behind the heads, it got moved back. It doesn’t really help with weight distribution very much (moving a battery is way more advantageous), but it looks a little better. I then ran into the issue with both the header to ground clearance, and the tie rod to autokraft pan. In order to solve both of these problems, I actually lifted the motor within the chassis. Automatically this will make you think that the cog was raised, but by raising the motor 1”, I was able to lower the front of the car 1 more inch. This left the cam height to ground the same, but lowered everything else. It also cleared up my tie rod issue.
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Then the work started on the body. Again because of the dropped height, raised motor, and proper drive shaft angles, I had to make multiple changes. I thought that I was going to be able to get away with cutting a little out of the tranny tunnel for the tremec, but it turned out to be a whole lot more than that. I started by cutting out the entire tranny tunnel, and fabbing up a new piece that fit over the tranny once the proper angles were established. I then welded it in, and continued by cutting out the entire driveshaft tunnel. The driveshaft was about 1” away from the stock tunnel at ride height, so it was raised a good amount. I was originally going to leave it all spot welded, but I ended up solid welding it with all the welds ground down and finished. I was amazed at how much more rigid the floor was with the added height of the tunnel acting as a backbone.
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The next items to be addressed were the tubs. At ride height, not only did I not have enough vertical clearance, but the tires were starting to come into contact with the first lip of the tubs (see pic). I’m not sure what the purpose of this was, but it would have required the tires to be sucked in with a lot of clearance to the quarters, and I hate this look. I cut them out completely and fabbed up some new pieces. I used a wood form to create a 1” radius on the edges which I think gives them a better appearance. They also fit tight to the quarters, and do not just go straight up from the wheel lip. This gave me gobs of extra room over what the stock tubs offered. I probably have over 50 hours in these, but they were well worth it.
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looks like car porn to me . :lateral: :cheers: :woot:
rick k:thumbsup: |
After getting all the floor work done, minus the trunk (still to come), I started on the firewall. I wanted a shaved firewall from the start, so that’s what I did. I used a piece of 16ga and cut it out to fit. It’s welded around the entire outside, along with all the little plug welds. It really rattled until I welded up the plugs, so I’m glad I drilled all those holes to start. It’s a solid THUD now. I will have to modify the area around the master cylinders. I originally welded it so that it flowed with the existing portion of the firewall, but this will most likely end up flat like the rest in order to mount the 3 M/C’s. I also wish I had access to a really good bead roller to put some character in this piece, but it is what it is with the tools I have on hand. I had used the cheap HF bead roller to make the rear seat piece, but there was no way it was doing more than 20 ga.
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I also cut off most of the lip around the cowl and welded in some ¼” rod. This cleaned it up a bunch. It was wavy and the overlapping pieces were uneven in stock form. Now it is nice and smooth. Its amazing how little things really can clean an area up. This is going to need a lot of work prior to paint, but it was about 2 hours to this point. Making the top smooth will be easy, but making the firewall transition into this will require a few hours of welding, grinding, sanding, filling…………
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here are a couple of pictures of the trans crossmember. as i said before, i built a drop out center section thats about 3/4" wider than the trans on either side. since im doing a custom exhaust, i'll place here are a couple of pictures of the trans crossmember. as i said before, i built a drop out center section thats about 3/4" wider than the trans on either side. since im doing a custom exhaust, i'll place the X far enough back that i wont have to drop the exhaust or struggle with the crossmember when i need to get the tranny out. hopefully that wont happen, but it will make it easier if it does.
the crossmember is about 1/4" from the floor since i wanted to make sure that my 220 lbs wont make the floor touch it. also, the side pieces are just tacked in since i will remove them to notch them for the exhaust and do some final welding. i plan on welding a strap on each side to thicken the tabs that the bolts go though. i had to cut more away than i thought, so it will be cheap insurance. do you like my spacers? it needed WAY shorter bolts than i thought...... http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_6709.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_6711.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_6714.jpg |
i have a few days off this week and ballistic fab sent me the end links, so i decided to get the sway bar done. i ran into a little snag though. at full lock and slightly before full compression there is a bind between the steering arm and end link. i cant ever think of a scenario where this would be possible, but either way i want it gone.
the issue starts with the fact that i got the rod ends with studs installed. i did this since it eliminated the number of parts required, but it positions the rod end further from the mounting hole. although the clearance required between the outside of the studded rod end and mounting hole, and the head of a bolt on a non studded rod end and the mounting hole are the same, thats not where the arms are coming into contact. i need to remove the studs tomorrow and install with bolts. this will get rid of the bind. here are a couple of pics at full lock. i dont see how i would ever have this much compession at this point, even going over a speed bump or a driveway approach. this is ride height with the spindle straight forward http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_6746.jpg still straight but you can see the space the stud offsets the joint. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_6747.jpg and bind. you cant see it, but the contact is at the base of the joints head. i can lengthen it even more if necessary. a bolt wouldnt contact, and it would give me over 1/4" more clearance. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_6753.jpg i also need to finalize the lowers point once i get the upper situated. ive already moved it a few times as you can see from all the tacks. more to come tomorrow. |
here are some new pics of the sway bar. i had to add a couple of bends, but i clear through full travel at full lock. i still need to final weld the lower mount, but its pretty much done. next time i'll just spend the $800 on the dse bar.
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here are some pics of the brake and clutch setup. 7/8 and 1" for the brakes and 3/4" for the hydraulic t/o bearing. im running the c6 z06 setup from tobin at kore3 and will running without a booster. i have never had manual brakes, but thats how this is going to be set up.
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Nice work. Look forward to seeing more, keep the updates coming.
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Watching this one. Love the framework!:thumbsup:
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here are some of the pics of the exhaust parts. i went with the 304 stainless bends made by pypes and available from summit. 4-30* and 2-90* in 3" for the x pipe and 4 combo bends in 2.5" for the tailpipes. i would have been better off getting individual bends for the 2.5" stuff, but i thought the combo bends would provide a little more, or at least the same amount of material to work with, but i was wrong. the individual bends are 24" and the combos are 36", and the combo is the same price as 2 individual bends. go figure.
i also went with the stainless flowmaster 50 series deltas. i ran the 40 deltas previously on the car, and im running a single 50 delta on my silverado with a 5.3 and love/d both. my wife wanted slightly quiter than the 40's, so the 50's were the next choice. i looked into magnaflow and dynomax, but i cant say that i like that sound. i couldnt find one clip where i thought that they sounded good. im not a fan of the original 40 series either, but i love the mellower sound of the deltas. i still need to puchase the straight pipe, but at 10 bucks a foot im going to hold off a little more until i know what i need. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_6853.jpg |
here are the final pics of the swaybar. i added one bend near the end, and i also put the studded rod ends back on. they allow for a lot more misalignment, and since theres now enough room i felt they would be the best option.
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heres the pic of the collapsible intermediate shaft setup. the rag joint is from lee for their box, the bottom of the shaft is $19 from cpp, the nickle 3/4 dd shaft is $29 from cpp and the 1"-48 x 3/4 dd nickle u-joint was $49 from cpp.
i called frank today to make sure the rag joint would clear the wegner front drive and got the ok. i know they ran it on the bull run chevelle, but wanted to make sure they didnt modify anything to make it work. as you can see it clears, but barely. theres probably 3/16-1/4" at the tightest spot which is right in the middle of the rubber portion. its hard to see from the angle of the pic, but the entire nickle portion has TONS of room. the hole in the shaved firewall is as close to stock as i could get it, so this should be the same for others running an ls/edelbrock header setup. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_6884.jpg |
i got the pedals and the triple master mounted today. i still need to work on bracing the pedals so i'll have some more pictures in a few days.
the chevelle uses a very good mounting system for both the column and the stock pedals. there is a beefy piece that ties both into the firewall and cowl area making both nice and sturdy. i attempted to use this piece to mount the pedals, but even with most cut away, the pedals didnt sit high enough to clear the column (pedals would clear, but the bias adjuster sits next to the pedal and needed the pedals to sit higher). so the current plan uses a 3/16" plate on the back of the firewall, along with 3/4 x 1.5" .120 tubing to brace it back to the column mount. this will all take the place of the stock piece. currently, i only have the plate mounted and its sturdy as hell, but i know i will still get some flex. also, since i though i was using the stock mount, i welded the shaved piece around part of the original firewall. since that didnt happen, i had to cut out a section and weld it completely flat. i hope to get the rest done in the next few days. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_6900.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_6897.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_6893.jpg |
i finished the install of the pedals for now. i still need a clutch stop and the brake light switch, but i'll finish that once i get the lines installed and the masters bled.
i took some pics of the install, but you cant really tell what the heck is going on. so, if somebody wants the pics or a description of what i did let me know. i also decided that although i wanted a flat firewall, a little detail wouldnt be bad. i built this little plate today that will get sandwiched between the masters and firewall. i will have to make a relief cut for the steering column, but im still waiting on ididit and i dont have the mount yet. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_6957.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_6963.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_6964.jpg |
not much to update. i got the brake and clutch pedals done today. not sure if i will use them or make something else that isnt quite a rectangle. they are still pretty rough, but they will get a little more clean up and a black anodizing. i made them a little bigger than the wilwoods as the blurry pic shows. i have a size 15 shoe, and the wilwoods just felt too small. the will either get screwed on from the back, or welded once i get the contour correct. couldnt have done it without the 1943 Index mill i bought a few months back. it used to make parts for hughes aircraft during the war, now makes parts for my car.
i also shipped the column back to ididit today, and i should have the new column in a couple of weeks. i also bought the front varishock quickset 1's to match the rears. got a good deal over on lat-g.com. more pics to come http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...ofIMG_7121.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...ofIMG_7116.jpg |
today i attempted to place the bend in the pedals pads. the wilwood setup has the pedal pads cast into the arm, and there is a pretty good bend in them. my thought was to either screw the new pads in from the back, or to weld them to the existing pad. either way the new pads needed the contour.
i started by using some scraps that i used to get an idea for the design. the first i heated too much, and once i tapped it with a leather mallet, it just mashed and split. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7129.jpg the second i used a lot less heat, but in an attemp to heat it evenly, it got too soft in a few spots and the vice and vice grips left witness marks. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7131.jpg the third i started by attaching it at both ends over a piece of pipe. as i heated i tightened the ends down in an attempt to get it to bend. it cracked as well. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7135.jpg the last one i put it inside the pipe, applied pressure in the middle and then heated the back. the result is below. i think it worked much better since the interior of the pipe worked as an oven to help heat the piece evenly. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7142.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7144.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7147.jpg im still not sure what to do. since i have to make one more anyways, i have a few options; make them both flat, cut off the current pad and weld it to the arm make them curved and do the same as above make them curved and screw them onto the current pad or make them curved and weld to the current pad ive looked at a few different cars and what they have. my wifes lexus has a flat brake pedal, and my silverado is curved to almost the same contour as the pad i made. i guess i need to see what feels most comfortable. anyone have any suggestions on attachment? any reason tig welding them on would be a bad idea? cant think of any, but id rather ask then cut off the pedal and regret it. Tim |
just got the ricks tank delivered today!!!! its beautiful to say the least. i needed a custom tank that was shorter in order to clear the watts, and although i wanted to do a dual pump, internal surge tank, this should be more than adequate for spirited driving and autocrossing. hector sold me on the new design which includes an internal sump and check balls (last we spoke this was going to be a regular option). there is one checkball on each side, and one at the back. the sump is sealed on the front, back, bottom and sides, with the top 1/4" open to allow fuel to flow back into the tank when the sump is full. it also has an internal bosch pump with -8 fittings which will be more than i need for now.
i cant wait to get this tank installed and get some pictures taken. once all is said and done and i can show that it fits well, this will be an option for anyone needing a tank for a chevelle with a watts. and i have to say thanks to hector and the guys. the quality is amazing, and the service is second to none. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7226.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7227.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7229.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7231.jpg |
i got the new column from ididit last week, and it too is a piece of art. the upper portion of this column will be different on the production version (to match the original), but i didnt need that with the proposed dash. they had to rework their design a little in order to place the mounts in the correct place without disrupting the collapsible feature. but all works and i will have some install pics shortly.
also, the trunk floor is out and the new one is almost in. i should have pics by thursday night if it doesnt rain in the next couple of days. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7378.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7380.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7381.jpg |
a little more progress has been made. i started on the trunk last week in an effort to raise the gas tank for a little more clearance. although the ricks tank is no deeper than the stock tank, with my slammed height, i had about 5" of ground clearance. enough, but more would be nice. so i set off to raise the tank 3". on the first mockup of the pieces, i was at 3 3/4", so i said f-it and made it a little more than planned. it is all still really rough and all the welds will be ground for the finished appearance, but i figured id post a real update. also, the pictures really make the surface rust look much worse than it does in person. the bottom is going to get reblasted and expoxied after the exhaust is done, and the inside will get a good sanding in the next couple of weeks, followed by the interior getting por 15 and dynamat. ill have more interior pics to come.
in order to raise the sides, i needed a piece that was curved for the bottom to match the existing outer floor braces, but flat on the top for the new floor. since i wanted a 90* on each side for better mounting, i had to use two pieces. the lower was shrunk to match the curve, and the top is just a 90* done in the brake. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7373.jpg this is the inside at the start of the tack welding. i left the side mounts long so that the floor can be extended over to the quarters. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7369.jpg old floor braces tacked in place. they were curved at the back where they rolled and started to go upwards, but i made some relief cuts and made them flat to fit the new floor. if i would have cut the extra off, they wouldnt have been long enough. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7420.jpg this is a pic with most of the final welding done. who ever has to take this all back apart is going to HATE me. i hated the gm worker for just spot welding everything. but, once finished, it will be nice and smooth. you can also see the front mounts i welded up. 2x2 tube and threaded to accept the front strap bolt. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7478.jpg i was initially concerned that it wouldnt be ridgid enough, but a tap gets a nice firm sound. a little dynamat on the inside and u-pol on the outside and it wont make a sound. Tim |
just a couple updates. the trunk floor is now finished and only needs some paint and dynamat to be complete. the floor was raised a total of 3 3/4" and gives me a ton more ground clearance. i still need to attach the rear bumper and work out the fill tube, but i made sure not to raise it high enough to cause an issue.
this is the before pic http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7265.jpg the after pic http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7527.jpg this shows the amount of room between the tank and the watts. if you are running the fays2 kit, you will have plenty of room with this tank. although i raised it, i didnt move the tank back any. it would sit in the same spot if i had the stock floor. hector is making some new straps that are a little longer for my mounts. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7531.jpg this shows how the trunk floor was done. almost all the seams are full welded. the only ones that didnt get a solid bead were the filler panels on the sides. the bottom will be ground smooth before getting a bed liner product, but the top will be covered with upholstery http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7676.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7677.jpg this is how i mounted the battery. the sheetmetal is reinforced so the bolts dont pull it up. the top bar was just a piece of aluminum and i routed the edges so they are now rounded over. once the bolts are tightened (i dont have them tightened here), the battery doesnt move at all. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7701.jpg |
i mocked up the tires for the last time today and got my measurements to send off to jon. i spent a lot of time making sure the tire was square and centered, and double checked my measurements with a little device i made up. he originally just wanted to know the measurement to the tightest spot and that would have been simple with the old ride height and set of tires since it was just in the middle of the quarter lip. but with the new ride height, and because tires dont have square edges between the sidewall and tread, and the tighest spots were at this radius, it was much easier to just mock the tire up.
so with all that said, i plan to give him the exact spot i want the outside of the tire, and im confident he can take that and figure out where that would place the wheel. here is a pic of how it will sit http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7648.jpg |
well the inside of the trunk has been coated, and i have the trunk lid aligned and gapped. btwn adding and subtracting a little metal, i have a straight 3/16 gap. now the plan is to make the bumper fit the rear.
here are a couple of pics i threw up on the paint and body forum http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7738.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_7739.jpg as you can see, its a long way from being "tucked" in nicely. it is acutally hitting the body in the middle (if the car is looked at from the rear), so the sides cant move any further forward. you can kind of see from the second pic that it doesnt follow the contour of the rear sheet metal very well. again its flush in the middle of the deck lid, but sticks out towards the quarters. it also does the same thing on the vertical gaps as well. the middle of the deck lid contacts the top of the bumper when closed, but the outsides are sitting about 1/2" below the quarters. so the plan is to start working it from the middle. i'll make some relief cuts that allow the ends to go in and up and see where that gets me. then the plan is to narrow, shave and move the brackets to the proper locations. if i need to add metal to the quarters, that will be done as well. i have a feeling that this is going to take a while though. the plan is to send the bumper out to be stripped, then get working on it. hopefully i will have it done in a few weeks. |
i paid the final balance on the wheels and tires. i still havent selected the style, but they will be 19x9.5 and 20x10.5 3 piece rushforths. ive added the wildsides back in to the choices, so its between the livewire, rated x and the wildside. i know most people hate the 7 spoke 5 lug combo, but the rendering looks sick and jason being the designer and the guy behind the wheels wouldnt steer me wrong.
the tires will be nitto nt05 275/35/19's up front and 315/35/20's in the rear. i sold my 305/35's since i really wanted a 200 treadwear tire for the autocross stuff. im sure they will change that rule before my car is done though. i also did a spray out of colors. i shot one red and 6 greys all in the new water based stuff. after all the color comparisons, the red will be mercedes mars red and the grey will be off of a range rover. i brought the samples into the guys at work, and every one of them tossed the range rover grey out in the first round. obviously their vision isnt the same as mine, especially since i hate blue greys. i was going to shoot a few more, but im sticking to my decision for now. lastly, i got a little work done on the rear bumper. its a real pain in the ass, but progress is being made. i first sliced it in the middle to get the angles corrrect. originally, it was too high and too tight right in the middle, but by slicing it, it took care of this. the issue im having now is the bend right at the last outer foot. it starts to curve about 2" too early and its keeping the bumper from flowing nicely into the quarters. today, i cut the bumper again in the middle and took out 3/4". this sucked the sides in nicely, but opened up a whole bunch of new problems. so by the time i'm done, its going to look sick, but probably wont be able to be chromed with the amount of work that im needing to do. here are some pics bumper and trunk lid flowing nicely http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8061.jpg you can see here how the bumper curves a little early. it also makes it difficult since the tail light is right below this, meaning that an easy correction would place a bend where the light is. you can also see how the corner of the quarter and the corner of the bumper flow nicely. they no longer do this with the bumper moved in 3/8" per side. although the side flows perfect, this corner is an area thats going to need some serious surgery. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8064.jpg bumper sticking out before narrowing http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8066.jpg bumper moved in 3/8". i need to get one at the same angle as the above pic for a better comparison. it really made a HUGE improvement. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8071.jpg |
a little more work on the bumper today. ive been taking a bunch of classes at work, so progress has been slow. its hard to come home after not seeing the family for 3 days and head out to the garage. so not much has been getting done.
but, i got both quarters roughed in to the bumper. both sides needed to be extended out and down to get the gap a little better. i also smoothed the bumper brackets after final welding them to their new size. i started smoothing the welds on the bumper as well, but these pics were taken before i started on that. so...... i need to fill in the slices/gaps on the quarter, finish smoothing the welds, weld the brackets to the bumpers and smooth the bolt holes and then i need to start on the filler panel that mounts to the bottom of the bumper. i figure i have another 10-15 hours before im finished. im pretty happy with the results. its been such a long time since i started that its hard to tell how much progress has been made. i wish i would have taken a bunch more before pics, but either way its better. i'd say that with the old being a 1 and a perfect being a 10 that this falls into the 6-7 range. there are a few things that i wish were better, but i dont have the time or skills to make them perfect. most obvious is that the ends of the bumper still dont follow the quarter perfect. its only off about 1/8 - 3/16, but i wish it was 0. when i worked the quarters i could have made it 0, but the transition btwn the deck lid and quarter would have been screwed up. i'll get some more pics once i get it all smoothed out. http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8294.jpg http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_8283.jpg |
Widowmaker, great work on the bumper. That is the one thing I hate about my Chevelle is the bumper-to-quarter gap. It is sooo freaking huge. I was wanting to flush mount my bumper on mine and figured splitting the bumper and shortening the brackets would do it. Thanks for the insight.
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Dude, KILLER build. You're doing a great job.
Please keep us posted.:thumbsup: :cheers: |
thanks for all the comments. its been a few years worth of work, with most of it happening in the last 2. i hope to be on the road in the summer of 2012. the motor, paint and interior are going to be the holdups.
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