Dead Cat 2.0: Jake'sTorque Arm Install
 

I just don't have it in me to come up with anything more clever today. Some of you may know of my car and others may not. I have not posted anything about my car in a long time, so I guess it is about time to let the cat of of the bag. (OK that was a little clever)

I have owned the car for 18 years and it the second restoration has been complete for about 3 years. It is the normal pro-touring affair with leafs and a slight tub running C6 rim and tire package. I have been wanting to upgrade to a different rear suspension and tire package for a couple of years. I have actually had the rims for a year and a half sitting in my attic. I finally started the transformation after Run Through The Hills last year. The car went to Holohan's Hot Rod Shop (www.holohanshotrods.com )on Jan 1st of this year. The good news is I am about 4 weeks away to having the car back together and driving which means I have been saving pics for months and you will not have to follow this thread long to see the build.

Here is what I am starting with
http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...over_shot2.jpg

Good deal Payton. I'll be interested to hear your feedback on Jakes rear set up. Install, performance tuning, stuff like that...:thumbsup:

That was already a badass car, cant wait to see the 2.0 verson!

It's about time Payton :yes: . I kept thinking someone would ask about it after seeing it in the background of some of my pics.

Can't wait to see how well it works when you get it back together.

I have followed some of it on facebook. very worthy upgrade

Payton,Come man quit holdin out on us,Post up some some photo's.:lol: I love that shade of yellow.:thumbsup: I think Kevin and I will be down your way about 2days before the Charlotte Goodguy's this year.Scott M.

The Plan
 

So, as you can tell by the title I am going to be installing Jake's Torque Arm rear suspension. I will be running a watts link and also changing the rear end to a Moser full floater. The rims are HRE C21's that I purchased off of the Corvette Forum in C6ZO6 sizes. 19x12.5 in the rear with a 335/30/19 and the fronts are 18x9.5 with 275/35/18 Nitto NTO5's.

My computer is acting up and freezing so I will post more pictures tomorrow.

Thanks for the kind words above. Y'all are replying before I can get my post completed. LOL

Very cool car. Anxious to see more on the Jake's TA setup. :thumbsup:

You gotta jam more action into the first post! :lol:

Yep!! I never knew who owned this car, but I've always liked it.

But to the outside world it appears we lead rich, full lives.

:lol:

Ok
 

I am ready to try this again. I think I am going to write text and then post pictures as when I tried to do both yesterday it was freezing up.

For those of you that do not know who Dan Holohan is, he use to work for Troy at Rad Rides and then went to DSE for 3 years. Opened up his own shop a year ago and it filled up quickly. He just took over the space next door. For a brief moment I thought about doing the re-tub and torque arm install myself, but with limited space, skills and 2 boys 11 and 8, it was too much for this old dude. Dan's work is some of the best I have ever seen and has proved it on my car. Look him up at www.holohanshotrods.com Not sure if he has them up or not but he has maybe 500 pictures of this build. I have 260 and will try to post plenty but not so much that it is boring.

First up is the mini-tub. When the car was originally built I only tubbed it over about 1.5 inches to clear the 285's I was running. Big mistake, now I have to take a completed car and cut it up to make room for the 335's. I hate when tires rub, so Dan actually widened the DSE tubs. Now for the pics

pics
 

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1164.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1177.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1187.jpg

I generally don't prefer yellow cars but man, there is something so classy about this one...looks fantastic! :thumbsup:

Let the cutting begin
 

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1203.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1204.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1206.jpg

frame cut and it is time to widen the tubs
 

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1210.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1413.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1428.jpg

And the finished product

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1430.jpg

Are those DSE tubs that Dan widened or stock one that he widened?? Looks like a great start to the refresh/rebuild :thumbsup:

I think Payton said they were DSE tubs that master has widened.Man,I really like that yellow.:thumbsup:

Payton,

You'll enjoy this. When my JRS setup arrived, the box that my axle housing was in had your name on it. I called Jake all worried that he had somehow swapped our housings, but he assured me it was just an issue of picking a random box to rehouse it after the brackets were attached. :)

Wish I was as far along as you, but I can't wait to get this JRS stuff under a car and on the road!

Looking good Payton, was wondering when you would post this thread. Project is looking good, dont hold out on us we need more pics :D

Ok back at it
 

Sorry that I was gone all weekend. Had an 18 year aniversary with my lovely wife and she needed some attention.

Yes those were DSE tubs that were widened.

Carbuff, the shipping thing was real jacked up but it finally came in and obviously you got your stuff as well.

Tubs going in

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1433.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1435.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1436.jpg

more pics
 

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1443.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1451.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1449.jpg

I had the same issue 12 years for us.

btw Happy Aniversary

You too
 

It goes by in a flash!

Tubs are in now it is time to mock up the rims and tires

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1799.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1797.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1457.jpg

Damn! Those wheels look killer on the car!

Thanks!
 

I really like them a lot. It is hard to tell in the pics but it is a polished lip and a matte center that has been clear coated. I must still be a little old school as I like a little bit of shine on my rims.

Looks great Payton! Nice upgrade!! :thumbsup: Always liked that car....now even more so !

They look killer Payton, you and me think alike :thumbsup:

What's the reason for widening the DSE tubs? And did you have to modeify the frame rails any differently than the way DSE does for the standard mini-tubs?

Payton,Looks real good.Wheels are perfect.I really like that shade of yellow.:thumbsup: Dan makes this fab work look easy.Scott M.

That looks killer Payton.. you're making a great car even better!

Leaving the underside yellow?

Thanks again guys!
 

I am leaving the bottom yellow. I like the contrast with the black suspension and polished look of the exhaust. Going to do the gas tank black but leave the stainless straps.

I wanted plenty of room in the wheel well is why we widened them. Running a 12.5 rim and the 335's is close to 14 inches from tire bulge. I think I have 15.5 inches now at the closest point. We did get into the frame deeper, Dan plated it up so we would no loose any strength.

It took me years to decide on the color of yellow that I wanted. It is Dodge Viper Racing Yellow sprayed on a white sealer/base.

Looking great bud.

Those wheels look great on the car. Thanks for the advice the other day. Dan did an awesome fab job.

Thread seems to be moving slow
 

So I will try and speed it up.

Everybody knows about the pad knockback problems when you really start leaning on a 9 inch with fixed calipers and sealed bearings. Since I was upgrading the rear suspension and was going to need to shorten my present 9 inch, I opted to kill 2 birds with one stone and sprang for a full floater from Moser. I got the DB floater (dual bolt pattern 5x4.75 and 4.5) The center register on that rear is the standard Ford 3.06. I had Moser turn it down to 2.78 (standard Chey) so my wheels would fit.

My next challenge was that I wanted to keep an emergency brake. Jake and I discussed it and came up with the idea to use my existing intergrated emergency brake used with my Wilwoods and make a mount to bolt the assembly on the housing. Jake then machined my existing hats to mount to the floater hub. Very easy retro-fit, but it will not work with a high negative offset wheel. It worked on mine because my rim has around 8 inches of backspacing. Plenty of room for the brakes and not get into trailing arm brackets or shocks.

Another way to solve the e-brake issue is to have a custom rotor adaptor made if you are running a 13 inch or larger rotor, and use a seperate caliper.

Pics
 

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/Pljn6fju.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/Pljn6eu8.jpg

Time to unpack Jake's Torque Arm and do a quick
 

pre-assembly.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1730.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN1800.jpg

Great pics/floater write up Payton. Rear looks really stout! :thumbsup:

Looking damn good, sir...:unibrow:

This all looks very familiar! Unfortunately you will probably have your's installed under your car before I will...

That has been in and out of the car probably 5 times
 

The car is going to paint this friday, for the bottom to be spotted in. All the fab work is complete. I am just catching everyone up.

Thanks again guys. I am getting pretty excited. If I can get it together by the end of July I am trying to go to the UTCC and do an HPDE there at VIR. If not, I will just be a spectator.

Very cool Payton, not your regular 9-inch Quadralink or G-bar setup going in there. :thumbsup: