Track Day 'Cuda
 

I'll just copy and paste from the intro section to get this started:

Hey guys, this is my '70 'Cuda build getting ready to start. It's the second go 'round on this car, with the previous build thread on Pro-Touring. So why do it again? Well, I was 90% done with the car, but like most people, couldn't afford to buy everything at once, so it was drawn out. When it originally started, I thought my suspension choices would be great and give me a chance to compete at an upper level. I worked the Optima Daytona event, and saw the writing on the wall. In just a year the cars had evolved phenomenally, and it didn't look like it would stop anytime soon. CAM cars were getting pretty serious as well. So there I am, a car that I've worked on for 5 years, not even going to be competitive before it's finished. That will take the wind out of your sails. About that time, I met Ron Sutton. We talked about different things to improve what I already had, but in the end, it would still be a crutch for a less than optimal design. So I had to make a choice. Build a nice cruiser that would not be competitive or change everything and build the car I had hoped it would be when I first started, but fell short. So I put the car on hold another 2 years to save the money I needed to build something that is well beyond my driving talent and would not be obsolete in a few years. And this is where it starts.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psqbvrhq8q.jpg

First order of business. Clean the shop! Get the car up on the drive on, and then spend about 4 hours leveling the rack out. I used blocks and shims. Then square up and level the car at the correct rake and lock it down. Threw some shop wheels under it for absolutely no reason other than just wanting to see what it looked like!

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psls8snsqj.jpg

Blueprints from Ron Sutton, Check.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psxukliiuj.jpg

Cart of destruction, Check.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0fujvine.jpg

Some goodies showing up from Fedex, Check.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psotgcvf8s.jpg

Unfortunately, the frame sections didn't show. Been waiting two months already, so what's a few more days.

You can see I started the wide body on the rear. Tried wheeling out some skins, but the body line location just didn't let that work out how I wanted. Haven't used an English Wheel much, so could have just been my inexperience. Either way, went the old school way of cut and weld. 20 fricken' feet of weld on that one quarter and it's still not done. Needed one side to get track width, but waiting on putting the front in before working the fenders. I'm hoping that being able to remove them to work them will make life much easier!

Craig your in good hands with Ron! Keep us updated looks badazz!!!

This is awesome! I'm looking forward to seeing this one come together...:thumbsup:

Thanks guys. Still waiting rails, so can't do anything. I'm working in other parts of the shop, but an orange car tends to stick out and taunt me.

Badass! Must be very exciting for you!

Excited to see this one come together. Love the car choice. Good to see some a Cuda being turned into a pro-tourer!

Wicked car, I can't wait to see it come together.

Thanks guys. Frame rails showed yesterday as well as the crossmember parts. Time to start cutting and fitting!

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psitsfh2jd.jpg
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psonpb3mvu.jpg

Love the rendering. Will be watching this one come to life.

Very cool, I'll be following this build for sure.

Rendering is super cool. Keep posting pics

Ben Hermance did the rendering. Said it was the, "The meanest looking car he had ever done that wasn't black or silver!". I kinda wore him out getting the look and placement of things right. Went through a ton of revisions.

You're going to be blown away at how this is going to work for you!

Secret Sauce! Hell yeah!

Awesome build. Can't wait to see progress. Can you let us in on what Ron has planned for your front suspension or is that secret sauce as GW said?

Thanks! Wes

Thanks guys. The front is a RSRT "TA" design.

Ron design the front and rear suspension as a package for my particular vehicle and application, right down to spec'ing wheel size and offset.

Maybe I missed it, but what's the motor/tranny setup going to be?

Sequential 6 speed behind a 422 CI R3 with twin 72mm turbo's. It's a Mopar, so almost everything is custom (i.e expensive and takes forever to get it or have it made) when it comes to engines. Thankfully, I already have it built. I'll cover that with lots of pics when I drop it in.
Sooo jealous of LS guys when it comes to building anything with the engines. You guys don't know how good you got it!

And here I was thinking this was supposed to be a serious effort car :D

This is gonna be awesome! What sequential transmission are you using? I'm building a 73 Cuda but it's very basic, stoked to see people not afraid to modify them.

Dave

Gonna run some mile events and hope to take it to the salt. Turbo's seemed logical as the way to get big power when I need it, but loaf around at 5-600HP for track days.

Its a PPG gear set in a T56 magnum case.

Yes, cut it up and make it what you want, more importantly make it fun and safe to drive. I've had Mopars most of my adult life, and if I hear, "it's 1 of blah, blah, blah" one more time, I'm gonna puke coat hangers. They were all 1 of something, and they don't all need to be restored!

Time to put the cross member in. It is designed to go directly below the main hoop and tie into the rocker and rocker boxes.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psz56ljepk.jpg
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psjac4zrip.jpg

It will attach to the forward part of the floor and tie into the existing sub frame connectors.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psuvtgc9t7.jpg
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You know I'm so visual ... sometimes I don't get it until I see it.

Now I see what you mean about the frame being quite a ways below the rocker. I agree with your plan to trim the outer edges up towards the rocker surface, after the lower link brackets are installed.

:cheers:

It actually matches the front. This is how they are stock. Crap hangs 2" below the rocker from the factory. It actually works out well. The belly pan mounts right to this and clears the drivetrain.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psvyoi0g4a.jpg
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psmz5thkgx.jpg

Sweeeeeet...

Pretty sure I can't hang with that 1500 lbs roller skate of yours. You got any updates?

Killer project!

Thanks!

Nothing like the wheel manufacture sending you pics as your wheels progress through machining operations (okay, I did bug him for one, haven't seen them except in CAD). Rears, 18X13 Mono Blocks. Will be flat black once completed.

I'll post up some progress shots on car this weekend.


http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...pspdk7plqe.jpg

Okay, blocked the next three days to get the back in. Making absolutely sure crossmember is level and square to the car. If its off, everything else gets thrown off.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psvguo3yow.jpg
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The upper seat bar will tie into the top of the loop, making a nice strong crossmember.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psut9adepy.jpg

I have the cage extended down through the floor and had welded a cap with nut in the bottom of the tube. This is to let me screw on extensions to jack/lift the car. Since the crossmember is directly under this, I welded another extension down that will be flush with the new crossmember.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7ss86bgy.jpghttp://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3wdvsob2.jpg
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Normally just tack everything up and finish weld once everything is in. With this being the "control" piece and it's placement cannot move, I'll fully weld it and then weld it in.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8mmnfynz.jpg

No matter what you do, it's going to pull. Quick trip on the press and it back straight.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7mzicvlt.jpg

More wheel pics...


http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psioyeb7ty.jpg
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Very nice!

Thanks!

Wheels showed up today along with tires. I need these now to build the new tubs in the rear and to flare the front fenders once the front sub is in.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psiod9fxcx.jpg
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Wanted to show the caps that go on the hubs. I'm using Ron's RSRT Track Star Super Hubs in the front. They have a big grease cap for a big bearing! (3" center bore) Ron's idea was to have the wheel manufacture engrave their logo so it looked like part of the wheel. I think it came out great. Rear caps are the Speedway caps for their hubs with the Finspeed logo machined.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...pspm17kbht.jpghttp://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psxwv7przu.jpg
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Lord have mercy! Viagra for car guys

Those caps look great..very god idea:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Some updates. Started by cutting out the rear floor section.


http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psmfeshm3x.jpg
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Because of how the cage was installed previously, I evened up the rocker boxes from the inside, making a "shelf" sort of. This leaves a space from the inside rocker to the frame rail that the control arm is accessed and adjusted.
This is not a tube frame race car, but a street car, body integrity is important to me. I still want doors to shut with a tight "thud" and body panels to line up and stay that way, and keeping the internal body structure should help that.


http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psjfgpifvz.jpg
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psthrlbdwx.jpg

I wanted to "sneak up" on the rear. Wasn't quite sure how I was going to do this. I had previously installed a cross tube between the stock frame rails and an upper support/bumper bar for the parachute mount. In the end, I decided to leave that in place and plate down to the previous crossbar and then just tie the new rails in their.


http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2yyopf0s.jpg
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psi1xu0fed.jpg

Then started cutting down the rails to fit and correspond with the blueprint. Front looked good...

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...pshhvj8x25.jpg

Rear, not so much. Ron had asked for the lowest point of the trunk floor as a measurement. I provided that and ask what about the measurement where the rails tie into the rear tail panel? Said it just needed the lowest part of the trunk. Apparently the tail panel measurement is kinda important.


http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psbutjtytt.jpg

Now to figure out how I want to fix this. The sway bar and watts frame are actually pretty low on the backside of the bend, lower than where I need to attach the rails to the rear...

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psv6av3z5l.jpg

...so I need to curve down to it.

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psbbk8kpin.jpg
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...ps104vlhjt.jpg
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psvxfztwli.jpg

Too bad poster board isn't structural...I need to make this look like it was in the plan all along instead of a fix.


http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...pspskuea9s.jpg
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I'll finish these up tonight and start on installing the sway bar tube and watts this weekend.

Now that is thinking outside the box to find a fix, nice work. Sometimes things just happen and I always try to just figure out a solution instead of worrying about why it happened...seems you must subscribe to the same theory Craig.

Keeping the chute mount huh? Nice...

Yall make me want a Cuda...

Thanks Lance. I screw up lots of stuff and have years of practice fixing it and making it look like that's what I wanted to do...Nothing like paying someone for parts/designs and then fixing their mistakes for free.


Yep, going to run some mile events and Bonneville.