continued from above
These Wexco motors were mounted during the cowl panel construction with fabricated brackets for mounting consisting of steel plate and hose clamps. It is pretty simple but that is how these motors are made to be mounted.
Getting their location and alignment was anything but simple, of course. These have to line up with the wiper arms and windshield, so the adjustable hose clamps will allow for some angular adjustment once the windshield is in place.
These compact motors fit under the OEM shaped cowl panel, shown above, and should look somewhat factory.
The OEM style aluminum upper cowl panel finishes off this section nicely, once the car was reassembled after the completion of the various firewall and cowl panels.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The above work tasks were completed over a few weeks, which wrapped up a lot of sheet metal and component mounting in the cabin and firewall areas.
The dash was re-assembled over the recently added defroster, wipers, interior panels and firewall. The factory upper cowl vent panel was also installed. This was done so that the hood and windshield could be installed next. The oil and power steering coolers were installed, getting ready for the next steps. The wheels and tires went on and the car, a driver's seat was reinstalled, and the Camaro was set back on the ground at ride height.
With all of these components installed we felt it was a good time to get a weight of the car, showing the progression of the build. This is with all of the drivetrain (motor/trans/Ford 9", body panels, suspension, wheels/tires, seat, steering column, exhaust, and fuel cell.
Without driver or fuel it was 2109 pounds, but still 53% showing on the front wheels. Even with this much rearward drivetrain and driver offset you can see how difficult it is to get weight on the rear axle. We're not done, of course, and have a number of systems that will be added out back to help balance the bias - and adding fuel and driver weight will help tremendously.
There are still more aluminum panels necessary on the interior, as well as some "false floor" sections that will be added, but I will show that next time.
Next time we will show hood ducting layout work, hood vents and radiator/cooler ducting, and additional tubular front structure being added. The air intake tube, air box, radiator, and steering rack will be reinstalled before we trim, fit and install the VFN composite hood.
Until next time,