Project WidowMaker - The Build Thread

[waynieZ]

Very nice work!

[coolwelder62]

Wow!!!Really nice fabrication work.Can't wait to see more.

[The WidowMaker]

i got a little more done today. unfortunately the watts crossmember had to be notched for exhaust clearance. if i would have known how low i was going to make it sit i would have welded the attachment points on the 12 bolt at a different angle. at the time i set it up, the rearend was hitting the frame at the end of its travel and there was still plenty of room for the exhaust.

so, the rear cross was notched and i got it smoothed today. i also finished the mid cross through holes, finished welding up the trans mounting points, took care of the droop stops to keep the front uca's from hitting the frame when jacking up the front end and also ground all the paint and filler out of the frame seams so i can weld them up more than the factory did. i never did it the first time, but i'm going to take the time now.

also, my wheels are supposed to be dropped off tomorrow morning!!!! i plan to take them out to jon for tires some time in the afternoon.

check out a pic of how some of the factory seams look??????? did they put a roll of 70s6 in a flux machine, or just run out of gas???

[The WidowMaker]

another small update.

i got the frame seams mostly ground out and welded. i will do some more once its completely disassembled.

i also checked the watts one last time and it came up perfectly centered. the old tires were off 1/4" as they rotate, so lesson learned on using them for measuring. the new wheels and tires are pretty perfect, so i used them to center and no changes are needed.

i moved the shocks over about 3/4" to allow for more exhaust and watts clearance. its pretty amazing how that little change can affect the spring rates. before i could get the frame to sit on the axle, and now the lowest i can get it is about 1" from the axle. i went from about 8-10* to 4* on my shock angles.

i do need to narrow the frame, so that is the next job to be completed on tuesday. then its just little stuff like welding the control arms, cutting off the ears on the 12 bolt...........

more to come!

[tones2SS]

I'll be on the lookout man!

[Nick.V70]

The exhaust is beautiful!!!!

Can I drop mine off

[Thomo5150]

Nice work, I love the trans tunnel its given me some idea's for my project. keep up the good work......

[The WidowMaker]

the frame got narrowed today. its not as pretty as i would like since it should have been done the first time and the notch reinforcement complicated things. but, it is done.

i have a whole list of stuff to do tomorrow and then i wont be back on it until next wednesday. i promised the wife i would take friday off from the car, and i leave saturday for a boys trip to vegas. i just hope im still married when i come back.........

heres a couple teaser wheel pics to hold you over. this is about .5" above ride height at the rear, and really high at the front. it still measures higher than i wanted, but the wheel is also 28.5" tall! they also sit in a tad more than i would like, but theres nothing more i could do at this ride height. at full compression they are pretty dang tight to the outside of my tubs, and my tubs have about a 1/16" gap to the quarter at this spot. wheels are rushforths with nitto nto5 315/35/20's. centers are custom matched to the code i gave them which will be the color on the frame in a couple of weeks.

i'll get some real pics once the frame is painted and assembled.

[torino420]

Looks SICK!

[BritishGreen68]

this is a killer build man, finally someone going LOW around here