Project 'Too Much': 1969 P1800S - soon to be P1800 GT

[daemon2]

Thank you for the offer, I will let you know if I need anything. For the purists:
Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly.
I am aiming for designedly.

Originally Posted by Iamtheonlyreal1

Good luck on the build, I have been telling the P1800/Amazon community that they need to get off their asses and represent in the real car classes.. LOL Seems, I have been black listed by alot of the organizations, because these cars are perfect in their original form. I had a couple of guys literally say that if the original OEM suspension and drivetrain setup was tuned right, it would far surpass anyones driving capabilities.. LOL No Lie, they really believe this.. Once we get a couple of the P1800's and Amazon's completed, we have a agreed to put one of them up against the originally configured car, so lets just hope they actually show up since it was their idea.

Just let me know if you need anything.. I would be happy to help out in what ever fashion I can.. I was considering the full Corvette chassis also, but there was going to be way to much fab to the car and the chassis to get it done, so I decided not to go that route. Our kits are a direct bolt in, because we are building several of these 545 horsepower projects, and I wanted to ensure some consistancy in the builds.. So all of our stuff is CAD'd and mass produced at this time.

[waynieZ]

This will be fun to watch. I really like that body style.

[daemon2]

Today's work:

Drivers side floor - numerous layers of metal in here

I wonder what we'll find underneath?


The old battery box location - this will come out and the battery will be relocated to the rear of the car.



I need room for a few more inches of wheel and tire- I believe the originals were 7" wide, new ones are just under 12.



This will go, there are signs of rust in the top of the frame rails - won't need them anyway. The new axle centreline will be approximately where the bottom of this spring perch sits now.

[DETON8R]

Thank you for the link and the recommendation for the floor pans.

Once the car comes apart I will be looking at options, and the magnitude of the required repairs, because there are more then a few repairs required on the floor. The bigger the repair the more I will lean toward a replacement frame and just tear everything apart. Wide rear tires will be a part of that design too, so I will be modifying the floor no matter what.

Keep the photos coming, especially of the replacement and mods for the rear openings!!

[daemon2]

I think I have found almost all the rust so I can finalize the plan for what I keep and what needs to go.

Frame rails and floor are on the go list.

I test fit the C4 IRS so I can measure out the rear frame rails and start on them.

looks ok but we'll need a little more width to the rear.

Check these out!

[daemon2]

Just had an update on the rendering, it should be up this week.

[daemon2]

I removed the battery box, it had fiberglass repairs in with the metal and rust. I will rework the entire firewall later on:


The engine bay is clear now and looks pretty good overall.


These cars typically see rust in the window frames, and in the body where the water runs inside from these bad spots. No surprise to see this, but the car looked great from outside...


Front repair panel, just a start. This is a first attempt for me.


Rear window lower frame, same issue but the water didn't cause damage any further down which is great news!



And the repair panel:


Now the paint will need to be blasted off and I can start on the frame rails, or whatever else we uncover first...

[DETON8R]

Nice updates on the project!!

I've looked at squeezing a C4 IRS and after talking to a few different frame builders there seemed to be a limit to the amount of tire width that could be squeezed into the rear end of that car with a C4 Vette IRS, as the stock hub-to-hub is around 63" and the narrowest most frame makers would go was usually in the 59" range, and with the car only 64-65" in the rear it would limit how wide the tires would be, unless there were fender flares. I'm over planning this aren't I???

Are you going 100% custom on that rear end? Or is there an aftermarket kit that makes that rear end kit and are you just welding that in?

[daemon2]

I have built the rear bracket for the c4 IRS from images I found online and stock c4 diagrams.
The rear is quite a bit wider, I have custom wheels that I had cut for this setup but will still have some work to do on the width of the body. I don't mind flares but also don't want to ruin the lines of the car. So I have to take it slow.
If I had that rendering back already...
I will post more updates when I can, I will be replacing the rear frame rails with a 2x3 frame and am currently considering a full frame under the car. I found rust in the rear portions of the rocker supports the other day.

I really wanted a deep dish wheel on the back but could only fit so much into the narrow body.

[DETON8R]

Thanks for the download on your frame design ideas and progress. I've looked at alternatives to a Vette/Jag/Ford T-Bird IRS, and while there are a few really custom set-up's there isn't a long track record on most of those custom set-ups. The only truly stock set-up that looks like it would work without changing the hub-to-hub distance is either a Miata or BMW 3-series. Both have a significant selection of aftermarket parts available (shocks, caster/camber kits, brakes, rotors, etc.) and can be upgraded to handle pro-touring engine power and abuse.

Sounds like you and I are in the same boat, the harder I look at the car the more rust/rot/damage I find, which has me leaning away from the Sweedish Ops replacement k-member and 4-link set-up. Besides, the more I think about blowing out the floor and going 100% custom, the more possibilities open up.

Good thing I have another car to finish before I make any commitments.......