1968 Camaro "Badmotorfinger" v2.2

[Flash68]

Once everything was positioned and shimmed into place, I doubled checked the alignment.... because I was getting ready to weld this baby in for good.



For you MIG lovers, welding out of position upside down. (TIP: reduce wire speed 25% and increase heat to the next level above the metal that is being welded. On the up-right start at top and go down and pause every 2 beads just enough time to let the red fade before starting next 2 beads down. On the over head, use a skip back pattern after burning in each bead. On the over head you will need to speed up and keep an eye on the melted pool so it does not get to big and sag or drip). This shot of the weld shows it after it was just been wiped down, I used an Anti-Spatter spray prior to welding. As a side note, Dave and I made a game plan to try and meet a race deadline... and one of the areas to save time was to use the MIG process as much as possible. It can be 3 to 5 times faster to MIG over TIG for some welding projects.

[fleetus macmullitz]

[Flash68]

Originally Posted by compos mentis

It might be an A Team... but when you bring me on board it becomes more like the B- Team.

[coolwelder62]

Lookin good.

[fleetus macmullitz]

Originally Posted by Flash68

It might be an A Team... but when you bring me on board it becomes more like the B- Team.

Still sounds like you may be operating at over 50% of a normal man.

[tones2SS]

Originally Posted by coolwelder62

Lookin good.

^^I concur sir. Very good!

[Flash68]

Now that the transmission mount was mocked up and secured with the frame mounts, I could start to focus on the torque arm mount modifications.



The original mounting location of the torque arm utilized an attachment point on the front frame clip around the rear body bolt just under the front seat area. The torque are pivot point in the mount is further behind this location and the original mount had to cantilever 6" back away from the strong part of the mount. This is similar for other torque arm mounts that I've seen and I'm going to guess that this is the best production mounting location. This location is probably chosen because not everyone will have the addition of frame connectors to move the mount backward closer toward the pivot point. However, we are in luck... Dave already has frame connectors welded in and I decided to use them to clean up this mounting space.

[Flash68]

There are a few reasons the torque arm modifications became important for this set-up. One, originally the sub-frame mounted lower because of the body disc spacers. Those were removed to gain more ground and motor clearance. And that left an awkward mounting location and spacing against the body. Two, the torque arm mount had a plate style mount to the sub-frame that required 4 1/4" bolts to be tightened from inside the frame. I was planning to cover those access holes up after the frame was welded back together.







The above is the original configuration. I needed more ground clearance and large exhaust cut-outs in the cross braces for Dave's set-up. And with the new transmission brace, I had planned on joining the 2 braces together... which allowed me more freedom to move the torque arm brace backward more and closer to the torque arm pivot point. By removing the cantilevered leverage and the ability to connect the 2 braces netted a much stronger and versatile core that each piece could be removed independently.

[Flash68]

I figured that I would just flip the torque arm mount 180 degrees and that way the extra pipe stub-out could be used as a connecting location to the front trans mount. Also it would give me more room to use a similar style mount and have more room between the 2 cross braces.





The above shot.... Just planning ahead for the big 3.5" pipes that will run under

[Flash68]

I forgot about this picture and don't have any others to show the removal of the old cut-out scallops and the cutting of the newer wider and deeper one.

I used a special metal melting formula to remove the old exhaust scallops.