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

[daemon2]

Still plugging away.

I like the way the front wheels are looking but they have to come back off so I can weld in the upper coilover mounts and work on the core support.

Just a few more pics with them on:






This weekend was eaten up by a bit of spring cleaning. I did get the drivers side floor panel in. But that's all for this weekend...

[daemon2]

I'm working in the back of the car now, the frame is complete front to rear and I have to add some cross braces in a few places.
I have been looking for a good place for the Optima battery and tray. The fuel tank is not centred so I think passenger side rear will be good for balance.





I have started fabricating the new wheel tubs, all the old material I don't need is gone now.


Still lots of work on the passenger wheel well


and bringing the body back together with the frame.

[daemon2]

I had a few good hours on the car today, I have been putting together my own rear tubs to fit the extra rubber in on the back. Started by removing the rear quarter to open everything up:



And have a good start on the new tubs, I had a little trouble getting the radius of the two halves to line up but with some patience they are starting to come together nicely.



Here's a cool 'cutaway' view of the rear of a P1800 - with some new components. Rear brakes are 13" Wilwood, calipers aren't in yet.



I set the suspension up and put it through its travel to get an idea of required clearance. This is about 1 inch above ride height.



New brackets for the tub and deck support.



And the clean radius for the new wheels



I have some work left to do on the tubs and opening the wheel arch around the front of the rear wheel.

Today was a good day.

[krptonite]

i am really wanting one of these cars now! what vette irs is it? dana 36 from auto or a 44 from the standard trans?

[daemon2]

Originally Posted by krptonite

i am really wanting one of these cars now! what vette irs is it? dana 36 from auto or a 44 from the standard trans?

I have a C4 dana 36 and 44, I think I will be using the 44 with 3.55 gears and 6 speed manual. That picture shows the 36.

[daemon2]

i have a new bead roller and ran my first bead today, nice tool!



This is wheel tubs continued...



So far they are looking pretty good, I have it just resting on a block in this image so I can cut out the template for the rear plate.



Its looking pretty mean in this shot...I want to drive this thing already!

[daemon2]

Final fit of the wheel wells before putting the sheet metal on the inside of the well and reshaping the rear quarters.



From the nose of the car looking reward showing the p1800 body lines and the width of the new rear end tubs - from one of the cad drawings I posted previously it shows the increased wheel width from above, looks like we were pretty close:





The last of the frame bracing is now complete, now I can complete the floor and start planning for epoxy primer.



I have moved the front sheet metal out and have started reworking the core support for the new radiator and frame. I did a little work on the sheet metal extensions. The damaged bondo encrusted section will be redone as well, its wrinkled up pretty good in there on the front.

[DETON8R]

Nice shots extending the nose of the P1800. Are you planning to rework the lights too? Have you decided what they will look like?

Also, like the CAD drawings of the car showing the new/old track width. I saw a 1964 AC Cobra a few weeks ago, which was a really an AC Ace with a 289 and a 4 speed mod, with a very few changes and the style of these early 1960's European sports cars really was a wider front and narrower rear, with a wider front track width than the rear.

What is your front and rear tire track widths? And Hub to hub widths?

[daemon2]

If you look just past the nose on that last image you may notice some work starting on the lights, there was a lot of rust and patch work behind bondo in there so I will be redoing them.
I have some parts for the lights just haven't started with them yet, I have to find someone who can do custom lenses for me. I will post images when I get to that work.
Stock P1800: front and rear track width 51.8", P1800 body with is 66.93" at the widest point on the body. The widest point is the middle across the doors and it tapers in front and rear.
New:
Rear track: 60.5"
Front track: 54.5"

Rear hub to hub: 62.5
Front hub to hub: 58.5

Total width rear: 68.0"
Total width front: 64.2"

Originally Posted by DETON8R

Nice shots extending the nose of the P1800. Are you planning to rework the lights too? Have you decided what they will look like?

Also, like the CAD drawings of the car showing the new/old track width. I saw a 1964 AC Cobra a few weeks ago, which was a really an AC Ace with a 289 and a 4 speed mod, with a very few changes and the style of these early 1960's European sports cars really was a wider front and narrower rear, with a wider front track width than the rear.

What is your front and rear tire track widths? And Hub to hub widths?

[DETON8R]

Did you check out http://www.sickhids.com/ for custom lights?

Also, I've seen some other custom cars that used other cars light assemblies, I'm thinking that I might use Mini Cooper lights.
http://www.carid.com/2002-mini-cooper-headlights/

Unfortunately there aren't many modern cars that look like they will work with minimum modifications for a custom P1800. I've ben looking, the late model/retro Thunderbird lights might work too, but they would be way more work that the Mini lights. The Mini light assemblies just look like the might be a bit big.

I'm still working my tail lights for my 1969 Camaro. I have billet lenses, and I just can't spend >$200 for progressive tail lights. I found a company that sells tons of LED's to the trucking industry, and I purchased a set of progressive controllers and a few other pieces for the custom light's that I'm going to use from them. Should be able to make my own tail lights for just over $100.
http://www.rodworx.com/
http://www.uatparts.com/

These tend to focus on LEDs, running lights and tail lights, not HID's for head lights. I have not looked around too much for custom HID's yet, as I'm using the standard round headlights for the Camaro, so I don't have to look around too hard yet. I've looked around at the Good Guys shows and a few other shows and not much is available in those venues for custom applications.