The funny car cage is all in now. Im feeling good about all the protection i will have. Im not taking any more chances. In the last pic im holding one of the many pieces that will support the trailer hitch/ parachute mount. Monday im grabbing the body from dicks shop and running it over to jims. The body needs to go on one last time. The four link front brackets are tacked on now. We need to set the position of the rear wheels. The lower bars length will be cut to do this. We want the body on to make sure its right. The body should go back to dicks wednesday weather permitting. with all that work done then the shocks; wishbone and antirollbar can go in. The next big thing will be the front suspension.
31 dodger is correct. he knows his mopars. i asked dick about the other coupe in the shop and he said it is a 28. good eye picking up on that.
Take a look at Suzuki Swift (I guess you have them in the U.S.A?). They have a green somewhat like the Stryker. Arnold.
Im getting ready to order parts for the front end. I liked the position of the front wheels. The new rims; brakes and spindles will be different on the rebuild. A friend came over and we unbolted the old frame from the wall. We mocked up the old parts and took measurements. The chassis shop will use these as a guide.
I'm looking forward to seeing this chassis as a roller especially with those magnesium wheels. Whose axle are you going to uses?
I have used both strange and moser over the years. Jim is a strange dealer so we will go with their 35 spline street axles.
Nice. I think I'm going to run mark Williams in my car because I have their spool in my center section. I accidentally added an s I was wondering on the front axle.
My old axle measured 46.5 inches. Theres a forged aluminium i beam axle that comes 46 or 47 inches. Its drilled and polished. It saves 9 pounds compaired to the steel axle. I believe its a super bell. With the i beam i can run hair pins. Jim and i will go over it tomorro.
Any of those eye popping modern greens will compliment your car, great choise. Ofcourse I'm not objective since I painted my Tudor with flashy lime pearl.
o.k. Brian, you officially suck., Now i want to go drive my coupe into the river, and start over !! LOL That thing is gonna be the ULTIMATE HOT _ ROD !!!
It's awesome to see what goes into building safe for the power you will be running, instead of so many who don't. Thank you for all the detail you are posting. Amazing how far you have come since August. I think a lot of us would still be crying about it. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Today the body went back to the chassis shop. The body shop sprayed some primer on it due to the inclement weather thats forecast. The body had several cracks that needed to be fixed. Im sure they came about due to a blown hemi five speed and not the crash. There was way too much flex in the chassis. That wont be a problem this time around. John started on the floor bracing. The bars are set up off center from the larger tubes. They are brought up even with the top of the frame rails. This is done so when the floor goes in its all even. I dont want the floor looking like a old wash board. The hilborn injector is being modified for the air valve. We found a way to make it work. Of course this requires machining and welding. It should be done this week. I have decided on how im going to do the ignition. Im going to keep the msd elect distributor that works with the efi in its stock location. That being the back of the block. The magneto will be run off the cam in front. Hot heads offers a spud to drive the mag and pump. One was sent out today. This will work perfect with their front cover. I found a special adaptor to run everything. It will drive the mag and also mount and drive the waterman fuel pump for the nitro. This special adaptor is one pricey piece. With this setup both distributors can have different timing they require and i wont have to switch them back and fourth. All i have to do is turn on one or the other and change plug wires. When people look at it im sure they will have a puzzled look on their faces. This is going to look wild. The front axle has been a challenge. The axles offered out there are for ford spindles. I run anglia. I talked to jerry at super bell today. He might have a unmachined axle in the shop. If so we will modify it to our liking. Thats hot rodding right there. There is a lot more on the way stay tuned.
Last night i picked up the trans blanket for the lenco. I dropped it off this after noon. the trans mount can't be made without it in place. While there i saw todays progress. The body is back on. it looks so different with the body on. we were able to get a real good idea how everything is fitting. I'm very happy with the fit. I missed seeing the wheels in place and everything mocked up to set the ride height. I got inside the car to recheck the seat position. We moved the seat up about 4 inches. The four link is all in now. The shocks were being mocked up. The wishbone and shocks will be done by the end of the week. The trailer hitch should also be done. Jim got on the bridgeport to modify the hilborn. part of the casting is on a angle. It would look funny if the valve was welded on that way so material was removed to make it fit like it should. It just needs to be welded now. i have to admit i swallowed hard a few times before i committed to this modification. once its cut there is no going back. Good news on the front axle. Jerry at super bell has a unmachined axle on the way to me. he also provided some valuable info to get the fit right. Now the shop can start on the front end. Im hoping for a roller soon. Climbing in and out of the car im glad i have the suicide doors. It sure makes it easier. If it was a regular door setup getting around the funny car cage would have sucked.
thanks jim. we have the hammer down. i have a good team assembled and we are all working hard. good thing i have a understanding wife. little did she know what she was getting into the day she jumped into my chevelle back in high school. this rebuild has totally consumed me lately. did you ever get your class winner jacket?
Love the pic with the seat in there. Really looking wild, makes me want a tube chassis soooo baaaad. The cage is a work of art! Can not see enough of this car.
It was great meeting you, you are the real deal, great guy, and your son Steve, is following in your footsteps
thanks! And likewise...you're one of the great guys to build and drive that badass coupe, and help out a stranger. Hope to see you on DW this year!
that's bad ass. you have got to be proud of that. how comfortable is it to sleep in? I don't think I could take it off for at least a few weeks after getting it.
The Jalopy Journal
