My quick-change rear is finally here, also have model A crossmember and spring, when I find some time, I can commence the chassis build. Glen
I have been very busy over the last couple of years, life in general has been full on with work, home renos, engine rebuild for my 31 coupe, also family etc. Its been a while since Ive worked on my 34, recently I started building a roll cage, mainly for seatbelt mounts and drag racing duties. Cage will be bolt in, mounts use body mount holes and are cross bolted thru chassis, cage tude is spec for drag racing in AUS. The main hoop is finished, I still need to fab rear bars - unsure if I will fab a full cage or keep it a 4 point, time will tell. A few pics, Glen
I recently took the body of the chassis, only took a couple of hours to fab up a wooden trolly and lift body off. First job is to modify front cross member to achieve a 30mm / 1 1/4 inch lower stance then I plan to set up front suspension before tackling the rear end.. A few pics. Glen
Finished front crossmember, approx. 1 1/4 inch lower than stock, now I plan to set up the front end / fab front shock mounts and set up wishbones. Glen
A few pics of recent progress, machined up some bungs to mount bones and sectioned frame for spring clearance, still a long way to go. Glen
I have finished setting up front suspension for now, some parts fully welded, others tacked in. I plan to set up rear end and engine / gearbox next. Today I cut of rear frame horns with a plan to tuck them up under body and weld a curved bar across the rear to make it neater, I feel doing this first before cutting out rear crossmember to install a model A unit will help with bracing the rear of frame - I will also weld in other bracing before cutting out current crossmember. Glen
I recently fabbed my engine and gearbox mounts, still a little tweaking to go but happy so far. I tried to get motor as low as possible to keep the carbs under the bonnet ( 671 blown sbc, JW powerglide ), sump clearance should end up around 5 inch, gearbox will need a short pan as current deep unit will only have about 3 inch clearance. I also set motor back as far as possible for blower pully to front end clearance. I needed to section transmission tunnel for box to fit. A few pics, Glen
Today I started on the rear end, I have everything I need to mount crossmember and fab ladder bars and ladder bar mounts. Only issue is the rear end came with 5 x 5 axle flanges and the brakes are multi fit 5 x 4.5 and 5 x 4.75, I will need to have axles re drilled or order new ones, if I had have noticed earlier I could have sorted this issue. No big problem just a pain in the arse. A few pics, Glen
A few pics from recent progress, I have tack welded rear to chassis with 3 inch clearance and 3 degree of pinion angle, so far I have added spring mounts and tacked in crossmember, next is to fabricate ladder bars. Glen
Ladder bars tacked in today, next is to make mounts for shocks then I can mount body and check ride height etc. Glen
Spent 2 days welding all the brackets to diff and chassis, next job is to set up steering assembly. Glen
Mounted steering box recently, fabbed up a mount out of 1/4 inch plate, I needed to modify my engine mounts for clearance, a few pics, Glen
I mocked up car today, I cannot get over how cool quick change rearends look, just love it. I am not happy with engine position, the carbs will not fit under hood and will run into louvers if I cut a hole in hood, so I plan to set back engine another 1 1/2 inch (40mm) and down 1/4 inch - this will still not allow carbs to fit under but will better position a scoop out of the hood. Once Im happy with engine I will set up steering coloum and wheel. Glen
I recently re mounted engine / gearbox mounts, I also needed to remount steering box and section body for box clearance, I will need to make room for dizzy in the future, now for the steering coloum. A few pics, Glen
I recently started setting up steering, I have a collapsable coloum with a breakaway setup under dash ( required for rego), I have also decided to mount brake booster under dash as there is no room under car as I need room for exhaust. Today I started fabbing a support structure, I will need to fab a right angle brake pedal assembly. I will also be looking for seat options ( I'm leaning towards a bench seat) so I can finalize coloum and pedal location. A few pics, Glen
Started fabbing brake pedal and booster mount today, using pics from a eBay item, mine will be more heavy duty (over engineered as usual), utilizing whatever steel I have handy, a few pics. Glen
I spent a few more hours on the brake assembly today, happy so far, another day and it should be done, a few pics, Glen
Great build, thanks for all the detail. On rear ladder bars front heim joint ( u maybe call it rose joint ) - mount appears very tight. I do see spacer either side. How much suspension movement do you have with one end of rear up & other end down?
Amish, I'm yet to fully test suspension as waiting for more weight in car as progress continues, my ladder bars are very heavy duty, made of chrome moly as I want a street / strip car. I may need to make another less heavy set of bars with flex ability for street duty's, any advice greatly appreciated. A few pics of todays progress, finished mounting pedal / booster assembly, happy with results, mount is very strong with no movement. I will need to hide booster with some sort of panel etc. Glen
Feel need to better explain earlier comment on ladders bar heim joints. Ladder bars for traction fore & aft you will be fine. On the highway rear will go up & down over bumps differ from side to side. Great explanation on You Tube of “misalignment spacers explained”. Search for “Barnes 4wd”. I know hot rods do not need huge movement of rear like off roadsters but the heim does need to rotate some. Watch the video.
Thanks again, I just watched the video and a couple of others, The reason I chose a bushed rod end is for longevity as a normal heim or rod end is open and allows dirt etc. to wear joint. I used this type of joint in my 31 coupe build, but that was a triangled 4 link so not as much articulation required. My thoughts were after watching countless hot rod builds with the so-cal ladder bar type e.g. bushed end with clevis at other end, was that limited flex is required for this type of suspension and was achieved from the bar length and the limited flex from the joint. I do like the Johnny joint (my first time seeing this type) and will look into the Johnny joint or other types of bushed flex joints for sure. Glen
Looks good, I would add an upper plate to the bellcrank so those rod ends are in double shear. Easy addition for a huge safety factor.
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