Here are a few pics of what I have been working on....I've had the car almost 6 years, it was a driver when I bought but tore it apart shortly after buying it, it has mostly just sayt the last 4 years until recently I got the bug to work on it again.....I have so far replaced both rockers, both lower cowl panels, both lower rear qaurter (behind doors), the tail pan, tool box in trunk...Now I am rebuilding the floor and then the trunk pan.... I am welding in 1" sq tube 1/8" wall....I just about have all the bracing welded in and I am now trying to decide on how high the tunnel should be and what to make the tunnel braces from....I bent some 1/8" x 1 1/4" flat stock to form a couple mock up hoops but I'm not sure if I should thicker for the hoops or would 1/8" be thick enough??? The seats I have are from a 99 sebring vert but here again I don't know if I should run these or look for some out of a mini van or small pick up....I know the intergrated seat belts are not "traditional" but at the time I bought them I had other visions on how I was going to build the car..... Should I use these seats or go with something else?? suggestions?? I'm looking for an S-10 tailhousing and bellhousing so I can move the shifter up further and to straighten the trans .....
Sounds like it's really coming along. Looks like the patches are going in good. As for the floor, the trans tunnel & driveshaft tunnel will have some inherent rigidity simply from their shape. When you weld sheetmetal to the braces, you further increase the stiffness... same principle as laminated layers of wood on furniture. I would think that the strap you have would be plenty in that area, but it's the flat part of the floors that would most likely be in danger of being flimsy. If you have a way to roll (or hammer) beads in the floor panels, this will make them much stronger (even with 18 ga.). Alternatively, you can always go with thicker metal or add more bracing.
If i didn't know better it looks like you were over my shop taking pictures of my 40 . Have all of the same problems ,and same sheet metal patches welded in .The only difference is i suicided my doors . Had a lot of trouble with the rockers ,with the shape or curve they would not fit the doors . I have it on hold now i just got done with a customers truck and i have a 69 chevelle thats almost ready for paint so thats next Good luck with your project.
Thanks Slide, I have a HF bead roller that should work okay with the 18ga sheet metal I have.....I am also thinking about doing a body mount on the front braces to give them a little more rigity and an extra mount never hurts... I'd like to see what your 40 looks like if you get a minute to post some pics, always looking for more ideas and insight on my project... I know what you mean about the rockers not fitting well, all my panels are from EMS, they don't fit worth a crap but since they are the only ones out there I had to get and use what I could find... On mine the center is closer to the door than the ends, after fooling with it over and over I finally welded it in, I'll have to live with what I have, it's gonna be a driver and not a Concourse car and 95% of the general public will never notice and those that do, Oh well, it's for me.... I had looked at EMS floor pans but after seeing that they are nothing more than flat sheets with a few beads and at almost $1000 for the set I will make my own...
I have some pictures of my 40 on my web site which is on my profile What i did to my rocker was to cut the top, a half inch from the edge and take some of the arch out and then moved the inner roll inward and then welded a plate to the under side to make up the difference. The pictures on my web site are last year. And i haven't had time to up date it yet. But the drivers side is all welded and fitted which was a major pain , because my body did not have any structure left.
Your 40 is looking good there. Makes me want to get to work on mine. Please keep us 40 people updated with more pics! Keep up the good work!
I checked your site, I can see what you mean about no structure left, mine had just been bondoed up, my floors were actually fairly solid, mostly just the outter edge (rocker area) was rusty but instead of patching it up I figured I'd just put all new metal in and eliminate the worry of future problems.......Your new suspen looks great, nice work.....I went the easy way out on mine and bought the CE bolt in MustII crossmember and engine mounts, also have the CE rear leafs, hangers ect.....I am not famailiar with setting up suspensions so I figured the CE parts would be my best choice....I'd like to see more of yours as you get further along, also like to see the chopped sedan in the back ground... Thank BT, I finally decided to stop playing with other toys and get something done on my 40, I was at the point it was too far disassembled and too much money invested to sell or trade it off so I made up my mind to get back working on it.....My goal to get all the metal welded in by spring so I can lift the body off the frame and get the frame cleaned up and start assembling all the suspenion parts to make it a roller by summer......If you have any pics of your project I'd like to see what you are working on also.... Thanks again, Randi
Your T5 transmission will bolt to a "regular" SBC bellhousing. This may require opening up the 4 mounting holes on your T5 with a 1/2" drill bit.
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