I've made a little progress since the last time I posted about this project, so I figured I'd post a quick update. You can find the first post here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=168229 I have the ch***is mostly finished now, all that's really left to do is paint the frame and finish plumbing the air lines for the bags. Here's a couple pics...some of you might have seen it at the Lonestar Roundup. The front shock mounts are So-cal speed shop F-1 style mounts that I mounted behind the A-arms. I used Pete and Jake's long chrome shocks on the front, and they have about 6" of travel. The exhaust is all stainless with the exception of the Corvette 2.5" "ram's horns", which are powdercoated. I used braided stainless flex joints in between the manifolds and the first exhaust tab. The flex joints allow me to essentially mount the exhaust solid from the joint back. I did however use high temp silicone grommets on all the tabs though...to get rid of any rattles that could be caused by metal on metal. The engine is your average 350 crate, but I tried to dress it up a bit by using Corvette valve covers and air cleaners, and an Offy 2x4. The paint color is Cadillac white diamond pearl, and it doesn't really show up correctly in pictures. When it's all said and done, I want it to have the general apearance of a '57 Vette motor. I still need a Corvette distributor cover/shield, if anyone has one they want to get rid of. The body is now back on the ch***is, and I've started rebuilding the floor. It was a shame to cut the floor on this car because it was so nice, but hey if you wanna make an omelette, you gotta break some eggs. It's shown below at about ride height...it will stil have a few inches of upward travel at the flip of a switch when necessary. I'm going to have to raise and totally rebuild the rear wheelwells to get the back down all the way when aired out....but everything else should be a piece of cake as far as building floors go. Careful measuring paid off on the front frame Z....here's the tire position in the wheelwell pretty close to ride height. Might go with a slightly wider whitewall on the finished product...the tire is a 7.10-15. And finally if I may predict the future a bit...here's a ****py photoshop of things to come. I can't wait to get the floors finished so I can whack the top. Thanks for looking....I'm pretty stoked on the car so far! Thanks also to Dudley Owens for giving me the opportunity to build it. -Brian
B***, your work is something I hope to aspire too. This is another killer project. Keep it up....slim
Excellent work (I probably said that in the last thread too). Does the driveshaft loop interfere with the seat brace? I'd like to see that trunk once you relocate the wheel-wells,,,por favor. Bryan
that really is something. i wish i had the time, ingenuity, and skills to pull off something like that
Not really. I'm using a '63 T-bird rear seat, and the built in hump in that seat fits right over the driveshaft loop and sits on the stock seat riser location built into the floor. The rear seat braces under the package tray will need to be shortened a bit because of the new rear suspension and corresponding floor, but all in all everything is going to fit pretty well. I'll post pics of the trunk floor mods when I get it all ****oned up. Thanks for the compliment.
That might just be the fix for my rear seat clearance issue...I thought I'd be t******* the stock one to clear my driveshaft tunnel and for the 4-link brackets, but maybe not. Thanks, Bryan
thats sick! you've really been stepping it up since i first joined hamb years ago. that is going to be a show stopper for sure.
I was just wondering to myself yesterday what was up with this project--can't wait to see the finished car
When I saw that ch***is at the Roundup I thought that it was to pretty to hide under a car. That's going to be a *****in' ride. Keep up the excellent work!
That's one nice ch***is you've put together there B***, fair play to you mate!! I look forward to the next installment so keep us updated!! By the way, what do you mean by "I still need a Corvette distributor cover/shield"? Cheers Steve
I meant, what do you mean by "a 57 Corvette distributor cover/shield" as I thought they were just female caps back then? Steve
Looking great! I love the smooth flow of the headlights....so many people just start welding the rings on there and don't have that nice smooth flow down the fender line to the end of the headlight ring. Great job on all of it!
Looks Damn Nice. How Did You Address Lowering The Portion Of The Frame In Front Of The Crossmember? Radiator Mounts And All That. Was It Just As Simple As Lowering It The Same 2.5 In As The Rest Of The "z"???
Cool idea, I hope you don't mind if I use that. Do you have any closer photos of the pipe hangers? Very impressive, thanks for showing us.
This is the best I can do for now, the bright blue things are the high-temp grommets. The tabs on the pipes were cut out of 1/8" stainless plate. Not Pete...The front of the frame Z was as simple as dropping it back down 2.5" to match the Z behind the A-arms, believe it or not. I just made sure to make the cut parallel to where I cut the frame in the rear. Thanks guys!
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