Front seats are in As with most aspects of the previous build, I rushed through the wiring and need to re-do the entire mess. Now is looks like my dash puked
Just an opinion...keep the tires, loose the wheels! Car looks great, can't wait to see it in person...by the way, the previous owner loves the direction this is going!
Right now the engine is a pretty stock 350, 9.5:1 compression, the "Mutha Thumpr" cam, noisy straight cut gear drive, single 4barrel tunnel ram with a holley 750 etc. It should sound and look cool, get some burn outs accomplished (especially with the 4 speed) but I wont be bragging about any real horsepower. The plan is to build a better motor this winter.
Slow but sure, todays goal is done. I was able to set the new steering column and relocate the clutch/brake pedal and place the throttle. The original pedals came through right about where the steering is now. I was able to use the old felt insulation around the clutch and brake as well. I had to fiddle with the sheet metal around the throttle to get it in the perfect spot
u must have small feet, those pedals look really close togthere, so whats the paint plan for the car?
I see a problem with the ladder bars. As a reference I am using the fitment per Chris Alston's drag race chassis tuning manual. The ladder bars are supposed to be focused towards a point of reference at the front of the frame, I think it is the center line of the height of the front suspension. I am not exactly sure of that, but I do know that this angle is critical and calculated to achieve maximum launch and balance and stability under load, it is not a random angle. We shouldn't just be looking at it and guessing it's good, it gets a dial protractor and some degreeing in. You may want to question a few builders on here or seek some more info about this and possibly a few other chassis geometry related things. See if you can consult some chassis guys. El Polacko or HRCC, and there are many others. It would suck for you to launch to the wall.
The brake pedal pad is going directly over the arm, the clutch pedal pad will be extended over to the drivers side a bit. For this summer, the paint stays. I want to drive the thing a bit. Next winter I am hopeful to get the paint done and a real motor built.
Thanks for the post Fransisco! I did research instant center and other aspects of suspension geometry. I have not gone through the process of finding the cars center of gravity (apparently it has to be done when the car is complete, even full of fuel and fluids). At the end of all that research, I just guessed at the ladder bar length. It seems that ladder bar designs are varied quite a bit, hell, Jegs has a bolt on deal! I wanted this to be an "old tech" build so I stuck with the leaf springs rather than going a full 4 link and coilovers. I did send a PM to ElPolako to get another opinion.
I have seen it and yes there is! Didn't know you had a build thread on this. Subscribed!! Let me know when you need to pull the body again!
Alright, body back off the frame, engine on stand ready to get pretty. I have some metal work left, then sand blast, then paint.
I dropped the oil pan and found one of the con rods just a little loose. The bearings are not worn through to the copper, the crank still looks perfect. I will sneak some new bearings in, plasti gauge, and call it good.
Nice work! Good thing you looked at the motor a little better, that would have sucked to have your first ride be so short!
After a great summer of doing other stuff.. I am back to work on this one.. Fuel tank installed Firewall painted I also have the underside of the body cleaned up and should be ready to set back on the frame soon