street freak nova thrash

Ok, I just pulled the trigger and I think I have everything to try this setup in my 63'. Hope mine comes out as good as yours!

 

And here's the victim

 

awesome! that car looks like a pretty sweet start!

what weight springs did you end up going with?

 

Yes! Nova sits right.

 

I went with the 3000lbs springs , thought that would be good enough. I do have a question for you, what did you use for a pitman arm? I've been looking at the way you set it up and I'm thinking that I may try setting it up with and aftermarket (ie speedway) tirerod and draglink. That way I can set the axle in right side up and not be as tall. I noticed that the upper balljoint is higher than the lower,as it pertains to the axle, so it set's higher the way you have it, but before I make that decision, I'll set it in the car and see what it looks like. Any thoughts?

Rob

 

as i said before i think our 3000lb springs ride too stiff.

we used the stock nova pitman arm, we removed the stud & filled the hole with the end of the jeep pitman arm we cut to fit, pressed in & welded up. we did this 'cuz we had all the parts already. we wanted to keep it rear steer for simplicity of fab work (1 less thing to do).

if you're going with a speedway pitman/drag link/tie rod combo that's fine. it's just gonna be up to you to make it steer like i said it was just way easier (for us anyways) to install it upside down & backwards to make all the steering line up.

 

Yeah I thought about the spring weight ,but I'm thinking of a big block with a turbo 400, I don't know if that's going to make a difference or not. As far as the pitman arm I thought that's what you did just was reading it wrong.

Rob

 

I went with the Speedway springs with an aluminum head big block. They were just about right.....

 

Nice!!

 

Nope, Custom-made straight axle, and hand-picked parts...

 

FYI my axle came out of a Jeep Comanche pickup. The Cherokee axle uses modern style hubs with a stub shaft through the middle and slip over rotors like the 4WD version. The Comanche axles uses passenger car style rotors and so you have a little less weight in parts.

Josh Quick
Quick Speed Shop

 

any progress on the racecar rob build?

 

After getting the axle, life started to get in the way ( work, family and now a tropical storm).But, I did manage to strip the axle and hopefully I'll be able to mount it to the car. If you saw in the previouse picture , I had another front frame that I had already cut for the straight axle project, so I'll be ripping the old one off and installing the new one in ( for the 2nd time) .
I have another question for ya , what rear end are you running (width size) and whats your rear tire size . The reason I ask is that originally I was going the traditional gasser route and I have Hurst cheater slicks on there now and I don't think they are wide or tall enough(28x8x15-capped over 235/70) for the Street Freak look. I 'm thinking maybe a 275/60/15 BFG . My rear is out of a mustang (8inch) and I'm thinking of replacing it with a ford Explorer rear (it should fit may be a 1 inch difference (wider), and for the price I can get posi trac and low gears . What do you think?

 

8FLEET9 , here's an update with my Nova (Street Freak part Deuce). First I pulled out the 1 inch blocks in the rear, then I put longer shackles on and added some old traction bars that I cleaned up (to give it that freak look). I took off the front suspension and mocked up the jeep axle and springs just to see what it looks like and I must say WOW!, what a difference. Now I don't have a drivetrain in it yet hope it comes down a bit but man it freakin rules!! Here's some pictures of the mockup , Im getting ready to blow it all apart but thought yall would like to see it

 

Nice that going to look Sweet when it's done.

 

wow man that looks bitchin!

our nova has a 69 camaro 12 bolt. as for the rear tires they're either 275s or 295 60s on 15x10 deep dish cragers. we got the quarter panels cut out too, so there's no clearance issues.

 

Thanks for the comments guys ,

As far as the tires , I'm thinking for now just keeping the Hurst Cheaters on it for now then upgrading later,I'm going have to change the rear quarter anyways, so I'll make that call when it time.

Rob

 

what size rims are on the front? Wondering if 14" wheels will fit the jeep axle?

 

Loving this street freak build!

 

racecar rob! time for an update!

 

I'll be putting some more pics later in the week haven't got that far but it's a roller

 

Here some to wet your whistle

 

Any chance the hard steering in parking lots is due to axle being upside down? I'm going right side up and just turning it around to get rear steering. I've been thinking about this axle for years, you guys pushed me in the right direction. Welding subframes in my Valiant tonight, going spring over in rear this weekend, then onto the front. will post progress pics soon!

 

Couple of shots of my car, got the rear axle flipped this weekend. Getting the jeep tube ready for next weekend.

 

Cool !

 

A few more pics, I'll take some close ups of steering soon. Simple cross steer, as a serious offroad jeep would be, simply ligghter duty. I've put 200 miles on it in the last week, its my only car now. Also finished the new floor this weekend, no one makes pans for this one, haha. Street freak for sure now, Grannys are scared.