So close to having a big item checked off the list! painted the crossmember and bolted the transmission rubber on (th350 Chevy pad bolted to the rear mount location in the t83) made cardboard boxing plate to transfer holes and then took them to a buddy’s shop down the street to chop the 1/8th inch plate to length and pop the holes. Took 14 minutes with driving both ways. I then spent two or three hours whittling them down and fitting them. Something I notice in this stage is just because a part fits doesn’t mean you can get it in position to fit. The card board is close to the right thickness but the corners aren’t as stiff so where you can wiggle it in place steel don’t care about what you want it to do. I bolted the crossmember to the transmission and then braced it into exact position so when I put the plate in place I had to put it all the way into the frame channel, slide it over, and move it forward to the flange. So fitment of that vs just pushing it 1/8 into the channel is going to be different. Slow and steady wins the race. I’m fine with things being tedious as long as it doesn’t feel like I’m just fighting it. drivers side bolted together the passenger side the mount holes drifted just a hair when they got punched so I need to take a file and oval it just a bit. Then I can bolt it together. Im calling these mounts “temporary permanent” I know full and well they might need changed. And I also know they might be just right. If they need tweaked it’s temporary and if it’s right then they can stay lol. For some reason stating that even if just to myself up front helps my brain move forward. I’ve got too many pieces kinda floating at the moment and so staking down the trans lets me sort a lot of other small things out even if I need to tweak it a bit after the fact. Anyhow I could ramble forever, hopefully Thursday I can get the second side bolted up, the plates tacked and the blocks and jacked removed from under the trans. Next stop is the ladder bars/ rear axle/ quarter elliptic springs. I can not wait to be able to roll this thing outside again !
It’s all holding! Up next I need to sit the front of the frame on jack stands and take the front end lose. It currently just has gravity holding it together, I took it lose so many times clearancing the front crossmember and dicking with it that it’s sitting a little wonky putting the wishbone ball a little off to the side. I need to put the u bolts/ spring mount bolts back in anyways so I’ll take it lose, straighten it all out and put it back together with bolts etc really close to having the check next to this on the list and I’m very stoked for it
Man I can’t believe how much more solid this car feels with the chassis holding all the weight. Much more solid than when the 4 banger was in it. Though it is roughly twice the weight lol I should be able to get to the front end/wishbone this weekend. Then I’m moving right to the ladder bar cross member. So cleaning the frame in that area, cleaning and painting all those parts, making some boxing plates. Should be pretty straight forward.
John Erb had a 289 Stude block that he said he had taken over 100 pounds of off. That would be a lot of hours with a Dremel.
Pardon the mess on the floor this thing hasn’t moved in a loooooong time Plenty of room for everything and I got the wishbone connected! Im not really sure how tight these balls need to be clamped together but it ain’t going anywhere best I can tell. So for now they’ll stay as I haven't measured caster. No point in getting it dialed in and then change it.
Once you do get it dialed in, you might want to have some sort of brace going back to the frame. Transferring shock from the wishbone without twisting the trans mount. Maybe I'm being too careful, but when both front tires hit a bump, that force is going right along the wishbone. I bring it up so others can say I'm full of it or you might want to do this.
It’s all pretty beefy. Thick wall tube and the plate the ball is mounted to has two thick vertical gussets that are hard to see here. I’ll keep it in mind but I figure a lot of people run brackets similar to the one I’ve attached,they seem to be fine so I’m not too worried. millworks makes this one.
@Six Ball i was trying to both make room for all the bits and pieces that protrude from the over drive and still have room for exhaust or whatever else needs to pass through. I’m thinking that some anti chatter rods and the ebrake base may also land on this crossmember. Trying to keep everything as minimal as possible in terms of extra brackets and cross members. If something can do three jobs instead of one that’s the route I’d rather take in packaging all of this together.
@RodStRace working on the ladder bars today. The cross member has a similar dip in it. I can picture a tube on each side tying the trans crossmember to it. Could make a good e brake handle mount. Just wanted you to know that while I think it’s probably strong enough I’m keeping your idea in mind while I’m dicking with this all. should have a photo update tonight or tomorrow
Well the weather didn’t play nice but I got it done. Here’s a little follow along. Alright quick inventory. Pete and Jakes ladder bars, hardware and cross member. measured according to the instructions. They mention axle center line is 1/4” forward of the crossmember center. Which happened to be the forward edge of the square hole. I ran a tape to the top cover of the trans I marked the rails by putting a board across the tops and lined it up with the tape best I could. I pulled it and then got my laser level to check for sure. Found it about a 5/8 off so a little measuring and fussing we got the right marks. measuring and mocking up. These are shipped pretty long. Looking back my notes for someone else or “next time” are that the piece isn’t necessarily symmetrical. I went cross eyed chasing my tail on things not adding up and it came from me thinking the ends are equal length and I measured from those ends. In truth one side was 1/4 to 1/2 longer, I later found center and measured from there. Also center on the top painted and pulled the tape so I can hit it with a flap disc to weld it. made the boxing plate mounts and marked them. I did hit them with a flap disc to get the mill scale off but should have traced the circle of the tube on the plate to get that spot 100% clear i want the plates inset 1/8” so I found a piece of angle that was correct and clamped it for a guide. stuck some plate and thick sheet between the gas tanks - never used- and the frame rail to guard it while flap discing the frame rails clean and later welding. got it in place and needed more hands! I used two vice grip clamps and two small vice grip pliers. Worked perfect clamped to the stubs of the stock center cross member. and there we go. Tacked enough to hold things, the next step is going to be rolling the car outside and turning it around so I can more easily work on the rear axle swap. Also sweeping the years old pile of grinder dust and floor dry up. Final thoughts, and what I would do different. I have seen some people use a hole saw and pop a hole for the crossmember tube to slide through the boxing plate. I was back and forth on this but the two places it would have helped are 1: I would not have needed all the vice grips as it would have held it in place and 2: I measured to good on the width! I had the center line tube measured so dead in between boxing plates that I actually couldn’t get it in place. I used a flap disc to sneak up on it and when it finally fit it was clear that the rails are tapering towards the front. So it’s nice and tight in the forward side of the tube and a gap on the back. Nothing can’t fill when the car is apart but having a pass through hole would have given me a more even fitment. Though I’m sure I’d have spent some time ovaling the hole with a hand file to account for the taper. anyhow one more check mark!
@Tim there is done and done right! @Tim_with_a_T 's build shows that and I see you over there, so take pride in sweating the details.
@RodStRace yup. It’s tedious but I don’t mind tedious if it doesn’t feel like it’s fighting me. I want to do it right, but I know in the process I’ll think of a better or different way to try it next time. The next chassis is already sitting mocked up 6ft from this lol. I feel it will go a lot faster after this decade long learning project.
Yeah, that flow when you have a vision, the parts and tools are all within reach and each step goes exactly as planned. Maybe even a happy accident that makes it even better! Sure beats those days when you learn from experience or search for stuff you know is there but those are all part of it.
I don't care how many measurements you do, I wouldn't weld that crossmember in till you tack the ladder bars to the rearend. are you gonna connect the bottom of the drop crossmembers? seems like a lot of leverage.
@BigJoeArt yup! Nothing will be welded until everything is mocked and tacked. I don’t see any reason to brace the ladder bar crossmember but am considering bracing the trans crossmember. The drop is exactly the same as their crossmember that has a bar straight across with a hoop under it. But that doesn’t have anything but a trans mounted to it. The wishbone will want to push back and forth and under braking I suppose it would want it move up. with so many things that have to go around it all and how many different ways you could brace it I will likely get everything mocked up in place before I chose which option to take. we are on the same page Anyhow quick update, in preparation for pulling the banjo out and putting the 8” in I wanted to turn the car around so I have better space, light and reach with tools. oh and I really wanted to sweep under it! Looks good outside pushing it around I first realized these tires are low, and this Stude weighs like 400lbs more than the four banger. Had to snap a picture day dreaming of it actually hitting the road before pushing it uphill into the garage. what a brute! About half way through the process my ziptie column support broke and the weight of the column sagging put a bind on the box and locked up my steering. I was hot and sweaty so I made do, used a jack and some dollys and soldiered on. Once it was in place I lifted the column and sure enough it turns fine lol. Needs an alignment, air pressure and a pan hard bar but one piece at a time.
Thanks @Tim_with_a_T it took a lot of Messi g around to land it there. Now for my next trick changing the entire rear axle and suspension but have land exactly in the same spot. Also I’m thinking up some ways to brace the wishbone mount but if you guys have ideas I’m welcome to hearing them.
Thanks for showing so much detail and sharing the process. It gives me a good idea of what I'm in for when I do mine.
@Tim_with_a_T yeah I’m thinking a tube from the bottom center of the wishbone cross member to the bottom center of the ladder bar cross member with a bolt together flange on the trans/wishbone side so it can still drop out. @Six Ball yeah planning to keep the wires, got a few extra for a spare tire or if ones out of round. Also have some 40’ style wheels available. Everything in the garage will be 5x5.5 so I could in theory swap them around
This weekend I went over to the River Run in Ottawa Kansas largely to hit up a vendor but I did see this pretty cool model A. best photo I took with out people standing in the way or it being a detail shot apparently. Down the road wad this blown Avanti He seems to be fairly local to me but wad gone by the time I wanted to go back to talk to him about studebakers. Didn’t realize the line for lunch was gonna take me 90 minutes. Live and learn. Anyhow the guy I went to find goes by “doc’s switches” I’ve run into him a few times at swap meets and started following his page on Facebook. He stocks all sorts of good car wiring products and a lot of them are upgraded industrial components. I picked up this ignition switch after being sold on it after watching a video he posted. Very heavy feeling it has an accessory setting to the left along with the standard stuff to the right. He polished it, included some nice hand made key rings, changed the hard ware on the posts to a more common nut size with nylocks and even included heat shrink connectors. As well as his phone number and a wiring information sheet I also bought one of his headlight switches. He was out of stock by the time I got to his tent but he’s going to send it to me when he finishes having the knobs machines to fit. I’ve gone through quite a few headlight switches, I have been pretty much exclusively disappointed in them when I open the box. Very thin tin, lots of cardboard, and pieces that right out of the package are lose and moving around. So when he posted a video of this heavy duty switch I was in! I’ll see if I can find a photo from his page to share. It is a rotary switch with four positions, as a head light switch it can be off, park, low, high. It also had the hidden feature of being able to push the knob for a momentary switch. He had his set up for a horn! it’s got a nice knurled knob on it that I think comes from a guitar manufacturer and its head on with a threaded set screw. So if you want to change it out to match the rest of what you have it’s not hard to remove. I’m a ways off from wiring this but it’s always something that I keep in mind. oh! He also carries the “good” black friction tape for bundling wire looms. It’s about the same dimensions as electrical tap but does not leave the gross goo all over everything if you needed to un wrap it. We took a piece and each took an end and could hardly get it to stretch length wise but it easily tore cross wise to get a piece off the roll. For $7 I think I’m going to grab one to bundle under dash wiring instead of using zip ties. Im eye balling the car today trying to get the axle swap steps figured out in my mind before moving forward tomorrow.