Well, that was FUN! I enjoyed building the motor mounts.
Still need to install the turn-buckles between the engine and the sub-frame though.
Next, I’m going to put the rads in but, as part of that, I need to cut the openings in the rear ‘fire wall, streamline the air entrance (at the door jam) and fiberglass all that stuff to keep moisture out. This will take a few weeks, probably but “I’ll Be Back”.
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for the first time since I sold her 5 or 6 years ago I get to see her on the ground.
Really low and sexy.
After struggling with all I’ve done since getting her home i ws damn depressed but after seeing her like this, I’m re-energized.
Time to get the motor mounted.
Again from the drivers side (where I learned how to do the passenger side) you can see the rotor and spring, the suspension components and the sway bar.
This stuff wasn’t too difficult to put in since it all came out of here some time ago.
Of course, it’s all new bearings, seals, ball joints, calipers, pads rotors and urethane bushings.
Combined with the fiberglass reinforcements new interior brackets and 3/8 bolts, it should be a pretty tough front end.
This is a view of where all the plumbing and wiring went into the sponson.
You’re looking at the back of the wheel well on the drivers side.
As you can see, I’ve left a couple of ‘pull through’ cords just in case I need to haul anything else through there.
That’s the “trunk” area now with master cylinders and hydraulic lines, wiring harness and fuel tank. Whew!! that was a lot of work especially dragging all that stuff through the drivers side ‘sponson’.
Fitting the suspension sub-frames has been a hassle.
Several layers of fiberglass were added to the areas where the sub-frame bolts on and, as a result, it doesn’t lay properly against the chassis.
This required a decision. Modify the sub-fame to “go around” the build up area or add more glass to fill the gaps produced or grind back the glass where the sub-frame bolts on.
As you can see, I choose the latter. Messy job with a disk grinder. Now I’m itching again!! I don’t like fiberglass anymore!!
You’ll also not that, because of the extra glass, the thickness of the chassis has become almost 1/2″ greater moving the bolt hole locations, in some cases, beyond the metal itself.
So I added metal to the areas and re-drilled.
The up-side of this is that I finally fired up my new TIG/ Stick/ Plasma Cutter and TIG’ed these pieces on. Whata great job this little gizmo does and I’m no pro when it comes to welding. The TIG process makes me a better welder!!
Now I can hang the suspension and get the wheels on it again.
Stay Tuned.
Well, after all the turkey and deserts and relatives, I finally got a few hours to work on the car.
Since a lot of fiberglass was added to the inside and outside of the bolt on areas for the suspension, I had to do some grinding to make the suspension sub-assembly fit properly.
The photos show the inside of the ‘trunk’ area where (at the top of the bracket) I’ll need to remove the accumulation of glass and resin and the sub-assy bolted onto the drivers side. The bolt holes have been changed from 1/4″ to 3/8″ and I still have a bunch of them to drill trough.
New routing
Other shots show a hole in the drivers side wheel well where the intention is to pass fuel, brake and electrical line from front to back through the sponson. There’s also a photo of the inside of that sponson where, because the bulkhead is at an angle, it was not possible to drill through. I’ll need to figure that out soon.
I had the steering column in the car till I discovered that I’m too old and too beat up to get under the dash in that area with the column in the way so it’s sitting on the passenger seat till I get the suspension in.
Oh, BTW, I didn’t use the tilt wheel that was bought for the car. Just to damn many wires coming out of that column. I UNDERSTAND the old chevy column and that counts for a lot these days.
I never cared for the look of those open scoops on the original design but I DID have a lot of trouble cooling the engine in the car without them.
So, since Dan and Dustin went to so much trouble, I’m leaving them in but I’ll use some “fins” in that opening to help disguise the openings and keep the lines flowing. What do you think?
I didn’t get all the pieces back for the front brakes.
Namely, the Caliper Brackets were missing and, since I couldn’t find replacements, I made some.
Seems I can’t attach two photos to a post so here’s the second
In Pieces
one.
vortexgreenmachine 