Cheating The Reaper
- Thread starter DRIVEN
- Start date
So, here is the progression of the trailing arm brackets. Welded the angle and flat portions together and ground down the external welds. Then bolted them together. This shows the adjustability of the slots.
Shock mounts...
Slight bend...
The hole in the top is for a rosette weld.
Got itchy and burned in a couple welds. I hope I don't end up regretting that.
This view is from above looking down between the frame rail and wheel/tire. As you can see the E-brake cable contacts the wheel. Just barely, but still needs to be dealt with.
Pulled the wheel and nipped it off. I'll weld it to the top of the trailing arm later.
Shock mounts...
Slight bend...
The hole in the top is for a rosette weld.
Got itchy and burned in a couple welds. I hope I don't end up regretting that.
This view is from above looking down between the frame rail and wheel/tire. As you can see the E-brake cable contacts the wheel. Just barely, but still needs to be dealt with.
Pulled the wheel and nipped it off. I'll weld it to the top of the trailing arm later.
Back to the trailing arm brackets...
Bolted in place to check where to trim.
At this point I needed to check my alignment to see how to notch it. The method I used was to clamp some square tube near the front of the frame. I established my centerline then measured out each way to match the outside width to the rear tires.
Another square tube used as a straight line.
Then I could roughly square up the rear tires.
I initially thought I would cut a U shaped pocket that would saddle the frame from the bottom. Once I got the rear alignment roughed in it was clear that it the trailing arms were going to be mounted more outboard than centered with the rails.
This is what I ended up with.
I won't weld them on to the frame until my adjustable strut rods show up. Hopefully by next weekend.
Forgot to show the end product front mount. I added a diagonal support and one fore/aft. Not sure they are needed but better to have them than wish I did. Triangles are strong.
Bolted in place to check where to trim.
At this point I needed to check my alignment to see how to notch it. The method I used was to clamp some square tube near the front of the frame. I established my centerline then measured out each way to match the outside width to the rear tires.
Another square tube used as a straight line.
Then I could roughly square up the rear tires.
I initially thought I would cut a U shaped pocket that would saddle the frame from the bottom. Once I got the rear alignment roughed in it was clear that it the trailing arms were going to be mounted more outboard than centered with the rails.
This is what I ended up with.
I won't weld them on to the frame until my adjustable strut rods show up. Hopefully by next weekend.
Forgot to show the end product front mount. I added a diagonal support and one fore/aft. Not sure they are needed but better to have them than wish I did. Triangles are strong.
Moving up to the front, I broke everything back down. The installation instructions call for a 1* tilt back on the front crossmember. Since I wasn't sure what my ride height was going to be when I tacked it in, I ended up with 3-4* once everything was leveled. Not horrible but I decided to slice it back out and redo it.
Bolted it back together but left off the rotors and calipers so I could use actual wheels and tires.
At the end of the night my brother showed up. I took a bunch of measurements from his pickup to compare with mine. Looks like mine will have a much narrower (about 4") track width than his so wide tires and offset wheels won't be an issue. I'll probably be about 4 inches lower in the front and 1 inch in the rear if I leave it all where it is. So now I need to mock up the body and see what it looks like before I do any more permanent welding.
Bolted it back together but left off the rotors and calipers so I could use actual wheels and tires.
At the end of the night my brother showed up. I took a bunch of measurements from his pickup to compare with mine. Looks like mine will have a much narrower (about 4") track width than his so wide tires and offset wheels won't be an issue. I'll probably be about 4 inches lower in the front and 1 inch in the rear if I leave it all where it is. So now I need to mock up the body and see what it looks like before I do any more permanent welding.
Mailman brought me some shinys!
...and since it was a slow day at work I cleaned up my front rotors and resurfaced them.
...and since it was a slow day at work I cleaned up my front rotors and resurfaced them.
My brother actually started working on the passenger door. Haven't seen or heard from him in almost a week. Hope this isn't a false start.
Today's progress...
Starting with the strut rods; As you can see, there is a pretty good angle on the rod ends. Turns out there was more than I needed once things were in place. They still technically fit but the bushings were a little more stressed than necessary. That gave me an excuse to drag out the new torch set and try it out. Well, the Acetylene regulator leaks but it still worked fine. Anyway, I took about half the angle out of all 4 ends. Then painted everything up before reinstalling them.
Next up was to align the rearend and tack the trailing arm brackets in place. Gussets and bracing will be added once I'm sure everything is in it's proper place.
All done and aligned...
The spring will be installed and ride height adjusted once the weight of the body is on the chassis.
I didn't really take any close shots of the upper coilover mounts but they are tacked in and the temporary braces are in place. Couldn't resist rolling it outside to get a better walk-around look.
I got stalled out on the steering until I get some tie rod ends so I just moved back to the engine. Chucked up the oil pump primer and ran it until the rockers were wet. Also pulled out a few distributors and need to test them all and pick one.
Starting with the strut rods; As you can see, there is a pretty good angle on the rod ends. Turns out there was more than I needed once things were in place. They still technically fit but the bushings were a little more stressed than necessary. That gave me an excuse to drag out the new torch set and try it out. Well, the Acetylene regulator leaks but it still worked fine. Anyway, I took about half the angle out of all 4 ends. Then painted everything up before reinstalling them.
Next up was to align the rearend and tack the trailing arm brackets in place. Gussets and bracing will be added once I'm sure everything is in it's proper place.
All done and aligned...
The spring will be installed and ride height adjusted once the weight of the body is on the chassis.
I didn't really take any close shots of the upper coilover mounts but they are tacked in and the temporary braces are in place. Couldn't resist rolling it outside to get a better walk-around look.
I got stalled out on the steering until I get some tie rod ends so I just moved back to the engine. Chucked up the oil pump primer and ran it until the rockers were wet. Also pulled out a few distributors and need to test them all and pick one.
Of course as you said you can’t really tell until the body is on but I like the rake of the frame sitting there. Your fabrication is really nice.
The old point GM distributors…….worked on a lot of those over the years. At least GM was considerate enough to make it so you could adjust points with the cap on and engine running. If I’m seeing right though, it looks like you have a Pertronix conversion.
The old point GM distributors…….worked on a lot of those over the years. At least GM was considerate enough to make it so you could adjust points with the cap on and engine running. If I’m seeing right though, it looks like you have a Pertronix conversion.
Yup. The points style distributor fits the firewall better than an HEI. And you're right, one has a Pertronix and the other has a Crane Fireball kit plus another Pertronix kit that needs to be tested.
