BUILD THREAD The Mullet Maurader, The Epic of the LS swapped Buick

[Northernregal]

Back at mockup. Tonight I fought with the rear end. Not only is the fabbed 9" heavy, but its awkward under the car. Good thing I put that fancy paint on before I did the mockup, it looks like crap now. Hahahaha

Oh well. On with the show.

Knocking out the rubber bushings for the poly ones supplied by UMI.

Backing plates are on for brake mock up.

Well that wasn't fun. But it looks good. I dropped the center section off at the driveline shop yesterday. Freshening up the traclock and installing the set of 3.89 gears I bought as the 3.50s that it had were pooched. So that's exciting 😁


Also got the RHD Blazer master mocked up to finish twisting brake lines. If you are considering this one it's a bolt in, there is no downside I can see, thanks to Turna, if I recall correctly, on the recommendation. It's a 100% winner.

 

[Northernregal]

Mid day update. Even thought ahead to explain what I did for a change.

Modding the spindles for the wilwood 6 piston fronts.

First I drilled out the holes laid out in the instructions, first with a 19/64 bit then a 21/64 bit. It was the closest I had to the 0.332" bit at
0.325". Seems just fine. Instructions are to tap with a 3/8-24NF. Took my time and it was pretty easy.

Next the instructions want a 45 degree bevel on the edges. I found some countersink bits on Amazon for $20 so I tried them out and it worked really well.

Did some mockup with the caliper brackets and marked for the cuts.

Quick cuts with a 5" grinder and zip disk. Fit the brackets again for fitment.

Did a little final cleanup with a flap disk and lefty is ready for duty.

Gonna refinish once mockup is done. Learning valuable lessons of paint after fitting. 🤕😡

 

[Northernregal]

Progress and improvements.

Spindles are cleaned up with a surface prep disc and rubbed down with degreaser.

Masked and ready.

First coat of rust prevention primer.

Got the engine cross member primed and painted. Ready to go.

Painted and ready to get back in tomorrow.

 

[Northernregal]

Front end turned out pretty good. Motor mounts are on with new hardware. And the front suspension is bolted up. Drivers side brakes are in.

Spindles in on the UMI arms.

The wilwoods look sexy as hell. 😀

Mocked up the wheels. Gonna need a small spacer but the brakes clear. 15x8.5" with 5" offset. Touch the tie rod but the spacer will fix that.

Nice and wide.... 😆

 

[Rktpwrd]

Damn!!
That looks great Duke! Seriously makes me wish I was working on The Juggernaut rather than Olds Cool.

Where does your wheel contact the tie rod? If it’s only at full lock, you may be able to get away with fabbing up and installing adjustable stops on the lower control arms that contact the spindles rather than running a “less than ideal” wheel spacer.

I had to do that on The Juggernaut to keep the tire off my #7 and 8 header tubes that run around my framerails. I don’t know what page it’s on, but I did document it in The ‘Naut’s thread if you’re interested.

Keep up the great work!

 

[Northernregal]

Damn!!
That looks great Duke! Seriously makes me wish I was working on The Juggernaut rather than Olds Cool.

Where does your wheel contact the tie rod? If it’s only at full lock, you may be able to get away with fabbing up and installing adjustable stops on the lower control arms that contact the spindles rather than running a “less than ideal” wheel spacer.

I had to do that on The Juggernaut to keep the tire off my #7 and 8 header tubes that run around my framerails. I don’t know what page it’s on, but I did document it in The ‘Naut’s thread if you’re interested.

Keep up the great work!

It's on the spindle where the tie rod connects. This is the cruising around set of rims, I'll get another set for aggressive treatment so a set of 17" won't be a problem.

When are you going to pull back the covers on the Juggernaut?!? Lol. I'm sure we would all love to see that thread revitalized! 😉

 

[Rktpwrd]

It's on the spindle where the tie rod connects. This is the cruising around set of rims, I'll get another set for aggressive treatment so a set of 17" won't be a problem.

When are you going to pull back the covers on the Juggernaut?!? Lol. I'm sure we would all love to see that thread revitalized! 😉

Yeah ok, gotcha. An adjustable stop isn’t gonna help you much there, you’re right a spacer is pretty much the only way to avoid interference. Keep in mind most tires have a small amount of “bulge” to them, so you may want to wait until you have your tires mounted to determine the exact width of spacer you’ll need.
Just tryna help.

As for The Juggernaut, hopefully very soon. Getting back to working on it is a very strong part of my drive to get Olds Cool painted or ready for paint by spring. Once Olds Cool is in colour, anything else I wanna do to it should be a simple weekend project which frees up my time for the hotrod, which is what I REALLY want to be working on.

 

[Northernregal]

I was just playing around with the rims. I figured I'll buy a couple of 1/8 spacers when the time comes and see what works. I knew those times were gonna be tight but they were a steal and I got them from a friend who knew they would be right for the car. 😉 You know how the is.

 

[Canon_Mutant]

Literally, just getting ready to do this. Thanks for the brain refresh. Just going to Wilwood 4s on mine but similar procedure. And about everything else your using is verbatim to mine. Amazing how a pictorial helps percolate the brain cells. Thanks!

 

[Northernregal]

Very welcome. Got any questions just ask. It's actually pretty well laid out in the instructions.