BUILD THREAD “The Juggernaut”
- Thread starter Rktpwrd
- Start date
Amazing. Your attention to detail, the way you find solutions and ultimately your patience are to be applauded sir.
Frame is looking ok too, lol
Appreciating the updates, I know it takes a while to post em up
Cheers
Frame is looking ok too, lol
Appreciating the updates, I know it takes a while to post em up
Cheers
Hey guys.
Yes, this is still the same thread as before, I just edited the title. It was bugging me!
Sorry for the delay in answering your question, but yes, all patches and the boxing sections were done in 1/8" plate. It's only slightly thicker than the factory material, and will be plenty strong.
Thanks for your interest guys!
Donovan.
Yes, this is still the same thread as before, I just edited the title. It was bugging me!
Sorry for the delay in answering your question, but yes, all patches and the boxing sections were done in 1/8" plate. It's only slightly thicker than the factory material, and will be plenty strong.
Thanks for your interest guys!
Donovan.
Hey guys, it's been a bit since I last updated, but I've been trying to spend less time at the keyboard and more time getting my hands dirty if you know what I mean...
Continuing covering the frame mods.
With the front section of the frame pretty much complete, the focus was shifted to the rear, starting with the rear crossmember. As with the rest of the frame, all the unused holes were welded up, and the welds for the upper control arms were re-done to start.
As you can see from this cross section pic, the factory mount is quite thin and weak. Improvements were needed here.
A pattern of the mount was traced onto cardboard, transferred to steel, and cut out. Holes were drilled for the mounting bolt, as well as in multiple spots for plug welds to keep the two together. The bolt is there in the pic to make sure the orientation stayed correct during welding. The factory mount was roughly 1/8" thick, and the addition was another 1/8" thick, equalling a 1/4" thick mount when completed. Much stronger.
This pic is a bit deceiving, it looks like there's a gap between the two pieces, but in reality the edges of the material were beveled to allow for good weld penetration and a nice strong weld.
This is a later pic with the rear suspension mocked up, but you can see the completed reinforced mounts visible in the background. Note the QA1 Lift bars in place on the diff housing. Keep in mind, this car is now on Air Ride, and when the car was aired down, I was concerned there might be some interference to the frame, especially once the control arm lengths started being adjusted for pinion angles, etc. So...
...the top of the crossmember was notched and flanged for strength for clearance around the upper control arms in the lowered position.
With that completed, the focus was shifted to the lower control arm mounts. The frame was stood up on edge and supported with tie straps hooked onto eye bolts I threaded into the ceiling. This gave me the perfect angle and access to work easily. A hollow section of boxed tubing was cut just slightly wider than the width of the control arm and bushing, and bolted into place. This ensured that the width didn't close up on me while all the welding was being done.
Pieces were patterned and cut out of steel to make up the top and edge of the lower mount, and tacked in place.
They were then burned in and dressed down.
Continuing covering the frame mods.
With the front section of the frame pretty much complete, the focus was shifted to the rear, starting with the rear crossmember. As with the rest of the frame, all the unused holes were welded up, and the welds for the upper control arms were re-done to start.
As you can see from this cross section pic, the factory mount is quite thin and weak. Improvements were needed here.
A pattern of the mount was traced onto cardboard, transferred to steel, and cut out. Holes were drilled for the mounting bolt, as well as in multiple spots for plug welds to keep the two together. The bolt is there in the pic to make sure the orientation stayed correct during welding. The factory mount was roughly 1/8" thick, and the addition was another 1/8" thick, equalling a 1/4" thick mount when completed. Much stronger.
This pic is a bit deceiving, it looks like there's a gap between the two pieces, but in reality the edges of the material were beveled to allow for good weld penetration and a nice strong weld.
This is a later pic with the rear suspension mocked up, but you can see the completed reinforced mounts visible in the background. Note the QA1 Lift bars in place on the diff housing. Keep in mind, this car is now on Air Ride, and when the car was aired down, I was concerned there might be some interference to the frame, especially once the control arm lengths started being adjusted for pinion angles, etc. So...
...the top of the crossmember was notched and flanged for strength for clearance around the upper control arms in the lowered position.
With that completed, the focus was shifted to the lower control arm mounts. The frame was stood up on edge and supported with tie straps hooked onto eye bolts I threaded into the ceiling. This gave me the perfect angle and access to work easily. A hollow section of boxed tubing was cut just slightly wider than the width of the control arm and bushing, and bolted into place. This ensured that the width didn't close up on me while all the welding was being done.
Pieces were patterned and cut out of steel to make up the top and edge of the lower mount, and tacked in place.
They were then burned in and dressed down.
I never much cared for the depression in the side of the mount. I know it was formed that way to create strength in it, but I wanted a cleaner look. Again, a piece was cut out, positioned, welded in, and dressed down.
I'm going to let the next few pics speak for themselves. All the appropriate pieces were cut out and welded in and then ground smooth.
I'm going to let the next few pics speak for themselves. All the appropriate pieces were cut out and welded in and then ground smooth.
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And then finally, the completed mount! Then once again, the same procedure was done on the other side.
Even though this frame was in exceptional shape overall, it wasn't perfect. 30 years will take it's toll on just about anything. The rear body mount holes in the top of the frame were still intact, but they were getting a bit thin from corrosion for my liking. This is what they looked like.
The offending areas were cut out back to solid metal, patterned, and burned in.
The same procedure was completed on the driver's side.
With the repairs completed, it was time once again to move on... This time it was on to making a modification for the rear air bag mounts.
Because these cars were originally equipped with coil springs on the rear, there is a protrusion in the top of the frame that's used to locate and keep the top of the spring from coming out. Ride Tech's CoolRide kit comes with upper spacers that compensate for this and provide a flat mounting location for the top of the 'bag. But as you can probably tell, I just can't leave well enough alone...
The rear air bag assembly was mocked up stock out of the box, and aired up and down thru it's travel. What I found was that that amount of travel was more than what was needed, and much more than the front's travel. It seemed to me that what was needed was to eliminate the upper spacer, and have something flat to mount the top of the 'bag to. So this is how that went...
The exact center of the opening was determined, and Sharpie marks were made off to the sides for future use. Then the outer perimeter was marked for removal.
A new piece was cut, the center found, and positioned in place.
The previously marked centering lines were transferred onto the new piece after the welds were smoothed, allowing me to precisely locate the exact center of the air bag for mounting.
Holes were drilled for the mounting bolts, and the airline fitting.
With the repairs completed, it was time once again to move on... This time it was on to making a modification for the rear air bag mounts.
Because these cars were originally equipped with coil springs on the rear, there is a protrusion in the top of the frame that's used to locate and keep the top of the spring from coming out. Ride Tech's CoolRide kit comes with upper spacers that compensate for this and provide a flat mounting location for the top of the 'bag. But as you can probably tell, I just can't leave well enough alone...
The rear air bag assembly was mocked up stock out of the box, and aired up and down thru it's travel. What I found was that that amount of travel was more than what was needed, and much more than the front's travel. It seemed to me that what was needed was to eliminate the upper spacer, and have something flat to mount the top of the 'bag to. So this is how that went...
The exact center of the opening was determined, and Sharpie marks were made off to the sides for future use. Then the outer perimeter was marked for removal.
A new piece was cut, the center found, and positioned in place.
The previously marked centering lines were transferred onto the new piece after the welds were smoothed, allowing me to precisely locate the exact center of the air bag for mounting.
Holes were drilled for the mounting bolts, and the airline fitting.
At this point in time, it was time to start thinking about the transmission crossmember. I had originally purchased a G Force crossmember from Summit Racing to use with the planned T56 swap behind my 455 Olds, but as the build quality progressed on the frame, my buddy persuaded me to not use it and fabricate my own instead. The G Force unit would have needed some weird brackets to be made and would've looked out of place. I didn't mind how they designed theirs tho, so I used their general design idea, but made it my own.
No sections of "C" channel were the correct width for the crossmember to fit inside without a horrible taper, so some had to be fabricated from angle iron instead. They were intentionally cut to the height of the framerail, and left long for now until the proper height of the transmission tailshaft could be determined. The clamps were holding them in place for now...
Here the frame mount portion has been trimmed down substantially, and tacked into place.
The fit of the trans mount to the crossmember is snug, but certainly acceptable!
I decided that this would be an excellent time to incorporate the front driveshaft safety loop, an idea I've had for some time, I'm not sure why no one else has really utilized it yet. Its visible in the pic below, taken a bit later.
Then it was finally time to start getting together an actual rolling chassis! Front suspension...
Checking steering clearances at full lock...
No sections of "C" channel were the correct width for the crossmember to fit inside without a horrible taper, so some had to be fabricated from angle iron instead. They were intentionally cut to the height of the framerail, and left long for now until the proper height of the transmission tailshaft could be determined. The clamps were holding them in place for now...
Here the frame mount portion has been trimmed down substantially, and tacked into place.
The fit of the trans mount to the crossmember is snug, but certainly acceptable!
I decided that this would be an excellent time to incorporate the front driveshaft safety loop, an idea I've had for some time, I'm not sure why no one else has really utilized it yet. Its visible in the pic below, taken a bit later.
Then it was finally time to start getting together an actual rolling chassis! Front suspension...
Checking steering clearances at full lock...
