BUILD THREAD “The Juggernaut”

Just beautiful workmanship. What more can you say?

Thanks Jared!
Hopefully I’ll have some more and new/ redesigned stuff to share with everybody this year. If it all goes as I envision, it should be worth watching.
 
Really curious on what the interior plans are and the final exterior colour as well.

Sorry Christian, I almost forgot to reply to you on this.

The interior plans (for this year anyways) are to get the metal work finished and my planned revamping of the rear exhaust pass-throughs done as well. This means sectioning the floor pans to clear the raised transmission crossmember, and fabricating/welding in a new trans tunnel that provides more clearance to the big T56.

The longer term goal is to be able to get the body back off the frame so I can finish up getting the fuel feed and return lines bent and installed, and eventually get the frame powder coated. But that requires the body to be structurally sound first.

As for the planned color combination, that’s no real secret. I had this rendering done by a forum member a couple years back that was my avatar for quite a while:

B8691183-58F4-4C1A-9406-4309ED251952.png


The actual colors will be Viper Blue Pearl Metallic with an extremely dark, almost black, dark metallic grey. I haven’t found any factory colors that quite match what I want for the grey just yet, so it might just end up being a completely custom mix. The orientation is still up for debate, traditionally the darker color on a two-tone goes on top as pictured. But it might look good flipped too.
 
Charlie Hunnam Reaction GIF

Me going through the first 78 pages again (pre Oldscool) to get my mind back in the game!

Hutch
 
Well, after doing some research late into the very early morning, I pulled the trigger on what is sure to become the first of many new parts coming for the car.

With my raising and lowering the car the last couple days on the air ride system, the issue of bump steer has come to the forefront of my mind again. Did some fairly in depth research into it this morning, and read a lot of very informative posts on MonteCarloSS.com and a few others on the subject, particularly on our cars with the use of B body spindles. I’m actually using 3rd gen F body spindles, but with the exception of the bearing sizes they’re essentially the same.

I came across this old post right here at home on gbodyforum from UNGN that I had forgotten all about:
This appears to be the best solution to addressing the problem and the man knows what he’s talking about, so I decided to follow his lead.

Ordered this adjustable drop center link from Howe Racing…

4EA3A4E7-10DC-48DE-B9A5-ACDC68B25823.png


…and these 1/2” taller lower ball joints from Proforged on Amazon.

D783A020-4F0E-46ED-A61C-6906FCB70266.png


These ball joints will have to replace the ones currently in my RideTech StrongArms, so hopefully there won’t be a compatibility issue there. There is a very good possibility that I might have to notch the crossmember protrusion to achieve the full drop potential of the center link, but I’d much rather do that now while the chassis is still in bare metal.

This is why you mock things up and test fit everything before worrying about the “pretty”.


Now, help me spend my money. After reading and learning about the superiority of the Pro Touring style rear sway bar, I’ve decided that I definitely need to make the switch/upgrade from the stock style Hotchkis that goes between the lower control arms that I have now.

Any recommendations on a “go-to” kit to use? I’m not interested in the used Blazer route, I want all new and high quality, preferably in a kit with the end links. Only catch is I have a narrowed 12 bolt in the car, so whatever one I get will have to fit 3” axle tubes. I generally haven’t been all that impressed with the clamp on mounts for the axle portions of the kits that I’ve seen, I think I would prefer a weld-on style. I could also weld on a clamp style if push came to shove, but seems a waste though.

Recommendations guys??? I’d like to get the parts coming ASAP as the end links are going to occupy some of the same real estate that I have planned for the fuel line bulkheads, and I need to plan for it accordingly.
 
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Reactions: carnutjw
Interesting, but can’t find enough info on it. CPP’s website and (lack) of information sucks. No mention of how and where it mounts to the frame, no axle tube sizes, etc etc.
Disappointing.
Agree with the sentiment on their website but it looks like it will work and provide necessary clearance, plus I'll weld the mounts to the axle.
 
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Reactions: Rktpwrd
Well hurry
Agree with the sentiment on their website but it looks like it will work and provide necessary clearance, plus I'll weld the mounts to the axle.

Well hurry up and get it done and report back on it so I can make my decision!
Lol
 
Interesting, but can’t find enough info on it. CPP’s website and (lack) of information sucks. No mention of how and where it mounts to the frame, no axle tube sizes, etc etc.
Disappointing.

Agree with the sentiment on their website but it looks like it will work and provide necessary clearance, plus I'll weld the mounts to the axle.
Mac at Southside Machine put me onto that bar and he mentioned to not call CPP because their support people don’t know anything about the products including this bar. He mentioned it’s a direct bolt into the 8.8 axle diameter, and it should fit just inside of the springs. I also intend to weld the saddles onto the axle as Jon mentioned.

It was on back order when I ordered it, but I received notification Thursday that it has shipped. So I’ll let you guys know.

I’ll get photos of the part when it arrives - should be this next week.
 
Well, been doing some looking around and comparing, think I have it narrowed down to 2 possibilities:

UMI naturally:


And RideTech:


Both are close in price and features, the shipping time is much better on the RideTech kit, it can ship before the end of the month through Speedway Motors. UMI isn’t expected to ship until sometime in December. 😠

Streetbu, scoti, UNGN, melloelky, motorheadmike, where are you guys? Still looking for input and feedback if anyone has any experiences down this road.
 

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