MOEWHITE28
New member
How did you brace the body when you pulled frame off?
78 caballero
- Thread starter The ghoul
- Start date
Hey thank you, but dont let these small accomplishments fool you. I do have the right tools in respect to a welder, cutoff wheel and heater but Im real short on patience these days and the only real skill I have is Im willing to make mistakes and I have made enough in the past to know how to fix them! I think that is 90% of fabrication... Messing up and learning how to fix it and how not to do that again!
Most likely. I am inspired after seeing a write up on some ones pontiac wagon they aere working on. I would like wider tires in the rear but it will never be at the level to run wide slicks in the back... The only real reservation I have on the issue is that the bed in this thing is 100% solid. seems a shame to me to cut out the stock wheel wells to put a set of tubs in it...
Didn't bother.
I have to do bodywork any how, if it bends, it will bend back when I put it back on the frame than I'll fix any body work I need to..
Got a lot done today... right up until my welder ran out of gas (always something isn't it)
Got the right side rail boxed in and the bars installed. Last minute I decided to ad a boxing plate to the rear LCA mounts, seemed like it would help stiffen things up. Tubing is 16ga 1"x2", boxing plates are a tad over 1/8"...
Well looks like that's it for me till next payday. Give me some time to think up a cool plate to attach the inner rails to the boxed frame rails...
Looking at it now, I dont think the mini tub will be worth the effort in my case. This really won't ever be a monster. I probably will notch the rear frame to clear the calipers and call that a day...
Got the right side rail boxed in and the bars installed. Last minute I decided to ad a boxing plate to the rear LCA mounts, seemed like it would help stiffen things up. Tubing is 16ga 1"x2", boxing plates are a tad over 1/8"...
Well looks like that's it for me till next payday. Give me some time to think up a cool plate to attach the inner rails to the boxed frame rails...
Looking at it now, I dont think the mini tub will be worth the effort in my case. This really won't ever be a monster. I probably will notch the rear frame to clear the calipers and call that a day...
Hey thanks man,
Yeah I would like to autocross it from time to time but have no major reasion for the fan worth other than just for shits and giggles.
Got a bit done today.
I dropped the body to the ride height I wish to archive one day
Finished the gusset welds and welded in the spanner plates in place (painted them blue just so the design will show)
And lastly I re-welded a few frame joints that seemed critical to me... It didn't work out that great... it was impossible to clean the joints properly...
I dropped the body to the ride height I wish to archive one day
Finished the gusset welds and welded in the spanner plates in place (painted them blue just so the design will show)
And lastly I re-welded a few frame joints that seemed critical to me... It didn't work out that great... it was impossible to clean the joints properly...
thank you very much...
however the list just keeps growing!
Today was the most unproductive productive day ever!
After dropping the body on the ground yesterday it became very apparent that the wheel wells get very constrictive near the top in the rear.
I have been on the fence about tubbing the rear wells. I even picked up a cap incase I needed to go that rout. I wanted to avoid it as the metal in the rear was very solid. but with the body on the ground (ride height I would like to achieve one day with this car on air bags) I realized it would be required with any decent width tire. While I was at it I might as well take a decent bite out of the rear rails to run a wider tire.
I poked around a bit online and decided 22" rim is about the biggest Id ever want to run and with 315 tires in the back (again arbitrary goal) and respectable sidewall that puts me at an overall tire diameter of 28". I then mocked up my suspension and set the axle/hub centers at 14" from the ground.
Front end doesn't look too bad, just need to clearance the frame for the tie rods, and a few places for the lower control arms
The rear seems a bit more trouble...
The LS1 rear calipers look like they will contact the rails
Again, as I said, rails will be narrowed so this shouldn't bee too much of an issue. The tricky bit will be getting the stance I want. It looks as if with any thing over a 24" tall tire the rear end will contact the frame rails with the frame laying on the ground.
So I made the decision that if I have to tub the rear wheel wells any way might as well do a bit of metal work between them.
So I braced the frame in front of and behind the rear axle and cut out the stock cross support (mounts the rear springs, shocks, and upper control arms)
And with some 1.5x3.5" 1/4" wall tubing here is a quick mockup of the frame "Z" I am planning...
This will do nicely as it will yeald a 4" drop in the rear with stock shocks and springs. This with the 2" drop spindles and some cut springs up front will be a good static stance till I can scrape the $$ together for the air bag system.
And there we have it, a few short decisions yielding lots of new work for me to do!!!
Its nice to have access to the right tools!
This morning I made a cardboard template for the frame notch brackets I wanted to create.
Took the template to work and modeled it in auto CAD and printed it to scale.
Just now at lunch I fitted the print out to the frame to see how it looked... Id say not bad, asthetically it looks OK, and it seems like the calipers will be well accomidated for. With any luck I will get it programmed into our waterjet softwear and cut 4 of them tonight before I go home. I plan on using these plates on the inside and the outside of the rails. I doubt I will ever tow any thing with this car but my welds arent the best so id rather over build it than to have it tweak down the road.
This morning I made a cardboard template for the frame notch brackets I wanted to create.
Took the template to work and modeled it in auto CAD and printed it to scale.
Just now at lunch I fitted the print out to the frame to see how it looked... Id say not bad, asthetically it looks OK, and it seems like the calipers will be well accomidated for. With any luck I will get it programmed into our waterjet softwear and cut 4 of them tonight before I go home. I plan on using these plates on the inside and the outside of the rails. I doubt I will ever tow any thing with this car but my welds arent the best so id rather over build it than to have it tweak down the road.
Mean, I'm not going to stress it much. It will be sitting tucked up under a sheet metal tunnel. This is the only time any one will see it.
Reasion I kept it tucked was to avoid having to make too big of a hole in the bed to have to cover; to me these look like the locical tie-ins without sacrificing caliper/rear end room without making the legs of the plates really long. I had considered re-arching the frame but I worry about the body mounts shifting if I cut up too much of the frame at one time.
Just a quick one.
I was able to cut the plates out of 1/4"
And found some beefy 1.5x3" tubing with 3/8" walls
I was able to tac one of the plates to one of the tubes before a massive headache took me down for the night...
The test fit seems really promicing; can't wait to get more of a chance to work on it...
Last edited:
Welded the brackets to the tubing then plug welded them to the frame and cut out the rails
Then with a little trimming for the lower control arms
I was able to tuck the rear end up to 13" from axle center to floor not the 14" I was hoping for but should be plenty for the wheels and tires I like...
Then with a little trimming for the lower control arms
I was able to tuck the rear end up to 13" from axle center to floor not the 14" I was hoping for but should be plenty for the wheels and tires I like...
RustybutTrusty
New member
I don't know if this has been said in here or not, have you ever thought about de humping the front lower control arms for even more frame clearance? But I can say I do like where this thread is going! Also I have a set of ride tech tubular uppers, that I would sell cheap, just need some ball joints....
Lmao, seems as if I've seen this somewhere before?!