Sheets & Giggles

[sc5080]

I now have to mount the front of the ladder bars. My plan is to make a strut to replace the shock and set the ride height .. the shock is 16" with 5" of travel so I think the strut should be about 13 1/2" to 14" long. I can then set the bars so that the lower bar is parallel to the ground in the middle hole. The front brackets for the ladder bars have 3 holes for adjustment so by setting the middle hole as level I can adjust the bars to be front down or front up using the other holes. From what I've read this will allow me to adjust how it hits the tires on the launch.

What do you guys think of this plan? I sure could use some feedback here. How do you go about setting up this type of suspension?

 

[christcrusader13]

I must have blinked and missed this one... I like the direction you are going, this is going to be a fun ride!

 

[sc5080]

Well, right or wrong I went ahead with my plan for the ladder bar mounts. I also shortened, retapped and fitted the panhard bar today. It all needs to be finish welded but I want to make sure I don't have to change anything before I do that. Trying to decide if I should start on motor and transmission mounts or start on the roll cage structure next.

 

[bob w]

Looks like the Panhard bar will hit the rear end housing with very little movement. I'm sure you have checked that out though.
A drag racing friend of mine suggests aiming the lower bar of the ladder bars at the front spindle line, for starters. That should be pretty close to level to a little bit up.
You are moving along quickly and will probably have the cage and the motor/trans mounts done in a week. My preference would be to get an engine and trans in place to see how much leg room you have. That could dictate how high you have to sit which could affect roll cage height. Will the Altered be at the Meltdown Drags?

 

[sc5080]

I double checked the clearance for the panhard rod .. it hits the housing at the same time as the axle tubes hit the frame so I don't see this as a major problem. There is about 1/4" clearance between the axle tubes and the frame when the shocks are installed in the fully bottomed position which, hopefully, they will never see in use.

Bob, I'm hoping to have it finished for Meltdown and will have it there if all goes according to plan.

 

[sc5080]

Did some trimming on the body to clear the suspension and was able to roll it out of the corner and get a good look at how it sits. The front will drop a couple of inches once the motor and trans are in, the rear is on struts to mimic the ride height, but other than that, here's the look. Wheelbase turned out to be 106".

Friday and Saturday I'll start fitting the engine and transmission but then Monday its back to my regular job and things will start to slow down. Still, I think I made pretty good progress over the holidays.

 

[sc5080]

Couple of shots from the other side. Totally pumped to be able to roll it around the shop. I'm having SO MUCH FUN!!!

 

[bob w]

The roadster looks killer! Don't let work get in the way of this project.

 

[sc5080]

Got the engine and transmission mocked in place today. Wondering if I should lower them an inch or two or leave them where they are?

 

[sc5080]

VROOM! VROOM! I guess this pose is mandatory at this stage. Could have sat there for hours dreaming of what this will be.

 

[AZRodDave]

Classic !!! [cl

 

[Country Misfit]

Looking good..

 

[BUSTEDKNUCKLE]

Nice job! Looks awesome

 

[Johnny]

Outstanding work! Really like your vision.

 

[sc5080]

Thanks for the comments.

Here are some more mockup pictures from today. I added some pieces just to make sure I had distributor and oil pan clearance. I think I will leave the motor where it is. The headers are not what I'm going to use but I threw them on to see how they would fit .. I would need to change the angle of the header plates by only a few degrees to make them work.

 

[sc5080]

Came as a surprise to me but there is a 3 week wait to get DOM tubing around here. That slows me down a bunch as I have to wait for my order to arrive .. 2 sticks of 1 5/8, 1 each of 1 3/8 and 1 1/8 to do the roll cage and trans mount, etc. Hope I ordered enough.

Anyway, I did get a little bit done. Fabbed up some pieces to brace the rear axle. I'll clean up the axle housing and weld them in when I pull the axle to weld all the other brackets. Still have to add mounts for a wheelie bar.

Not as fancy as some I've seen, but a lot cheaper.

 

[sc5080]

Here are a couple of (bad) pictures of the Bantam I had back in '95. The car was wrecked when the steering wheel came off at 145 mph - the reason I will NOT have a quick detach wheel in my cars now.

 

[bob w]

Yes, you don't want to pull up on the wheel in case it isn't locked down.

The latest work on the rear end bracing and suspesion is nice.

 

[sc5080]

This weekend I decided to try my hand at fiberglass repair. I had a deck lid but it was so badly warped that fitting it proved impossible for me. It turned out ok but I might have done it a little differently had I known at the beginning what I now know at the end. Anyway, what's done is done. Now I have to figure out how to attach the turtle deck to the body. I have some ideas but I am open to any suggestions.

 

[forbigpicture]

sc.....looks to me like you've done this before.......looks good
we used to use a 3-M product to glue vette panels together
don't remember the # sorry maybe local supplier can advise...