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With our mock-up's now finished above the frame rails, it was time to turn our attention to
what lies underneath. To do this without laying on our backs we needed to pull the body off
and get to our chassis. This required the recruitment of a few healthy souls before I could
pull this one from the list, "Thanks guys." With the body off I realized how much the frame
hated lying naked in the garage, as you can see from the red plague that has christened
her and that's not primer! Once again our plan was to start with a few easy projects and
work our way into the bigger stuff once our parts arrived. Being able to look at things with
the body off really helped to better visualize placement and create a game plan for the last
of our mock-up's. A set of axle bump stop's, a transmission cooler, the horn and a frame
cross member with a drive shaft loop were first up on the list of projects we needed to
tackle.
what lies underneath. To do this without laying on our backs we needed to pull the body off
and get to our chassis. This required the recruitment of a few healthy souls before I could
pull this one from the list, "Thanks guys." With the body off I realized how much the frame
hated lying naked in the garage, as you can see from the red plague that has christened
her and that's not primer! Once again our plan was to start with a few easy projects and
work our way into the bigger stuff once our parts arrived. Being able to look at things with
the body off really helped to better visualize placement and create a game plan for the last
of our mock-up's. A set of axle bump stop's, a transmission cooler, the horn and a frame
cross member with a drive shaft loop were first up on the list of projects we needed to
tackle.
As a precautionary measure we wanted to add a set of bump stops to the rear axle
C-notches on our frame. The goal was to keep the stops hidden from the outside profile of
the car. The plan was to mount our stops to the inside of the frame rail with some brackets
we needed to fabricate. We used a set of urethane stops from Energy Suspension and
then fabricated our brackets to fit the shape of the stops. Playing with a cardboard
template allowed us to be sure we left enough room behind our stops to allow for our
predetermined brake line routing. Once we had a design that fit the area our steel was cut
and bent. We centered our brackets and tacked them in. After our fit checks were made
we gave them their final welds.
C-notches on our frame. The goal was to keep the stops hidden from the outside profile of
the car. The plan was to mount our stops to the inside of the frame rail with some brackets
we needed to fabricate. We used a set of urethane stops from Energy Suspension and
then fabricated our brackets to fit the shape of the stops. Playing with a cardboard
template allowed us to be sure we left enough room behind our stops to allow for our
predetermined brake line routing. Once we had a design that fit the area our steel was cut
and bent. We centered our brackets and tacked them in. After our fit checks were made
we gave them their final welds.
The next task was to mount our transmission cooler. We opted for a heat sync style
cooler from Cool Craft. This style of cooler is not as reliant on a direct airflow to get our
fluid cool, and should help keep the trans happy during any low speed cruising. We also
give them points for looking good! We found a spot on the passenger side X member that
gave us a clean shot at the transmission fittings and kept our frame rail open for the fuel
pump & lines.
cooler from Cool Craft. This style of cooler is not as reliant on a direct airflow to get our
fluid cool, and should help keep the trans happy during any low speed cruising. We also
give them points for looking good! We found a spot on the passenger side X member that
gave us a clean shot at the transmission fittings and kept our frame rail open for the fuel
pump & lines.
When the name PIAA is mentioned premium lighting comes to mind right? Well their forte
is lighting but they have introduced some great new products in the past few years from
wiper blades to wheels and the newest addition, horns. These are dual frequency electric
horns that pack a big punch @115db of output. To mount our set we fabricated a small
bracket that was placed on the drivers side frame rail. That should keep them hidden yet
effective.
is lighting but they have introduced some great new products in the past few years from
wiper blades to wheels and the newest addition, horns. These are dual frequency electric
horns that pack a big punch @115db of output. To mount our set we fabricated a small
bracket that was placed on the drivers side frame rail. That should keep them hidden yet
effective.
Another precautionary component we wanted to add to our chassis was a drive shaft loop.
The thought of a failed u-joint @ 70 mph on such a short wheel base car made this an
easy addition. We started by tacking in a length of 1" x 2" square tubing across the
proposed open section of chassis. Next we used a piece of 1.25" round tubing bent to 180
degrees to form a loop. A backing plate was made to weld our loop to, then we drilled
mounting holes in the plate so it could be easily removed or replaced at any time. Once
we determined the final location of our loop we drilled & tapped the cross member to
accept the loop. The added cross member will also allow us another point to support our
exhaust system. In the photo you can see a PVC pipe showing a potential exhaust run,
more on that later.
The thought of a failed u-joint @ 70 mph on such a short wheel base car made this an
easy addition. We started by tacking in a length of 1" x 2" square tubing across the
proposed open section of chassis. Next we used a piece of 1.25" round tubing bent to 180
degrees to form a loop. A backing plate was made to weld our loop to, then we drilled
mounting holes in the plate so it could be easily removed or replaced at any time. Once
we determined the final location of our loop we drilled & tapped the cross member to
accept the loop. The added cross member will also allow us another point to support our
exhaust system. In the photo you can see a PVC pipe showing a potential exhaust run,
more on that later.
| Down Under |
