redneckjoe

well,...my big mod this week was picking up a fire extinguisher for the car. it was only $15 at walmart. automotive and marine use. hey, never know when you might need one. i've had 1 car fire a long time ago.

ordered some moroso front trick coil springs and 5-point harness' a few days ago. hoping for great weather next week.

considering a 100 shot. thing is, i have cast pistons. been told by many that it will be safe as long as i pull timing, colder plugs, etc. thoughts?

RubberDucky

iTrader: (4)

Nice man!

Only thing I've done to the car this weekend was replace the alt and battery with Napa parts.

CharcoalBird

iTrader: (4)

Well, it's spring break and I was hoping to finally get started on the front suspension of my car. I have had the parts for quite a while and I swapped the suspension out in the rear back in August(?) I believe. I have new struts, solid strut mounts, lowering springs, Global West Delrin/Del-A-Lum A-Arm Bushings, and I'll probably order and replace whatever else I see down there.

I pulled the car out of my garage/workshop and parked it under my carport. I pulled all the tools out, made sure I had something to drink, and had my music blasting knowing I would be working on it a while. Went to look for my jack stands and I think I may have left them at my parent's house. So much for working on the car tonight.


Anyway, that made me remember to measure my before and after fender height. This is something I forgot to do for the rear of the car. I have no idea how much it has settled since I swapped it out. Here is where I am now on the front.


Passenger Side



Driver Side



Pictures aren't that good, but you get an idea. I am around 27". I'm hoping when I install the new springs up front and they settle I will be at around 25.5" to 26".


What is everyone else's fender heights?

84LsxZ28

Can't wait to see it finished, Charcoal.

I think my fender height may be around 32"...
only because I have the engine out, haha

RubberDucky

iTrader: (4)

Hahahah, I'm at 24.5" Will was there to see it.

84LsxZ28

I really want to get mine around there. I love how these cars look when low.

willexoIX

Yup. I have to watch for sparks and flying metal when driving behind Ducky. LOL

CharcoalBird

iTrader: (4)

Hmmm...25.5 would probably be lower than I want then. My car doesn't sit high but I want to see how it looks a little lower.

willexoIX

What size were your rims and tires Jim? How does that compare to the overall height of the original tire/rim combo?

I went from the stock 15s to 16s, but kept the tire size (height) the same so I gained a little height.

I know you went with the bigger rims, so it might have gained a little height over the stock combo.

RubberDucky

iTrader: (4)

If I end up keeping the car I'm going to go lower than that. Lol.

willexoIX

Im at 27 3/4. So I want 2 inches lower, lol. That'll still leave me about 6 inches of gfx clearance and about 4 inches clearance on my exhaust.

A roll of the fenders would be all I need really, besides the lowering stuff anyway.

RubberDucky

iTrader: (4)

4x4 turdgen

willexoIX

Got my trans rebuild stuff today and im stuck at work lol.

84LsxZ28

Ouch, I feel for you. Sucks when that happens.

I helped my shop owner today pick up some stuff from a few different houses for a 62 Thunderbird that was donated to our shop because some guy let the car sit outside for 13 years. Total heap of s**t, but I got to take the complete 9 Inch rear it had for free. It's an inch shorter than the 10 bolt from backing plate to backing plate, so I just need to weld an extra pair of brackets onto it and rebuild the chunk, then my car should be good to handle a good amount of power.

willexoIX

Nah its alright. Was looking through the ATSG manual last night. Holy crap there is alot in that book. Dana also included a dvd for the rebuild.

Getting started when I get off at 1 today. Gotta clean up the workbench first. Looks pretty straightforward. Everything is covered between the book and dvd.

redneckjoe

i was surprised rebuilding my th350. it wasnt as bad as i thought it was going to be. if you got a book, dvd, youtube, etc,...should be no problem. only tip i can give is, when assembling, stand the tranny up. it makes it so much easier.

i pulled the trigger on this last night;http://www.summitracing.com/parts/nex-ml1000/overview/
what did i get myself into?

RubberDucky

iTrader: (4)

Got yourself into a RACECAR

redneckjoe

when i bought this car it was a 305 TPI, 700r4, 2;73s. i told wife, "im just gonna keep it stock and quiet." as time went by,....................

willexoIX

Heres hoping I can make it to Orlando this weekend to pick some stuff up.

RubberDucky

iTrader: (4)

I feel like my house is like a free stuff depot for you lol

willexoIX

Hey loneroad, how much drop did you get out of those springs?

I might be able to head out that way next sunday. Might be picking up an intercooler tuesday.

loneroad

iTrader: (3)

1-1/2 to 2 inches. im yanking them first thing tomorrow.

i swapped the rears out for the wife.Its a damn moster truck now. God its ugly........fugly. gonna be worse when i do the fronts tom. Why she cant drive around speed bumps. i had the exact trans pan and springs on my car, never a problem.

willexoIX

Lol. Sounds like fun.

I'd love if those springs gave me 2 inches all around. I'd take the 1 inch wheel spacers off and roll the fender lips.

I could be happy with that for awhile. Just gotta notch the ph bolthole and tac weld the old hole so it doesnt slide. Might as well box in the PH like I wanted to while I'm doing all that.

Gfunkill

Well, after much delay, the t5 swap has begun. Got the 700 out today, took a bit of time, not having right tools, etc, but now it's onto the crazyness of getting the t5 in there, along with all the goodies to make it work.
Will update more as we get there...
Hope to see you all again soon.

loneroad

iTrader: (3)

alright willie, they are out. come get them. and this 10bolt too.ill get to the pillar pods this week.its up in the attic.

her car is now 27-1/2 in the front and 28-1/2 in the rear. it should be able to cross most lakes now......fugly





if anyone is interested in a 3rd gen receiver hitch pm me and ill make you a deal..

willexoIX

Sounds like she is ready to go mud bogging with it, LOL.

I will hopefully be out there next sunday.

CharcoalBird

iTrader: (4)

That's only a 1/2 inch taller than my car front and rear. Guess I better go lower.

84LsxZ28

For the guys that weld in here; I just got a welder from my friend and have been practicing with it all day. I have .30 flux core wire and am using the welder in the DCEN setting. I find that with this setup I am burning through sheet metal that is about 18Gauge on the lowest setting that doesn't make the welds cold.

Would you suggest I just dial in the welder as best as I can and practice a lot more until I get it, or should I just buy a gas cylinder and mig weld the sheet metal? I'm just new to the whole welding thing and I want to make sure I do all of this right

redneckjoe

flux cores are tricky. try moving the torch away from the puddle to run cooler. turning the wire speed down may also help. if you can stick a block of non-ferous metal like alum, copper, brass, etc, behind the sheetmetal, it wont burn through so bad. probably gonna end up with a mess and lots of grinding with a flux core compared to MIG.

loneroad

iTrader: (3)

I did my floor pan and wheel wells. welding sheet metal sux. I used flux core first and then went to co2. gas made it a little easier, but not by much. just a lot less splatter to clean up.. work a big area, and spot weld it . keeping the area cool.


i could never find the sweet spot on my welder. could just be my lack of experience.


i spent a lot of time blowing thru and having to go back and fill in. i got a copper spoon from harbor freight. makes it a little easier to fill your holes.

84LsxZ28

Alright, I had the copper spoon idea in mind, but thought I could do without it, or try to. I'll pick one up today and try to work with it. Having a messy weld is not too big of a problem for me, I can always grind it down and make it look OK since it will be under carpet and probably gone over with epoxy primer once I'm done.

I was practicing on some extra exhaust pipe I had laying around and I can do some good welds on it since it's thicker. Hopefully welding in a rollcage will be easier with flux core. I have the whole floor to plug weld into my car, and I was practicing plug welding on some old floor pan I had and it was a big pain in the ***. When I weld in the floor pans for real I will be welding over sheet metal screws because that's what I'm using to hold it in tight. Hopefully that extra material and thickness will make my life a whole lot easier on this job.

Thanks for the help and suggestions

RubberDucky

iTrader: (4)

So...

http://miami.craigslist.org/pbc/cto/4918256604.html

redneckjoe

being a 25 yr+ welder,....flux-core is OK for certain projects like exhaust, maybe the floor pan, etc. but even an experienced welder will have tons of clean up on a nice project.

i built a stainless cage for my car out of scrap. the grinding and clean-up took forever. shoulda just tacked it up, then TIG'd or MIGed it.

one suggestion i'd give is, install SFC's first, then make your main hope the exact same width. use a hole saw and cut a big hole in the floor over the SFC's, and attatch there. JMO.

redneckjoe

like this big so you can weld to the SFC. (make sure to add your plate on the hoop first).

84LsxZ28

I was practicing for a little bit more and I have been able to get good beads on the sheetmetal now, good penetration too. I just need to work on keeping my hand stead and going slower. Having played guitar for 14 years makes me wrist want to move way too fast and sporadically. As for the roll cage tied into the SFCs, that's a really good idea, I would have never thought of doing that. Can't wait to finish getting the floors in now so I can put the sfc's in, new torque arm crossmember, and roll cage.

RubberDucky

iTrader: (4)

Sold my switch panel.

redneckjoe

i always use 2 hands with heavy gloves for mig/flux. nice and steady.
for sheet metal, lots and lots of tacks first. hammer down the seems before finish welding.
then pull the screws out 1 by 1, and plug weld the holes.
after you weld an inch or 2, put a wet rag on it to quick quench it so it doesnt warp bad. move around alot. dont sit in one area too long.

still pluggin along on my turd.

84LsxZ28

I only need to do one seam on this floorpan job, which is the back where I will be cutting out the old back and welding in a part from a donor car. I heard that I could use compressed air as well to cool down the weld so that it doesn't warp. Do you know if that works too?


Also just got back from Gator Nationals in Gainsville. It was quite an experience seeing all those top fuel funny cars and dragsters in person.

willexoIX

Looks like Ill finally have a chance to run out to orlando to pick stuff up lol. Shame I dont have the whole day off though.

willexoIX

Hey loneroad, if you happen to be out by Ducky today I can pick up all but that rear. Just havent had the time to pull the passenger seat out.

loneroad

iTrader: (3)

furniture shopping with the wifey today. ill be home all day tomorrow.


I got the fast xfi in yesterday. some really nice stuff. looking forward to that install.

willexoIX

Lol. Im working all day tomorrow, smh. Guess itll wait till I eventually get another sat or sunday off.

redneckjoe

anybody done this autocrossing? i saw a few vids from brooksville airport. looks like a lot of fun.
http://drivefast.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2074


air cooling welds helps for warpage but water works best IMO. i didnt believe it til i tried it. TIG a nice custom gas tank then weld the fill, bungs, etc., and they warp. do 1 weld then throw a soaked rag on it and you can watch the metal straighten out before your eyes.
are you planning to flux-core the bottom side too? that'll be fun, not. really should weld both sides.

i'm almost done with the worlds longest nitrous install.

84LsxZ28

I tried the rag method and it worked great, will continue to use it. By bottom side, do you mean along all the frame rails? If so, then yeah I will be doing that. I may get all the welds on top done first, then tow it to my shop and get it up on a lift to do the bottom with a good Miller MIG welder as well as do the cage there.

CharcoalBird

iTrader: (4)

Very cool. I was wondering if there were some autocross events around here. Not exactly local to me, but an hour drive or so isn't bad.

luvofjah

iTrader: (2)

redneckjoe
I've sorta done that autocross.... not in my bird
They have a training (not every year), where you go, walk the track, drive it 3 times, then the rest of the day is spent breaking each section down and practicing it...
At the end of the day, I knocked 16 seconds off my time from the morning!
It was great to see / find the limits of the car.. makes you a more confident driver on the road in case of an emergency. They rotate between the airport in Brooksville and the Police / USF campus in St. Pete... I wanna go again... the training day was a blast!

Rafael

dan1065cf

Any members in the Brooksville/Weeki Wachee area?

84LsxZ28

I'm not really in Brookesville, but I used to drive up there a few times each week, so it's not too far from me and I know it.

redneckjoe

Moon lake here!

i'd love to try that autocross. looks like a blast to me.
on a bad note; doing some testing yesterday, my posi is broke and something broke under the car, torque arm mount? idk? havent looked at it yet. uhhhhg.
soooo,...rebuild posi or go mini-spool?

i was testing taking timing out for the nitrous. went from 37 to 32 degrees and felt like i coughed up 30 ponies. changed to 35 degress and thats when something broke under the car. still felt under-powered to me. maybe the 2 step colder plugs? couldnt believe a few degrees of timing took that much power away.

loneroad

iTrader: (3)

how big of a shot are you starting at? a good starting point is 2 degrees for every 50hp. should give you a safety margin.