Ok, i am an apprentice Mobile Plant Mechanic with 2 or so years to go with my training. So, because i am not in the financial situation yet to do the LS1 w/power adder & 9" rear thing (i.e. expensive draintrain mods) i will start on the sheetmetal and fab side of things. The car will not be street registered for a couple of years until the metal work is finished.

I have big plans and lofty goals so i'll start with outlining my plans so far:

- Jegster or similar 12 point cage w/back seats removed.
- mini tub the rear about 2-3inchs
- new flat firewall w/ac delete
- extensive floor pan mods (especially to driver side, RHS that is)
- homemade SFC's linked to cage


As my car is RHD and is virtually gutted under the dash, the cage should present minimal probs. I plan on getting a self-contained street rod heater for basic heat/demist. So the firewall should be easier too.

Because the car is RHD, the driver side floor is where that cat hump is. PITA. So i am planning to cut out and perhaps raise the lower section of the floor to where the cat hump is so its flat, hopefully creating more leg room in the process. Or lower the floor hump and reroute the exhaust?

basically, its a long term project, i plan on keeping this thread alive with pics and stuff. I am a novice mig welder, but practice makes perfect. Considering buying/making a sheetmetal bender to make things easier. Have a decent array of tools at my disposal (from home and work) and have a car lift at home in the workshop.

My first question is;

I'm trying to figure out the best sequence in order to be most time & money efficient. After i do most of the prep work (removing interior, drivetrain, fuel system, etc) what mod should i begin to plan for first? floor? firewall? tub? cage? Suggestions? Ideas?

 

Other than removing the HVAC and plating over the holes, I wouldn't even touch the firewall unless you were making a tube chassis car. Being a unibody car, even the firewall is part of the body structure. You can thin it out, but I wouldn't replace it.

Do a search and look for the threads on tubbing and mini tubbing. Both take a lot of work but mini tubbing doesn't give a whole lot more room. It just makes the inner fenders look cleaner.

If you do a full tub, you can't put the cage in until after the work is done.

Depending on where you mount the SFC, they normally should be the first thing to go in. They may have to be modified or changed depending on what you plan on doing to the rear or what you plan on doing with the floor.

 

Because the car is now rhd, the firewall is now swiss cheese. I want to clean it up. Maybe cut out the inner section, butt weld and smooth it with new sheetmetal.
I have done a bit of research on tubbing and stuff, and want to keep the stock suspension and stuff for a while. Thanks for the advice on that.
I'm thinking running the SFC's as rectangular 1"x2" box and connecting the two ends. Then routing the exhaust inside them in the tunnel (i want run long tubes eventually. Have to weigh up clearance issues etc however.

Is it possible to install a full tub and not use seam sealer to join the outer fender skins on these cars? I dont understand that part...

 

My link that I provided this guy was deleted because "you" didn't feel it was relivant? That is wrong.... Let him be the judge of that, it was a custom fab job in a thirdgen, maybe not exactly what he is thinking about, but it may be able to provide him with some ideas...

Jason

 

Jason, thanks for the link (even though i didnt see it), could you pm me with it so i can check it out?

Stephen, what happened to the link?

Thanks guys

 

HEY MAN I HAVE DONE ALOT OF WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. I STARTED WITH COMPETITION ENGENEERING SUBFRAME CONS. NEXT I HAD TO CUT A SECTION OUT OF THE PASSANGER SIDE FLOOR PAN SO I COULD FIT THE EXHAUST. THEN I INSTALLED MY 6 POINT ROLL CAGE. THIS PAST WEEK I HAVE ALMOST COMPLETE THE MINI TUBS BUT THESE SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE PRIOR TO THE CAGE. MY FIREWALL WAS IN THE SAME CONDITION AS YOU ARE SPEAKING OF WITH ALL THE HOLES FROM THE HEATER AND ALL OTHER THINGS REMOVED SO I JUST CUT A SHEET OF METAL TO FIT THE FIREWALL TO SMOOTH IT OUT. THIS WAS DONE A FEW YEARS AGO AND WAS THE START OF ALL THE SHEET METAL WORK. http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=113666200&albumId=1374068
these are some links to my myspace i have posted the pics from the build here. let me know what you think

 

if your doing a 12pt cage i would look into chrome moly cages. a 12 point will add alot of unneeded weight. my 6pt added almost 80lbs. do the subframes first i say. gut everything tho first so u dont have to worry about fires etc and i wouldnt do 1"x2" steel. u could but id stick to sumthing bigger, most aftermarkets run 2x2 ive seen 1x1 but it was like the 4th gen design. if i were to do it again and design another pair of my own subframes i would run 2"x3" and 1/8 or .125 steel. mine now are .095 2x2 steel. cage is 1 3/4x .134 mild steel. the firewall metal is soooooo D@mn thin its ridiculous. i wouldnt hack too much into it.

1. gut everyhting.
2. install subframes/do floor mods unless floor mods dont affect subframe area, design subframes knowing there the cage will be run so u can tie them together.
3. mini tub
4. cage (hope u took the gas tank down, good time to add high flow pump)
5. firewall mods
6. put everything back.

 

Looks good, thanks for the link!

 

That is a good order to do it, i agree. I will replace the firewall with the same or a little thicker sheet. I plan to add an access hole to the tank, or sump it in preperation for external pump... hmm

 

Here is a pic of my RHD firewall. It has been smoothed out. For demisters I was going to use those camping 12 volt hair dryers. I was going to run them so I had a fan speed control switch and a on/off switch for the heating element. I haven't got that far with my car yet so I don't know how well it would work. It's just an idea to save running heater hoses through the firewall.

 

Is there room to go through the firewall but between the inner and outer fender? Still leaves the "clean" firewall look.

I think I would have planned that out before I cut a hole in my nice shiny new paint though.

Mathius

 

Not a bad idea. I was considering a compact street-rod type heater tha jegs sells. Self contained, just run heater lines...

 

I just wanted to get away from having a heater core in the car because my floor pan had a big hole rusted through where it had leaked. Its seems the previous owner didn't notice the wet patch on the passenger side.

I know a guy who put a plate in his firebird to smooth out the cat converter hump. I will have to have a close look to see how he has done it. My car used to kill my ankle on long drives because of that hump.

Your car sounds like it will be a awesome project. I wish I had the fab skills to do more custom body work. If your mini tubs work out I might have to bring my car to you, I have very little clearance with my new 18x10 Boyd rims.

 

Decide on anything?

 

Thanks for checking out the post!
Well i decided to sell the IROC-Z and now its gone, with only minor mods since i started the post. Have a good one!
Cheers!
Chris

 

lame!!!

 

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