Well my schedule cleared up this weekend so I headed off to Skamokawa Friday night. I got to the Duck Inn at about 10pm and met Brandon (Chevymad) and his wife Debbie. There was a live band, good friends... we hurt ourselves! We got a pretty late start on the project Saturday and didn't finish until about 10:30 or 11:00 pm. After that we took her out for a test drive.

The first impression was had just pulling out of the barn. There is a very steep dip in front of the door and on the way in I had the usual flexing and creaking. None of that on the way out - it was kinda weird. The biggest surprise on the road was the ride. I have a pretty stiff suspension and then add on top of that poly bushings and spherical rod ends everywhere and I figured that the SFC's would make it that much more harsh. Surprise. The ride was smoother. It is like the suspension can now do it's job rather than the body flexing with every bump. Not sure about that - if anyone has ideas please post.

I took the car out along the Clackamas River today (hwy 224) and ran it hard through the twisties - very, very nice. About the only thing I have left to do to the suspension now is Bilstien shocks/struts.

Thanks again Brandon - not too many guys would catch themselves on fire for a friend! On to the pics...


Schultzy inspects the drivers side tube


Cleared the seats out and lifted the carpet a little just in case things got too hot. No problems.


Man at work


Note the ample clearance as brandon positions the drivers side cross member




Schultzy grinds off the pretty red powdercoat that he paid extra for! Brandon and I were both impressed with the quality of the powdercoat and with the pretty colors that it made when on fire! (doh! never got a shot of the flameage)


Rodney (Hammer!) would have been so proud


Finished work



All in all they fit pretty well. The front exhaust assembly (pipes and cats) needed a little persuading to allow the passenger side sfc up above them. I put the car back on ramps this afternoon, cleaned the SFC's off a little and shot some fresh paint over the welds and then put the rubber skirts back on the GFX. Looks real clean.

-Schultzy

 

Looking GOOD!

Wonder when I can afford it.........

 

looks good!!

 

whee, good new, the torque arm we put on is still there mike

hehe, they way my luck has been lately you might want to tighten down the TA bolts

 

LOL - Will do Dewey. It is looking pretty red under there now

-Schultzy

 

yeah i need to get a TA, so i can still have more red under the car than you

hrmmm, maybe i will have to get the new springs painted red so i can make you ohhhh so evnyous.

 

My Eibachs are red dude. So are my sway bar bushings and end links. ...and my lca's and my panhard rod and my torque arm and my steering brace...

-Schultzy

 

looking good man!

 

But i also have red sway bars, a red tranny mount, red panhard, red lca's, and red SFC's

 

Looks good LMAO at the first pic though....

 

looks great!! Where did you get that crossmember at?

 

it is the spohn cross member, it comes with the spohn TA.

 

^
^
^ What he said!

-Schultzy

 

So I assume that the Spohn SFCs are available now? *whips out his credit card*

 

(insert best Ed McMahon voice here)

You are correct sir!

-Schultzy

 

Umm...... Do your doors still shut properly? Do you realize that you are suposed to have the suspension loaded when you weld on the subframe connectors? I am pretty sure that it should have said that in the papers you got with the connectors.

Ben

 

ummmm... yes they shut fine and the suspension was fully loaded.

thanks for your concern.

-Schultzy (not quite as dumb as I look thank goodness)

 

The pictures dont show if very clearly.. but the front tires are on ramps. The back end is supported by jack stands under the rear axle.. The springs are carrying all the cars weight so YES the suspension is loaded.

 

Ok, thats cool. I just thought it looked like the suspension was haning. Looks like you did a good job.

Ben

 

My car is just a shell right now and I would like to install SFC's and then repaint the underside of the car ... Can we hear from someone who installed SFC's without the cars weight loaded? ... any horror stories on doors not shutting? Hood or hatch alignment out?