Fabricated parts for my T-type

[Mike E]

I've got a rebuild thread for my car, but I figured I would make a seperate thread here for the fabricated parts.

A/C blockoff plate. Simple enough. I make a template in steel and transfered it over to .040" aluminum. Laid out the power 6 emblem and bead rolled it in. It came out really nice.

I painted it black so it doesn't stand out too much.

 

[Mike E]

Master cylinder mount.

I'm converting my car to Wilwood drag brakes on all 4 corners, so I needed to adapt a manual master cylinder to go with them. I'm using the parts store replacement mopar 1 1/8" MC that is the same as a wilwood or strange. The bolt spacing and register ID are different than the PM so I had to make an adapter. The idea of slotting the bolt holes in the MC wasn't very appealing to me.

I cut the studs off the factory PM adapter and opened up the holes for new studs. I machined an adapter with the same bolt spacing and register as the new MC and welded it on.

 

[Mike E]

Steering arms for A-body/F-body spindles.

I'm running all new front suspension. TRZ a-arms, Afco coilovers and 1st gen F-body spindles. The F-body spindles don't have an integrated steering arm like the factory g-body spindles did, so I had to make some. I also made new outer tie rods to go with them and help correct bumpsteer.

I took measurments of the stock spindles and the f-body spindles and drew them up in autocad. Then I made a drawing for the new steering arm that keeps most of the factory geometry. The aluminum block that I started with is a 1.5"x3"x10" chunk of 6061.

I layed out the holes and inside radiuses in the mill.

Then I layed out the cut lines and either milled them out or cut them on the bandsaw.

The rough machined part ready to check fitment.

And the finished product. Still have to make the mirror image for the drivers side.

The outer tie rods are made from 1" hex 6061 aluminum and QA1 5/8"-1/2" rod ends.

 

[Mike E]

I'm finishing up the front suspension as soon as the brakes come in, but the rear suspension is next. I'm building my own 9" rear and my own control arms.

Control arms mocked up. I'll finish weld them after I get the rear under the car and the brackets layed out. I'm using 1 1/4" x .120" wall 4130 tube, chromoly tube adapters and QA1 3/4" heims. Above the control arms is the inspection/ fill plug I made for the rearend.

Here are the rough pieces for the rear.
A junkyard HD 9" center with the tubes cut out. 3 1/4" x .250 wall axles tubes and 2"x3" tubing for the backbrace.

The axles, lca brackets, housing ends and other misc. parts.

And my housing jig. It consists of a piece of 1.5" hard chromed thomson shafting, two 3.250" OD centersection pucks, one 3.150 OD housing end puck and a Jerry Bickel Race Cars pinion center gauge.

 

[ZNix]

Wow really nice work!

 

[PLAINWHITE T]

Wow really nice work!

X2...I couldn't even imagine having the skill to pull that off! Nice job!

 

[three turbos]

fab work

very very nice work you definitley have a talent and lots of metal fab toys!

 

[Scott Atk]

Are you going to run the TRZ rack n pinion? Those shorter steering arm holes will come in handy. I've been told the reduced steering with the stock arms is not good but a shorter steering arm should help.
Any chance you have the part # for master cylinder?

 

[Mike E]

Thanks for the compliments. Metal fab is my other hobby besides cars and I make enough money doing it to pay for most of my car parts.

Scott Atk- I'm sure I will convert over to a rack eventually, that's why I put the extra holes in there. I may even use them with the manual box if the tires will clear.

The master cylinder part numbers can be found here.

Aluminum Master Cylinder Part Numbers

I bought the 1 1/8" bore from O'reilly for around $30.

 

[Squid4life]

Holy crap, that is some sick beautiful fab work. I am truly jealous! I love the block off plate, very classy!

 

[6APPEAL]

Wow! Wish I had those kind of skills.

 

[Mike E]

I've keep forgetting to update this thread.

I cut the axle tubes to length and preped the housing ends.

Then beat the tubes into the center

I made a backbrace from 2x3 tube

Using my jig and a borrowed center section, I welded everything together.

 

[Mike E]

I also made some an cooler fittings for my th400. -6 to 1/4 npsm (straight pipe thread)

And some front lug nuts for my wheels

 

[Squid4life]

Damn man, you got some mad fab skills!!!! Everything looks killer!

 

[Scott Atk]

You could make a killing if you massproduced those lug nut spacer/washer thingys. Can I get a set and if so, how much $ ?

 

[qwksht]

You could make a killing if you massproduced those lug nut spacer/washer thingys. Can I get a set and if so, how much $ ?

Your not kidding,those lug nuts are pretty trick looking!!

 

[SPOOLFOOL2]

Very impressive.

Thanks for taking the time to post what your doing. It inspires us to step up to a higher level.

Mike Barnard

 

[Mike E]

Thanks for taking the time to post what your doing. It inspires us to step up to a higher level.

Mike Barnard

I'm not sure I've ever inspired anyone before that's quite the compliment. I really enjoy building cars more than I do driving or racing them, so I take my time when putting one together. If I had enough work building parts for other peoples car, I probably wouldn't even care to own one for myself.

 

[turbofabricator]

Great work, Mike.

One thing to consider at this stage in the game would be to add reinforcement to the master cylinder mount. I use manual brakes and the firewall is VERY flexy when I step on the pedal. (I used a S-10 manual master cylinder) I am going to add a support rod between the firewall and the frame. I think it will be the easiest/cleanest way to diagonally brace the firewall. I was amazed at how much the firewall moved when bleeding the brakes.

Great skills there. Keep posting pics.

 

[Mike E]

Small update to the rearend project. After getting the final set of wheels and tires under the car, I realized the rear was 1/2" too wide. So, I cut the housing ends back off and cut 1/4" off the tubes. I'm working on designing the brackets right now and I think I've got the final revision done in cad. Now it's time to cut them out of some plate.

I did get the spacers made for the control arms. Standard spacers on the chassis end, high misalignment on the rearend side. After the rear gets fitted under the car and the lengths are confirmed correct, I'll final weld them.