Frame Notch/Tub/Cage-Complete build Start2Finish

[prostreetdrag]

I got the rocker pannel back in and I still have a little bit more welding to do with it and alot of grinding to blend the welds and seam for a smooth finnish to where very little plastic/bondo will be needed if any at all will be needed

 

[prostreetdrag]

Heres another pic of Dr Side Rocker installed I have very little work to do on the Pass side rocker and then i will start the frame boxing and fab up the interior floor

 

[prostreetdrag]

I hope to get quite bit of more work done and post alot more pics over the next few days, We have had so much rain and very hot humid weather the past few weeks but starting yesterday and over the next few days the weather will be perfect here in ohio so will be able to get alot more work done so im going take advantage of it since it won't be so hot and muggy outside. so I will keep you guys updated this week on my progress

 

[prostreetdrag]

ok guys i went ahead and started boxing the frame so can get the driverside rocker and frame work completed..I will then move to other side.. I have it tacked in with short beads right now once i get all the steel on i will burn in full beads along top and bottom of frame rail...I also had to form the plate steel with the contour of the frame where one of the body mounts go..In order to form the steel I used an oxy/act torch with a heating tip and once the plate steel was cherry red i used a body hammer to shape the steel to give a tight fit along frame rail..I will also box the open ends as well for more strength and looks..If anyone wants to know what material i used it was 1/8 inch plate steel 4inches in width..It fit frame perfect and didnt have to trim it or anything only needed to cut to the correct length.. I also painted inside of frame rail before tacking plate in to minimize future rust. i will try to post some more progress tonight

 

[prostreetdrag]

FYI..I just want to appoligize up front to some of you guys that already know alot of the information i've posted in this thread. I just want to explain everthing i did in detail just incase there is someone that needs to know what steps i took, Some people may have their own methods im sure, but i will explain what steps i've done...with that being said....I pretty much got the driver side frame and rocker area complete just few more welds left. I ran out of welding gas last night so will exchange my tank today and finish the last little bit on the driverside..all the plate is welded in frame except the small side pieces that fill in the ends where there is a gap where the old frame starts..I will have to take out the rocker on the pass side because once i removed the pass side floor i seen that all the support behind other rocker is shot too it wasn't nearly as bad as the dr side but its stil pretty bad where the rocker needs to come out to replace the metal behind it in order to do it right..I will post a before pic of pass side, so you guys can see what it looked like..i forgot to take a pic of the driver side before i cut the rust out...I forgot to metion in the prev post that when i boxed the frame you could see where someone had used a jack on the middle section of the frame rail to lift the car, because in was kinda bent in couple places..i had to straighten the bottom of frame rail before boxing it, i used a little heat and body hammer to straigten bottom lip on frame it is the same way on pass side i will get a pic of it too so you can see what im talking about..since frame will be boxed now you should be able to jack the car up along the entire frame rail now..i just cant believe how flemsy gm built these frames i can definatly understand now how these frames twist and flex on launches, so boxing the frame will definatly make me feel a little more at ease especialy after the rollcage is installed. the only downside with boxing frame is that its more weight being added but im looseing weight in other places to compensate for the added steel on the frame which IMO its worth adding the extra steel to frame to make much stronger..for those of you wanting to box your frame it can still be done with the body on the frame but of course it does make it easier with the body off or with the floor pans out..I will also paint the frame after its boxed before I put the new floor back because will be much easier to get to i will just leave bare metal in the sections where the rollcage gets welded to frame to touch up with paint later.

 

[prostreetdrag]

heres another pic of dr side frame boxed and welded as you can see in the pic i still need to weld the end caps as you can see in the pic against the trans crossmember mount. its prob not needed but it will make the mount for the trans much stronger and since will be closed of it will keep any moisture from being traped inside frame rail.. I also attached a couple pics of the Pass side inner frame and rocker so you can see how bad it was..the driver side was much worse..but in the pic of pass side you can see toward the crossmember mount how the frame is a little bent from where the car was jacked up several times. as said in earlier post it was the same on driver side before i straightend the framerail..you can also see how bad the inner rocker support is rusted..most g-bodys are famous for the rust there on inner rocker..as i said earlier the prev owner put new rockers in the car but never fixed all that rust..the only good thing about it, is my rockers are still in really good shape and i didnt need to buy new rockers i just want to get the inner side fixed so its done right..i will post more pics as i continue the pass side then will start floor next...BTW..It is much easier to do the work on your rockers with the doors removed..im sure it can be done with doors on as well but makes it much easier to work on..in my case i didnt want the extra weight of the door in that area because i have alot of sheet metal cut out so there is little less body support

 

[BMF_Racing]

Prostreet,

Nice work, just read the whole thread. Love all the detailed pictures, these types of threads really helps other guys get ideas and assists in their own projects. I know it takes time to take pix along the build, so thank you for that & sharing. Looking great, keep up the good work. :biggrin:

 

[prostreetdrag]

Thank you for the complements its much apprciated. Your absolutely correct about the build taking time..Been working on the car 3 plus years durring any free time along with being a father and Husband...Just wanted to make sure this information is out there to fellow gear heads..The only way I've learned is by reading and watching other people..I do know some projects can be intimidating to others so the best way to learn is to get out and just do it..I also enjoy posting in this thread because my wife gets tired of me talking to her about it, and gives me a chance to share with a great group of people with the same intrests and to help others at the same time.

 

[prostreetdrag]

Good Morning ALL! I have a question for someone that might know?????I didnt want to start a new thread for this so thought would throw it out there in this build thread......If someone can tell me what size brake line I should use for the rear brakes..I ran all new stainless brake lines up front when i restored my engine bay and front end work and I held off on doing rear brake line since I was doing the frame work. but, I will be running the brake line for the rear and cant remeber wether it was 3/16th or 1/4 inch when I removed the old rusted rear line last year...The only thing is instead of drum brakes in rear im useing a disc brake set-up on my 9inch ford rearend..I have stainless braided lines set-up on my 9 inch thats T'd off to each side. but the main line wasn't sure what was orginally in these cars or if a certain size was recomended when doing the drum to disc swap..I have a ton of stainless 3/16th and 1/4 hard line but rather get everyones opinon first on what you did or know of???? BTW..My frame work is near complete I got the pass side boxed in last night so im starting the pass rocker now..more pics to follow..But since the frame is boxed i just need to get the frame painted and i'll run the rear brake line too before putting the floor in which is what prompted me to ask about what size line..I apprciate any advise. Thanks

 

[BMF_Racing]

I found the below link, some good info. It looks like 1/4" to the back is their consensus.


3/16" for ALL brake lines? - Chevelle Tech

 

[prostreetdrag]

Yes indeed that's very helpful info..That's pretty much what I was leaning toward as far as the 1/4inch.. I could be wrong but if my memory serves me correct i think originally it was 1/4 inch i took out from the car..because I remember the front feeding a single 3/16th line to each caliper from prop valve but since there is a single line feeding the back that has to split, it would make more sense to use the 1/4inch..Just wanted to get another opinion..thanks for help

 

[prostreetdrag]

Got little more work done I cut the pass rocker out and cut the rusted support out from behind it, You can see the shotty work on the support behind it where prev owner tried to patch the rust in the support structure..Also built a crossmeber with a driveshaft loop aswell, I tide in tubeing from the crossmeber to the lower control arm mounts aswell due to the force on the control arm mounts durring a launch..The driveshaft loop on the bottom will be removeable to make it easier getting driveshaft in and out..the bottom half will be bolted to crossmeber in order to make a full loop for the driveshaft

 

[charlief1]

Nice looking loop. I may steal that idea if you don't mind.

 

[prostreetdrag]

be my guest, Glad you like it.. Thats why I like to share, to hopefully help someone else, Heres some more info regarding the DriveShaft Loop. However, I still have to build the other half of the loop but it will bolt to the upper half of the loop on the crossmeber. Should make the driveshaft eaiser to pull in and out since it is in 2 peices. I used some 1 5/8 DOM Tubeing and the loop is made from 1 1/2 wide 1/4 inch thick flat stock..Used Oxy/Act Torch to heat flat stock in order to shape the loop. I will post some more pics once the D.S Loop is complete.

 

[charlief1]

I was hoping you'd tell more about it. I'm following along because the knowledge you're providing is very helpfull. Thanks again for the post.

 

[prostreetdrag]

BTW...Here is what I did to mount crossmeber to frame..Instead of welding tube in between frame rails....What i did was used some of the same 1/8 plate from the frame rails to mount the crossmember..if you look at the orginal frame rail where I boxed it and the old frame started again you will see the half oval cutout in the stock frame..That is where i mounted the crossmeber tube..so i cut small plates of steel left over from boxing the frame and welded the plate over the oval cutout in the stock frame..once i welded in the plate to fill the hole in the stock frame i drilled hole large enough for the crossmember tube to slide inside each side of the frame rail then was able to weld around the crossmember...First reason i did it this way was because the small plates completes the boxed frame rail and also gave a place to slide the tube through frame rather then welding the tube in between the frame rail..the force from the lower control arms mounts will push towards the crossmember and it will have less chance to break the welds since the tube is slid inside the frame..This was the same concept i basically did when i welded in the rear crossmeber for the frame notch..I have seen the welds crack and break when people just weld inbetween the frame rails without running the tube completly through the frame rails..the other two reasons I chosse to mount crossmber this way is since adding the plate to frame rails it made frame stronger and it is just below the main hoop for the rollcage and i didnt have to weeken stock frame by drilling a extra hole for crossmember..the driveshaft crossmember serves several purposes, obviously for the driveshaft protection and secondly gave me a way to support control arm mounts and lastley its in the same area where the main hoop for rollcage will be to help spread force from control arm mounts throughout the rollcage and frame

 

[prostreetdrag]

I got pass side frame painted so i can install rockers, also got the material cut and trimed for behind rocker. below is pic of frame cleaned up and painted since you can't get to it once rockers installed.. i also painted inside of rocker and backside of the sheet metal support before installing it aswell..will post more pics once more work is done with pass side of body. In these pics you guys can see the stock trans crossmember, I have a new trans xmember going in that has the double humps for the headers/exhust or what little exhust that will be on the car..Just running straight headers with the outlaw flowmaster race muflers and 3 1/2 pipe into turnouts so the new xmember should work nicely, i will post more pics of it as the build goes on.

 

[prostreetdrag]

Here is a pic of the passenger side rocker support installed you can see in pic i did use some rattle can and hit it with some paint so it does not rust with any moisture that may get traped inside rocker i did leave a small lip along top and bottom of panel bare metal so the rocker pannel can be spot welded to it just for little extra assurance i also always apply weld thru primer on any bare sheet metal on inner structures to prevent rust where welds are made. I need to use a body hammer and dolly to straignten out the rocker panel before i install rocker but i will post more pics once rocker is spot welded on

 

[prostreetdrag]

here is a follow up pic of the custom driveshaft loop I posted several days ago I have it completed finally, The bottom half will be bolted on with 4 grade8 3/8 inch bolts, 2 bolts on each side...The pic below is just a mock up to check fit..I only have 2 bolts holding on right now and still need to paint it black also to match frame. This should give an idea what looks like mounted on crossmember

 

[charlief1]

What's the total height and width of it?