Frame Notch/Tub/Cage-Complete build Start2Finish

[prostreetdrag]

Sorry, I guess that may help some people if i posted some measurements. I'm actually working from home so I will go out to garage here in a few and get some quick measurments.... I guess the only reason I didn't think about posting them earleir because my floor pans and driveshaft tunnel will be custom made so someone with a stock floor may have to tweak the measurements for their project since the rear stock floor pans/tunnel sit lower with stock setup.. My floor pans in rear will be level with the front floor pans and my tunnel sits little higher so I can keep everything underneath tucked up higher Also I built my loop based on my ride height...On the bottom section of my loop, I drilled an extra set of mounting holes incase I ever wanted to lower the car I could raise the loop higher to accomendate for diffrent ride heights for more ground clearence

 

[prostreetdrag]

Ok Here you go....The Xmember/D.S Loop is 51 inches in legnth, My frame rails are 48" apart the crossmeber is recessed 1 inch inside the frame rail on each side.. The width of the loop in the center of Xmember is 7 1/2 inches wide and loop is 10 1/2 inches tall. (This measurment will need to be tweeked depending on ride height/ground/floor board clarrence) Mine is designed so I can raise or lower bottom loop. The braces welded in for the Control Arms are 11 1/4 in lenth they are notched at an angle on the ends where its welded to xmember, Its welded flush on the back side of C A mount..........Hope this helps feel free to ask if anyone needs anymore info

 

[charlief1]

Thank you. That helps a lot. If everything goes right I'll be pulling my car into the shop Friday to start on the mods it needs.

 

[prostreetdrag]

Awesome...Make sure you post some pics..What all mods is taking place? Don't hesitate to ask if you have any more questions....I prep the Pass Side to install rocker pannel, Its ready to be welded back in now..I hope to get some work done and pics posted over the next few days also..I want to try and start on the new floor bracing after rocker..FYI-The floor braceing aswell as the trunk floor bracing is welded to frame so basically the body will pretty much be welded to frame, thats pretty much the purpose when a roll cage is installed. So the car should be pretty stiff durring a launch as far as body and frame after the projects done..Sorta getting excited to start floor so I can finnaly see the car taking shape. I will keep you all updated

 

[charlief1]

Keep an eye on the B4Black section and if you want an idea of what I'm up to click on the second link in my sig. It's been an agrivating journey so far but it's getting close to its end now. The first link is what it will be eventually going into.

 

[prostreetdrag]

Got some work done today, Finnally put the passide rocker back in I still need to do some more welding and grinding on it but here is pic so far. I need to finnish spot welding the bottom lip and some more finish grinding on all the weld seams. Hope to have welding and grinding finnished soon wont get too much done tommorow since its fathers day so with that being said. Hope all you Dads out there have a good fathers day.

 

[prostreetdrag]

I started building floor board frame/support i will get some pics posted over next few days..The rockers are in i just need to use a skim coat of filler to cover any weld seams, i have all the welds grinded smooth you want to use as little filler as u can. i try to get the base metal prep and grinded smooth and just use a skim coat the more filler you use thats more chances it will not hold up and last for years to come..Just as FYI to cover any patch panels or weld seams after their grinded smooth i will b using a metal based filler instead of the traditional plastic fillers like bondo...There are metal based fillers that work just as good and easier than your older traditional use of lead that was used back in day..alot of old timers may disagree but imo metal based fillers have come along way then what they used to be..All your metal based fillers have a alumminum base to them and they leave a waterproof seal against moisture, they do not crack,peal, shrink and is really durable some can also be drilled and tapped for screws and it feathers much better compared to traditional bondos, plastic bondos do not prevent moisture from going through it and can crack over time..I try to stay away from fillers at all because the key is haveing a good base metal rather than trying to use a filler over rust or rust holes if you do use filler for anything more then skim coat rule of thumb is to keep less then a finger nail thick . I only use fillers to smooth any imperfections to have a nice featherd surface..also when useing metal fillers the key to it is only use it on bare metals that has been preped and grinded smooth for it to work good..I have seen people use metal fillers and apply it thicker and have seen paint jobs last more than 10 years but i still try to only keep it as thin as possible..metal fillers are more exspensive but they work much better, they can be sanded just like bondo it just smells worse...lol..so for those of you that didnt know about metal fillers i would suggest considering it next time and do some reaserch on it of how good the qaulity is..hope this info helps feel free to ask any questions as i will cover this topic again once i start the prep work on the body once the floors are done

 

[BMF_Racing]

All your metal based fillers have a alumminum base to them and they leave a waterproof seal against moisture, they do not crack,peal, shrink and is really durable some can also be drilled and tapped for screws and it feathers much better compared to traditional bondos, plastic bondos do not prevent moisture from going through it and can crack over time.

Good to know. Any brand names you like?

 

[prostreetdrag]

evercoat is one really good brand its called metal to metal, thats one that comes to mind that is extreamly good you can get at about any paint and body shop or online eastwoods is one online place to buy from. about 30.00 for qt or about 80.00 for gallon, you still have to use a catylist/hardner to mix just like plastic fillers and is pricy but well worth it for long lasting paint job, i have seen others that you dont have to mix with a catylist too which is little easier that brand is called lab metal i have used both products and highly recomend them. plastic fillers have to have the base metal preped with a sealer cuz water soaks through plastic fillers like bondo but the metal fillers are 100% waterproof,rust proof and does not crack

 

[prostreetdrag]

oh i forgot another popular brand is called "all metal" made by USC

 

[charlief1]

I'm going to add that you can use epoxy as well. There are special fiberglass epoxy mixes that are much more flexable and water proof than traditional fillers. I built a canoe with some and it worked well. It is pricey but well wort it in the long run. Check Noahs Marine and US composites which is where I got the mixtures I used. It a flowable liquid but you can add matereal to make it more like traditional body filler and it's very water proof.

 

[prostreetdrag]

your aboslutely correct thank you Charlie, Yes there are alot of diffrent epoxy's out there that are great too which would work good for fiberglass,wood and plastic repair , like for the front nose clips on our g-bodys. i only mentioned the two types of fillers that are most common for metal repair only because the word bondo is the most commonly used filler because of it's price and the fact that its well known but could be the worst thing ever if not used properlly. I will be useing an all metal filler for covering welded seams on my rocker pannels to keep moisture out and durability but i will also end up useing an epoxy on a crack on my front clip inside one of the headlight buckets. So yes, charlie is correct regarding the use of expoxys. im just speaking to the difrernce in metal v's plastic fillers i guess it all depends what you are working on.

 

[BMF_Racing]

great, thanks for the info.

 

[charlief1]

Well I finally started on mine so come visit the B4Black section and take a look. I'm going to be using epoxy on the joints I have to repair because I've used it before and am familular with it. I would like to see how well yours comes out because it looks great so far.

 

[prostreetdrag]

Cool, I will check it out now. Thanks for complement, i thought the rockers turned out pretty good im happy with outcome..I use 60 and 120gt flap discs to grind any welds smooth i could prob get by without any filler at all being its just the rocker its not like a visable body pannel since has the kick plates screwed over rockers. I ran a straight edge over the seams and noticed there are couple low spots so the metal filler should getem perfectly smooth..Im just glad they are finally in. Im starting on the rest of the floor boards now and since the doors are curently removed should make the floors easier to work on..I will finnish the paint and body prep on the rockers and door jambs when the floor is done before I hang the doors back on.

 

[prostreetdrag]

Here is a pic of the second floor brace welded in. There will be 3 floor braces just like this welded in to support floor, it is 1 1/2 sq tube they are only 16 ga to save on weight, one will be supportng floor in rear of car and this one is close to middle of floor under the area where the seats are mounted to support weight of driver/passengers and there will be another brace towards the front of floor boards. Once i have all 3 braces welded in i will use smaller 3/4 inch sq tubeing and i will weld them flush across the 3 braces 1 on each side of driveshaft/trans tunnel and 1 along each side of the rockers, i choose smaller tubeing and smaller gauge to save from adding extra weight and instead of useing 18g sht metal for the floor i can now get by with useing 20 ga sheetmetal for the floor since there is enough bracing under the floor and should be lighter than the 18ga prev used. the 3 braces are welded to the frame instead of useing rubber body mounts so should keep the body stiff as well as keeping frame from twist and flexing. before i tack in the sheet metal floor i will paint the braces,frame/chassis black useing por15. should be alitlle easier to get to

 

[prostreetdrag]

Check out the pic below I have the 3 main floor braces in.... over the next couple days I will be welding in the smaller 3/4 sq subfloor braces to tie the main floor braces togeather. I'm building the floor all the way up to the front section where the foot floor boards are just past where racing seats will mount. once i have all the floor braces in and sheet metal tacked in I plan on pulling my engine and trans, to finish the foot boards so i can get full access around the transmission hump and the foot board runs all the way up to the bottom of firewall so with the engine removed i will be able to get to it easy and dont have to worry about cutting or welding close to the engine and trans. I need to swap my trans anyway with the newly rebuilt race trans(th400 w/t-brake) anyway the trans thats currently in the car was just used to mock up the the motor and its a th350 and there is no way it will withstand the abuse i plan to put thru it. So since im pulling whole drive train to finnish the fab work i can just drop the engine/new trans all in at once. I also need to rewire the whole car anyway so this way i can start fresh when i put drivetrain back in. Since my new custom floor board are rasied and level from front to back, right where the foot boards start just past the seats the new floor will start to slope down to allow me enough foot clearence for gas and brake pedals..also the driveshaft hump/tunnel starts little less narrow from the rear to the front and as it starts to get to the trans it starts to widen out to allow clearence for trans so you will notice the brace towards the front is a little wider around the trans tunnel compared to the other two main floor braces

 

[prostreetdrag]

here is a pic of the completed trunk with the batt box mounted and fuel cell sitting in. I wasnt sure if i posted a pic of it ever since i mounted the battery box so here you go...I have the rear firewall in the trunk and now i need to finnish painting it towards the back firewall and finnish spraying on the rubber undercoating material. i will finnish the paint and coating when i do the interior floor..The trunk is little dusty from the rest of the grinding and fabbing work i've been doing but this gives an idea of how it turned out. im pretty pleased with it so far and you guys can see i will still have quite a bit of spare trunk space. i mounted batt on right side over where rear tire will be to help with traction and the fuel cell is sitting over the axle too.

 

[prostreetdrag]

Thought I'd post a pic of a second driveshaft loop I fabbed up for the front of the car, You guys seen where I mounted the rear loop this one will be bolted toward the tail of the the trans under the driveshaft. Instead of it beinging bolted to the sheet metal floor (which could be ripped out if a failure occured with a u-joint)it will be bolted under one of the main floor braces to give a a strong place to bolt to. I only built a half loop for the bottom because the sq tubing for the floor braces will protect the upper half of the floor if the d-shaft was to ever break loose.. I will post another pic of it installed...FYI- i have all the 3/4 inch sub floor braces already cut to length, i need to tack them all in. after thier tacked in i will finnish welding all the braces.

 

[prostreetdrag]

I got the sub braces tacked in i will post more pics as they are welded in..the two rear outer braces that run along the body for the rear of the floor have been moved in about 3 inches towards the middle compared to the braces along the rockers. The reason they have been moved is so that when the main hoop for the rollcage is installed it does not innerferre with me welding the cage to frame rail. I will have to fab in braces for the front seats still to give them something strong to be bolted to....Once I start the sheet metal work I also need to cut some patch peices to fit around the wheel well from where the old wheel tubs were cut out and the new tubs were installed..I will use my shrinker/strecher so i can stretch patch pieces to get a contour fit around the tub