Frame Notch/Tub/Cage-Complete build Start2Finish

[prostreetdrag]

Here's a pic from underneath, I still need to do alot of welding because all the braces are just tacked in but wanted to show you guys how much room I will have without using the stock floor pans. If you notice along the frame rail there is about 4-4 1/2 inches of room from bottom of floor brace to bottom of frame rails..I will be running straight 3 1/2- 4 inch exhust pipes so it should fit good underneath...Oh btw i'm not useing the wheels and tires you see in the pic once i get the car done im putting on wider wheels w/slicks. I have all new suspenssion upfront and have my ride height in the front at a perfect stance, it sits about 2-2 1/2 inches lower in front once i bolt the 9 inch under the rear i will have to play around with rear height untill i get it dialed in perfect.. i'm considering just mounting coilovers in rear. thats little later down the road though.

 

[prostreetdrag]

I used some scrap 1/8 thick flat stock i had laying around in the center of the trans hump to give the hurst rachet shifter somthing stronger to bolt to..It is 2 inch wide flat stock and i just tacked 2 pieces side byside flush in the center.. I didnt really want to add any boxed steel there and add any additional un-needed weight the 1/8 flat stock should be plenty support to bolt the shifter to once the sheet metal floor is installed..I will be measureing placement of the 2 front seats tonight and once i have the seat support tacked in I will go ahead and finish welding all the braces for the floor.. I will be laying sheet metal by end of this week or weekend. I would like to paint what ever I can once the welding is done with the braces. I atleast want to paint whatever i cant get to from the bottom once the floor is in completed Oh btw I mounted the front driveshaft loop aswell. I welded tabs underneath the floor braces to be able to bolt it on so should be easy to remove or install

 

[charlief1]

Name change done as requested Dale. I had to do all 5 pages so if we ever meet up you owe me a beer at least.:biggrin: Still looks good and I'm waiting to see how it ends up.

 

[prostreetdrag]

You got it bud! I really owe ya.....I swear..... I only planned on doing notch/tub.. ..My problem is I dont know when to quit, I start somthing small and it turns into a larger project..

 

[charlief1]

You got it bud! I really owe ya.....I swear..... I only planned on doing notch/tub.. ..My problem is I dont know when to quit, I start somthing small and it turns into a larger project..

Boy do I know that situation.:biggrin: Have you ever clicked on the second link in my sig? Take a look and you'll understand what happens to me. LOL Talk about a PITA!:biggrin:

 

[prostreetdrag]

Charlie, I can see that It must have been quite a journey. It's defiantly an interesting thread though....lot of great INFO..

 

[prostreetdrag]

Well I took some measurements last night as to where I want to mount the front seats. I will update with pics once i weld in the seat mount braces.im useing a lighter gauge 1x2 box steel to brace the front seats to where its not too heavy but still strong enough to secure the seats solid in the event of somthing bad that i hope never happens..I'm also building seat mounting brackets too, Since the floor is raised little higher than stock im fabricateing my own seat mounts so they actually allow the seat to sit lower to the floor to make up for the diffrence of the higher sitting custom floor...I'm building this the car to my height specs being i will be the only driver. The seat will be at a fixed position, Im a taller guy so I will have the seats sit as far back as i can for it to fall within specs of the rollcage..also it will be set it up so that there is a few diffrent seat mounting locations so i can move seat foward or back in future but the seat will have to be unbolted inorder to move seat. I will make sure there is a solid place to weld in tabs for mounting the seat harness too,

 

[charlief1]

I'm gonna make another sugestion to you Dale. Bolt the seat in one location but make sure you leave some places to move it so if you for some reason sell it, it will make it easier to market. That or your kids end up getting into it when they get old enough.

 

[prostreetdrag]

Yep, your right, thats what i was trying to say..lol..well put charlie...i just reread it and i guess it does sould little more complicated then what my brain was thinking...lol..thats what happens when i dont get enough sleep..lol..but yeah..was just going to make several holes in the bracket and the floor so it can be unbolted and rebolted in a diffrent locations..I will prob use a small body plug for the extra un-used mounting holes on the floor just to keep water from coming in and such..so it would still be able to be moved depending whos driving it, you just wont be able to hit a lever and move forward or back. you will actually have to unbolt it to move the seat. the seat adjusters they sell just will make it sit too high, also i figured i feel little better know the seat is bolted and secure if ever have a hard impact

 

[prostreetdrag]

The way im thinking of doing the seat bracket, i shouldnt have to put extra wholes in floor though , will just have to use diffrent mounting holes on the seat bracket its self to move seat back and forth, if i still cant get alot of extra adjustment options then i will make 2 diffrent floor mounting locations. with the seat bracket itsself. i should be able to go 4 inches forward and back without making any extra holes in the floor..i guess it will make more sence once i post a pic...Im hopeng to have it done tonight but then again worst case i will post a pic tommorow when its done...it all depends because i have to put a new clutch in my buddys motorcycle and once thats done, i'm going get back on the flooring..hoping to start some sheetmetal work by the weekend

 

[prostreetdrag]

ok i finaly got the driverside seat mounts welded in (well not completely welded in) i still need to finnish welding all the way around the seat mounts and all the floor braces are just tacked in..once i finnish the passenger side seat mounts i will be busy burning in welds on all the braces and mounts..I used some 1x2 boxed steel for the seat base and for the mounts for the seat. the seat will be bolted 1 inch off the floor to make up for the higher floor boards it allows the seat to sit perfect in the car..I will be bolting my seat in all the way back but i welded in mounts to allow addition options for moving the seat forward and back...I used 2 crossbraces for the weight of the seat with the boxed steel and instead of mounting in extra braces and adding more weight i just welded in 3 inch mounts to give additional mounting locations to move the seat in forward or back. but i will be keeping seat far enough back so its comfortable for me..im not useing a back seat so i dont need to worry about leg room for back seat passengers im 6'2 so i wanted to make sure i have enough leg room, but the seat could be moved all the way up for a 5ft person if i ever wanted to. but i dont plan on getting rid of the car untill my son is older then its his car...lol..I drilled 1 inch holes in one side of the seat base so the bolts for the bottom of the seat will be recessed inside the boxed steel so that the seat base sits flush against the floor.

 

[BMF_Racing]

Looking Great !

Hey, I was just wondering if you can do a before and after wieght after all the mods? Do you know what the car wieghed before all the mods started? I was just wondering. Everything is looking great.

Oh one more thing, how think is the square tubing you are using?

 

[prostreetdrag]

Very Very good question, Well all of the boxed steel is between 16-18ga which is the thinnist i could buy so its still pretty light but yet still strong due to the fact its boxed..it looks heaveir then it is cuz ofcourse most commomly avalible boxed steel is 1/8inch thick and larger. I have a steel company locally that i special order from directly and i do it under my companys name so im able to by at wholesale prices, i just have to buy in full 24ft pieces or 4x8-4x10 sheets. I did weigh the car on truck scales before mods with everything still stock and with full tank gas w/o driver it was just shy of 3,350lbs..It orginally had 307 engine in the car so that weight was with orginal v8 with the factory,smog and all the extra crap that they put on these cars after 1972..So now ofcourse as you've seen it has the sbc in it now so im pretty its the same weight as the 307 within a few lbs if i had to guess id say the sbc weighs less since it doesnt have all the extra epa crap on the new motor..I will definatly have the car weigh after its complete and let you know..I removed hell of alot of weight with doing the new mods like no front sway bar( since it a drag car) AC/Delete, no smog controls, top end of engine is alum,alum rad, no back seats, fiberglass hood, also changeing to fiberglass decklid, evenually after i paint it will be doing lexan windows..and posb f-glass doors after changeing the glass, the sheet metal going in for the floor is 22ga since there is plenty of floor reinforcment which is a ton lighter then stock floor pans...I've tryed gutting everything out that i dont need..i do have concerns with the addtional floor braces compared to stock but i still need to worry about strength and safety at same time.. but im pretty sure i can get the car at a decent weight when everythings said and done and still keep it strong and stiff..Oh BTW just for kicks and giggles i weighed all the factory wire when i gutted it out and it was almost 35lbs of wire including the computer...lol..I will definatly keep everyone udated with the new weight. I've got couple friends at my local race track(national trails raceway) that have 4 tire scales for their race cars and both said i can use their scales if i need to so i will definatly be able to get you guys a more accurate # cuz i also wanted to use them anyway to find my center of gravity when i bolt the 9 inch rear end under it for good and also so i can get suspension dialed in...Thanks for bringing the issue up because it has been going through my mind durring this whole build...also if incase anyones wandering i had charlie change the title of this thread since i have decided to document the entire build which is the reason this thread reads alittle diffrent as far as the tittle goes

 

[charlief1]

LOL What's a tittle Dale? LMAO

 

[prostreetdrag]

Yeah,Yeah yeah, Title...lol...I never said I could spell, build cars maybe but not spell worth S##T..I think we need to have you or the powers that be add spell check on here..lol..I only paid attention in shop class..LMAO

 

[prostreetdrag]

LMFAO..Payed Attention

 

[BMF_Racing]

Lol.


Question. Do you think the 22gauge floor & the square tubing is a wieght savings over the stock floor you removed?

I have a '87 Turbo T project car now & trying to plan out how I'm going to make it as light as I can with out going broke. First I will get all the fiberglass I can get for it; hood, front end, doors, deck lid, rear bumper/lights, & replace the glass with lexan. The car already has a .134 mild steel 10pt cage already. I was thinking of maybe fabing up a chrome moly trans x-member to replace the stock one. Maybe a TRZ rack conversion & front upper/lowers A-arms. Which with those plans I had to ask about the floor, may have to add that to the list???

Thanks.

 

[49-blues]

How much do you expect the car to weigh when it's all finished?

 

[prostreetdrag]

Well i appoligize im not able to give an actual number as far as the weight diffrence but comparing how heavy the stock floors and stock braces felt when i pulled them out im positive the new braces and 22ga floor would be lighter than stock..the old floor pans were 16-18 ga and the old braces were around 11-14ga..If you notice how the back seat area is now u can see i've done away with alot of extra sheet metal and braces that were under the rear stock seat to support backseat passengers..Also with only useing the 2 poly race seats up front they weigh prob 4 times less than the stock bucket seats..The Wheel Tubs are 22ga and also much lighter than stock tubs, i did away with alot of the trunk floor too. there is a big section of the new trunk floor cut out for the fuel cell which is about 18x20 inch section, i did away with the extra metal for the spare tire mount, fuel cell is lighter than stock tank..I can only buy the 22ga sheet metal in a 4x10ft section and i will only need about a 3rd of that to finish the floor and that 4x10ft sheet is very light, i have a peice of sheet metal thats 18ga left over from a diffrent project and its 4x4ft in size and it weighs as much as the 4x10ft sheet of 22ga...so most of the weight from the floors are going to be in the new boxed braces but then again that is what will make the body more solid and the car stiffer, because 22 ga is pretty light and flemsy it will just be there to seal the floors off.. Oh yeah I may have mentioned a while back in the thread that when i removed the stock trunk hinges and trunk i was ammazed with how heavy the deck lid was by itself not including the big bulky hinges. You wouldn't think the trunk lid is that heavy when you open and close it but once i cut those tenssion rods out of the trunk and lifted the deck lid off it felt like a pile of bricks

 

[prostreetdrag]

I will keep everyone posted. but, Im guessing the car to be in the 27-2800 range as far as the weight... i will get it scaled after i lay the floor and bolt the 9inch back under it. but once the glass is changed to the lexan im sure that would make a huge diffrence alone. I threw the 7.5 rear under it for the time being to roll the car in and out of the garage and so wouldn't have to worry about sparks hitting the paint on the 9inch thats going in