Project 'Kickin Wing' (No Limits/Hotchkis/PorterBuilt/LS Power)

[bterry97gt]

Went straight to my parents where I am working on the frame and me and my dad got to work. Saturday afternoon we got the wide ride crossmember fit to the frame and bolted up. It was a tight fit, we had to use a ratchet strap from frame rail to frame rail to close up the frame enough for it to slide over the outside of the frame rails. Then some of the bolt holes in the frame needed to be opened up a little to match up to the wide ride holes. All in all, it was pretty much a bolt on ordeal.

[nlped]

CooL!!! I'm anxious to find out the quality on the repair panels as there are so many crappy ones out there, it'd be nice to find some quality ones that are closer to home.

On another note... Are you going to paint your frame and pieces parts, or have them powder coated? Did you get a price from the group in Athens on powercoat?

[nlped]

Originally Posted by nlped

CooL!!! I'm anxious to find out the quality on the repair panels as there are so many crappy ones out there, it'd be nice to find some quality ones that are closer to home.

On another note... Are you going to paint your frame and pieces parts, or have them powder coated? Did you get a price from the group in Athens on powercoat?

One more note...Is that a Trans Am or Firechicken in post #7? I have a white 77 T/A that is in my queue of projects

[rydeordie]

So is all the "No Limit" items bolt on?

[bterry97gt]

Sunday we got started on the fat bar and notch. The fat bar was pretty straight forward, just a measure twice weld once type thing. This was the first time either of us had done anything like this so we took it slow. There was quite a bit of welding and drilling but it wasnt too bad. In the pictures the upper coilover mounts arent bolted and the lower mounts are only tacked. I am waiting on my rear brakes to show up where I can check for clearance on the lower coilover mount. I am a little bit worried about getting a low enough ride height in the rear so I havent drilled for the upper mount yet. I was told I could get 7-8 inches of drop with this kit but with the upper mount positioned where it should be I am doubtful based on the frame to axle clearance. They are the experts though and have been doing this longer than I have been alive so i will probably just bolt it up where it should be and if it isnt low enough I can make a new upper mount that locates the coilover a little higher up.

The notch gave us a little trouble because, initially I had planned to just do a spring/block drop so I ordered a basic bolt in notch. Well the fat bar moves the axle back ~1" so the bolt in notch needed to be moved back accordingly. Well when you do that the notch no longer matches the contour of the frame. With a little cutting, heat, and a hammer we managed to make it fit pretty nice. And since the holes no longer match up we just went ahead and welded it in smooth.

With all that said here are a few pics of the fatbar install:




Here you can see where we marked the axle center line and then layed out where the notch should be. The three holes shown are the old bumpstop rivets, so you can see how the axle is moved back a bit to center the wheel.



Cut for the notch



Here is a picture of the notch we started with



Here it is after quite a bit of cutting and a few good licks from a hammer, I think with a little finish grinding it will look pretty good with some paint covering it. I wish I had a picture of how bad it fit to begin with.



And here is the finished product








People with experience, what do you think about the approx drop height by looking at the pics above? I know its probably going to be hard to tell anything about the stance until its at full weight considering these coilovers have a much softer spring rate than most drop springs and will compress much more with the bed/gas tank/etc. is added. I just dont want to get finished with the truck and be unhappy with the ride height after spending so much money on it.

[nlped]

Hard to tell what the ride height will be in the rear without a better shot from the side, but it appears to be lower than my GMC with 5" of drop in the rear (no notch).

[dkauffman05]

What is you plan for wheels ?

[Gts78ta]

nlped that would be a 78 T/A in that post, that's my baby.

[nlped]

Originally Posted by Gts78ta

nlped that would be a 78 T/A in that post, that's my baby.

Cool... I had a 78 in High School. I just bought my 77 last week. I love them.

Welcome to the board BTW. You must be dad?

[Gts78ta]

Yeah that would be me.

[bterry97gt]

Originally Posted by nlped

CooL!!! I'm anxious to find out the quality on the repair panels as there are so many crappy ones out there, it'd be nice to find some quality ones that are closer to home.

On another note... Are you going to paint your frame and pieces parts, or have them powder coated? Did you get a price from the group in Athens on powercoat?

I am likely going to paint it. They gave me a quote of $350 which wasnt to bad but I am to the point now where I need to start being conservative where I can or I will never finish this thing haha

And yes, thats my dads car he is finishing up. It is nice to say the least. 5.3 with goodies, pro-touring f-body suspension, speedhut gauges etc. etc.

[bterry97gt]

Originally Posted by dkauffman05

What is you plan for wheels ?

I really dont know yet. I need to figure it out soon though. Im probably going to do a 19/20 combo, hopefully a 9.5" or 10" wide in the front and a 10.5 or 11" in the rear. I dont plan to run inner fenders in the front, and I dont want to have to widen the tubs in the rear but I will if I have to.

I went with the 5x4.75 bolt pattern on the wide ride so I have better wheel selection. I really like the eagle 227 wheel and I also like some of the deep concave "tuner" wheels. The wheel I pick probably wont be liked very well by some on here; it will definitly be a different look than the norm. I was hoping you would guinea pig the 18x10 in the front where I could see how well it fits haha

[buddylee]

Just wondering what maximum rim width you can run with that setup. Seems like shock and suspension interferes with wide rims

[mcbassin]

Very good progress on the chassis.

[bterry97gt]

Originally Posted by buddylee

Just wondering what maximum rim width you can run with that setup. Seems like shock and suspension interferes with wide rims

Im not sure yet, I know in the rear people have ran 10" wide with no trouble. I am hoping with the right backspacing I can stuff some more back there.

[Nsanehotrodz]

Originally Posted by bterry97gt

Im not sure yet, I know in the rear people have ran 10" wide with no trouble. I am hoping with the right backspacing I can stuff some more back there.

Max tire width with stock wheel tub is 11". Max tire width with widened wheel tub is 12".

[Low68]

Looking great! Great job with getting the notches to match the frame. It looks real clean. I wished that I had done that on my frame when I did mine before. I am going to take a guesstimate of that being pretty close to 7-8" drop once you get some weight on there. The springs will likely settle a little with weight as well. My truck was around a 7-8" in the back previously. Same notch setup. If I remember correctly, I think the top of the axle was right around level with the bottom of the frame at ride height. Possibly just a little space between them.

[bterry97gt]

Originally Posted by Nsanehotrodz

Max tire width with stock wheel tub is 11". Max tire width with widened wheel tub is 12".

Thanks man, good to know.

Originally Posted by Low68

Looking great! Great job with getting the notches to match the frame. It looks real clean. I wished that I had done that on my frame when I did mine before. I am going to take a guesstimate of that being pretty close to 7-8" drop once you get some weight on there. The springs will likely settle a little with weight as well. My truck was around a 7-8" in the back previously. Same notch setup. If I remember correctly, I think the top of the axle was right around level with the bottom of the frame at ride height. Possibly just a little space between them.

Thanks, did you have any clearance issues at this height with the chunk hitting the bed floor? I am going to sit the bed on the frame to check clearance with it bottomed out on a pancake style bumpstop, but just wanted to know what your experience was at this height.

[Low68]

I was running 1/2" tall bump stops directly on the c-notch. I never noticed or saw any evidence of the pumpkin hitting the floor. Every once in a long while I would feel the axle hit the bump stop, but I don't recall every having a very hard hit. It was actually quite street able. I don't like having to slow way down for dips in the road either, unless they are really bad. With all that being said, I would put the bed on there and take the springs off the coilovers and move the axle all the way up to see what contacts first.

I was running Hotchkis 6" springs and 2" blocks in the back with KYB shocks for reference.

[bterry97gt]

Originally Posted by Low68

I was running 1/2" tall bump stops directly on the c-notch. I never noticed or saw any evidence of the pumpkin hitting the floor. Every once in a long while I would feel the axle hit the bump stop, but I don't recall every having a very hard hit. It was actually quite street able. I don't like having to slow way down for dips in the road either, unless they are really bad. With all that being said, I would put the bed on there and take the springs off the coilovers and move the axle all the way up to see what contacts first.

I was running Hotchkis 6" springs and 2" blocks in the back with KYB shocks for reference.

Thanks, good to know.

[bterry97gt]

Got a little bit done this weekend, got the backside of the notch boxed and got a few braces added in that area. Hoping to knock the frame out by the end of the year and get it back over to my place where I can work on it more often.

Making the template


Cut the plate


Tacked it in


Welded up, still needs a little cleanup grinding



Got the bracing layed out, notice that there isn't any issues with axles clearance even with it bottomed out on the notch. I wont be needing this kind of clearance with the coilovers I have now. But I wanted to make sure it wasnt an issue down the road if I change something up. Also we dont have a tubing notcher, all done with a saw and a grinder so be gentle.



Getting it welded in. Just a little background info, this is my first big welding project. I have always been able to stick two pieces of metal together, but I have never really done anything where appearance or strength really mattered. So this a learning experience for me. My dad is one of those guys that has a broad skill set and can dang near do anything if he has the right tools (sometimes without the right tool haha) so its always been easier to let him do it when it needed to be pretty. But I wanted this to be the project where I was the one doing the majority of the work with a little instruction. I want to be able to say I did it when its finished.

[bterry97gt]

I also did a few renderings, nothing set in stone but I did get a little closer to figuring out what I want the final outcome to look like. Here is one I like.

[ChuckDriver]

Nice rendering, looks great!

[nlped]

Fantastic looking rendering!!! That would be a great truck to drive!

[bterry97gt]

Originally Posted by ChuckDriver

Nice rendering, looks great!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by nlped

Fantastic looking rendering!!! That would be a great truck to drive!

Thanks, that's the plan!