Shaved drip rails, frenched antenna & smoothed firewall pictures

[68LSS1]

Here are a few pictures I got today. Quality sucks as the sun was going down when I took them. Also link my in sig now works again and I will add more pictures in the very near future. There are acouple of the HTH and Fatman Fab there now.













Ed @ Mothertruckers is responsible for the metal work on the cab. I had the cab dipped prior to the metal work (actually Ed took care of that also). I call it a smoothed firewall because in my opinion it's not shaved. Close on the passenger side. Trying to get the motor mounts/tranny cross member fabbed and then off to the welding shop for the roll cage.

[co-necked]

...

[mocwon]

Really nice work!

[GreyHoundSteve]

VERY nice!

[NPilot1975]

How much did the cab run you, if you don't mind me asking? I am looking for much the same, shaved drip rails and firewall. Haven't decided about the antenna.

[purple gas]

Roll Cage?

[1971Stepside]

Wow! I can appreciate that amount of work that went into that. Gonna be nice when she is finished. Keep the pics coming.

[djracer]

S&W race cars make a good prebend cage kit! They also run some great sales this time of year!

[see ten]

Will you be using a swaybar with the Fatman frontend? What are the benefits of the HTH rearend setup?

[jamis]

Thats as sweet as it gets. I like the way the right side of the fire wall was rounded out to match the left side. Has the drip rail been removed or blended in on the sides ? I cant tell with the shadows

[glock35ipsc]

Looks awesome!! Keep us up to date with lots of pics!

[68LSS1]

Thanks for the complimants guys. It's been torn apart for so long I am glad it just resembles a truck again.
Purple Gas, yes a roll cage. That LS1 in the pic is not the one that will reside in there when done. I'm shooting for a daily driver capable of 10 second 1/4's. Will take a little more cubes and a multi stage dry shot of laughing gas but I have faith.
DJracer, I have a lead on a cage that a guy that had a '67-72 had made for his "Bonneville" record attempt truck. If that doesn't pan out, then I will be going with the tried and true S&W unit.
See ten, I will wait and see how it handles. I think with the 5" drop the Fatman kit gave me and the ability to run at least 18X15 wheels in the rear and 18X10 up front along with the HTH kit I should be OK. If not then I should be able to mount a sway bar pretty easily as there is a spot on the LCA's for one. Might have to shop around to find the correct width but shouldn't be too big of pain. As far as the HTH kit, the trailing arm suspensions are very good for traction off the line and handling. In fact HTH makes kits to convert older Camaros, Chevelles, Novas, etc to a trailing arm suspension. Are there better kits out there? Maybe. Are there better suspension designs? Definately. But IMO the HTH kit on a truck trailing arm suspension gave me the most bang for the buck. Steve (the owner at HTH) is great to work with I have seen a lot of good results from others who have installed his kits. Unfortunately none of those have been on '67-72 trucks. He knows what my plans are and he's standing behind his kit. The kit basically give me a adjustable ride height rear suspension or the ability to preload one side when I go to the track. The panhard is now also adjustable both in length and it can be kept parallel with the gound at any ride height. The panhard must be kept parallel to the ground in any application to be MOST effective.
Jamis, the drip rail was cut off but instead of making it flush we deciding to try and blend the ridge back to the cab. Something a little different that was actually Ed's idea. I just started my work week but I'll get some better pictures up around the beginning of the week. As for the firewall I told Ed that ugly pinch weld had to go. I expected him to cut it off and weld it up. Again Ed came up with the idea to weld a strip of metal to "box" it in. Basically, that pinch weld is still there but it has been enclosed so now I have a area to hide any wires that I need to run from one side to the other.
I still have some more work to do to the cab such as weld up the open areas on the cowl and I'm toying with the idea of removing the heater controls, radio and ignition switch from the center part of the dash. Most of that could go into a center console that is on my to make list. With the shifter on the tail of the T56 it makes that dang tranny way too long. I'm waiting on a company that is suppose to release a kit at the beginning of the year to move the shifter forward on the tranny.

[MrShelley]

Looking forward to seeing more pix of that drip rail...very smooth!

[FRENCHBLUE72]

That is gonna be a sweet a$$ ride whan it is done..

[FirstGen]

Originally Posted by 68LSS1

Most of that could go into a center console that is on my to make list. With the shifter on the tail of the T56 it makes that dang tranny way too long. I'm waiting on a company that is suppose to release a kit at the beginning of the year to move the shifter forward on the tranny.

Actually a company called Keisler Engineering has been doing that to T-56's for a while. I didn't opt to do it because they want more than I paid for the whole tranny setup ($1200).
http://www.keislerauto.com/gm/transm...truck_6spd.asp

Honestly as long as you are going to run bucket seats the shifter location is pretty nice. I have the frame built for my center console still needs to be filled and sanded, then padded and wrapped but this is what I have so far... I'm still contemplating using the air space for a 10" or just to use it for my 5" bostons, tons of options obviously.

daily driven 10's will be no prob with some spray. I run 11.40's on a 150 shot stock cubes. and stock suspension.

[68LSS1]

FirstGen, I knew about Keisler. I talked to them about 2 years ago. I don't know about now, but then they would only sell you a complete modified tranny. I already have a T56, I just want to move the shifter. The company that I know of will be selling just a kit for you to do it yourself. And if they are selling the kits now for $1200, they are nucking futs.

[FirstGen]

Actually they do it in house. Now that I think more about it... I think they do their little conversion for 600. They tried to make it sound all difficult and told me on the phone it took 6 hours for their tech to do, LMAO. You can do a full rebuild on a T56 in about 4 hours. What is the other company you have consulted with?

BTW, took the truck out tonight and whooped up on two '03/04 Cobras. One is putting down 540 at the wheels and the other is mid 5's but won't show anyone his dyno numbers... These motors are so strong. I couldn't be more impressed. Can't wait for you to get yours done! Gonna be one hell of a machine.

[68LSS1]

Silly Cobra's The guy didn't say what company he was with. Just to get with him after the beginning of the year. It will probably be around a year or so until I'm on the road. Contemplating throwing the stock LS1 in the truck with the Gen VII and 3 dry stages and seeing how much a stock bottom end can take.

[MOTHERTRUCKERS]

Brian I can't make it today, i have a guy coming for the other tilt front end from Ga. If you need a cowl panel cover let me know i'm doing one now and could do yours along with it, his is kind of tricky with access for the wiper linkage. LOOKING GOOD!

[NPilot1975]

Hey guys, where did you buy your LS-1's from. I am currently running an LT-1 and thinking of putting an LS-1 in when I change frames. I talked to Billy Graham Camaro/Firebird salvage and they want $5500 for an LS-1/4L60E, is that a good price?

[NPilot1975]

68LS1, if you took your coilovers out, would your suspension have enough travel to set the frame on the ground? Did you get the dropped spindles?

[68LSS1]

NPilot1975, I got my set up off Ebay believe it or not. It was better than half of what Billy Graham wants but it was high mileage. Shipping wasn't bad from the northeast. Complete engine, accessories, computer, tranny, wiring harness, pedal assembly, etc. I'm not sure if the frame would lay if I removed the coil overs. It probably would drop it but cambered like crazy. I did not get the dropped spindles.