56 Chevy (RIP)

[Snake72]

picked up an '88 C4 rear suspension yesterday, found out the same seller will have an '89 front suspension available soon and made a deal for that as well.

[Snake72]

Cleaned up the C4 suspension and mocked up under the frame at approximate ride height, picking up the C4 front suspension in the next week or so. The Flat Out Engineering components leave a slight rake, supposed to be about 1" front to back, which should be fine for my application but I'd like it as flat level as possible. I may C notch the rear frame and tuck the batwings up into the frame 1" but we'll see how the mock up looks when I get all the components together.

[Snake72]

Acquired an '89 vette front end this weekend, 70k mile car that had a mild engine fire, everything is super tight and clean. I already removed the control arms, spindles, brakes, rack and pinion etc and will be cleaning them up. So far I've been impressed with the quality and condition of all the vette components especially being 35+ years old. The only real concern I have is fitting the LS motor over the rack and pinion which apparently can be a real bear with the Flat Out Engineering set up. Sounds like I'll have to "clock" the rack and pinion 90 degrees to get the pressure lines coming out to the front instead of above the cylinder for oil pain clearance. I've seen other builds that required moving the engine way back in the bay and cutting into the firewall to get clearance. Also I have read that the stock front sway bar wont work, but I'm determined to get installed somehow.

[Snake72]

Work continues on the cab. The last rust repair is above the windshield on the interior side, I could never figure out why this area was so rusty, it doesn't seem like a place for water to collect. After cutting into it, I found out why it rusted so badly. It was absolutely packed full of mouse nest, mouse skeletons, peanuts, sudflower seeds, etc. The whole top portion of the windshield frame will have to be replaced but the rest of the frame is perfect.

Also noticed this red and blue paint on the bottom of the windshield frame that was under the gasket, is this a factory paint marking for something?

[Snake72]

Progress. The upper windshield frame repair was not my favorite, a lot of fitting that had to be precise for the windshield and gasket to sit and seal correctly. But its done, and came out pretty well. I ordered both the inner roof patch panel and outer roof skin support panel. The hardest part was drilling out and cutting the spot welds free from the outer roof skin without damaging the roof skin itself. I cut an oversized section from the inner roof and elected to butt weld the patch on the sides but spot weld the upper seam to hopefully avoid warpage along the long top cut. A little filler will cover the overlap. Prior to welding, I treated the surface rust inside the roof and used weld through primer on all overlap surfaces.

Also, without a rotisserie, I needed a way to flip the cab up to clean and prime/undercoat the bottom of the cab. Came up with a simple extension off the front of the wooden dolly I'd made. Simply tip the cab onto the front firewall and support from the rear. Super easy, one man can lift the cab and it balances perfectly on the firewall, but I still used a brace to keep from tipping back down.

[Snake72]

I'm sure someone has done this method of cab flipping before, but in case someone needs a cheap way to flip cab by yourself, cab is surprisingly light.

[dagnabbitt]

Wow, great work.