The Outlaw 1968 build

[STOCKISH]

Looking good so far, keep it up.

[outlawc]

Thanks everyone. Right now I am waiting on parts to come in to finish up mounting the bags, panhard rod and a new complete suspension rebuild kit with poly bushings. I am going to make new trailing arms and box the frame from front to rear and I need to pick up the metal to do that today. If nothing comes up that keeps me from working on it tomorrow I will start finish welding everything and cutting all the peices to box the frame. I will try to get some more pics up over the next couple days.

Nuke1, I have been trying to buy that vette for years and the answer is always the same.

[outlawc]

Not alot of progress over the holidays but I got some done.

Some parts I needed came in.





Heres the trailing arms I made. After seeing the ones that Ram-Man made I had to build some.











Also decided to build an new crossmember instead of modifying the old one. 6" x 6" x 3/16" square tubing I picked up to make the crossmember from.

[Wilson_]

Build looks great.. any updates?

[smbrouss70]

He sold the project off in pieces. I bought the frame and everything associated with it.

[tranz am]

have u finished the frame or does it look like like the pictures still. Im about to do my frame install on a doner frame i bought.

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

He sold the project off in pieces. I bought the frame and everything associated with it.

[smbrouss70]

This is how it currently looks...



I Z'ed the rear of the frame 6", and installed drop spindles and air bags on the camaro subframe.







After I'm done mocking up the body, steering, and drivetrain, I'm going to pull it all apart again and finish up cleaning up the frame, to include making the subframe to truck frame look a little better.

[tranz am]

Hey thanks for the pics, looking good. cant wait to see the finished end result!
i was wondering if you could nab a couple close up shots where the 2 frames are joined? a few close shots from the outside and top would be awesome!

for thouse that discourage the thought of doing this frame graft, I'll be willing to enlighten them on a few things and clarify some false statements.
The suspension geometry on these sub frames are truly a work of art. Herb Adams road racing enthusiast and writer or many books such as "Chassis Engineering", and "Supertuning Your Firebird Trans-Am" helped in the design of these suspension systems . Anyone who has ever really driven a Trans am or Camaro from 1970 - 1981 will back me on this.
The major benefits to doing this frame mod is..
1. its lighter unsprung weight,
2. the suspension will have full travel and still lower the truck, (our stock control arms hang down way too damn low and take a major beating, not to mention if your using a smaller diameter wheel and you blow a tire you will lose your traction and be sliding on the lower control arm and thats just down right dangerous!)
3. The turning radius will improve drastically over the stock crappy radius these trucks have and enable you to have better control when counter steering in a slid.
4. these frames are strong! They will most definitely be up to the challenge
of hauling your trucks weight and more. Some of the cars these frames came on weigh more than 3800lbs + and they are completely boxed from the factory.
5. The track width on these suspensions is narrower than our stock units buy about 6" which means that with a 5" back spacing wheel you could run a 10" wheel or more!
6. the parts for these suspensions seam to be much less.
7. the braking power is sufficient if not better than our trucks if if you want more power there are tons of options!
8. a lot of these frames came with quick ratio steering boxes thats a 14:1 steering gear and that's about 2.5 turns lock to lock
9. converting to a tilt column is easier with this setup already in place.
10. high speed stability, these suspensions came from the factory with a lot of castor and you can squeeze a lot more out of them.
11.there are just an array of different size bars you can get for these units. most of the the later Camaro and Trans am's came with a bar size of 1.25" same as our heavy duty 3/4 ton trucks did
12. wheel options are vast for 5 on 4.75 bolt circles, ford and dodge are 5 on 4.5.

i think ive made my rant clear. lol
Wilson i know your reading this.

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

This is how it currently looks...

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

This is how it currently looks...

[smbrouss70]

I'll try to get you some pics tonight. The cab is on it so I don't know how clear of a top shot I can get until I pull it off to start the bodywork.

I'd have to disagree with #6 though. Tubular control arms for these are in the $600 range for uppers and the $700 range for lowers. You can get uppers and lowers for the trucks from Ride Tech for about $800.

[smbrouss70]

Here's some pics... When the body comes off that junction will be plated that will make it look better as well as make it stronger.

I hope I was able to get what you needed.

[tranz am]

hey thanks a lot! thats exactly what I wanted to see
time to get to work on mine and post it in a build thread
yea ok you got me on the tubular arms
well unless u make your own that is.

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

Here's some pics... When the body comes off that junction will be plated that will make it look better as well as make it stronger.

I hope I was able to get what you needed.

[Coda O'Dell]

what size are those coys?

[tranz am]

thanks again for all the pics thats helpful. cant wait to see it done.

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

Here's some pics... When the body comes off that junction will be plated that will make it look better as well as make it stronger.

[smbrouss70]

Originally Posted by Coda O'Dell

what size are those coys?

20x8.5 in the front and 22x9 in the rear.

Originally Posted by tranz am

thanks again for all the pics thats helpful. cant wait to see it done.

No problem! Let me know when you start a build thread.

[tranz am]

will do
[QUOTE No problem! Let me know when you start a build thread.[/QUOTE]

[smbrouss70]

I finally got the cab off again this past weekend. I'm about to start plating up that junction of the frames. Did you need/want any better shots of that section before I plate it?

[tranz am]

That would be great! cant wait to see what you do with it.
thanks!

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

I finally got the cab off again this past weekend. I'm about to start plating up that junction of the frames. Did you need/want any better shots of that section before I plate it?

[smbrouss70]

I cut out my pieces of plate to box in the junction of the camaro subframe and the truck frame, and got one piece welded in on both sides. I had thought about pie-cutting the subframe to narrow it down to the width of the truck frame, but decided that boxing it with 1/4" plate would be stronger. Here's a couple of shots before and then the top piece welded in to keep the subframe from wanting to fold up with weight on it.

[tranz am]

lookin' good. I plan on matching the subframe and the truck frame so they meet together at that spot. I have my frame cut now, just need to weld it and box it.
question thou, could u measure the distance from the oval hole on the f body frame to the body mount bracket on the truck frame? from the closest edge of the hole to the bracket? I want to see how close I am in relation to yours.
I will get to mine here within the next few weeks i hope. When i do I will post some picks up. thanks for the update!

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

I cut out my pieces of plate to box in the junction of the camaro subframe and the truck frame, and got one piece welded in on both sides. I had thought about pie-cutting the subframe to narrow it down to the width of the truck frame, but decided that boxing it with 1/4" plate would be stronger. Here's a couple of shots before and then the top piece welded in to keep the subframe from wanting to fold up with weight on it.

[smbrouss70]

I just left this morning to go offshore for work, but should be back in a couple of days. I'll get that measurement then.

[tranz am]

sounds good.

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

I just left this morning to go offshore for work, but should be back in a couple of days. I'll get that measurement then.

[67chevy1series]

sweet let see some more

[68GMCCustom]

wow...glad to see you're still with it....looks like lots of work!

[tranz am]

hey buddy back yet?
i have have my frame cut and ready for the final fitting.
before i cut the final areas out i want to see how close i am in relation to yours.

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

I just left this morning to go offshore for work, but should be back in a couple of days. I'll get that measurement then.

[smbrouss70]

Yeah, I made it back in last night. I'm setting a reminder in my phone to get you that measurement tonight when I get home from the office.