Avoid the Concrete

[BossHogg69]

Man, that frame turned out awesome. Almost a shame to put a body on it! I really dig what you did on the trans mount - very trick.

[79azc10]

Love the truck. Where about in Az do U live?

[mcmlxix]

Looks great... but the asymetrical motor mounts are making my OCD twitch....

[Low68]

Thanks. I live in Chandler. I hear you about the OCD and engine mounts. I am hoping it isn't too noticeable once everything is put together.

[Low68]

Finished all the welding on the bracing so far. Put the suspension on the truck and set it down on the suspension for the first time.

[98Murray]

Awesome build

[Low68]

I got the cab and the bed put on today. Rear wheel looks close enough to center that I should be able to adjust it with the adjustment in the four link bars. I had to cut out firewall around the engine to get it to clear the motor.

[Graham57a]

Killer build man, looks like you've been contemplating this one for a while. Subscribed

[swamp rat]

Sweet! rear wheel is centered in the well too.

[Low68]

Here is a quick update. I haven't gotten much done lately as my dad needed his shop space back for a little bit and I was ready for a short break. I did, however, get most of the parts for my rear brakes. I bought some different calipers for the front and am going to use the calipers I already have on the back. I bought some Wilwood Superlight 6 piston calipers for the front. I bought 12.88" rotors for the back and some Wilwood aluminum rotor hats. I haven't gotten them put on yet. My plan is to fab up a pinion brake for the e-brake.

[Low68]

I went ahead and put on one of the front calipers and one of the rear hats/rotors to see how they look. I will need to fab up a mount for the rear caliper. I also put one of my old wheel spacers on. It looks way better not being so far in.

[Bennett68C10]

Chassis looks great, rear wheel looks nicely centered. Love those brakes too, what size are the front rotors, 13"?

[Low68]

Front rotors are 14"

[Low68]

Decided to head over to the shop tonight and do some work on the truck. I have been wanting to get the front sheet metal put on, so I got it temporarily bolted in. I didn't line anything up, I just wanted to get a mental picture of stance and how it would look. I also put together one of the rotors and safety wired the bolts. First time for doing that. Some of the wires could be tighter, but I think it will be fine.

[mcbassin]

Very nice progress! Love all the high end parts you are using.

[Bennett68C10]

Looks great with the front end back on. Your aftermarket hood looks to fit way better then mine did.

[Low68]

Thanks guys. I was curious how the hood would fit after seeing yours. It needs some work, but it is hard to tell how much cause the fenders are barely bolted on. I will be curious how well everything fits once it is tightened down.

[Low68]

I got the other rear rotor safety wired the other day. It came out better than the first one.

I decided that it was time to start on the cab. I started by taking some measurements and found out the floor wasn't bent like I thought it was. So I started cutting out the firewall. I got most of the firewall cut out.

[Low68]

Did some more work on the cab. I wanted to take out the rest of the vent under the dash that I had previously cut out. This will give me some more room under the dash for fitting an A/C unit and the wiper motor. With the brake booster and master cylinder under there, it is pretty crowded. I cut out most of the kick panel on the passenger side and will make a new one without the vent in it.






I also took out the inner sheet metal that was in place for the factory blower motor. I won't ever need that again.




Last thing that I got done today was to trim the front of the firewall to roughly where I will weld the new piece to it. I need to clean up the edge a little and straighten out the sheet metal. What is left of the face of the firewall is really wavy.

[bovey]

Ah man, feel for you. Glad to see you get at it right away and put it back together. Love it. After trying autoXing it takes more than some silly concrete to stop you. Give'r. Cool truck.

[Low68]

Thanks Bovey! I have been watching your thread over on protouring and will be interested in seeing more as your truck develops. I hope you have invested in a gopro or a similar camera so I can watch videos of the targa race.

[Low68]

I have been getting ready to start on the firewall. After a lot of thought and looking at the cab for hours on end, I have decided not to do a roll cage. For what I am going to use the truck for and my ultimate goal of how I want it to look, I don't think I could accomplish what I wanted. I am instead going to build in some structure under the dash to hopefully make up for removing the vent under the dash. I am still going to do a harness bar behind the seat, but that should be pretty easy to tuck away where it it not too visible.



I got the first support tube bent and tack welded in place. Sorry it is a little blurry.








I put the cab back on the frame to start making a template for the firewall. I also checked the tire clearance and think that I should have enough room even if I go one inch wider on tire size outward with out having put a tire bump in the firewall. I will have to see once I start measuring for wheels if I need to modify that, but for now, I think I may be able to get away with not having to do anything.

[mcbassin]

Wow! that was a bunch of spot weld drilling Love where you're going with the firewall and cab.

[Low68]

I have been working on the firewall lately. It has been slow, but I made a template for the front of the firewall. I debated doing the traditional rounded doghouse, but decided to change it up a bit. Doing it the way I have decided to do it will give me some additional room inside for the brake booster and master cylinder which was almost touching the doghouse with the old firewall. Here is the cab back on the truck.




The start of the template.




The final template.



Today, I got out the sheet metal and started doing the shaping on the sheet metal. I started on the driver side and used the bead roller to do an indent in the metal. It didn't come out very even in the corners and I didn't get the profile on the line in some places. The second side came out a lot better, so I will probably redo the first one I did. Here are the two side pieces.

[BigMike]

Gonna be an AWESOME firewall, WOW!

Mike