The Mother Trucker.. FX Race Cars, Porterbuilt, Dyess Designs 68 coil over build

[moggey01]

Its update time again. The frame is back from sandblaster and the reassembly begins. This time the welding of all the holes, and the boxing of the inside of the frame will begin. There will be tubular braces added after the plates are added to the inside frame rails. The c-notches are stitch welded as well. I spent a few hours drilling holes (lightening) some of the front end components ,shock mounts, and inner truss . I will drill the crossmember and the inner frame plating when its done. I did get the front inner fenders from US Body Source. WOW Eric really hooked me up with these!!! Also board member "Putter" did my instrument cluster , Thanks bud you did a nice job!!! My cab is being sandblasted and so the finish metal work will begin on it soon.
On a side note check out the Texas Mile worlds fastest camaro with Joe Honeycutt from a few weeks ago. Robert and I both worked for John Harrison who did the cage install on this car. It has been 263+mph. It was barrell rolled on fire at 220 a few weeks ago. The cage did its job!!!!!!!!!

[moggey01]

Gauge cluster done by Eric Ricks "Putter" , and the camaro that ran 263.

[moggey01]

Its update time again. The cab is back from sandblaster so sheetmetal can be installed along with other fab work that needs to be done. Chassis is off the jig so that the bottom side can have all the holes welded. The bolt in C-notch is also welded and reinforced on the bottom side. Most of the plate has already been cut to box the inside frame rails. We will see how far along we get by next Sunday.

[moggey01]

Cab is back and here are some examples of the way the firewall / cab corner sheetmetal will most likely appear. The down tubes for the rollbar will extend to the front while the windshield pillar bars will go through the top of the dash. Not sure if the dash will be removable for service or not yet. The bead roll on this sheetmetal is pretty cool if you look at it , its a pinstripe design thats pretty unique.

[tasian]

Nice work on everything so far it looks like it should become something pretty serious

could you post more pictures of the front cage and firewall?

[moggey01]

yes ,I can post a few pics . The firewall and most of the sheetmetal work is done. The cab is still on a fixture. The photos of the rollcage above are on a Mustang. The tinwork was what I wanted to show people. Any way the cab is about done , but there is no cage that I know of at this point. I have not seen the truck in 3 weeks. I will post some pics in a few. Sorry I have not updated , just I have had alot to do in the last few months.
Mark

[vegadesign]

subscribed, looking forward to this build

[67cheby]

wow, nice work , frame is looking great !

[moggey01]

And as promised some updated pics . The firewall wire channel was removed before fitting the firewall. Alot of the sheetmetal pieces where cut to save room for rollbar tubes, headers ,weight etc. The whole thing will pretty clean looking once finished. The frame will have lightening holes in the plate as well as x braces added.

[moggey01]

couple more

[VA72C10]

Looking good!

[67cheby]

Nice work !

[moggey01]

Well its been a while but I am back . I went through my 4th layoff now , and had to deal with some health issues in the last year. With that being said the truck has made some progress , and I changed some things. Now the truck is a stepside . There was an issue with the oil pan hitting the dropmember . My oil pan is deeper than most so its not Porterbuilt problem. The engine was relocated and the engine mounts changed. This is a race type chassis so some mods were made to strengthen everything that I use. I will enclose pictures in a few , and see what yall think.

[moggey01]

ok here we go. The bed box is raised a little over an inch on the frame. The fenders are moved up on the bed 1 inch. the body line was dropped back down on the fender to line up with the cab, and there is a 1 inch splice to bring the line down. The wheel openings are stock. they will be trimmed for tire clearance on the inside thats it.

[moggey01]

Engine oil pan issues where resolved by raising the engine and changing the mounts . I want the engine higher in the chassis to help it hook,( weight transfer center of gravity etc). With that said the tranny crossmember had to change as well as the trailing arm crossmember. LOl This caused the brand new floor to be redone to accomadate the new height of the crossmembers. Its alot of work but it serves a purpose.

[moggey01]

Now that the trailing arm crossmember was high enough , braces were added to the top and bottom side to reinforce and ''X" the frame. In the photos you can also see some of the holes I put in the frame to lighten ( and make it possible to get to nuts) after the frame was boxed. The holes are a design element that is kind of aircraft inspired that I thaught would be cool.

[moggey01]

The trailing arms are Nathans thickest versions with the drop they are reinforced as well somewhat like a ladder bar that is still in a stock mounting location. The rear end is a Rick Jones unit. There is not much room side to side for tire clearance. I am using a Jerry Bickel 2" anti roll bar that is 24'' wide. I hope it keeps the tires from rubbing the body LOl. Instead oh the panhard set up we decided on a Jerry Bickle wishbone to center the rear end. this thing was built extra wide for the stock C/10 frame. I think they are still laughin at me for ordering something so odd to them. Robert at FX race cars built the rear frame sub structure to mount everything. It worked out nice in the since that shock braces mount the antroll. Its clean and less weight. There is a few more braces to be added to the frame and rear end housing but this part is almost done.

[moggey01]

Almost done with the rear suspension. have a few more ideas to figure out before we go toooo much farther.

[slowtruck]

WOW! Can't wait to see this one done. I've done some things similar to my truck that you have done, but yours is nicer.

[hotrod1]

Hey Moggey:

Are you putting the radiator in back?

[moggey01]

Originally Posted by hotrod1

Hey Moggey:

Are you putting the radiator in back?

UUUUMMmm yes, its something we are going to try. Its aluminum with 2 big fans , it holds alot of liguid so we decided it needs to be in the back because of its weight. Gonna try to draw air from under the truck , and a louvered sheetmetal bed cover to get some heat out. Most all of the outlaw drag cars that Robert builds has a rear mount radiator. This one is a driver somewhat so its a bigger radiator. The front of the bed will be permanently mounted so we are trying to decide if the radiator should be moved forward. Right now it looks like it will be between the tires.

[hotrod1]

I will be watching. It is something that I was seriously considering as well for better weight distribution. Delima - more weight but better distribution. If you have any hints, tips, and suggestions, please let us know.

[moggey01]

I had a couple people pm me about some more photos of the frame work. So I will put some here. Remember all the stuff I used came from Porterbuilt. There have been changes made to relocate parts on my truck , but Nathan got me way ahead with his parts. He has been a big help. All the fab work was done by Robert Follmer at FX race cars (FX Race Cars Tomball Texas). Check him out if you need some chassis work. He will make it hook in snow ,seriously. Taylor Lastor (TRE Cleveland Texas) is the engine guy. He does alot of drag radial , Comp , Pro Stock and Pro Modified engines. Tell him I sent if you call. Ok frame was torn down on jack stands, the c notches where fit but the frame was not cut. The front crossmember was installed and checked on jack stands. The frame was put on the jig to check for square everywhere. The left front had a slight bend or warp. It was straightened with a small amout of heat and it was pulled down while the rest of the frame was welded to the jig. All the crossmembers where installed on the jig. The plates used to box the frame where cut and fit on the jig. These frames are not a perfect shape, there is all kinds of uneveness. The holes not used were welded up, there was a small crack that was welded up also. It was as square as you can make it before coming off the jig. The cnotches where fit ,welded and everything dealing with the rear welded , trailing arm crossmember and rear drops for the bumper. Most all of the plate to box the frame was tacked in on the jig. The frame was finish welded on stands. Robert and I layed out the holes for the frame and I drilled, and drilled, simple holes saws and beveled with die grinders . Check where bolt holes are for body mounts to put holes so they can be used to hold the nuts. Leave some gaps to tie tubing in for braces in the frame. Its alot of work but it looks ok when done.

[moggey01]

some boxing

[moggey01]

Tubing from trailing arm crossmember braces extend out to about the firewall. I still have to cut the tabs that hang down and some sheetmetal on the tunnel . sorry if they are repost pics.