'57 Stepside road-race build

[OneOffStroker]

Originally Posted by watahyahknow

i dont need these files , but i would like to find out if theres a good cad program i can try out that is free to download
it has to be pretty simple to use as i am a cad design newby

i will have a few things i need to have made in the future and the companies charge by the hour for putting drawings intoo cad
if i can get them te drawing i cad it could save me some cash , i could prolly spend more time perfecting it too

I don't know many CAD programs that are free. I know about Autodesk Lite and Google Sketchup. Either way, once you find something, there should be dozens of video tutorials on YouTube to guide you through the software.

We use MasterCam X8 at work. We also have SolidWorks and Autodesk, but we all prefer X8. However...its about $12k for the software license.

[watahyahknow]

Originally Posted by OneOffStroker

The Jag IFS fits, but it wasn't a perfect fit by any means. The stock frame is about 1.5" wider than I would have liked it to be. I had to make little notches into the control arm towers of the Jag in order to get it in there. Nothing serious, but it would fit a 32" frame much better than a 34" frame. If the frame of a square body is any wider than that up front, it could still work, but it would be very very difficult to remove the stock springs or add airbags, because the frame would cover the access holes. It's already tight on mine...
As far as track width, it is 59.5". That is a little narrower than stock for mine, but I am running a -55mm offset wheel, so spacers were mandatory. I have massive 2" spacers for mine up front.

wat i could find on the square body the trackwith is 62 or 63 sumtin so even if i was able to mount it the wheels would be tucked in way too far to solve with spacers

going to see if i can find a rack and pinion that has the right width for the stock gm crossmember
from wat understood the frt... ffffrt.... f o r d thunderbird rack is just wide enough to avoid bumpsteer issues
will need to adapt the steeringballjoints on the spindle side
not sure yet about that either i go ream the holes to the propper coneshape and run thunderbird stuff or adapt the tread on some gm stuff so the screw ontoo the rack

[OneOffStroker]

Here is a brief update.
I finally got the lower control arm plates finished for the bags up front in the Jag IFS.
I cut out the middle portion of the spring perch, because it had a weird oval cutout that wasn't going to align with any part of the bags.


I also cut out some plates that will work with the bags and also allow for a few degrees of misalignment.


Mocked up and welded in:



And attached to the control arm with a bag stuffed in. It looks like it will work!!




I will spend most of the weekend powder coating suspension pieces and wheels, so that I can start getting this frame back together to get my cab back on. Maybe I'll even take some pics and post them...

[Kim57]

Looks good.
Kim

[RockinKees]

Agree with Kim, looks really good!

Maybe I go with bags in the future....

[shadow1967]

Nice welding wish I could do that! Grinder is my friend!

[watahyahknow]

yeah mine too , at least i still have a steady hand

[OneOffStroker]

I did a little more work yesterday, most of which was powder coating.

My power steering pump leaked all over the garage floor, and since it was a junkyard pump anyway, I decided that it needed rebuilt. I already had the pulley off for powder coating, so it wasn't a very big step to just take it apart and do all new bushings, o-rings, and seals.

While it was apart, I powder coated the fluid reservoir, because it used to be pretty rattty looking.



Rebuilt and reassembled.


Reunited with the motor. I just need to go back to a parts house to rent a pulley installer again to press on the pulley.


Once I was done with the pump, I prepped and powder coated a bunch of suspension parts. I originally wanted to do a red wrinkle on all of my suspension parts, but a buddy of mine talked me out of it. So I decided to go with a color called Silver Artery. I'm glad I went with this, because it looks cool, should hide grime fairly well, and won't be too flashy on this old rusty truck.

Camaro trailing arms, Jag upper a-arms and steering link, rear sway bar, and air tanks.


Here is a close-up of the texture and color on these parts.


After those parts were done, I did the lower A-arm plates from my last post as well as the other set of upper a-arms and a bunch of smaller brackets.

Today I plan on doing the front disc brake shields, the rotor hats, and finish the rest of the 'Vette wheels.

[OneOffStroker]

Originally Posted by shadow1967

Nice welding wish I could do that! Grinder is my friend!

Thanks, Shadow! I TIG weld everything because it really is a superior process. Best part is no spatter, so if you're working on something upside-down, you don't get little burns everywhere.

Originally Posted by Kim57

Looks good.
Kim

Thank You!

Originally Posted by RockinKees

Agree with Kim, looks really good!

Maybe I go with bags in the future....

It is surprisingly easy to bag the Jag.

Originally Posted by watahyahknow

yeah mine too , at least i still have a steady hand

Steady hands are good, but good eyesight is the key, as is hand-eye coordination. Especially when TIG welding.

[ChuckDriver]

The finished powder looks amazing and nice job on the bag mount!

[Kim57]

Really sharp looking.
I like the color choice. If I had the funds that's the way my frame would look.
Kim

[watahyahknow]

Originally Posted by OneOffStroker

Steady hands are good, but good eyesight is the key, as is hand-eye coordination. Especially when TIG welding.

darn my eyesight isnt good , prolly be welding under a magnifyingglas anyway or use eyejusters glasses :

https://www.eyejusters.com/home/

i have a set and they work great for reading fine print and focussing on a certain distance

[Rude Dude]

Just the boxing plates, both front and rear. I am in the process of getting another frame and going a little different. Thanking you in advance

Rude Dude - The files should work on a plasma. We have both at work and they run off of the same workstation. Exactly which parts are you needing the files for? Front boxing plates, rear boxing plates, airbag mounts, etc?[/QUOTE]

[OneOffStroker]

Well, I spent another day in the garage powder coating parts. This was just about the last session for that until I change my garage around again and get back to fabrication mode. (It's just a little bit too small to do both at once.)

I finished the wheels. They are a pearl gunmetal that I shot a flat clear over. You will see flat clear as a staple in the rest of my build. I'm not a fan of shiny.


I also did my brake rotors in black. I figure this will cut down on any rusty buildup in the future from the weather and salt air here at the oceanfront.



Finally, here is a decent shot of the 355 that I recently rebuilt. I painted the block and heads, and all the rest is powder coated in a wrinkle black. I think she looks just dandy. The carb is powder coated too. On the floor are the rotors before I coated them...so you can see why i did it!

[Kim57]

That stuff is really sharp looking.
Kim

[G&R's57GMC]

So I noticed in the first page you had mocked up a 5.3 and now your using a 5.7 , What prompted the change ?

[OneOffStroker]

Originally Posted by G&R's57GMC

So I noticed in the first page you had mocked up a 5.3 and now your using a 5.7 , What prompted the change ?

Yeah man, I will still be using the 5.3, just not now. I had a spare 5.7 so I decided to jam it in there just to make it run for a while. This way I won't have to spend time installing all that wiring and stuff now and I can just enjoy the truck.

The main thing that prompted the switch is that the Jag IRS doesn't fit the stock frame, so I decided that I will build a new full tube chassis and when I do that, I will build it to package the twin turbo setup that is planned for the 5.3. So basically it came down to time and ease. I'll build the other chassis with the 5.3 while still driving the truck with the modded stock frame and 5.7, and once it is done I'll swap the frames and hopefully have less down time.

[reaper71]

Pretty cool, Alot of work but pretty cool lol...

Originally Posted by OneOffStroker

Yeah man, I will still be using the 5.3, just not now. I had a spare 5.7 so I decided to jam it in there just to make it run for a while. This way I won't have to spend time installing all that wiring and stuff now and I can just enjoy the truck.

The main thing that prompted the switch is that the Jag IRS doesn't fit the stock frame, so I decided that I will build a new full tube chassis and when I do that, I will build it to package the twin turbo setup that is planned for the 5.3. So basically it came down to time and ease. I'll build the other chassis with the 5.3 while still driving the truck with the modded stock frame and 5.7, and once it is done I'll swap the frames and hopefully have less down time.

[OneOffStroker]

I've been busy lately, but not enough on the truck. I'm definitely not going to meet my deadline of driving her late February, but I knew that about a month ago, so I haven't been too aggressive in building. I'm getting deployed in a few weeks, so I have a lot of other things to get squared away instead of the truck. BUT, I have been putting in work.

The torque arm needed a mount. Stock mounts in the f-body consisted of a rubber-lined clamshell that mounted to the trans. This was not going to be feasible on the truck, because the trans doesn't have the provisions, and the arm is too short.


So...I fabricated something that should work.



These show that it is adjustable to set pinion angle depending on which ride height I use, and you can see how low the trans crossmember is with the bags fully deflated. The torque arm pivot is also at the u-joint pivot and can still handle some fore-aft movement with suspension articulation. Using the high-misalignment rod end will also provide no binding when one wheel goes up and the other doesn't, which may happen a lot while autocrossing.




I also had a facepalm moment after I welded in the rear boxing plates because now I couldn't access the nuts to bolt down my second bed cross-sill. So, I enlarged the hole with a step bit and welded a flanged nut there, so I can now have my cross-sills.



I still have a lot of work to do on the frame, but it can all be accessed either without the bed or without the front clip, so for now I'm going to call it quits on the frame and start some work on the cab so that I can get this thing put together into a rolling shell before I deploy. Then I can get back into it when I come back later this year.

[Advanced Design]

Nice fabrication and love the powdercoating! Do you do the powdercoating in your shop?
And you mentioned being deployed...guessing you are in the military and thank you for your service!

[Kim57]

Nice fab work.
Kim

[oldman3]

Very nice work, thanks for your service, be safe and hurry back...Jim

[OneOffStroker]

I got my cab into the garage to do a few repairs while it is off the frame. I didn't really get too far, but here is what I did today:

Before taking any pictures, I cut out the driver's side floorboard. That took most of the day, which I wasn't really expecting. The worst part of any of this is what I did to the truck over 10 years ago...I used a cheap rubber undercoating spray all over pretty much everything that had pinholes in it back then, and it doesn't come off very great. So I will be fighting that for longer than I want to admit.

The lip on the driver's side was very beat up and cooked, so I spent some time with a hammer and dolly and got it lined up a little better. I'll work it some more after I get the floor completely welded in.



After a little persuasion:


And the entire firewall, full of holes. I have a lot of work ahead of me.


And this is the massive beating that my dad and I gave the firewall many many years ago to clear an HEI distributor. I tried to hammer & dolly this as well, but it didn't want to budge. I think I'll just cut it out and weld in fresh steel.


Got the new pan mocked up. Fits OK


This bead isn't the same width as the original

And this lip doesn't extend down the step as far as original

One more comment about this particular floorpan: There was a part that should have folded down at the toe board, but it didn't fold at all, it just extended toward the hinge pocket. I trimmed it and bent it to align like the factory one. (but I bent it little short)

I forgot to measure twice before I cut once...


I prepped the cross-sills with some stuff that Boeing makes, and it seems to do a fair enough job on the rust that was there. This was treated after grinding.




And I finally got it mostly welded in. I still have some of the bigger gaps to fill, and a lot of grinding to do. I did not weld the lip that meets the step, because I think I'm going to replace the entire rocker and step on both sides as well.





This is the part that I mentioned earlier that is not folded down on the part as is comes. I folded it down and trimmed it, but didn't quite get it right. It will hold and will be covered by the inner fender, but I still hold myself to a higher standard than this, and it irks me.
[/URL]

[Kim57]

You're doing a nice job on the repairs.
I tend to be anal about things also and end up doing some things over that would be just fine.
Kim

[hotrodelrod]

Nice work and thank you for your service! What are you using for an oven? Did you build one?

Rick