65 Fairlane pro-touring build

[mongocanfly]

Nice work on the beadroller..!!!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Nice work on the beadroller..!!!

Thanks, Greg!

I've been helping a friend get his car ready for LS Fest, so I haven't posted much lately, but I did get a few things done on the Fairlane. The passenger side floor is a lot further along and I welded out the subframe connector on that side as well as the front crossmember. I ordered a tunnel from Chasisworks made for the manual trans behind the Coyote. I have a lot of tools, but I don't own a sheet metal roller. You can sometimes get by with a gas cylinder to form a tunnel piece if it's not too long, but the Alston piece looks nice, and I don't need to do anything except trim it.

[Vic1947]

I've also been building the rails the seats bolt up to. I machined some spuds and welded them into some 1x2 tubing. Once I have them bolted to the seat tracks, I'll position the seat where I want it and mark the location of the rails. I'll then remove everything and weld the rails solid to the floor. These need to be sturdy as the shoulder belt is integrated to the seat back. Don't want the seat coming loose in the event of a collision.

[62c30]

Looks good, now I want to go work on mine.

[SCOTI]

Thanks for updating. I was wondering what's been going on.

[Ol Blue K20]

Looks great Vic, another amazing build.

[Vic1947]

Thanks guys. Decided to make the core support removable to facilitate dropping in the engine/trans. It was relatively straightforward to do. Started by drilling a couple of locating holes on either side and installed Cleco's. I then drilled out the spot welds and sliced just enough of the support sheetmetal to let it break free. Cleaned up the rough edges and tacked a couple of pre-drilled pieces on the backside overlapping the cuts. This created a "sandwich" that captures the core support sheetmetal where it was originally spot welded. It now slips into the groove and bolts together. Plenty of room to maneuver the engine into place.

[Vic1947]

The floor pan slog continues. Slowly working my way to the front on the driver side. The factory stampings don't match up, side to side, so I feel like I'm constantly reinventing the wheel. I had one patch panel from a vendor other than C2C that was pretty accurate. It's a shame I was only able to use about 1/6th of it. I could have used it all, I suppose, but there was no need, plus it would have meant a lot more welding.

[Vic1947]

The Flaming River column showed up today. It has an integrated DCE Microsteer unit for power assist. My TCI rack and pinion steering is manual, so the F/R unit can be tuned to suit the driver. The steering ECU will accept a speed input, so it automatically increases the assist at slow speeds and reduces it at highway speeds. It also has a switch for manual operation that allows you dial in as much assist as you want. In addition to the column with the Microsteer unit, it came with the electronics, wiring, floor and column mounts and all the hardware. I considered sourcing a Prius or some other model column with an electric steering unit but in the end, I decided for something as important as steering, I'd pay the extra for the peace of mind. Together with the Tesla electric brake booster I bought awhile back, I'm halfway to a homemade hybrid.

.

[mongocanfly]

ooooooo ...thats nice..!!!!!!!!

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

ooooooo ...thats nice..!!!!!!!!

X2!

[Vic1947]

USPS delivered the door seals today. This is only notable because I ordered them on 9/16/2022 - over a year ago. Thankfully, Rubber the Right Way hung in there and was able to finally fulfill the order. Hard to believe the supply chain is that fragile. Glad I didn't wait until I actually needed them. At least now they can sit in storage and get good and hard before installation.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

USPS delivered the door seals today. This is only notable because I ordered them on 9/16/2022 - over a year ago. Thankfully, Rubber the Right Way hung in there and was able to finally fulfill the order. Hard to believe the supply chain is that fragile. Glad I didn't wait until I actually needed them. At least now they can sit in storage and get good and hard before installation.

That took a hot minute.....

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

That took a hot minute.....

Amen to that. I probably waited six months for the Terminator X Max to arrive as well. Most stuff comes in pretty quickly, but occasionally there's a hiccup.

I've been welding and grinding and welding and grinding on the floorboards. Both subframe connectors are fully welded in and most of the main cabin floor pans. Cut out the tunnel and a section of the firewall so I could test fit the engine. I need to clearance a few places to make the headers fit a little better but other than that, it fits pretty well. The trans sits a bit higher than I thought it would but shouldn't be a problem. Looks like I'll need to make an extension for the shifter to move the ball further back. Otherwise, I'll be busting my knuckles on the dash. Unlike the wagon, I have a ton of room between the front of the engine and the core support. Fitting a heavy-duty radiator and a high flow Corvette fan should be easy peasy. If you squint really hard, it almost looks like a car.

[mongocanfly]

I didn't have to squint..!!!! It looks great..!!!!!!

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

I didn't have to squint..!!!! It looks great..!!!!!!

Thanks, Greg!

[Rickysnickers]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

i didn't have to squint..!!!! It looks great..!!!!!!

this!!!!

[sduckworth13]

Clean work Vic! It’s like watching the fireworks at World of Fun before the big finale on all your builds Vic! I think your attention to detail is second to none.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Clean work Vic! It’s like watching the fireworks at World of Fun before the big finale on all your builds Vic! I think your attention to detail is second to none.

Thanks Scott. Hope you're doing well.

[sduckworth13]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Thanks Scott. Hope you're doing well.

I’m doing great, two months post left hip replacement due to osteoarthritis. I feel like a new man, I went way too long in pain. I got back to work in 6 weeks.

[Vic1947]

Floor pan work continues. I got the tunnel trimmed and the front section in place. Plenty of room around the trans. Next up the middle section.

Once I finish test fitting the tunnel all the way back under the rear seat, I'll get to work on the transmission crossmember. I picked up an Energy Suspensions mount that fits the FormaCars bracket. I'm on the fence about whether to get an Alston x-member and modify it or just build my own. I may have to flip the FC bracket upside down to position the mounting pad lower - or make a spacer. I'm sure the solution will come into focus right after I've spent a bunch of $$.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Floor pan work continues. I got the tunnel trimmed and the front section in place. Plenty of room around the trans. Next up the middle section.

Once I finish test fitting the tunnel all the way back under the rear seat, I'll get to work on the transmission crossmember. I picked up an Energy Suspensions mount that fits the FormaCars bracket. I'm on the fence about whether to get an Alston x-member and modify it or just build my own. I may have to flip the FC bracket upside down to position the mounting pad lower - or make a spacer. I'm sure the solution will come into focus right after I've spent a bunch of $$.

You are in good company here. I've experienced the phenomena on more than a few occasions.

[Ol Blue K20]

Looks awesome! Of course I didn't spend the$$$

[joesscamaro]

Looking awesome! Nice and clean!

[Vic1947]

Thanks everyone! I decided to take a pass on a prefab crossmember. Just looked like nothing would fit without major surgery. I began by flipping the trans bracket upside down to get the Energy Suspension mount hanging below the floor pan. Next, I made a drawing of the driver side extension that will hold the 1.25" x .188 wall tubing and will eventually bolt to the poly mount. You'll notice it has a pass thru for the exhaust. Lastly, I cut the pieces out of some material I got from Metal by the Foot. All total, I'll have about $50 in the crossmember which is a sight better than an unworkable part from a vendor. Next up will be to duplicate the extension for the passenger side, build the cross bar and weld it all up.