Used Parts Build

[Hankster]

Yes you took some pictures of nice cars. Also, That four link looks bad-a**

[tinydb84]

Originally Posted by Hankster

Yes you took some pictures of nice cars. Also, That four link looks bad-a**

Thanks Hankster. I was impressed by a lot of the cars.

[tinydb84]

Second bodywork class is finished. Had some pretty cool stuff going on during the last one:

One guy is changing his 55(?) chevy over to a modern chassis

Porblem was that the Corvette IRS was too narrow so he couldnt get it done in class

Slow progress on my truck though

[tinydb84]

Changed my one of my guns up a bit last night (just in case anyone is a gun fan):

New barrel, rail, and compensator. Anyway back to the truck!
This saw works pretty good cutting sheet metal as long as they are straight cuts

Pulled my heater/AC box and started welding up holes:

Little trick that I learned in bodyshop. The tape doesnt mess with the arch like the magnets do and it works pretty well

Tack, tack, tack

Gone!

Primered over all the holes I filled. Only like 20 more to go....

[tinydb84]

More patch work. This **** is time consuming...
I cut the edges off the wholes as I wanted everything flat.

Used a piece of thin masking paper and a pencil held sideways to get the outline then traced it on to my sheet metal.

Pretty tight fit except for the bottom left:

Tack after tack after tack:

Done:


I am debating on how nice I want this to look (aka how lazy I am going to be) since it is will hidden behind the inner fender. I dont feel like buying a stud welder to do my hammer and dolly work.

[tinydb84]

This is how I should have done it!

Just kidding. I dont have anyone helping me so I tacked the sheet to the firewall and drew the outline from the inside.
When I cut away the flange the metal bowed inward a bit. I ended up having to use some clamps to get everything in place:

Started tacking

I finished all the tacks tonight but it was too dark to get a decent picture. I have about 5 more holes to fill on the passenger side. I am going out of town for a few days though so it wont likely happen until next week.

[tinydb84]

Finally got the holes filled:

Primed it for now:

I decided that painting it black in really bad lighting was a smart thing to do...

[tinydb84]

Started stripping down my engine to mock it up:

Pretty clean on the inside:

Got this bracket off an LS group on facebook

[tinydb84]

Got some more done today:
Engine is temporarily in


I have the dirty dingo mounts. Everything fits fine but the driver side manifold when flipped (for the future turbo). The brake booster is close but will clear if I run the manifolds normally.

But I have a ton of space under the engine.

I have an inch down without changing anything (Id have to make new motor mounts).
If I section a chunk out of the crossmember like this:

I will have another 2 inches I can go down.

Its hard to see but with the stock truck pan I am even with the crossmember. I have an Fbody pan which is around 3 inches shorter.


The problem is that I dont know if I can lower the trans 3 inches without it hanging below the frame rails due to my sfbd. My uncle stopped by and told me to leave it high and when I replace the brakes get a smaller booster which will clear the manifold.

I really want to keep making forward progress but I also want to lower the engine....

What would you all do?

[tinydb84]

Am I missing a bolt hole??

[tinydb84]

Anyway, I decided to lower the engine a bit:



I stole project goldilocks idea. I didnt take a pic but I was able to drop the engine and trans in and clear the tunnel with the space made by notching the crossmember. Problem was that the oil pan and trans were to low by about 2 inches. So I am going to cut the tunnel and raise it to clear. I figured I would but its nice to know I wont have to raise it 4 inches.

[tinydb84]

I pulled the engine back out and started to weld up the crossmember. I had to make a filler piece because of the way the crossmember was shaped in the back.


Started to burn it all in



I'll make the side filler pieces tomorrow. It took forever to move the engine/trans in and out on my own. I will have to fab up some motor mounts but want to cut the tunnel out first to mock the engine up first.

[old yelr]

Originally Posted by tinydb84

Am I missing a bolt hole??

Nope, all gen IV and up are like that.

[tinydb84]

THanks old yelr. I never noticed that.

[old yelr]

You're welcome. Actually all the LS based engines are like that, gen III and IV.

[chevytrucksforme]

Crossmember is looking really good. Great work!!

[tinydb84]

Originally Posted by chevytrucksforme

Crossmember is looking really good. Great work!!

Thanks Chevy

[tinydb84]

Finished up the crossmember in the dark tonight

[tinydb84]

Did some more mocking up on my engine and trans. Ordered some 4 inch poly bushings but they wont be here until tomorrow. Some of the pics are for me to keep track.



Those pics were before I cut the trans tunnel out. Then I cut the tunnel out and mocked everything up.

This is where I am going to put the new mounts.

Nice tight clearance between the pan and crossmember.

Plenty of clearance with the trans

Didnt have enough hands to hold and take pics of the oil pan but it will clear the ground with almost an inch to spare.

[tinydb84]

Didnt get much done. Starting mocking up the motor mounts then tried to install the poly bushings to measure and ripped the tacks off the mount. Then pulled the bushings to measure and retack everything.

Here is my ghetto jig!

Drew out my mounts. Maybe Thursday will go better....

[tinydb84]

I need a plasma cutter. I spent way too much time cutting and grinding this crap:


After I weld them in I am going to weld on a tab and make a bolt on piece to support the frame similar to how the original towers did.

[tinydb84]

[tinydb84]

Those inverted welds suck! I was going to tack it all together and pull it off the crossmember to weld it up on a table but I want to get more experience welding.

I'm going to weld a tab to the side and build a bolt in plate to mimics the original towers next.

[mattcrp1]

Nice fab work.

[tinydb84]

Originally Posted by mattcrp1

Nice fab work.

Thanks Matt.

Got the engine and trans in. It went in so easily that I am still worried a missed something...




Going to push the engine back a hair to clear the center link. Once that is done I am going to make the trans crossmember. I have a poly mount that I can use 1 or 2 bolts on it. The stock mount had one bolt. Any benefit using two bolts?