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Didnt get a chance to mock the drivetrain up, but I did score BIG TIME! ... went to buy some parts from a guy, and what do u know... he had an L33 long block sitting there. Ended up buying it. Only $300!
So I couldnt resist cutting in the rear quarters to stuff those big 315/35 20's under the car... pulled the rear cradle out which I'll be selling. I'll be making the whole new cradle out of DOM tubing which will further reduce the weight of this car and tie it into the front tubing, making it more stiff. I'll be making the control arms out of DOM tubing and I already have Corvette spindles for all 4 corners.
Still need to do a lot of little trimming and clean up some of the cuts, itll be sitting about another 1" inside when it's done. And yes, wide body fenders WILL be made for it, it obviously wont be staying like that. Although I kinda like the mad max looking theme lol.
Started mocking up the drivetrain. I think I'm just going to cut the floor out completely and cage it all. End up bolting and sealing some thick lightweight aluminum sheetmetal to help with the weight reduction. The stock floor is heavy, the tunnel alone probably weighed 60lbs or so. Anyway, the engine is going to sit really far back since i need space for the front differential, but it allows me to have about 2 ft of empty space between the front of the engine to the radiator.
the transfer case is sitting a little high because its hitting the floor, once it's all cut out, I'll be running the driveshaft to the front differential under the starter.
The forward output of that case should be = or lower than the centerline of the
rear output shaft or you'll need to mod the lubrication significantly, the chain doesn't like to be dry.
You should look at a monster truck style splitter, chain drive to a solid shaft connecting front and rear?
I you fab it yourself you may be able to tuck that forward shaft in tighter to the side of the motor,, and a left side
drive will leave the starter clear..
Love builds like this, can't wait to see what you do with it!
I cant wait either lol thanks!
Originally Posted by Hank Peabody
Looking great, that body style is fantastic, I much prefer this over the Cadillac.
I agree! This body style is way nicer and the car itself is a lot more rare
Originally Posted by pdxmotorhead
The forward output of that case should be = or lower than the centerline of the
rear output shaft or you'll need to mod the lubrication significantly, the chain doesn't like to be dry.
You should look at a monster truck style splitter, chain drive to a solid shaft connecting front and rear?
I you fab it yourself you may be able to tuck that forward shaft in tighter to the side of the motor,, and a left side
drive will leave the starter clear..
Jeep transfer cases are left side. fyi..
the front output WILL be lower than the rear, and this is actually a drivers side dump, which I forgot about since i havent touched it in a while. So yea, itll be driver side so I wont have to worry about the starter and since I'm fabbing everything myself, I'll be making it as close to the block as possible so I have more leg room.
The case just looks really high in the pic because the floor hasnt been cut out so its resting on it.
Didnt get much done today, just removed the rest of the floor. Still needs some trimming, but hopefully next week I'll start putting in the floor tubing.
With all of the structure removed, do you need to weld-in any cross bracing?
I'd be concerned about possible twisting and/or cracking the windscreen, no?
this is the good thing about newer car. They're so solid, double and triple layer of sheetmetal keeps it from twisting. I put the jack on the left rear or the car and ended up jacking up the front right. It all moved together, no drooping or twisting. Its only temporary like this, I'm not putting any real stress on it. Also, since its convertible, all the structure parts are on the bottom. Once the tubed chassis is done, itll be more solid than ever before.
What type of suspension are you going to use up front?
Thinking about an awd setup too from an astro van for my next project.
Going with a pushrod suspension for front and rear, keeping the shocks inboard. All custom tubular control arms , and c6 Corvette spindles on all 4 corners.
I havent had much time to really work on it, but I've been ordering parts and trying to work on it here and there.
Sold the oem seats, each weighed about 70-80lbs and bought some steel construction cipher auto recline seats weighing about 30-35lbs. Decided to get vinyl instead of cloth just so it looks a little more luxury, I mean it IS a Mercedes lol. Seats are good quality, comfortable and keep u tight in them.
But of course, I had to ruin them already, I had to notch the lower section so it sits on top of the transfer case. Small price to pay to be riding 1.5" - 2" off the ground and AWD, (airbag cups will be added to my coilovers for that extra 2-3" I'll need to bumps)
Luckily the notch is underneath so you wont be able to see it, and I cut the original fabric on the stitch line so I'll just have to sew it back on... I dont know how to sew but I'm sure itll be like rigging up a fishing lure lol.
Above you can see where the front driveshaft will be coming through, once I have the seats mounted I'll start on the tunnel and make sure to cage around the front driveshaft. Last thing I'll need is to lose a leg if the shaft decided to blow up, might end up going carbon fiber shaft for that reason.
Got lucky on the fitment of the drivetrain, sits perfectly right under the center console, so the interior should look somewhat stock when done.
Last but not least... for all 4x corners of a c5 c6 control arms.. all 4 corners will have REAR controls since they're designed to have an axle going through them and made the shock mount offset. I quickly put them the spindle and made sure turning wasnt going to be an issue, so far it doesn't seem like it.
Like they say......"it's gonna get ugly before it gets pretty"......looks like you have a plan= )..... What are you doing for front axle?
Ha! I literally say that same quote to everyone that sees the car for the first time. Especially to people who arent into cars so they have no idea what actually goes into doing a build like this.
For the front, I originally was going with a TBSS front differential, but since it goes through the oil pan I decided against it. I just bought a Silverado 4x4 independent front differential, I believe it's an 8.25" gear which Is bigger than the tbss and has many gear ratio options. 9.25" diff from the 3500 is just to big to make fit. I should be getting it soon, so I'll take some mock up pics. Trying to finish the seat placement first, then I'll move my way up to the front end.
So, since 315/35 wont work upfront at all if I want to stay low, this was the next best option.. picked up 305/30 20's... they seem to work just fine. A little lower profile than I wanted, but it's not too bad.
So quick question to AWD guys... i know tires have to be identical on all 4 corners, tire diameter, tread etc. Does the actual track width have to be the same front to back also??
I'm thinking it does have to be, but I'd like to make sure 100%.
Got my front differential. It's off a 4x4 Silverado 3.73 gears, I'm sure itll be able to handle the power/tq with no problem.
Problem is...
The first blue line is the center of the axle, the second blue line is the center of the original wheelbase. The yellow is basically the angle 50-55° the axle will be at if I keep the tire there. I plan on running 930 CV axles but i dont know if that angle is too extreme. It might be.
Im also thinking of moving the front tire forward about 3", that should let me be in the center of the front diff more or less. I might have to do that if the original angle is too much.
Any input?
These r just rough measurements, nothing is set in stone yet.
Looking good! Can you move the engine back 3"? I installed my engine 13" back to get my front end in the right spot but Im using solid axle front and rear so much different situation.
12-28-2018, 08:33 PM
