RJComins

The frame did turn out really nice after all the welding and grinding but what I didn't mention is how the original body bushings were almost falling right through the frame. You'll see in the pics here that the holes for the body bushings are rusted to nearly the size of the bushing itself. I had to cut the holes larger and weld new plugs in place of what was rusted away. After doing that, I had to get out my old service manual for all the proper dimensions and bore new holes in the frame for the new poly bushings.

RJComins

[QUOTE=Aceshigh;16091079]Dude, your tunnel looks perfect. I wish I had the space to take my body off myself so I could really perfect it as well as the T-56 crossmember.

I'm curious what it would cost to pay someone to do a tunnel for me.....I'll have to call my old welding instructor.
I don't know how to roll the steel like that.


I wish I could tell you what it would actually cost but I got off pretty easy by using a $20 roll of 1/4" steel line and a couple hours building the template over the trans and then just taking it to my buddy's shop with a case of Busch Light and building the tunnel! So all in all it was pretty painless.
If you build a template, I would think that any sheetmetal shop or even body shop could wrap it for you.

RJComins

A few more pics of the unexpecteds.

67Skylark

Looks Good, Going to be one hell of a ride. Thanks for sharing.

RJComins

Thanks for the compliments.
Do you have a thread out there? And if so, what's the title? I'd like to see your project!

This site as a whole is completely unbelievable! The amount of info that is out there and the people that are so willing share their time and ideas just to help out the next guy. I really enjoy looking at all of these different threads and seeing the craftsmanship and pride that everyone puts into each and every restomod out there!
Thanks to everyone and keep the ideas coming!

superdave84

That is awesome. The 6 is my dream transmission. Have to settle for the 4.

RJComins

Decided to switch gears a little and work on something other than the sheet metal. We had some pretty nice weather up here in the northwoods so I took some time and cleaned and painted the engine and trans. Eastwood's Aluma Blast paint really turned out nice!

RJComins

After that was done, I modified my trans pan to be like the Corvette and G8 seeing that I didn't make my tunnel dipstick friendly. The Corvette and G8 do not run a dipstick on their 6L80's because of lack of room which is my dillema also. I would have just bought their pan for my application but it won't work because the 6L90 is a couple inches longer and of course there are no applications out there that offer this type of pan for the 90. I took the oil plug from my stock truck oil pan and found a nut to fit it, drilled the pan and welded the nut to the inside of the pan. Then on top of the nut I took a piece of 1/2" tubing and welded that to the nut, then cut the tubing off to the proper height of the fluid when it is full. To fill it you have to have the trans temp between 86 and 122, pull the plug on the pan and pump the fluid in until it drains over the top of the tube. It might be kind of a hassle to fill it but I'll deal with it instead of modifying my tunnel and/or a dipstick and tube.
The total install was pretty painless after I had the G8 pan in my hand and was able to see how it was made. Overall, I had about 30 minutes in this mod.

RJComins

Anyone else have an issue with mounting Cobalt SS seats in a 70-72 Chevelle? I know that they're not exactly a direct bolt in but it ended up to be a little more work than I had anticipated. With the size of my tunnel, my seats were pushed out so far that they would've been sitting on top of the humps for the floor supports. If I mounted them that high I would've run into head clearance issues. I guess I can't say that I would have nor my wife, but any passenger over 5'10" may have a problem. So I got out the cut-off wheel and the welder and cut into the center floor brace on each side and reworked it so it didn't have the gradual hump anymore. This allowed me to center the driver seat in front of the steering wheel and drop it down another 1-3/8".

RJComins

Super busy @ work lately and I haven't had any time on the computer to post anything. These are some of the latest progress pics.

RJComins

Pretty excited!!! I think I can put the body back on the frame for good now!

Che70velle

iTrader: (6)

Wow. I just showed your rotisserie pics to my wife, and she thought I finally started a build thread. Mine is still on the rotisserie, and moving slowly. Seriously though, if you saw my pics, you'd swear someone stole your car. New pans, red paint, everything! Ill be silver with grey stripes, when its all over. I'm doing some chassis mods currently, so ive still got a way to go. I'm gonna start a build thread, when I'm further along. And about those CPP brakes, I looked at them, but for a few hundred more I could get Wilwood 6/4's. How is the quality of the CPP brakes? I bought all of their tubular suspension stuff, and it is really nice. I'm finishing up my custom coilover mounts right now. Anyway, nice car! Loving the pics!

RJComins

Vinyl top and all? That's crazy!!! I'd like to see some pics!
I just got the body back onto the frame hopefully for the last time and I'm now starting some other things. I did run the fuel and brake lines before I set it down and also got the rear CPP brakes installed. I'm not thrilled with the rear calipers as the e-brake return springs contact my shocks. I swapped them side to side and they were fine but then the bleeders are on the bottom which isn't a huge deal just that I'll either have to pressure bleed them or dismount the calipers and hold the bleeders high to bleed them. Not to mention that they say "Ford" right on them. The fronts are pretty nice and easy to install although the instructions for the whole kit are absolutely horrible! The customer service was not great either after I had ordered them and they were promised to be shipped in three to four business days. 7 weeks later with numerous emails and phone calls I received them but that was only after I threatened to cancel the order and go with one of their competitors. If I had to do it again, I would spend a little more and go with the Wilwood's or something else.

bsharpe

iTrader: (3)

Wow, everything looks very familiar. Glad to see another 6l90 being used. its a great trans and you should enjoy it.

Sorry, I havent updated my thread but I ended up ditching the truck trans pan and using a modified 6l80 pan from a g8 gt. I was able to gain an additional inch of ground clearance by doing this. I will try and post pictures later but i would have suggested this rather then modifing the deep pan.

I went through the same problems when mounting the seats. I decided to put the seats as low as possible but off center to the steering wheel. I plan on building a customized dash in the future and will shift the steering column over at that point.

1989GTA

"and using a modified 6l80 pan from a g8 gt"

Do you happen to have a part number for that pan? I want to use one on my 6L80E in place of the truck pan for more clearance.

FatfreeGTO

The Lizard Skin on the undercarriage looks great! Going to be nice when its done.

RJComins

Here are a few more progress pics.

RJComins

And now I can honestly say that the body is on for good! I had a couple friends come over last night and got a good start on the carpet but I don't have any pics of that yet.

chuckd71

iTrader: (23)

Very nice, looks like you are making good progress.

lownfast

iTrader: (4)

I dig what your shovelin.