Well it is time for an update! It isn't going to be much, but now you will get an idea of what the plans are. So why not start with a pic of what I was starting with this weekend. I didn't even think about taking a pic before I took the aluminum out though. So here is a pic after I got all of the crap out of the car, but before I started on any work.



After that I dove right in, and got a little crazy before I took the next pic


As you can see it looks like I am going backwards, and that is because I am kind of. As I said a while back I was having a hard time with the aluminum. It really wasn't THAT bad, but it was enough to make me want to scrap that idea and go further with everything. Obviously I not only removed the tubs, I also cut back the rear sheet metal further, and started cutting the tops off of the rails. Here is where I ended for the weekend. I'm sorry, its a blurry cell phone shot because I cant pull the pics off of my camera right now. As soon as I can get the pics off my camera I will update the ending pics.


Believe it or not, there is actually even more that is going to be cut out, but this is about as far as I am going to go before bringing the car in for the cage. The car will be going in on the 18th to finally get a cage which is a big step forward. The basic idea right now will be to go with a 25.3 chassis, with a lot of extra bars in the rear. I plan on changing over to a wishbone set up, as well as coilovers on the back side of the rear end housing. Both of these will be tied directly to the cage, along with the chute, so the rear frame rails will be just along for the ride really. The rear tubs are going to be changed to a full 36" carbon tub, and I will do all of the rear tin work in carbon.

I will be starting to cap off the tops of the frame rails next weekend, as well as removing some more metal. I will need to cut the outside of the rails more for the tubs, but I will do that after I get it back. I also need to cut he rear seat area, and also the area around the torque arm but I will do that once the cage is started so its not so weak. I am going to end up pretty much rebuilding the rear frame ends since they are so rotted, and I will probably try and start on that before I take the car in. I also have to brace the whole back of the car before it can be moved.

So now the big plans are revealed and you can see how crazy I am There is still more details, like whats the plans are for the front, but those can wait for now. I am sure you can imagine what it will be like though!

Anyway, that is all for now. Like I said I will add some more pics in the next day or two. Until then thanks for following along!


Sean

 

If you ever call my car a "race car" again I'm gonna beat your ***! lol

 

My car is a race car, I never claimed it was anything else. Your car on the other hand is a race car that you want to think is a street car You can beat my *** at the track if you ever come out

Sean

 

Subbed, I like where this thread is going

 

Looking good! I havent been on here much so I had no idea. **** I need to start hanging with you guys to get me motivated to take out my street car to the track. lol

 

Might as well back-half the damn thing!

 

This weekend was a big one for the car, but of course it never goes quite as planned. The plan for last weekend, and this weekend was to get the last of the metal cut out, and start boxing in the rails and adding bracing so I can move the car to the guy who is doing my chassis. Last weekend I came prepared with some sheet metal I had cut and formed at work. After looking at the car for a few minutes, I decided to just cut off the stock frame horns and rebuild them. They were rusted to the point where there was more rust than good metal, and I was mostly rebuilding them anyway at that point. So Chris and I started by adding some bracing from the rail to the body on the passenger side. Because of where we were putting the bracing I needed to make the cuts down the sides of the rails first. I cut the one side no problem, then when I cut the other side the whole rail sprung up about 1/2"!!! In reality I am not going to be using the rails for anything, but it still kind of freaked me out for a while. So pressing on we started to trim the metal to make a new piece, and that is when things went south. I should have taken pics to show what was going on, but I didn't. Long story short Chris accidentally cut the metal wrong, making that piece useless. I had just enough pieces, so now I could have built one rail in theory. Instead I decided that I would rather make it all differently, and out of different material. Since I was freaking out a little about the amount of movement on the one rail, I didn't want to cut any more until I had restored that first. That was pretty much the end of that weekend, about 1 hour of work. The plan had been to get the car as close to ready for transport as possible that weekend, but oh well.

This past weekend I came out even more prepared! I had both new frame ends all made up and ready to go! Here you can see some comparisons to the driver rail which was the better of the two.









Like I said, this one wasn't really TOO bad, but we threw out the passenger one before I got some shots of it. Either way, I replaced them both! Cutting out the driver one had absolutely no drama at all, it just fell out when I cut it. I guess that is good though, so they both went in pretty easy. We did have to pull down on the passenger rail to get it into position, but no big deal. Everything will be checked to a spec sheet before the cage goes in anyway, so if it is still off we will tweak it back anyway. Here are a couple shots of the process, not much to it but I like pics


This one actually got moved slightly after this shot which made the gap to the back panel even (and smaller)


Here is the outside of the passenger rail.


Driver rail missing


Both rails in, and before I closed up that passenger side gap.



That brings us to Saturday where not too much happened. I fixed the passenger side rail so it fit better, braced the back of the car some, and cleaned up the inside edge of the rails. I had intended to cap the rails, and at least fully finish the inside edge, but a lack of material stopped that plan. I completely forgot about it Friday before I left work, and figured I could find some locally. Well I couldn't so I left it for now. Hopefully that wont bite me in the *** too much later. Anyway, on to the pics!

Here you can see the bracing I added for the rear panel. You can also see no more gap on the passenger side rail. I tacked it from the outside which is why no weld either.


Another shot showing the back better


Overall after I cleaned it up a little bit Saturday night



Sunday morning came, THE BIG DAY!!!! I pushed it outside so I could clean up the garage before I took off.




I loaded it up with both bumpers, the headlight piece, my Kirkey seat (and cover), my motor and mid plate with all the hardware, and my car cover.


You can also see a little bit of a strap hanging down in that pic. I had strapped the rear end to the body (using what was left of the gas tank hanger things) to keep some pressure on the springs. More on that later.


So I had the car all loaded up, and got the garage cleaned, and I took off to meet up with the ride for the day.



Just a little trailer


From here on out it's cell phone pics, but you will get the idea. Other than pissing off the neighbors it all went pretty well. Here are some shots of the car loaded up (a little far left)





The two green straps were to help pull down on the car, and stop side to side movement since I don't have a panhard bar in it. I don't know if the addition of those was the demise of the other two, but the two to pull down on the body were destroyed by the time we got to where I dropped it off. They completely wore through on both sides! BUT the car seemed fine, so no big deal.

Quick shot of the truck and trailer when we were dropping off the car.


And here is the car parked outside until it can go in the garage for work to start!


That pretty much wraps it up for a while now. The cage work should start in a few weeks or so, and I will be picking up the carbon for the back of the car at the end of the month. I will for sure have pictures of that when I get it. Hopefully I will be able to get some progress shots of the cage as it all goes in. If not I will have a ton when its all finished up. As always thanks for following along!


Sean

 

Looks good man! I'm glad to see you finally making good progress. Since you and Chris are very familiar with the metal work on these cars.....

With a street/strip car (say mine), is the time/labor/cost involved with a mini tub worth the extra tire space? I want to eventually get a narrowed rear and run a different wheel/tire setup.

Also, is the mini tub process something a novice could tackle? I've been around metal work before, but I have never welded. I'd also have to pick up a Hobart MIG like you guys have.

 

Thank you! I am glad there is finally progress too, I am sick of working in the same area

I would say no for your car. It is a fair amount of work, and the savings are not that great. On Chris's car we have the rear narrowed 3" per side, and fit a 275/60-15 with plenty of room on stock tubs. The TA's have a little more space than the Camaro's, but you don't need a steam roller on your car either.

I think anything can be done by a novice. Everyone has to do something for the first time sooner or later. That isn't to say anyone can do it, but if you think you can measure, cut, and weld with some proficiency then you should be OK. I had never done them before, and it wasnt too bad really. I did make the mistake of removing the lip of the inner tub AFTER I had cut everything to fit, which then left a gap. That was just me being greedy on weight, it would have been fine if I would have done that from the start and didn't cut in so far. Just take your time, try and measure a few times and go slow. Plan on it taking a good amount of time (a few days) for your first time to do it right and not screw anything up.

The Hobart MIG (and the TIG) have been great welders. I would like a TIG with more control, but it certainly does the job for just about everything we have needed (couldn't weld the end tanks to the core of the intercooler). The MIG has been awesome for garage work. Not too big, but big enough for anything we have wanted to do. The 110v means we can take it just about anywhere if needed (and we have). For the price it is pretty much perfect.


Sean

 

We both know 275's are where its at! Best racing around!!! Sounds good. I'll refrain from that level of modification then.

 

Great work keep it up man!
And wow thats some trailer lol

 

Thanks! Hopefully it gets more exciting from here on out.

The trailer was ballin for sure! We only had the semi to tow with, so if we are already taking the semi we may as well take the good trailer


Sean

 

Small update. I went down to St. Louis for my cousins wedding weekends ago, and stopped by Tim McAmis Chassis to pick up some carbon tubs. These are 34" carbon tubs with a full liner, and are nice as hell, very impressed with the quality! No good pics since my camera/editing is still down, but here are some cell phone pics.





That's really all for now, I have been pretty focused on getting my daily beater back up to par since I dropped off the Camaro. We have been working on some of the details though, so progress is being made still!


Thanks,
Sean

 

You really should quit your day job and start a fab shop Sean! Beautiful work!

 

You are too kind! I wish I could do it, but I need FAR more skill doing fab work before I would even think of it. Never mind that I don't have a space to work in right now.

Sean

 

Tis' true, I assume an 8 second shop car would help advertising!

 

anymore on this? I need some more ideas for my car lol

 

me too!

 

WHOA, sorry guy I didn't know anyone had responded! Unfortunately there is nothing new to report on the Camaro right now. I have had a couple set backs that delayed the car some. Because of that we brought the TA in to get a 25.5 upgrade. His car is taking priority now, but is getting close to finished. Once his is done, mine is next on the agenda. We have been working out some of the details, and I have added a few things as well. I should have something to report back in a few weeks hopefully.


Sean

 

Well a few weeks have come and gone a few times. Give us something here.