American Motors Xperimental full frame

[tommycomfort]

It's crazy isn't it Justin, ALMOST doesn't belong on one of my cars. Its fun working with someone that has the same level of passion for building custom parts as I do. I know Aaron is as busy as I am, we see each other at events maybe 3 or 4 times a year. I describe what I am building, and he does the same, and I can see the gleam in his eyes as he describes the processes of designing and milling out the different parts. It is a sickness, but man I'm glad he has it. Wow that sounded a little gay .lol

Homo! :-)

[bonecrrusher]

Ron - loving the CNC work going on there!

[71RS/SS396]

Homo! :-)

[Ron S]

Homo! :-)

You know you can't say homo anymore. Ya fag!

[dontlifttoshift]

I knew this thread was going the other way as soon as Ron posted pictures of his ripply rear end.......

That cover is uber cool.

[Ron S]

What!! Ripply, I'll have you know I have buns of steel, well it used to be. Your right its now ripply aluminum.

[Mike Holleman]

Purty work Aaron! Makes me want to convert the S60 in my racecar to Watts just so you can make me one.
Mike

[65_LS1_T56]

I knew this thread was going the other way as soon as Ron posted pictures of his ripply rear end.......

That cover is uber cool.

Thanks Donny

What!! Ripply, I'll have you know I have buns of steel, well it used to be. Your right its now ripply aluminum.

After the finish pass, it will be a lot less ripply...I think that's good?

Purty work Aaron! Makes me want to convert the S60 in my racecar to Watts just so you can make me one.
Mike

All the cool kids are getting them Mike. So far only Ron though

[71RS/SS396]

Purty work Aaron! Makes me want to convert the S60 in my racecar to Watts just so you can make me one.
Mike

Mike you don't want that heavy lump of a rearend in your car. Ron's just gun shy from his past 9 in experiences.

[Mike Holleman]

Mike you don't want that heavy lump of a rearend in your car. Ron's just gun shy from his past 9 in experiences.

Tim, That's what I have in my Grand Am car. Couldn't keep gears in the rear that came in the car. The Strange S60 is bulletproof. Aaron's rear cover might knock a little weight off my 3600 lb. pig.

[71RS/SS396]

Tim, That's what I have in my Grand Am car. Couldn't keep gears in the rear that came in the car. The Strange S60 is bulletproof. Aaron's rear cover might knock a little weight off my 3600 lb. pig.

Even with that nice alum. cover the S60 will still be heavier. Do you have a cooler on your rearend? The only failure I've had with mine has been the wavetrac, you know how much and how hard mine has been used. I'm using a Strange cast steel center section which is 10 lbs lighter than the N case, C&R built it with rem finished Ford gears and a built in pump for the cooler.

[65_LS1_T56]

Since it seems a lot of guys think billet parts are pretty cool, I shot a short video of the beginning of the finish pass. You can get a sense of why it takes so long to surface parts like this. The rapid speed is turned down, so the non-cutting time is a bit faster when turned up. Note, this is a 1mm (0.039") 3D step-over finish. Should be around 4 hours to get it surfaced.

Hope to have some more pictures of the finish pass on the outside later today.

[Ron S]

If you spend enough money on a 9", you can get to be almost as durable as a worn out 40 year old Dana that you didn't even have to freshen up. 9" rears because of there low pinion use a lot of horsepower, and create a lot of heat. Dana's have an almost centered pinion, but extremely heavy rotating mass, and are heavy in general. Its probably a wash, but I have less then a grand in a full float Dana 60 with a REALLY cool cover, and hey its different.

[Ron S]

That cool pic snuck in there. Really enjoying the magic show.

[Mike Holleman]

Even with that nice alum. cover the S60 will still be heavier. Do you have a cooler on your rearend? The only failure I've had with mine has been the wavetrac, you know how much and how hard mine has been used. I'm using a Strange cast steel center section which is 10 lbs lighter than the N case, C&R built it with rem finished Ford gears and a built in pump for the cooler.

Yes I have a cooler. Even kept it with the Dana although I doubt it is still needed. The racecar came to me with a mostly stock 10 bolt. The GA team was required to run this in the GS class. They had 5 DNFs from the rearend. I only had one and made the change. The 9" in the Elky has been bullet proof. I'm having to run the same pos rear in the Chump Car I'm building now. But it will be connected to a stock 3.8 V6. Sorry for hopping on your thread Ron since you have heard all of this already.

[Ron S]

No sweat Mike, I really do think that the websites biggest attribute is the knowledge and experiences that most of us share. Some of these experiences are good learning tools, and some are total failures (I have a lot of failures), but Aaron I were just talking about how we are all standing on the shoulders of the guys that came before us. I've been building cars since I was 15, and feel I have a pretty good sense of what makes them work, but my lack knowledge in autox, and road racing were pretty humbling. With the help of guys like Kyle, Danny, Randy Bell, etc., etc. its amazing what you pick up on driving, and car setup. And everyone's lack of ego, and eagerness to have a good time makes what we do so much fun. Can't wait till this year.

[65_LS1_T56]

That cool pic snuck in there. Really enjoying the magic show.

It's actually a video, not a pic

Here's another:

[65_LS1_T56]

Boy am I learning alot..this has been a challenge, but oh so satifying

So the outside is profiled now and the bolt holes have been spot faced. I took it out, cleaned it, rubbed it, carried it around for a while...now have to open the bolt holes up to a clearance hole and add a fill plug port hole.

Here are some more pictures for anyone that cares, lol. Thanks for all the comments guys.

[LeadFootDriver]

Boy am I learning alot..this has been a challenge, but oh so satifying

So the outside is profiled now and the bolt holes have been spot faced. I took it out, cleaned it, rubbed it, carried it around for a while...now have to open the bolt holes up to a clearance hole and add a fill plug port hole.

Here are some more pictures for anyone that cares, lol. Thanks for all the comments guys.

Beautiful work. Hope you're not going to cover up that finish?

[GNon18s]

Can you do a bright ceramic coating on it? It will definitely oxidize and lose its luster if left raw. Also, Ron needs to do a Lexan rear floor now! Lol