Project WidowMaker - The Chevelle Build Thread

[The WidowMaker]

How did you determine your frame design?

lots of looking. i seriously spent hours between the computer making brackets and sitting there staring at the stupid thing. if i had to do it over small changes would have been made. the biggest is the ride height. the added c-notch and lowered stance conflicted with a lot of what had already been done. i could have saved a few hours routing the exhaust if i had only known where it would eventually end up.

[The WidowMaker]

well its done. at least the frame. it turned out ok although i had hoped for a little better. i could have used another two coats of slicksand to smooth it out a little more, but like the wife keeps saying, nobody is going to see the damn thing. i did have two areas i really wanted to nail; the outside of the rails that are seen under the rockers of the body, and the top of the rails in the engine compartment. id give the sides an 8 and the engine compartment about a 6. there is one area where the seam show a little on the tops of both engine compartment rails. again, another coat of slicksand would have cured it but i was over it. it looks good. overall it was much better than last time. i spent a lot more time with the blocking this time.

after painting all the parts tomorrow im going to take a couple weeks off from the car. i plan to get all my bolts and anything else thats now gold zinc together and get everything done in either black cad or black zinc. i should have it back together by the end of the month.

here are a couple pics.

[Roadbuster]

Looking great Tim!

[The WidowMaker]

i got the rear cleaned up and sanded today, so it will get color and clear tomorrow. then comes a short break.

i was organizing pics and looked back to 3 years ago. the pics look familiar, but a lot has changed. can you say deja vu? i actually dont have many of those suspension pieces left either. most of it was new and then was sold............

[The WidowMaker]

the rear got sprayed the other day and looks really good. the plan is to start getting the bolts together tomorrow and then send them out to have them coated sometime soon. hopefully i can start reassembly in the next couple weeks!!!

[The WidowMaker]

so i got all the bolts together and sent them off to Fabian (1badchevelle) to have them all coated black. i also sent the broken down johhny joints and all the rear brake brackets and everything together totaled 52lbs!!!! there wont be any gold zinc left when its done! i cant wait to get everything back and get it all reassembled. i also cant wait to find a bolt sitting somewhere that i forgot to send :-( ......

Tim

[The WidowMaker]

Got any way to weigh it? I'm very curious.

sorry, i missed this on the last page. the watts crossmember and all the other tubing was right around 40 lbs. a lot of weight, but it strengthens the frame, added torsional rigidity and allowed for a place to mount the coilovers. the inner webbing was probably another 50lbs. a lot of weight, but like someone else said, its the weight im taking off the engine and redistributing to the rear. should help a TON with balance.

[93Polo]

sorry, i missed this on the last page. the watts crossmember and all the other tubing was right around 40 lbs. a lot of weight, but it strengthens the frame, added torsional rigidity and allowed for a place to mount the coilovers. the inner webbing was probably another 50lbs. a lot of weight, but like someone else said, its the weight im taking off the engine and redistributing to the rear. should help a TON with balance.

The weight is also low in the car. Keep up the awesome work.