The unorthodox budget Firebird (-74)

[joeko23]

Amazing fabrication skills

[Ripper]

Sorry for late reply, but I didn't see that my thread had new posts...

Anyway, thanks for all comments! That really keeps the motivation on top!

I'm working as fast as I can, but I'm still not finished with the body work around the rear wheels. There's not really much to take photos at right now. I doubt I'm finished before the snow comes, but atleast that's my goal...

Good progress. I may have missed this, so I apologize in advance, but how is the axle located laterally? Is there a panhard rod or a watts?

Andrew

Had to go back an look myself once you mentioned it, check out the CAD drawings in post 38. You can see some of the axle side mounts in the more recent pictures too.

Robert

Why I went for a panhard is because it's a simple construction and it's easy to make quick adjustments once the car is running.
I won't have more than appr. +-1" suspension movement (allthough the stroke will be longer) so the lateral movement will be so little that we're talking about margins of error.
I first planned for a mumford-link actually. I think I would be the only one in the world with that setup in a pro-touring car, haha. The mumford would also be better since it would be possible to tuck it up above the venturi that I'll build later. The panhard will be located right into the air stream unfortunately, but atleast I went for a aeroshaped profile.

Hmmm, I need to look one more time at the mumford. Perhaps it's possible after all...

Amazing fabrication skills

Thanks!
I'm not sure about my fab skills - there are lots of other project threads where the welds look much better than mine. I would say my CAD skills is better than average, but after all I'm just a happy guy who happens to be friend with a guy with a laser...
Or I'm just a little shy to admit my skills...

[Ripper]

Some updates!

The body was tacked together a couple of days before christmas. There's still some welding to do, but all the panels are there now. Welding will be finished when the body is back on the rotisserie during summer 2012 (wish I could say spring, but I'm trying to be realistic...)


Actually had this as background on my phone, but I had to replace it with something else... it was too depressing to see.


I made some of the panels myself since I wanted lower the floor slightly.


And parts that were too hard to fab...


...was repaired instead.


The rear shock mount was also fabbed


It's supposed to look like this when finished. That way it's easy to change bump/droop, try other damper-lengths and different ride heights without having to cut up the body again.


From the inside. The lowest horizontal tube isn't welded yet. It's supposed to be horizontal, not angled.


From the rear window.
Thinking of keeping the paint theme, just add a couple of layers of clear coat, haha.


This was a great moment for me! First area of the body that was covered in primer! The body will be sand blasted when everything is finished, but I'm priming all areas that I guess the sand guy won't reach.


the quarter panel was tacked to the body. Just have to make a new wheel housing and then it's finished.


I found four unused Penske 8100 dampers on the brittish e-bay. They were so cheap that I couldn't resist them. My original plan was to go for Öhlins coil overs (because I'm Swedish... and they're good...), but the penskes was just too cheap. They're are shimmed for a Lister Storm so I think they're OK out of the box. But I'm still gonna reshim them after the car has been finished and seen some track time.


I like CAD...