[89vette]

Your car is what I want to do to my 66 Tempest. I was thinking of an LS motor with a paddle shifted 6-speed automatic though, minus the HTH truck arm suspension too and just go with coilovers. Why did you have to set back the motor so much? Are you going to use headers?

[Colin Frolick]

the motor setback helps with weight balance and clearance from the tie rods to oil pan. it makes alot of other things a hassle though plus it made me keep cutting and cutting... i have a set of doug's headers #D338 to use. i think i need to plan some space for turbos though

i did get some more cage work done, check out the flics.

[rohrt]

Nice build. Subscribbing.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Colin Frolick

tonight i spent some time "stringing" the car to align the engine/trans in the chassis. i was also having fun taking pictures of my laser. I set the pinion angle on the transmission to match the rear end... if this is right wow that thing is up there and it looks like i'm building a new driveshaft tunnel. which, would be a good opportunity to build a sort of backbone or spine into the chassis.

Excellent work; lots of good "cut and paste" going on there. Those welds look good to me by the way -

Have you locked in that engine/trans position? That trans does look awfully high in the rear - because the powertrain looks too horizontal to me.

I would propose you need a 3 to 6 degree down angle on the engine/trans assembly and then match the rear axle to that (rather than the other way around).

K

[Colin Frolick]

No I have not locked in the driveline angles. When I get the car back on its wheels and set the ride height ill look at it again. The pinion angle at the rear was only around 1 or 2 degrees up if I recall. The trailing arms are so long it barely changes as it swings thru its arc.

this little digital angle finder cube is about the most useful tool I've been using for this work , I've got to give it a plug. $30 on amazon.

And thanks for praising the welds!

[andrewb70]

If the car is going to be significantly lower than stock, then I suggest that the current position of the engine and transmission is probably close. With the rear being lowered the rear of the transmission will need to be raised up significantly to keep the front u-joint operating angle in the acceptable range.

Andrew

[Colin Frolick]

Have most of the cage bars in. Still deciding on a v or x or just a diagonal in the roof. Kind of confining. Needs an x in the back. The sill bars are in, I'm making the upper door bar removable. The smaller bars are 1.5 x 0.095 wall erw. I was reading the rules again for the silver state and they have been revised so I could have used 1.75 x 095 instead of 120 wall for the main cage. That's like 1/2 pound a foot... Anyway I can still deadlift the front end so it's not -that- heavy. Made a few triangles in the front, seems to help with frame flex. I think I'm getting super lucky where the brake master cylinder clears the head. Reminds me of hemi dodge dart. Still figuring where things got to go. I think the engine needs to move forward about an inch. The body is held on by 6 tack welds for now haha. Check the ride height.

[Colin Frolick]

Upside

[Colin Frolick]

Inside

[Colin Frolick]

I didn't want to screw with moving the coils for aesthetics but look like I will be for space. Not the master I'm using but you get the idea

[Colin Frolick]

that's tiny Thelma banging gears

cage is done, started on the trans tunnel

should have it back on the wheels tomorrow

also.... is this super tempest " I " ????

http://bangshift.com/blog/thundering...orts-cars.html

[Colin Frolick]

next reattach the body, start building firewall and filling in sheetmetal

[The Boss]

Cool build!

[Colin Frolick]

Thanks Boss

[Colin Frolick]

Some updates already, a few photos.

[Colin Frolick]

Firewall

[Colin Frolick]

Pedal mount, very rigid.

[Colin Frolick]

All set up. Very comfortable and ergonomic. Handbrake from an e36 bmw is a clean fit.

[Colin Frolick]

Headroom inside the cage is excellent, I'm pleased with that.

[Colin Frolick]

I hated to ditch the original steering wheel but as you know it was pretty big around and mine was no longer round :-) so this one feels pretty nice. It's on a quick release hub.