Great build! Subscribed.

 

A little progress to share. Got the frame powder coated (came out great!), my custom 9" rear was delivered (really cool!), and I got the electric fans figured out.

Will start assembling the chassis now. Hope to order the wheels and tires soon as I really need them to finalize stance and lock down the pinion angle for the rear.

Pics one at a time again.....

 

New rear end

 

Dual fans.....

 

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Thanks Paul, put a few pieces together today. Also sandblasted some bits for the rear springs. I needed to cut the rear sway bar perches and leaf spring pads off of the original rear to reuse them. The shocks mount to the back of the spring pads and the generic pieces they sent with the 9" didn't have any provision for the lower shock mount.

I'll let you later in the week, I have been thinking about that hood.......

Wish I could see it mounted on a car. Isn't it hard to tell if they've sprung at the rear?

Joe

 

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Made some progress this week. Got the 9" rear mocked up. Used the original spring pads to keep the stock shock mounts. Will also transfer the rear sway bar mounts once I get some weight on this thing so I can set the pinion angle.

Also assembled the rear disc brakes and will get started fabbing brake lines this weekend.

Need to get the wheels and tires for this thing really soon.......

Thanks for looking,

Joe

 

Steering rack installed

 

Joe - you're making us look bad!


Looks fantastic - keep it up

 

Front brake hoses and brackets.

 

Thanks Gordon! Appreciate it. I'm having fun. I've been doing the paint dab resto thing for so many years, it so refreshing to to not have a prescribed result forcing me to do things a certain way.

Joe

 

Looking good Joe!

 

Got the brake and fuel lines made up and installed. Need to finish the front sections of the lines after I get the body back onto the chassis.

Ordered my wheels. Will take 4 weeks for those. Also have my tires picked out.

Plan is to get the bottom of the car stripped by the mobile guy, prime and paint the bottom, then mate the shell back up to the frame.

There is hardly any paint left on the outside, and the car was never painted so it'll be easy for the body shop to strip it mechanically.

That's the plan anyway.....

 

More brake line pics

 

One more of the lines.....

 

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Corvette fuel filter/regulator.....

 

Finally able to upload pictures again.....

Few things to show, first is a peek at the wheels I hade made. Really happy with the look. The pictures don't do these justice.

Getting the front bucket seat mounts sorted out. Going with Honda Odyssee 2nd row buckets. Nice and solid, and tilt forward to allow rear seat access. Will look great once recovered in leather.

Smoothing the firewall and installing the 3-point seat belts this weekend.

Joe

 

Seat brackets being sorted out. You can also see the beginnings of the console I'm building. It's based on a stretched late model Buick console.

 

One more of the interior.

 

Simply awesome great work

 

You are an artist Joe.. THis looks better everytime I see it! Just an FYI.. I'm heading back to DVAP (CG) this weekend.. call me if you need anything.

 

Thanks for the compliments guys! Really excited that I'm getting close to sending it off to the body shop. I have ton more to do but it'll be fun watching the body take shape.

Starting to research the electrical systems and harness/ECM mods I'll need.

I am looking a keyless entry, push button start system from a company here in AZ. Want to get his soon to make sure the proper hole is in the dash.

So many things to think about, sometimes it's overwhelming......

 

Paul, I don't need anything specific right now thanks. But I defintely want to make the trek down there some Saturday soon, we can meet up for coffee too.

Joe

 

Webster falls short of words to describe how incredible that machine is.

Where did you get those wheels? How did you get the center hub correct to attach the factory dog dishes? That's exactly what I want to do with my 2 door sedan but can't seem to find a source.

 

Thanks Gordon!

The wheels were made by CRICLE RACING. They custom machined them for me to fit the 55 dog dish. They used a heavy spring clip that I assume is for this purpose. Seems like they will stay in place. In fact, I'm concerned with how I will take them off at this point although they did give me some pointers....

These were not cheap, but I have a picture in my head of what I want this car to look like and these wheels were an important piece of the puzzle. Love the looks of the NITTO tires too. Was able to get a tall enough sidewall to keep a bit of an old school look too.

Hopefully my calculations were correct and everything clears when I put the body back down....

If you call Circle Racing ask for Jeremy. He really helped me get this right.

Joe

 

nice choice on the wheels

 

Thanks gearheads78, yeah I did see that in your rendering. It's a great look. Here's the original inspiration for the look I'm going for.

 

Coincidentally this was at Goodguys in Scottsdale today.....

 

Here's a picture of another car that I've been using for inspiration .....It's sort of a bootlegger/moonshine style I guess?

Will keep the trim and chrome shiny (minus the short spears at the back of the quarter panel. Never did understand why those weee there), but everything else is getting blacked out.

 

Great build! Subscribed.

 

Lookin good Joe

 

Got the firewall all welded up and ground. It came out pretty nice. It stayed pretty flat too.

Glad I did this. Here's some before (well actually a couple during) and after. Still have to locate electrical grommets and bulkhead fitting locations and such. Will do that after I get the body back on the chassis.

 

All welded up.....

 

After some serious grinding....

 

Got the body back onto the chassis & dropped the motor trans back in there (again....).

This should be the final mock-up before the body shop.

 

Another shot after putting the body down.

 

Adapted these SBC valve covers. Going for a subtle Olds reference. Won't put the rocket decals on them though.

I think it looks pretty cool.

 

One more......