Project Journals

well i have run out of room on the last thread so here is the second half.today i have some pics of the new rims and tires i have purchased for the rear of the car.they are the same rims as the front just larger i decided to go with15x10 on the rear with 26x12/50 series mickey thompson sr radial tires.i was going to use 225/50/15 all the way around but decided i could stand to have some better traction just incase i decide to tickle the gas pedal a bit.the inside wheel well will be completely removed and replaced and the wheel opening will be opened up to fit the new shoes.





well i recieved my rear inner fenders/fender flares in the form of two custom chopper rear fenders like those used on the bikes with the HUGE rear tires.they are 32"long and 12.5"wide and will work perfectly as the inner fender and flare all in one.now i know what your thinking ..that it has to have a seperate inner fender.well these fenders are 14 gauge steel(aprox.080"thick)and once covered with truckbed liner (the spray on kind) it will not get any rock dimples i am sure.also i have decided to do away with the corvette irs and use an 8.8 ford with custom bearing carriers so i can use all the vette brakes i have already bought new and can't return,plus my new rims are a chevy pattern.the fenders are very rounded on top so will have a nice contour to the body and not come straight out the side of the car like a trailer fender i have seen some guys use.these fenders were only $80.00 each from KC INTERNATIONAL OR DEMON CYCLES.i bought the fender BLANKS which are not yet trimmed so they have pretty much the full sides on them allowing me to trim them the way i want them.they are just as cheap as rabbit or omni fenders and 10 times as strong.i have a good imagination so i can see them on the car and they will look great,lol i hope.i bet a .22 bullit wouldn't penetrate them,lol.
my new 4-link bars showed uo today so i will be working on the 8.8 this weekend trying get something accomplished,lol.all these parts showing up and no time to install them lately.will post pics later.
i designed and had made some housing ends for the 8.8 ford to utilize my corvette brakes i already had and recieved my TA PERFORMANCE rearend cover/girdle so here is a couple pics for ya.


well i haven't been around much lately,i had a small mishap with my mustang and ended up building a new engine for it over the last while but it is almost finished.i just have to build a new pair of stainless headers for it and then i can get back to working on the spit fulltime.i have been ignoring it too long now and i have to get my ass in gear.






well i have finally gotten back to work on the spit after having a terrible time this year with my mustang.engine needed a rebuild and then a tree fell on it the day i was going to install the new engine.now it is all well so i can concentrate on the spit.i have ordered the new rear axles from strange engineering and the rearend housing getting sandblasted as i type this.it has been narrowed already and is awaiting installation in the car.i have decided to do a 3 link rear suspension instead of the 4 link i was going to do as it will work better on the street and still work great at the track when i want it to.going to locate it using a watts link.will have some more pics soon.ok so i have been a little busy and have a few pics to post and then i'm off to the garage to cut some more spitfire up,lol







i found a set of 1980 volkswagon rabbit front fenders on our local wantad site and snapped them up for$120.00.they are brand new.i cut them down to something more manageable and will be using them for the front flares on the spit with a little tlc .i will need to widen thes an inch or so to make them fit the front track but no big deal.they are made of quite thin material so i think after all the metal work is done i will back them up with a coat of fiberglass as well to strengthen them.




well i welded the housing ends on the axle tubes tonight and i used tig.i put the root in perfectly but the cap has a little undercut cause of the contamination in the pores of the tubes.notice it is undercut only on the tube.could also be because the tube was pitted from rust and is weak at the edge and melting away.should have used the 7018 rod for the cap.i may use the 7018 rod for the rest of the brackets cause they get welded right to the outside of the tubes .the crap is coming out of the metal when welding and tig has to be perfectly clean.i had the housing chemically cleaned & sandblasted and it still comes out of the metal when it is heated up.am using straight argon as a shielding gas and a 2% thoriated tungsten carbide.if it were virgin metal the weld would be beautiful but as such it is passable but still very strong.just not the prettiest work i have done,lol.right bicep still tender also so shaking a wee bit.it looks worse than it is as i can just barely feel it with my finger nail.a little paint or powdercoat will make it disappear



i bought my new rear sway bars for the car today.they are the splined nascar style.i figure that i have nascar pedals and master cylinders in the car i might aswell have nascar sway bars.i will be able to dial in the body roll with these for the best handling.

got all the control arm brackets all welded up now.just need a couple gussetts to keep them square.





i got the lower control arm brackets fitted with some spacer tubes and gussetts tonight.well one gussett actually.i will finish the other side tomorrow.






well it's been a little while so i better update.i have got a bit more frame work done and must thank ray lotter and a couple other fella's who's names escape me at the moment for some of the forward frame design iseas i swiped from them.lo i hope ya don't mind ray but it was too good an idea to pass on.i am still not finished yet but it is coming together.hoping to have the rear end installed in a week or so.here is some pics.















some more done tonight,driveshaft loops and half the rear crossmember.hope to finish the other half tomorrow.i am using two loops just in case.i am sitting real close to that shaft and if it let go it would rip me to bits for sure.




some more pics for ya.most of the welding is getting finished but it will be a while yet before completion as i see things that need changed to work properly and look better.





worked onthe header collectors today .should work well.

made up this tool today to make the starter tubes for a set of headers for the small block ford in my spitfire.could have bought them but hey i like to make @#$%& and i can make them for less than i can buy them and i have the tool to make more if need be.






header collectors with v band style clamp.409 stainless flange and carbon steel collector body.tigged with 309 and er70s



i managed to get a few more things accomplished. the rearend is now in palce and ready for final welding of two barckets for the forward upper control arms and then the upper coilover mounts.this four bar arrangement is very easy to articulate and will work very well for handling i think.not going to miss the weak 79 vette rear.





tonight i worked on the heatshield and framework near where my feet will go.i removed the 3x2 piece of frame i had and moved things back 5" to give me room to run the side exhaust through the side of the car just behind the front tire.i put back an L shaped 1/8" steel heatshield to stop cooking my feet.there will be about a 3/4" gap between the shield and the floor and the floor will be coated with lizard skin heat barrier and insulation on the inside.i will also wrap the exhaust with a high temp silicone hose in that area as well.this is the only way i could run the side exit exhaust and keep the legroom.i am making my own floors in the car so i can build them to suit my needs.i also ordered a new chromemoly slip yoke and diff yoke in the 1350 series ujoint style for the driveshaft.now to make a new driveshaft.i am using one of the corvette halfshafts i shortened and cutting the ends off of it and adding a new piece of moly tubing for the shaft.then the assembly will be balanced.this shaft should be good for 800hp easy.



managed to get the mounts for the coilovers done and also some mounts made for the nascar swaybar that i will weld on to the frame tomorrow.







did the swaybar mounts and some frame support out of 1x2x.125" .i thought the rear kickup looked a little weak at the transition so beefed it up.it will give the sheetmatal floor in the body a better look also.nice and smooth.swaybar fits like a glove.there is a good 1/2" clearance at full compression.it's coming together!





made the links today.will weld the tabs tomorrow.



old 1310 series slip and diff yoke vs new 1350 series chromoly units.ain't gonna bust these bitches!might not have broken the old ones either but i sit so close to the shaft and so low in the car that it would take off my head if it ever did let go






Edited 29 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2013 10:33PM by rampant racing.

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