Projects rebuilding after the crash

The chassis shop has been hard at work. The body is now bolted to the frame with no supports. The rear portion of the frame is being fabricated. To support the rear of the car they needed to get creative. I didnt want bars that exited the sheet metal. This creates a unique problem. The rear suspention; trailer hitch; and rear body mounts need extra support. Jim is holding one of the bars that will go in to help. The wheels are on a jig that is adjustable to set the track width. We need to know this before i take the body away next week. Upon my insistance that the stock dash remains in this car they were able to make the neccesary adjustments to make it fit. Im very relieved about that. I dropped off the marine block that i use so the mounts will be correct. The second frame rail is next weeks attention. this will be a double rail frame. at the upcoming pri show i will be shopping for seats and a hans device. i want to have the hans device before we mount the seats in the car. a car can feel one way without the safety items on and another way all suited up. a big thanks to big drag he answered the call for the replacement melt down drags windshield sticker.

 

Looks fantastic! Do you plan on doing DRAG WEEK with the new set up?

 

yes. i plan on having it ready for drag week. i plan on entering the unlimited class. unlimited is the only class that allows nitro. all the preparations are being made to insure it will be legal to run. i have always enjoyed street racing and i have always enjoyed nitro racing. drag week could be the perfect blend of both. it wont be easy but i think it can be done with alot of hard work. i think this would be the first nitro car on drag week.

 

First nitro car on drag week. That would be the ultimate, I envy what you are doing sir!

 

you can do it to. there is room for another blown coupe on drag week. come out and join us. you will have a great time.

 

did you see your car in Hot Rod Deluxe? jan 2016 issue p. 22, from the Meltdown Drags.

 

no. thanks for the heads up. i will have to go out and get one. over thanksgiving i was telling my brother about your under water robots. he is a school teacher for junior high kids. they won the state robot contest for the sixth time in seven years. you two would have a lot to talk about.

 

I have been giving a lot of thought on doing DRAGWEEK in 2016. Been a dream of mine. Thanks for the thread, it is inspiring !

 

HOLY COW !! AWESOME-AWESOME-AWESOME !!!!

 

They got some more of the bars done in the back. They were welding on the frame when i showed up. Its just about ready to be flipped over. They started on the four link brackets. there are four brackets stacked up together in the pic. The adaptor for the flex plate was modified to fit a ati brand flex plate. A spacer ring was made then pressed on to the wilcap adaptor. Details details. I bought the bruno today. i should get it in my hands next week. Now the drive train can be set up in the chassis. jim and i went over the gas tank details along with the radiator details. the body needs to go on one more time. i thought i could get it this week but they want to check a few more things. so i will plan on getting it after the pri show. once the main pieces are in place then all the bracing and required bars can go in. Every day brings more progress.

 

That chassis is wild looking. Great build thanks for sharing. Do you plan to take it to the Meltdowns?

 

That's gonna be one mean machine! I can't wait to see it done.

 

i would not miss it. i had a great time there last year. the melt down is the best hands down. i want the car done by the june hot rod reunion. i have really been burning the candle at both ends. i think its a obtainable goal.

 

If you keep up the pace you're at, it'll be done by Spring. You've got more done in a month then I've gotten done on mine in the last year. Your progress is an inspiration...

 

most of the cars and motorcycles i have built were done as a way to vent or because i was pissed off about something. things happen in life that arent always pleasant. i have found this works for me. its a positive outlet. im not into destructive behaviors. once i get focussed on a project my friends know when i light the fuse to just stand back its going to be all out. im for sure pissed the car was crashed. it was running so good and i was looking forward to the upcoming hamb drags and drag week. so now the only way to feel better about everything is for me to build this car better than it was with what i can salvage from the crash. getting back on the street/strip having fun is very motivating. i want my hot rod back. when it hits the track im not saving anything for monday.

 

Awesome build with great attitude. You really know what you're doing, no doubt it'll be back on track stronger than ever. Thumbs up!

 

Will be awesome again soon. Glad you are OK.

 

More good progress. Four more bars are welded in under the cowl. The front engine mounts are roughed in. The engine placement has been started. The engine needs to move back a little. Im running the water out of the back now so i need clearance for the fittings. There are ten body mounts now. The body will be bolted on. It will be able to be removed if there is ever a need. I didnt like the gas tank that was made so now im running my old one down there to fit it in. Koop from the melt down crew also sent a few windshield stickers. There are lots of things going on behind the scenes. More to follow soon. I'm looking forward to the pri show starting tomorrow and going through out the weekend. its a great show to see all of the latest greatest stuff out there. i will be doing some shopping while I'm there. most vendors offer show specials. they can really add up fast. they always end up more than paying for the trip. i highly recommend going at least once.

 

The bruno drive showed up today. This uses a convertor to run the lenco. The cylinder on the right side is the air brake. Its also a trans brake. Its used to stop the power into the trans. This allows the driver to shift into forward or reverse. The gauge shows how much pressure is being run. The amount of slip can be adjusted for changing track conditions. These brunos are bad ass. More work was done this morning on the engine mount. The two pieces are now joined together. Looking closely the joints can be seen. The three pieces are machined to lock together. I dropped off my gas tank that i had. It fits better than the one made the other day. Its just set in the car. This tank is very custom so i can run my efi. Im changing first gear in the lenco on sunday. The brunos a course spline and the lencos fine. Good thing my friend who is riding with me to the pri show just happened to have the course gear setup i need under the bench. I will drop it off monday. Now everything is in place.

 

Nitro hemi, Bruno... this is getting serious and I like it a lot

 

Day one at the pri show was a big success. If you work the show right you can ussually get a show special price with free shipping thrown in. I always ask if i can buy the display items at the end of the show. This works for the vendor because they dont have to haul it home. I got my hans device today for 300 dollars this way. I bought shocks; seats; fire system; tools and a few other things. This show is more than paid for. And there is still another big day.

 

holy shit batman !! first class all the way !! hey, what size is the bruno lenco, compared to my 400 ???
hmmm.. I can dream can't i ?

 

I was able to pick up the body today. The weather in wisconsin has been very strange. Like most of the u.s. it has been warm. At this time of the year there should be snow. Today it was almost 60. Things just sometimes work out. good car hauling weather. when the crash first happened i was so pissed off i couldn't wait to get things torn apart so i could get the body out of the shop so i didn't have to look at it. now that i have calmed down some what I'm glad its back. the guy that hammered out this body years ago is on his way up from arizona to straighten out the mess i have. he is a old time guy who metal finishes. he is in his 70s and can run circles around guys half his age. more on jack in the near future. the body was braced using the new body mounts in anticipation of the beating it is about to receive from jack. we want to make sure the body will still fit the frame when we are done.

 

We've been enjoying your cold....21 degrees this morning, it got up to 44 I think.

Progress....good!

 

the second part of the visit was a big surprise. after i got the body secured to the trailer i was treated to this progress. i stood back and looked at it for a while. then it hit me. this is becoming a serious effort. its hard to get good pics with all of the bars now. i took a few pics so some of the details can be seen. the frame was flipped over for welding the bottom of the tubes. its finally off the jig. the bottom rail is now welded in. the second rail sure gives it the nostalgic look i wanted. the new narrower seats fit. i had ordered 18 inch seats. with the way the body taperes down toward the front the seats would only fit if they were as far back as possible. in that position i couldn't see out the drivers window. the new 16 inch seats allow them to be moved up to the proper position. the next step is to mount the drive train. jim is in tight with the guys at strange eng. he is taking the dana down there to use their jig to install the new tubes. that way we know its all correct. jim says things go fairly fast now. with the body being worked on along with the frame at the same time i better get going putting the engine together. it was a good day. lots of progress.

 

jim our time is coming. we have only had one measurable snow once so far. last nights news said december was the fourth warmest on record. i have been able to enjoy the chevelle a few more times this year. steve next time i go to the chassis shop i will measure the bruno/leco. most likely next week.

 

Seats are upside down, methinks you'll rub all the skin off your head...........

 

Theres so much tubing in todays frames that it makes my eyes dizzy trying to figure out what goes where. You surely are moving fast forward!

 

the chassis shop looks , like you picked the right guys ! I love the chassis jig, with the locating clamps, very methodical. wow..awesome !!

 

Looks to be over 200 feet of tubing so far. I don't know about you but I really am not missing winter around here.