Projects 26 T Roadster Pick Up build Thread

You're welcome but its really not option 3, that's a 3 step fix so 1 & 2 are part of it.

 

Understood
I have a question to go with this. Forgive my lack of knowledge on this one.
How much suspension travel will the typical coil overs actually give you ?
I have a pair of TCI All Americans and will be setting them at the recommended fully loaded ride length of 13 1/2 "
I removed the bed and did a little checking on things this afternoon.
Larry.

 

Theoretically, they could travel enough to collapse or until the axle hits a bump stop.
So where's the bump stop end the travel.

On a transverse spring you'll be lucky to see 3"

 

Here's what I have come up with after some suspension wrangling.
I removed the bed and then took off the mock up bars that I had in place of the coil overs.

In moving my suspension up and down with my floor jack I discovered.
1) That bar I thought was going to contact the top of the rear end does not do so until about 3.5 " up
2) The TCI all American coil overs only give about 3.5 " of maximum travel
3) I have 6" from the bottom of my frame to the top of the axle tube.
4) With 3" bump stops installed under the frame rails I will have the 3" of travel I need to stop the coil overs from bottoming out and also to avoid the control arm hitting the rear end.
5) In working the suspension through it's range of up and down and side to side I proved its effectiveness.
It articulates well from side to side with no binding ( I had one tire on the floor and jacked up the other side smoothly with no binding until the other tire was 5" off the floor and the frame did not move. Coming down was just as good.
6) With the driveshaft in place the travel up and down is such that the front yoke moves in and out of the transmission about 1/2" total through the range of up and down movement. So not a lot of change there.

Conclusion, It appears I was wrong and that my suspension design 2.0 will be a keeper.
I've located some Universal Prothane bump stops and will install them and then move on with my exhaust.
Whew
Details
Larry

 

Sounds great, now back to work on a fabulous build.

 

That sound like the business then. The bump stops look very good. JW

 

That was an easy fix

 

There, there.....and you were doubting yourself. You had it right from the start, well maybe not the very start. Good job!

 

Back on the exhaust, I got the drops off the headers built and the pipes come off and sweep and drop back through the 45° holes in the frame.
The way they run is to allow the reveal I put into the frame to still be seen and I think they look nice.
There is 3/4" of clearance all around each pipe so they will never hit the frame.
Next will come the undercar system with those nice blue Porters.
Larry

 

Larry, that is exceptional work, which at this point, is no surprise! Your attention to detail is amazing.

 

That looks very nice ! When I did bends on my exhausts I made cardboard templates of the U-bends and trimmed them till they fitted, then transferred to the bend. JW

 

Excellent looking exhaust!
Nice to be following along on a well planned and detailed build up.

Earl

 

You have a good eye. The angles are perfect. Great work.

 

I like that a lot,neat clean n very cool looking

 

Larry, This RPU build thread is 15 pages of brilliance- - Lots of "creative-but-not-overly-complex" ideas that even a hack like me can understand and wouldn't be afraid to try.

Thanks!

 

That look great my friend!

 

Back onto the undercar exhaust.
First I built a cradle for my floor jack to hold the mufflers in place.
Things are so tight under there that the hangers were a challenge to say the least.
I ended up putting hangers on the front and rear of the Porters and using a V Band clamp on each end of them.
The pretty blue paint they put on the Porters is crap, basically a token spray job.
I'll likely end up having them ceramic coated along with the entire system headers and everything front to back.
Next I'll re-install the bed and figure out the pipes up over the rear end and out the back.
Larry.

 

Cool idea and nice work!

 

That sure is tight under there, cool job. JW

 

NICE!!!!!

 

Very nice work and great progress.

 

A tiny but rather important update.
I started looking at the exhaust mounting grommets I had bought and am using, the black ones you see in the photos.
I realized that they are made of polyurethane and due to the way I am using them in close proximity to the heat (especially on the front hanger) that they would likely end up melting.

So I sourced and ordered up some replacements made of blue high temp silicone.
A very high heat resistance temp range so there will be no melting
Details
Larry
I also ordered up a Centech electronic fan control module that will trigger my electric fan off of the electric temp gauge.

 

It's like Tetris only different
Awesome

 

Spent some time and completed the rest of the exhaust system. Pictures will follow at 6

 

Ok so I stretched the truth a wee bit. I have to remove the tailpipes and finish weld them and then re-install.
I will also likely cut a small bit off of the ends so that they end even with the back of my bed.
I left them a bit long.
They clear everything and are tucked up above the bottom of the soon to be installed bump stops.
Larry

 

Very impressive as usual sir!!


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Dude... killer.

 

Very slick work and those clamps are way cool. JW

 

Once you fire that up, there are going to be so many jealous hydrocarbon molecules

 

I missed this. Awesome thread and great fab skills..