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  #861  
Old 03-14-2018, 10:49 PM
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Those two front body mounts that are in the pictures are metal to metal. The rest have what looks to be a 3/8" thick neoprene bushing between the frame and body.
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  #862  
Old 03-15-2018, 07:12 PM
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I added more temporary bracing on the strut plates to get them exactly where they belong and rigid enough to stay there until all the parts were tacked in place. Once everything was tacked in, I checked them one last time. I had to make a minor adjustment on the right side and it was ready to weld. On this particular suspension system the upper mount is not adjustable. On most true strut cars, caster and camber are set by adjusting from the top. On this one, the upper control arm is mounted stationary and adjustments are done on the lower control arm and slotted mounting holes. This means that the upper mounting plates must be exactly where they belong. There's no adjusting them later.
Once I was satisfied that everything was where it is supposed to be I started welding it up, checking for movement as I went along. I welded areas on the left, then did the same areas on the right, moving back and forth to avoid the possibility of pulling everything off to one side. Still more welding to do up here but I'm closing in on it.

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  #863  
Old 03-16-2018, 09:44 PM
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I picked up my lower control arms this morning. I had them narrowed 1" each. We pressed the ball joint out, welded up the original bore, then bored a new hole 1" inboard of the original location, milled off the excess material along the outer edge and reinstalled the ball joint.

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I installed the upper and lower control arms and the knuckle. Everything looks pretty good. I need to check a little closer before boxing in the strut towers though. It doesn't look like I'm getting zero camber. I should have enough adjustment available to get a small amount of positive. It appears that with the lower control arm bolts pushed all the way in on the slotted holes, I am still at about 1 degree negative camber. I either need to slot the holes deeper inboard or move the upper strut towers outboard to correct this. The strut towers are in the correct positions, I checked again and they are right. I think I need to work on the slotted holes for the lower control arms. It's a minor problem but it needs to be corrected.

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  #864  
Old 03-16-2018, 10:21 PM
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Looking good, I’m going to find this process interesting because if it’s technical and precise nature.

I’m curious to hear or see your method of measuring and aligning the suspension at this point?

I start with the project on a “zeroed out” level surface and use my digital angle finder along with staight edges either on the face of the hub, front or back of the spindles etc. to check the appropriate caster or camber. I feel this is close enough for the building process to get “in spec”, later on obviously I’ll have a proper alignment done.

Is this similar to what you would do?
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  #865  
Old 03-17-2018, 12:11 AM
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Yup. Just get it to where it will take a proper alignment.
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  #866  
Old 03-21-2018, 08:10 PM
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I was checking on why I was limited on camber adjustment and realized that I hadn't tightened the upper and lower ball joints. I didn't want to pull the tapered joints in and have to pry them apart again so they were just hanging on the nuts. I snugged them up and got zero camber but I wanted a little room for adjustment so I extended the slots another 1/4".
I started back on the strut towers. I used a 1 x 2 steel tube for the top of the core support and put 5 degree bends at each end so they would run along the leading edge of the top plates and welded them in. The tops are now very rigid and won't need a bolt on stabilizer bar any more

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I was going to make a new front upper closure but after looking at the original and determining what I need to do to replace it, I found that everything I need to do is already done on the original. I trimmed a couple inches off the rear edge to fit against the core support and that's a done deal. I'll have it blasted and primed and move on.

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Next I started boxing in the strut towers. Nothing fancy here. I put a couple stiffening ribs in the sides and bent them up. The rear edge is welded to a vertical frame tube so this tower setup is very stable. I still need to close up the front tomorrow.

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Last edited by Jack 1957; 07-23-2018 at 08:30 PM.
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  #867  
Old 03-22-2018, 08:29 AM
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Another awe inspiring post Mr Jack. I love the functional "surface entertainment" you seem to include in every fabricated piece.
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  #868  
Old 03-22-2018, 05:58 PM
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Looks like it's really shaping up nicely. Will the engine drop down out the bottom of the chassis with the cradle eventually? I'm assuming the strut tower cross brace blocks access from above?
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  #869  
Old 03-22-2018, 07:28 PM
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The engine will go in from above. It will sit back behind the strut towers. The engine mounts will be somewhere on the 49 frame rails. I won't know exactly where until I swap the CTS firewall into the 49.
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  #870  
Old 03-22-2018, 07:35 PM
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I made the front panels of the strut towers and got them installed. The next panels ahead of these to close the gap between the upper rails and fenders will be bolted to the fenders. I'm not going to mess with them right now. I also won't be closing off the area behind the wheels until I've swapped the firewall.


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