Cam sent through a pic this afternoon, showing great progress installing the rear wheel tubs. There's plenty of clearance for the wheels and tyres once I get those sorted with room to grow in the future.
The bar was tacked welded in to ensure the tub remained square while the extra cutting and fitting was done, and with some more progress this week should hopefully see the tub back on the chassis all done.
Picked up two pairs of steel wheel tubs from McDonald Bros Racing today. The quality of the tubs is great, and the fact they were able to have them ready only a day after I ordered them is fantastic. Will get those dropped off to the shop next week for Cam to put in when he's ready.
I've also been tweaking the site design, and integrating Facebook Connect. You can add comments to each entry.
I took an opportunity to get out from work early and inspect the recent progress myself, prior to the axles being taken out to again to be re-done properly.
The Watts link has been completed and looks good, with changes to tub being made to make up for the large hole in the middle of it. We also took measurements for wheel tubs, front and rear.
A couple of extra pics, but none of the Watts link, silly me.
As promised in my last entry, the truck has had a lot more attention, and subsequently progress has been great! The rear is almost finished, with the Watts link being finalised as I type.
The tub is back on the chassis, with a nice big hole in the middle to fit over the modified rear end. As you can see, it sits very low, with the rear bumper almost resting on the floor. I'm thinking rear roll pan more seriously now.
The front end has had the extra metal welded into the frame as per the engineers requirements, and one of the front quarter panels in back on to check clearances with the front tyres, and there's not a lot of room to move out.
With other projects to clear from the shop, the truck hasn't had the full attention it needed to progress towards a finished rear end, but it's getting there.
The old cross-member that would have fouled the new driveshaft is gone, and the holes welded up. The extra cross-member has been added to the front of the notch , and radiusing the notch itself has also begun.
The shocks are being altered to sit upright, with a new upper mount to be fabricated. As the old stock shocks have too much travel, new shocks are being sourced. This will limit travel and prevent damage to the rear airbags.
No progress yet on the Watts Link, but next week should see the truck get full attention. Unfortunately the diff needs to go again to ge the axles amended to what was originally requested, and more delays are almost inevitable.
Not a lot of progress to report or pictures to show unfortunately. Some of the new metalwork to be integrated has been cut/bent, ready to be welded in to make the engineer happy.
One departure from the original plan has been to ditch the panhard rod in favour of a watts link setup. Kits for these are both few in number and expensive, but there's hordes of Falcons sitting in wrecking yards with Watts link setups in the back. Armed with a spanner or two and a socket wrench, Cam and I nicked the Watts link from an EF Falcon (I did pay for it...), and with a bit of work it will be adapted to the Ford 9" inch and the chassis to suit. This will also make the engineer happy, and saves us having to have a longer panhard rod machined up.
Yesterday the truck was looked over by my engineer, who for the most part is happy with the progress thus far. A few mods to make, such as lengthening the panhard rod, replacing the shocks with shorter items for a more upright mounting position and more chassis rail boxing forward from where they currently end at the rear of the truck.
One bonus was being told we could completely remove the cross member that was expected to require modification to clear the tailshaft at it's new angle, even with the two-piece item I sourced.
A last minute dive into the shop proved to be rewarding, with news the rear was now ready for my engineer Bill to come and inspect the structural work on the chassis this Thursday. Once he ok's the current progress it'll be welded up properly and painted.
The guys were busy packing up, ready to head home and the lights were off at the back of the shop, so the picture quality is a little poor this time.
Unsure yet how much more will be done before I take it away for the headers, as the compressor, tank airlines, height controller, etc need installing, and the tub needs be be put back with a section cut out to fit over the notch.
Dropped in to find some more progress on the rear, which is great given the recent delays. The airbag mounts, the bumpstop mounts and the upper shock mount cross-member have been tacked welded in. Later in the day some machined inserts for the lower shock mounts of the diff arrived, so they should be tacked welded in place by now as well along with the panhard rod. Once the engineer has been in to inspect the work everything can be welded in place properly.
Work is also progressing on an alternative for mounting the brake booster, which currently fouls the right-front tyre without air. Short term we'll mount is closer to the firewall, but long term a better option might be the offset booster mount used by the Valiants with a V8.
Having recently renovated the bathroom and ensuite in our house, I'm familiar with unforeseen issues and delays. The diff proved to be a trial for the shop who worked on it, thus the lengthy gap between updates.
The factory axles were bent, and needed replacing. The replacement axles were longer the factory pieces, and required a second shot at shortening before the diff could be completed. Unfortunately when Cam picked up the axles they were drilled with the standard effy pattern, and not with the chev pattern as requested, but at least now work can continue on the rear. Definitely another update next week.
