Well on Friday I found some time as my wife and son went shopping. I decided to try and complete the minitubs and get them squared away.
Here I show you what I have left. The old seatbelt mount was rotted away and I needed a new seatbelt anchor.
Here I show you how bad my welding it. While I penetrate the metal, I don’t have a nice clean weld.
Inside view
Now with the metal replaced I grinded the welds down flat and seam sealed over it all.
Inside view
After all that dried I painted POR15 over everything to protect it. I did the entire trunk, the rear seat area and the inside tubs.
My plan is to put sound deadener on the inside of the car and then use rocker guard inside the tubs to cover the POR15 as it has no UV protection. Don’t want the sun breaking it down.
Joe
Well I finally got my butt out into the garage today. I decided since I was dead broke from buying the T56 Viper transmission I would do some of the crappy time consuming work that needs to be done but no one likes to do.
I welded for the first time today. My welder has been busy during the race season as well as with work/family obligations. The picture shows you why I shouldn’t weld. 
Doesn’t really matter though since I grinded it down smooth and applied seam sealer over the welds. What your seeing is the trunk lid hinge brackets re-attached to the tubs.
Then I moved on with the tube of seam sealer and did inside the tub where the wheels are. I’m planning to paint this area over with POR15 and then spray a rubberized gravel guard in there to protect the metal and help with some noise reduction.
Once all this is completed and I can purchase a Quicktime Bellhousing and T56 transmission mount I’ll be mocking an engine/trans in and fabricating a center hump.
Joe
Well I haven’t done alot of work but I did get some stuff done on the weekend.
I seam sealed most of the tubs on the inside of the car. Still have to do the outside and inner wheel wells.
I then put down a good layer of POR15. I’m not even sure I’m going to keep the spare tire area as I might go with a fuel tank that drops in through the trunk.
I’ve still got to do the inner quarters with POR15. I also have a few holes to weld up as well as tack the trunk hinge braces back to the tubs.
Riddler
Well on Saturday, Jim and I made some more progress on the car and finished off the minitubs. The work completed looks amazing and to think we did this with a mig welder and angle grinders is amazing. Just imagine if we had the right tools…
Please bear in mind the heat was killer, 90 degree’s with extreme humidity.
These pictures show the first tub completed and tacked in. Afterwards Jim went back and completed stitch welds for strength.
This is the second side. Here you can see the patch panels I made out of sheet metal.
Through the taillight views, driver’s side then passenger. While I was going to be seam sealing the tubs I fixed the trunk extension on the passenger side and got it ready for new seal seal.
Inside the car view. As you can see I still need to replace the seatbelt mounts. Any idea if replacement seatbelt mounts are available?
The cross braces for the back seat welded back in.
Now to finally finish the minitubs off, we need to put some better welds on the bottom of the cross braces, replace the seatbelt mounts, and cut the trunk arm braces and reweld them on.
Joe
Tuesday, June 21, 2011 Posted in General
Well today I got done with my mock up on some hood struts and it worked, but at the same time didn’t work out. To hide the struts inside the fenders you’d need crazy struts with a ton of PSI. I tried to use a pair 90psi struts and while it holds the bare hood open it won’t assist bring it up. These struts were nearly impossible to install and the only way I was able to do it was to get them in a 10,000lbs tow strap and tighten them closed. Anyway onto some pictures.
Strut Closed
Strut Open
Anyway my plan now is to just go back to using the stock hinges with springs. I’ll have them blasted and painted with the car. Who knows maybe I’ll even get some hood struts later on and attach them to the hood and fender like the OEM’s do it now.
I’ve also made a new purchase. A set of 1976 Ontario Vintage Plates. I’m hoping I can use them.
Riddler
Wednesday, June 8, 2011 Posted in General
So today I was able to get over to Inline Tube Inc. in Shelby Township. Let me tell you guys these guys know and understand brakes. I walked in expecting to have to explain everything. They looked at what I had in mind and went above and beyond.
In this picture you can see the green and white coat hangers I bent up for the rear axle. They took those and made CNC copies of them in stainless steel.
I was then explained that since I’ve gone with Wilwood rear disc brake I should have some sort of flex lines as they tend to move slightly unlike stock drums. So I went ahead and purchased the rear flexline kit. Along with that I also purchased all stainless hardware and three tabs to weld to the axle and body. On top of that they had the Mopar rear axle Tee I wanted.
After Inline Tube I ran over to Mancini Racing to purchase a new vent tube. Lucky for me they also had a Wilwood Proportioning Valve hanging on the wall for $41. I’ll take that!
While at Mancini Racing I saw a product called Lizard Skin. I’m going to contact the company and see about getting a small sample of each just to see what it looks like in person.
http://www.lizardskin.com
Joe
Sunday, May 29, 2011 Posted in General
Here’s an update from today. I was able to find some time today to get the rear axle built and into the car.
Laid down a nice bead of Permatex Gear Oil RTV Sealant. Specially made for rear axles!
Bolted on the center section. 45 ft/lbs
Installed the brakes and axles. Not a fun task having to take them on and off 3-4 times. But there finally done and I learned a few tricks!
Rotors and Calipers installed. They look great!
What kind of axles are those? That’s right, MOSERS!
Assembled ready to go into the car.
Here’s one of the wheels on the car. Studs are too long for the style of lug nuts I have. Plan right now is to cut them down.
So how’d I do?
Joe
Friday, March 18, 2011 Posted in General
Well I finally got off my butt and opened the rear Wilwood Dyna-lite brakes with parking brakes. Good news is all the parts are there. The bad news is the calipers do not match the fronts. The rears are actually black and the fronts are what Wilwood calls "Platnium". Apparently Wilwood changed to platinum powdercoating for a short period of time and I was lucky enough to get a pair.
Rear are on the top, fronts are bolted on.
The good news is, Bill Reilly at Reilly Motorsports Inc., is taking care of me. I’ve sent the platinum back to him and I’m getting a pair of black ones.
If anyone likes that platinum colour Bill now has a complete set of front and rears.
Joe
Monday, March 7, 2011 Posted in General
I’ve been keeping this under wraps for a few weeks while working with Shawn Mascoll of Mascoll Designs.
This is a rendering of the completed look for Project EH-body.
So what do you think?
Joe
Sunday, February 27, 2011 Posted in General
Well sort of a large update today. Jim and I and our friend Steve hit up Autorama Detroit this weekend and this really got our car juices flowing. So today we worked like crazy mad men!
Jim went right to work on the the minitubs. He grinded and welded and floor to the frame.
While he was working on that I removed spot welds and then removed the floors from the tubs. After that was done I got snagged on a stud for the rocker trim. Grinded those right off.
Jim and I got both tubs tacked in and solid enough for use to leave them. We were both sick of working in the grinding mess so we cleaned up.
One would think this is all we got completed today. But it was nice out and we worked with the garage door up. We mocked up the RMS Street Linx so I can have the read end cut down.
StreetLinx all laid out on the bench…
Now the mock up shots.
Well that’s all for today!
Joe
by Joe
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