[Stroker Ace Ventura]

Those sure are purdy!!!

 

[kimmer71]

Those sure are purdy!!!

Doesn't look like 3-4 hours or work though right? Wish I had a blast cabinet. Heck, I wish I had room for a blast cabinet. That's not going to happen.

 

[Stroker Ace Ventura]

Wish I had a blast cabinet. Heck, I wish I had room for a blast cabinet.

I picked a used one up off CL last year for $75 and have it on a 4-wheeled mover's dolly. Easy to roll around anywhere

 

[lwlevens]

Jeez you guys want it to easy, when I did my 72 all I had was sandpaper.😥

 

[sudden_impulse]

I know off-road guys use them, but could you get a set of shock limiter straps? Would hate for your shocks to die prematurely sure to being extended fully.

 

[kimmer71]

I know off-road guys use them, but could you get a set of shock limiter straps? Would hate for your shocks to die prematurely sure to being extended fully.

I’ll get the shocks sized correctly. They will be selected for correct operation, at ride height. I do know that they will fully extend and hold the rear when it’s lifted off the ground though. Didn’t think that would be an issue.

 

[kimmer71]

Pedals are in. OER kit from Classic Industries had the wrong pedal cover for the clutch. Got started on the tunnel patch template. Have to integrate a shifter boot somehow.

 

[kimmer71]

I’ve made progress on the tunnel patch. Won’t be able to weld it in or paint until I pull the engine and trans out. I’ve been struggling to find an adequate shifter boot which is odd to me. The hole for the shifter opening is 5”x 8”, which is what is required to access and remove the shifter block. Hurst makes a giant boot which would fit over the hole but I’m not liking the envisioned look/fit. I’ve now resigned myself to a much smaller, round boot that will require an intermediate assembly of sheet metal between the large tunnel opening and the smaller boot opening. It will need to be removable to service the shifter. It’s strange to me that I can’t just find a boot to fit the standard opening for the T56. I’d like to be able to put a console in the car but I’m not sure that’s in the cards at this point.

 

[sudden_impulse]

If you can find a smaller square boot, why not make the panel for that? Would riv-nuts or welding nuts under the tunnel work, then using button-head screws?

Might not fit with the theme of the car, but a Dodge Neon console would fit (depending on spacing of the shifter on the console and the location you can clock yours to). My Neon console was from a manual car, and it gives me an e-brake slot (planning to ditch my foot pedal and go to a universal lever) as well as 4 cup holders. Cost me $20-25 from a U-Pull lot.

 

[kimmer71]

If you can find a smaller square boot, why not make the panel for that? Would riv-nuts or welding nuts under the tunnel work, then using button-head screws?

Might not fit with the theme of the car, but a Dodge Neon console would fit (depending on spacing of the shifter on the console and the location you can clock yours to). My Neon console was from a manual car, and it gives me an e-brake slot (planning to ditch my foot pedal and go to a universal lever) as well as 4 cup holders. Cost me $20-25 from a U-Pull lot.

I’ll have to take a look at the console you mentioned because I will need a hand brake solution for my ebrake too. I have a cage bar where the foot pedal used to live. I am planning on rivnuts for the large opening so it can be removed to gain access to the shifter. The problem I’m seeing with all the various boots is not being able to center them. The Tremec shifter is way back in relation to the opening so most will be problematic trying to center them. That small round one in the picture is about the only one I think I can successfully position centered and still have a clean looking “hump” for the top boot to sit on. As long as I can get a console over it, I’ll be happy. Otherwise it’s not really an attractive look. I have actually considered the ********* Hurst boot, which is about 2” too wide but it would have to be contoured around the tunnel. Would probably look much better. This is one of those trial and error deals where you have to order 2 or 3 boots and go with the best fit I guess. You can find many videos on YouTube about tunnel patches but the shifter boot solution is unrepresented. One guy, Restocar I think, did a few videos on his Camaro and it looked like it took him months to get it sorted. It came out decent but it was a lot of work.

 

[xxdabroxx]

I'm not real familiar with touring suspension setups but for drag racing you want a lot more droop than 2". Particularly in a traction limited environment. I like the idea of cutting some of that crossmember out.

 

[kimmer71]

I'm not real familiar with touring suspension setups but for drag racing you want a lot more droop than 2". Particularly in a traction limited environment. I like the idea of cutting some of that crossmember out.

Yes, I'll definitely be opening up the crossmember. I'll probably integrate a loop on top while I'm in there with the welder. I had to mess around with the rear shock mount height on the axle to get the travel within the dimensions I needed. I ordered the Viking C207 (Speedtech kit from Summit) coil over shocks with 225# springs. They will be right at 14.25" at ride height with 1 more 3/4" adjustment up available on the lower shock mounts. the 16.25' max extension will definitely keep the DS off the crossmember, but it's only 2" of available droop. I struggled with ordering the next size up shock but the droop was going to be too much I think. Hopefully it all falls into place now. Another concern I have is being able to get enough droop in the suspension to be able to get the rear wheel off. No way they will come off at ride height! I can't imagine living with a situation where I have to disconnect the shocks and driveshaft to get the wheels off this thing.

 

[Nick_R_23]

Would a Miata boot work? They’re fairly large.

 

[kimmer71]

Would a Miata boot work? They’re fairly large.

Thanks for the tip. I may have to look into it. I got pushed back on the shifter boot issue with driveline angle adjustments resulting in some additional tunnel rework.

 

[kimmer71]

Got the rear shocks today. Been working on getting my driveline angles correct which pushed the transmission up another 1.5”. Still need to get the rear out of the car to clearance my crossmember for the driveshaft but wanted to get my driveshaft ordered first. Finally got that done today. Baby steps lately. Pictures of my final driveline angles.

 

[kimmer71]

Here is the Driveshaft I ordered from Denny's Driveshafts. They were really easy to work with and recommended that I upgrade my pinion yoke to a 1350 universal type. The OEM 1310 would not be adequate for the HP/Torque data I gave them. Ordered one of those too.

 

[xxdabroxx]

I've got a very similar shaft in mine, 1350's with sonnax slip yoke. So far so good.

 

[kimmer71]

I've got a very similar shaft in mine, 1350's with sonnax slip yoke. So far so good.

Nice! Dave, did you and your Dad have to mess with driveline angles at all? Any idea where you landed with engine inclination and pinion angle? Just curious where you guys set the car for good performance.

 

[xxdabroxx]

We didn't really look at engine angle, it was what it was so to speak. But we did use the engine angle to set pinion. We used a digital angle finder on the output shaft of the trans and again on the pinion. It's easy to overthink driveline angles, you want the pinion and the trans angles to neutralize out with standard U joints but you need to consider what the suspension does under load to figure that out. You also need some angle so that the needle bearings in the u joints spin, if your diff aligns perfectly with your trans the bearings never get to do any work and sit stagnant (at least that's what the internet says and it makes sense to me). 4 link is likely going to be different than ladder bar/ leaf. I'm fairly familiar with jeep 4 link with a CV joint driveshaft and a leaf spring standard shaft. Trial by fire.

IIRC I think we're somewhere between 3-5 degrees down on the pinion likely closer to 5 which was the upper end of the allowable spectrum. With caltrac's you need some downward angle because as the rear end separates it rotates downward pivoting around the front spring eye reducing the pinion angle the more the diff travels. So at load/ speed when there is separation the pinion is rotated to a more correct neutral angle. We added a degree or two of tapered shim under the diff to take some angle out after modifying the rear suspension a bit with the sliders and new leaf springs. So far, no vibration cruising on the highway, under load, or in the shut down at the end of the track.

 

[kimmer71]

We didn't really look at engine angle, it was what it was so to speak. But we did use the engine angle to set pinion. We used a digital angle finder on the output shaft of the trans and again on the pinion. It's easy to overthink driveline angles, you want the pinion and the trans angles to neutralize out with standard U joints but you need to consider what the suspension does under load to figure that out. You also need some angle so that the needle bearings in the u joints spin, if your diff aligns perfectly with your trans the bearings never get to do any work and sit stagnant (at least that's what the internet says and it makes sense to me). 4 link is likely going to be different than ladder bar/ leaf. I'm fairly familiar with jeep 4 link with a CV joint driveshaft and a leaf spring standard shaft. Trial by fire.

IIRC I think we're somewhere between 3-5 degrees down on the pinion likely closer to 5 which was the upper end of the allowable spectrum. With caltrac's you need some downward angle because as the rear end separates it rotates downward pivoting around the front spring eye reducing the pinion angle the more the diff travels. So at load/ speed when there is separation the pinion is rotated to a more correct neutral angle. We added a degree or two of tapered shim under the diff to take some angle out after modifying the rear suspension a bit with the sliders and new leaf springs. So far, no vibration cruising on the highway, under load, or in the shut down at the end of the track.

View attachment 441064

I don't understand what you mean when you say "separates". Do you mean separation from power/load or are you referring to suspension load separation or...? Thanks.