[unibody madness]

So I decided to up date the old thread to keep it easier to view
here are some pictures to update progress

original chassis

dissasembly

starting the mock up

Now on to dissasembly prime and paint


TWX pm sent

 

[dana44]

Did you get the crossmember for the torsion bars in the rear of the car frame? Don't do priming and painting until that part is put in, save a whole lot or rework. The rest of it looks real good, great fit and all that, sturdy if I do say so myself. In your fourth picture from the top you can see the hex of the torsion bar at the lower control arm. About 18-24 inches behind that is a cross brace. If you want to keep it, you can, simply cut a hole or notch it to clear the torsion bar by half an inch all the way around. The torsion bar twists but doesn't move up, down, or to the side, so it just needs enough clearance to keep from having road debris gather around it if you do a tube for it to pass through, but quite truthfully, unless the body attaches to this crossmember, simply remove it and replace it with the rear torsion bar support. When you get it, you may find it needing a little more structural support, I believe it is part of the unitbody construction of the car and not part of the front suspension you got as the donor.

Good work, by the way.

 

[unibody madness]

Just getting started on the mock up.That cross brace actually is rather important in that my motor, mounts in three places, the very front with a horse shoe mount and in the rear with two ears on the bell housing to that cross member.I have been told that the torsion bars will fit under it. we will see.
The next step is to actually mock up the strut bar hangers then on to the torsion bars and the special made cross brace for the rear I seem to be having problems figuring out the front calipers as what I have does not match the pictures in the 79 manual. I will post pictures of what I have and maybe someone will recognise the year or make,maybe they are after market,It sure is a lot easier when you take it apart yourself
Anyway thats it for now
John

 

[Bearhawke]

Just getting started on the mock up.That cross brace actually is rather important in that my motor, mounts in three places, the very front with a horse shoe mount and in the rear with two ears on the bell housing to that cross member.I have been told that the torsion bars will fit under it. we will see.
The next step is to actually mock up the strut bar hangers then on to the torsion bars and the special made cross brace for the rear I seem to be having problems figuring out the front calipers as what I have does not match the pictures in the 79 manual. I will post pictures of what I have and maybe someone will recognise the year or make,maybe they are after market,It sure is a lot easier when you take it apart yourself
Anyway thats it for now
John

If needed; you can swap the Mopar spindles from side to side to place the calipers either in front of or behind the front axle centerline, which would open up more possibilities

 

[unibody madness]

spent the last couple of days notching and fabing the bypass tubes for the torsion bars, finished the fitment and welded them up today.the welding is not real pretty but will do the job.next I have to modify the torsion bar socket hangers.
here are some pictures before they were full welded. going to have to cut and reposition the torsion bar hangers and finalize the torque bar brackets

thanks for the interest
john

 

[dana44]

Looks real good, and everything seems to be going together pretty easy overall.

 

[unibody madness]

My appologies to those who have helped me with this project along the way. I have experienced some health issues as has my wife. Although not ment to be an excuse I hope this stands as an explanation for me not being as active on this forum as I would have liked to be.
That and the rest of lifes little surprises have kept me slowly making progress on my unconventional build.
Hope this helps to bring the project up to speed:
After the rough install I blew it all apart for blasting and paint.

To make a long story short this is where it sits as of today.

The 292 yblock motor has been rebuilt and sits in its original position thanks to helpfull suggestions from this site

you can see the body of this project in the background of this pic. still in original paint

I had the original bell modded and rebuilt the venerable Borg Warner T-5 with a chevy s10 tail shaft housing to help with the stick placement

This way the shifter will not be hard up against the seat and will allow some room for the vertically challenged to move the seat forward.

Once again thanks for your help in the past.

 

[Bearhawke]

We def understand health issues; I'll be 55 in a few weeks.

 

[dana44]

Totally agree, and thanks for giving us an update on the whole project, which, by the way, is impressive at this point of time, even if it is a FoGMpar.

 

[unibody madness]

Thanks guys I appreciate the responses after such a long time.
Bearhawk,
it's not the age it's the milage.. but its been a great ride.
Dana44,
Thanks for the kudos, it is however a fopar. The tranny is out of the ford stable...Mustang . The tranny was used in everything from generators, amc,gm, nissan, and Izusu, over a twenty year period,only the tail shaft housing is from the s10.
John

 

[unibody madness]

Just a quick pic of the 'Turk' with a 1979 Cordoba front end (Gibbons) Not quite finished but road worthy and driving great.
Thanks for all the help I received on this site
John