X stinguished - i reframed my thinking

Yeah, so it has been awhile, and I am sorry for that..but lets just say thanks because it is ON!!!

I consulted with my chief design engineer..aka friend about this chassis and came up with a much better plan.

I cut it out..what is it..glad you asked

Then things got crazy..tubing..measuring, cutting, grinding, welding…measuring…measuring..more measuring..

I think this suspension is going to be fun…

check it out

The toughest part was making the front pieces…now..i still have some structural steel to add, but it works great.

This suspension is used in NASCAR’s cars and it originated from 60-72 chevy half ton pick up trucks..still lots to do, but this was a MAJOR step.

Framework - plans taking shape

So I had some time off this week, being Thanksgiving and all, so I had a chance to get to the metal yard and pick up what I needed to start my frame work. I picked up some steel tubing, mostly 2×4 and 2×6 with some plate as well. I think I will need to head back there again shortly to pick up some more stuff. Anyway, I got to work on the first part.

The rear crossmember. Rusted out and bent, it needed to be replaced. In addition to that I also needed to get the rusted bumper bolts out of the frame. So I went to work.

The rear crossmember is 50 inches and so when I got the metal I made sure to have them cut it to specification. It worked out perfectly.

With some prepping and my welder all warmed up it went in perfectly. Though you can’t see it, there are 4 bumper bolts that I had to remove from the frame. They were a royal pain.

My plan is to run a trailing arm rear suspension, simliar to nascar and so I will need to stiffen up the center of the car as well as take care of some of the rust issues. I plan on cutting out the center member hump, once I get every other brace welded in and the arms positioned. For now though, I have the center pieces in place. It reall stiffens up the frame.

Eventually I will have a 2×4 cross member running width-wise connecting the two outside rails and used as a locating piece for the front of the arms and I will probably run plate along the inside of the frame as well.

Bare Frame

The work has begun on the frame. I have removed the body bushings (small rubber disks cushioning the body and reducing the squeeking. Most are hard as a rock from years of weather and climate so those will definitely have to be replaced.

As well I have started to clean the frame and assess areas that need to be strengthened. I should be able to make quite an impact by welding some well placed braces and connection pieces.

Starting with this frame certainly makes me appreciate new metal as most of the frame has pitting.

I haven’t made a decision just yet regarding the rear kick up area of the frame and when I do I will post on my progress.

I have picked up driveshaft but haven’t had time to get it cut down quite yet.

Lift off!!

As I continued to dig into this project, I knew early that I needed to get to the frame to make sure that everything is strong. With so much of the parts running outside of the car like fuel lines, brake lines, exhaust, it would be a wise choice to start with a bare frame.

So, with a little help from another mercury owner I build a wooden buck to store the body of my car.

As with everything in this project having another person there to help makes things a whole lot easier. So my friend sawzall came over and we got it going.

The process wasn’t as hard as I thought, though I have a new appreciation for the “frame off” restoration process. I had to spend the afternoon cutting all the bolts free from the frame, moving the car to set it up, cleaning the garage and building the buck.

It was all pretty fun actually, but I think that now the hard part is coming. I looks like I might move in a different direction with the rear suspension opting for a trailing arm style, popular with NASCAR guys. As well I will be doing some significant bracing and welding of the frame as I have found some weak points.

All in all it took about 2 hours and most of that was set up and jacking the car up. With a little ingenuity and time it worked flawlessly. Now I can get to the fun stuff.

Next up is getting a drive shaft and pulling the drive train together. Stay tuned.