D52:Rear End Mods and Mockup

Another day working on the rear end. I've done a little finish welding on the mounts for the rear sub frame. Below is a shot with the sub-frame installed.

I also build some additional support around the rear "control arm" mounts.

Below is a picture of the rear end half installed. It shows how everything should fit together during final assembly. The control arm does hit the frame in full droop, but that is about 7" inches below what I'm guessing is normal ride height which shouldn't cause any issues once the shocks are installed.

D51:Rear Sub Frame and Tranny Tunnel Mods

I worked on a few frame mods today. First was doing some welding and finishing on the new mounts for the rear sub-frame.

I also swapped the lower transmission tunnel tubes for 1" square instead of the previous 3/4" square tubes. I was worried that with the transmission/engine weight on these two members was too much for a 3/4" tube.

D50:Rear Sub Frame Support

I figured out a way to still use the factory rear sub frame and reinforce it to keep the rear end from flexing. The last time I had the frame on jack stands I noticed a pretty large amount of flex in the rear end and realized I needed to tie the sub frame into the rear of the frame instead of just the top.

The sub frame can still slide in and out of the frame and now has support from the bottom of the frame as well. I know the rear sub frame doesn't really fit into the rest of the frame, but it should be thoroughly hidden once everything is assembled and the body is on. It definitely makes adapting the rear end to this build much easier.

D24:Pt1 - Finish Rear Mounts

I had the day off work and was able to get some good time in the garage. Turned into a productive day. With so much getting done, I'm splitting today into two posts. The first on finishing up the back end, the second on the front.

I've got the rear sub frame mounts finished. Definitely not the easiest thing to put together with trying to calculate all the angles involved. I'm pretty pleased with the finished product, but a little concerned about the two main pieces coming straight back. I think those might need a little extra support to keep them from bending under loading since they will get the gross majority of any force applied to the rear wheels.

D23:Rear End: The Final Mounts

With the rear end coming together, the next step was getting the "front" mounts finished for the rear sub frame. This has been something I've been trying to figure out for a while... I'm hoping the final solution will work. This is much more of a build from a picture in my mind than a design drawing, so you'll have to wait until the next post to see the end result.

D22:Rear End

Today I was finally back to getting the rear end build and the rear sub frame mounted. It's been a long a time coming and I'm glad to finally make some progress on it. I've got the rear mounting points finished, so all that's left is the front mounting points.

D16:Rear Sub Frame Mounting D2

Another day working on the rear sub frame mounting. I spent most of my time measuring, thinking, measuring, thinking, looking at my CAD drawings, measuring, and thinking some more. Not sure I really made much progress, but I've got a good idea of how everything will fit together in the end. I've also added the rear transmission tunnel opening. Yes, it looks low... it is. I wanted to line up my rear end with my front end to make sure my frame actually sits level. I'm realizing it's going to sit pretty high. If I ever build a second one... this will be a lesson learned.

D15:Rear Sub Frame Mounts D1

It's been pretty slow progress lately, mostly because work has been crazy. It has given me a little time to play with my blog a little tho. As you'll notice, I've got a new "photo gallery" method... clicking the thumbnail photo swaps it into the main image at the top and selecting the main image takes you to a full screen version. Let me know if you have any comments. It's been fun learning more HTML to make this blog a little more enjoyable.

Today I spent some time on the rear sub frame mounts. I'm really trying to get this to the "roller" status so it's about time the rear end was finally added. You can see the 4 mounts to the diff housing in the pics above. Next up is finishing the mounts and getting them attached to the frame.