Randall Lowe

Well, it appears if I keep my pace, I’ll be doing semi-annual posts.  That’s fine because it gives me a chance to make a lot of progress on a project and then wrap it all up in one post.

OK, it’s not really fine, but it sure sounds better than admitting I’ve been lazy on keeping this place up-to-date.

So, progress, here goes:

• Ditched the Corvette C4 rear-end and chassis for a custom chassis
• Picked up an 80′s Jaguar IRS, narrowed each side by 5 inches (turns out this was probably an inch or two too much.  Brakes are inboard.
• Created a “4-bar” link for the IRS.  It’s actually a 2-bar with large urethane-style bushings and gromets attached via 1″ DOM tubing to a 5/8″ heim-joint.  More later.
• Picked up an LS1 from a guy in Santee, CA for $1500.  It runs perfectly
• Picked up a C5 Corvette oil pan for said LS1 for $60 from the Pamona Fair Grounds Father’s Day swap meet
• Picked up a T-56 (F-Body style) 6-speed manual trans for $1300, fully rebuilt, in the San Fernando Valley
• Created modest engine mounts, though I’m not entirely pleased with them and will probably need to address this differently in the coming months.  More later.
• Learned how to tear-down, shorten and rebuild a GM steering column.  I’m offering this service now for $150 per column if it is not a column shift. $250 for column shift style. Parts are extra. No shortening.  Too much liability.  Thanks attorneys.
• Found cool bolt-on roll-bar brackets from Fiber Tech in Santee, CA.  Welded the steering column bracket to it for the front mount
• Mounted the brake/clutch pedal assembly inverted (swing pedal style, rather than floor mount) on the left side of the column.
• Gas pedal will probably be swing type to get the proper pull motion for the throttle cable.  This car will not be DBW (drive by wire).  After having driven a handful of cars with it, I’m thoroughly fed up with it.  The pedal lag is stupid.
• Firewall support is now in place.

So, over the next few weeks, I’ll be detailing out the process of doing each of these, to hopefully make life a little easier for those trying to build your own chassis.

A rule of thumb I ignored, even after hearing it, I recommend you heed:

Start with the wheels and tires you want with the wheelbase and track you want.  Build the rest of the car around it and everything will turn out fine.

Had I done that to start I would not have had to go back to the frame and “Z” it up 4 1/2 inches in the front to accommodate the cross-member.

I have pics of most everything listed here, and those that I don’t have listed, I can snap photos of.

All right, I’m going to try to keep this thing updated – promise!  We’re working on a new project car.  It’s called a “Devin SS”, and it’s a great little shell.  My dad and I are building a custom frame for it, and so far so good.  Once we get near the completion of the frame, I’ll post a Google Sketch-Up schematic of it.

If you haven’t used Sketch-up before, it’s a pretty amazing 3D tool that’s free.  Just google the term and you’ll find it immediately.  In any case, once we have the frame wrapped up, I’ll update the file to reflect the work we’ve done.

I’m also going to work on getting a lot of the photos I have been taking up onto the site.   Possibly tonight.

Lastly, I think I’m going to be redoing the engine mounts for the Mustang’s LS1.  I’m not thrilled with how they look, and I’m starting to get some real interest in how we did this conversion. Maybe I’ll sell “conversion kit” on the cheap to off-set some of the costs associated with building this thing.

Yes, I know, I’m talking about SELLING something that I learned how to do – a real shocker isn’t it?  And here we all thought capitalism was dead!

Stay tuned!

UPDATE (23:55 11/19/09)

I have posted a TON of photos tonight.  You can find the galleries along the top menu.  Check them out!

Well, I pulled about 45 lbs worth of stereo amplifier and associated crapola out of the back of the Z today.  The previous installation was… decent.  The only problem was adjustability post installation.  There was no way to change anything once installed.  All the wires were completely concealed and couldn’t be re-tightened without removing the whole setup, which took me the better part of 5 hours.  But now that it’s out, all the rattles from the back end of the car are gone.  That in itself was worth the effort! I’ll take a picture of all the junk I pulled out later, but at least it’s done.

Oh, and I hooked up two little 6.5″ Polk Audio coaxial speakers in place of the LPF 6.5″ Boston acoustics that were in the middle headrest bar.  MUCH BETTER!