PIE CUT FRONT FRAME HORN TO LOWER CAR

Welp, here

Wow!

It seems like drop spindles are a lot easier.

Yeah, what Mike said. What was your rationale for modifying the frame?

wow.

props for creativity.

but...

i can tell you you are going to have serious alignment issues.

my car goes low. very very low. like and inch from the ground low. (which is why i assume you did this mod). To get mine aligned properly (required structural integrity test to insure it), it was on a snap-on computerized alignment jig for over 6 hours, and i did things to the 0.5 degree.

To cut off your frame head (which BTW - there is a procedure of overlapping that you did not do by the looks of it) and then weld it back on with a seam weld... i dunno. seriously - look up how to replace a framehead. it's not easy.

and i have to say something about your caster. with that setup - unless you change it - you will not be able to adjust your caster nearly as much as you will have to. Although not as important as camber / toe - it is going to make the car either feel twitchy at highway speeds (no good), or impossible to turn in parking lots.

sorry to rant, but that doesn't look safe at all and your measurements (from the pictures you took) don't look that accurate.

i hope i am wrong. my $0.02

Oooo, I forgot about caster. Yeah, you are waaaay over the norm on that. A degree one way or the other makes a world of difference in how the car tracks and steers. Ask me how I know...

I see what you're trying to do, and I can visualize where you want to go with it.
I have to agree with Mango, though. You don't appear to have jigged that frame when you cut, which'd make it really difficult to realign it perfectly.
I understand pie-cutting in most senses, but I don't know that I'd have done what you did.
If you're lucky and that's straight, be sure to gusset the backside of the frame head onto the front of the tunnel. It looks like there's an inherent weakness back there which will be compounded by the short travel, hard-hitting suspension pieces.
On a positive note, you probably WILL have the only set of centered front wheels and tires!
One more thought. Balanced wheels and tires can mean a difference of 500 rpms at top speed. Make sure you balance the bejesus out of everthing.

My way of think'n about this, it "ain't gonna work" quite right, the geometry will be way off .....~Alan

Look closely at the pictures. This creature not done! Just the bottom tube brace is in place. Caster is just eyeballed and well be set on a machine and welded from there.

As to the dropped spindles: Custom made 2.5

The street rodders use a similar technique called z'ing the frame. The trick is to keep the front portion level with the back portion while raising the front thereby lowering the suspension. I've only seen this done with a rectangular or square tube chassis but curious how it will work with a pan chassis.

David, please don't be offended by our remarks. We will all be following this with interest. Keep us posted on your progress.

David - did someone already say "Welcome to the Madness"? Now you know what we all know and experience in the world of replica Speedster, its a disease! I'm always interested in seeing other 'car nuts' like us putting a project together. Keep us posted.

totally agree with Lane. I love your out of the box thinking and creativity - and the fact you did it yourself. please keep us updated on your crazy build!

David, if you look at the rear end critically, you'll be able to do a tranny lift with a cut to the tunnel and a four-inch elevation of the rear in relation to the tunnel. That will put the shifter on top of the tunnel, will require gusset plates and still save you a sh*tload of work with the gearbox later.
Gotta suggest short axles and a swing trans, too. Not easy, but attainable.

"The street rodders use a similar technique called z'ing the frame."

A tad different in concept...z'ing involves a reshaping of the chassis to push it up into the body......Axles remain in exactly the same plane. In this example, the entire beam is rotated...

Dropped spindles etc seem a whole lot easier. Still, I'm happy to be educated !

Cheers
Gerry

Gerry,

You're correct and that was what I described. Been there, done that. The change in the caster on David's front axle as shown in the photo is obvious. I was merely comparing the z'ing technique to what I believe David is trying to accomplish.

Yep you did Bruce, I just re read your post !

David you should contact Ron lummus racing in california he does that type of work on alot of drag car's I had that done on my race car .Also if you want do a trans lift be careful there's not much room for the fan shroud . Also if I'm not mistake pie cutting the head change's the way the car steer's because of caster the wheel's lay over more than stock.

For those of you married probably understand the concept that it's cheaper to stay married and make things work than it is to get divorced. I took about a year off from working on this to focus on some house work I

Pie Cut closure on ball joint front end - The end is in sight!

Well Boyz, finally got things together enough to start re-glassing the front trunk back together after relocating the ball joint beam.

Have a look see:

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2472124960052379491pXlgLz
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2126824560052379491paOdnu


David / dd-ardvark

just out of curiosity - why so narrow? i have a 3.5" narrowed i built and i can run 185's with very little ground clearance. any more narrow and your inner fenders will need to be modified (plus it'll look like a trike)

www.mangosmoothie.ca - just out of curiosity - why so narrow? i have a 3.5" narrowed i built and i can run 185's with very little ground clearance. any more narrow and your inner fenders will need to be modified (plus it'll look like a trike

Well, the front hubs use ball joint backed combo spindles outset 0.75