timothyblythe240z Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 (edited) I bought my 240 two years ago, i was unhappy with the power of my straight six. decided i would put a 302 in her and that would be good enough for me. about a year later i decided i wanted more, i am in the process of converting the unibody in to a full frame car. i decided i would go with a mustang 2 ifs and crosmember, an 8.8 rear end and custom made frame. as for the motor, im going with the ford 302 with some modifications. 347 stroker 351w high flow aluminum heads, still throwing around the idea of a supercharger. as for the body how could i keep it stock, i looked around for a while and saw what some other people did with body mods and came up with my own design. i am in the process of gathering funds and more information on how this can be done. i have found very little on the subject of full framed z cars, to be quite honest i havent found any one that has done anything like this. Edited June 18, 2012 by RB26powered74zcar Please Resize Images to: 1024 x 768 pixels or close, before placing on HZ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobramatt Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Where in Atlanta are you, I live in Marietta??? I have a 240 with a 427 in it and have done numerous things to the sub frame to handle the torque. What exactly are you trying to accomplish? Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timothyblythe240z Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 I'm out of Dawsonville, 60 miles north of Atlanta. I have always liked the body style of a 240, but i am also big into muscle cars. My idea is pretty much a muscle car with a 240 body. I want it to be very cut and dry, flat firewall squared out finder wells, and not much of an interior but a roll cage and seats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Are talking about a tube frame car or a body on frame car like a pickup truck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timothyblythe240z Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 solid frame, body separate from frame is the idea. I am still considering tube frame, as i am not sure of the correct way to construct a solid frame for this application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timothyblythe240z Posted July 27, 2012 Author Share Posted July 27, 2012 After Doing some homework on the project i realized how much weight i would be adding if i made a full frame for the z, so i went in a little different direction. instead of doing a 1/8 thick frame the full length of the car, i only did the front frame rails as a solid unit. from the floor pans back i reinforced the the body with a tube frame. I began the project by taking some measurements of the frame rails, measured for the center of the wheels so the fenders would line up right when the crossmember is welded on. I drew some prints for the frame and began the precess of saving money for the metal and suspension parts. After taking careful measurements of everything i felt that i would need i cut the front of the body off at the firewall, i then began grinding the old rails back to the firewall. after everything was cleaned up on the front of the car i cut out the old rusted floorpans, and a few other various things i felt were unneeded. AS for the rear of the car i pulled the suspension off, cut the shoctowers down to the wheel well and cut out the spare tire enclosure making room for the fuel cell and 8.8 rear end that will be added later on. At this point the car is completely gutted there is nothing but the body left. after a few weeks of saving i was able to purchase a mustang two IFS, crossmember, metal, and other materials needed to build the frame. I am uploading some pictures of the progress and also some concept drawings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timothyblythe240z Posted July 27, 2012 Author Share Posted July 27, 2012 Some more pictures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waddiejohn Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 I guess I'm a little loco too. I have an S-10 frame and a Toyota PU frame that I was thinking of using on one o the S-30 cars in my yard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timothyblythe240z Posted August 4, 2012 Author Share Posted August 4, 2012 At firs for the rear end I wanted to put back and independent setup, but at a price I couldent afford. The alternative was a ford 8.8, I had looked in to several different options for linking the rear end to the body. The best setup I found was a triangulated four link. I did some research on it and wasent able to find much on intergrading it into a 240. I perchased a universal kit and began the process of installing it. After spending some time looking at how I wanted to approche the build I began mapping out the setup. I was able to install the four link with relative ease, only miner fabrication was nessisary. I will be piston pictures of the setup shortly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sq_creations Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 I'm enjoying your approach to this suspension on the z. I'm running a 4 link with a 8.8 in mine too. Good work so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waddiejohn Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Looks like you got your mustang II setup going. Good for you. I really considered almost exactly what you are doing except for the four link. I'm looking at a little different approach right now to keep from cutting the floor out and I'm also looking at using the YZ body kit so I'll be going wide. I'm pretty handicapped right now so it will be a while. I've subscribed to your thread and will be following your progress, enjoying your updates and offering moral support. I'm anxious to see how your project turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timothyblythe240z Posted August 11, 2012 Author Share Posted August 11, 2012 Here are some more pictures of the rear end build. i still have some more welding to do on the frame, then clean everything and seam seal. As of now, im in the process of saving money to build up the 8.8 with disc brakes, axle shafts and gears. I am also cleaning the undercoating off the bottom of the car, a quite tedious task. I appreciate the support, and the interest in my build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timothyblythe240z Posted August 13, 2012 Author Share Posted August 13, 2012 Sense I cut the front clip of the z as one complete unit I am able to use it as a base to build the custom front end. I bolted the hood back on the front, fitted the finders to get the lines as close as I could. The panels are quite flimsy at the lower rocker, so I'm going to weld some bracing to add strength and keep it frommoving around. I'm going to use bondo to to cover all the gaps, block sand the panels to get them as smooth and straight as possible. Then make a fiberglass mold of the complete front end, merging the finders, hood, light buckets and the little hatches on the side of the finder. My idea is to brace the fiberglass front end with metal skeleton, the whole thing will open as one. The plan is tohave the engine bay as bare as possible, once the front clip is opened it will reveal the engine and the front suspension. I'm wanting the wheel wells to open with the front as well so you get the full view of the engine from all angles. My only concern with this is there will be no real core support as the radiator will be bolted to theframe rails and brace bars to hold it in place. This would make a front end colision devastating to the engine. So I may concider adding a tubular bar infront of the radiator to act as a bumper to keep anything from reaching the engine. The drawing I had posted previously is the body style I am trying to create, the only other difference I'm considering is changing the lights to a more modern look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freelancelance Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 You are going at your build the exact way I had/have in my head, with the exception is I am not going to have a lift off front end... Which leaves me to ask.. If you were not going to make a mold of the front end.. would you have taken it off anyway? I am not scared of Fab.. I just was thinking if I didn't need to.. I just bought a Z and its my first (non classic muscle) build I haven't even pulled the 6 thats in it yet to get a good look...but will hopefully will the room after the first of the year to begin this project.. Thanks for the pictures,, seems pretty straight forward.... Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timothyblythe240z Posted November 14, 2012 Author Share Posted November 14, 2012 I have been out on the road for the past couple of months so i havent had much time to work on my project. I have a few pictures of the suspension, both front and rear are completed i now have the car on the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timothyblythe240z Posted November 14, 2012 Author Share Posted November 14, 2012 The floor pans are complete and welded up, next will be the roll cage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zohanisback Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Beautiful fab work. Glad I stumbled across this thread. I am looking at doing more of a extended roll cage into the engine bay for strengthening, but I really like the idea of a lightened front end with fiberglass. Are you going to make the whole front pivot up for service. Like the old hoods? Or are you going to require it to be completely removed for engine service? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirpent Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Amazing how many of us have similar idea's, Im doing something similar but as yet the fabrication hasnt started, your raw chassis though is very similar to the design I came up with. http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/98821-sirpents-260z-c32-amg-powered-rs30-australia/page-3 Keep up the great work. Cheers John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timothyblythe240z Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 From the beginning of this build i have been doing a lot of research on whats piratical and what works, at this point the pivit hood and finders are not what i think is good for this build. i have decided to have bolt on finders, and have the hood open from the front as opposed to how it was before. As of now i have most of the parts for the engine 347 stroker kit, scat cam, forged aluminum pistons 9.6.1 compression trickflow twisted wedge 170cc aluminum heads TFS hydraulic roller cam 291 duration 510 lift with factor rocker arm ratio SBF roller lifters, 1.7 ratio aluminum roller rockers Holley 700CF Double pump carburetor Its a slow process at the moment but i hope to have the car rolling and engine built by june Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timothyblythe240z Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 From the beginning of this build i have been doing a lot of research on whats piratical and what works, at this point the pivit hood and finders are not what i think is good for this build. i have decided to have bolt on finders, and have the hood open from the front as opposed to how it was before. As of now i have most of the parts for the engine 347 stroker kit, scat cam, forged aluminum pistons 9.6.1 compression trickflow twisted wedge 170cc aluminum heads TFS hydraulic roller cam 291 duration 510 lift with factor rocker arm ratio SBF roller lifters, 1.7 ratio aluminum roller rockers Holley 700CF Double pump carburetor Its a slow process at the moment but i hope to have the car rolling and engine built by june Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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