stony Posted September 28, 2001 Share Posted September 28, 2001 Ok guys im getting stuff together to backhalf and cage my car. I found alot of good info here but need lots more... anyone know of any sites out there that have detailed start to finish teh backhalfing of unibody car? any books? any and all info will be much appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike C Posted September 28, 2001 Share Posted September 28, 2001 Chris Alston has an excellent book. Here is a link to web page, on the right hand side, click on How-To. Maybe you can find the book there as well, it's about 10 years old. Alston Chassis Works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike kZ Posted September 28, 2001 Share Posted September 28, 2001 You could try Art Morrison too. http://www.artmorrison.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
383 240z Posted September 29, 2001 Share Posted September 29, 2001 also sw racecars in mennonite springs pa Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted September 30, 2001 Author Share Posted September 30, 2001 Yep seen them all ;> heres a question....I going to try and drill out spot welds on the seam right behind the divers seat or cut whichever is easier...my question is should i support the car in any specic ares? or will jackstands in the front and on the rockpanels fwd of where i cut the floor out? will it sag if i dont support the rear of the car? I was also thinking cutting enough floor out to install the subframe then after go back and remove the rest of it for the sheetmetal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted October 1, 2001 Share Posted October 1, 2001 Stony, I'd try to support it at least in 4 points on each side of the car, a total 8 points. If you're undoing the structural support of the bottom of the car, then I'd prop up the front and rear of the car on sets of jack stands, whatever, to make sure nothing moves about that hinge you create about the center of the car by removing floor material. That's what I did anyway. [ October 02, 2001: Message edited by: pparaska ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted October 3, 2001 Share Posted October 3, 2001 The safest bet would be to make a body cradle that bolts into the strut towers front and back and any major component mounting points, I know they use a simmular setup when fitting out our V8 supercars. the bonus is you can then put wheels on it so it can be manouvered about the shed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted October 8, 2001 Author Share Posted October 8, 2001 hmm like that idea about the chassis cradle hows this sound. Im thinking before cutting out the rear....just replace the rear frame members with rectangular tubing.I would do this by first removing the stock frame then notch the sheet metal for the new 2x3 frame rails. weld it in...connecting that to the front frame. Then start cutting out sheetmetal in the rear of the car to fit the different components of the 4 link nine inch. Instead of the frame curving around the spare tire well they would connect to the front frame then come back up and over the rear end and weld into the back of the car. then all id have to do is cut out strut housing and enlarge the wheel tubs. i dont think the rear floor needs to be any higher then it allready is to fit the solid axle. I dont plan on putting hugh tires on but do want to get a 10-11 inch wheel completely under the car. does this sound feasible or should it all be cut out and replaced with sheetmetal? opinions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike kZ Posted October 8, 2001 Share Posted October 8, 2001 Here is an email that I wrote to Chris form this board: My dif is I think 45" hub to hub, but I'm guessing. What I did was, first mount the tires on the rims I wanted. After removing the old IRS, I rolled the tires under the car to see how much to cut out of the floor. I then cut the wheel tubs down the middle, and removed what was left, but keep them you'll use them later. Next I bought some 2"x 2" square tubing for the rear frame. I cut out what ever old frame that was in the way and designed a new frame rail per side. I kept the cubby holes, but part of the frame goes into them. I connected the front part of the new frame to the stock part of the frame that the old IRS was attached to nearest the front of the car (the forward part where the rear A arm was attached too). The back part of the new frame was welded to the bumper frame, I also added some small sections from the new to what was left of the old frame. I also made some frame connectors out of 1 1/2 x 3" tubing to connect the front frame at the firewall to the same stock rear frame the new frame rails are welded too. These will be used for the front mounting point of the S/S bars. I hope you bought the front mount brackets, not the crossmember? I made sure I had between 3/4 to 1" clearance between the tire and fender, and tire and frame. I made a small hump in the new frame over the dif for suspension clearance. You can see the floor is higher in some of the pics. That should get you started P.S. I forgot, while your tires are under the car in the exact spot you want them (make sure!) measure from the hub side to hub side, and that is your dif length. You can use a 9" or a 12 bolt (mine was from a Chevelle). Another possibility is the old Jeep mail carriers, they have a Dana rear that is almost the right length. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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