48 chevy truck

[kb426]

1990 corvette.

[kb426]

O&S was in low gear but my 1st obstacle is almost completed. I put the vette suspension on 2 stands and removed the hubs. I found a bolt pattern template on the internet and printed it off. I could see there wasn't enough space to offset drill new stud holes. This is going from 4.75 to 4.5 bolt circle. I started looking for studs with the largest knurl I could find. I found a 16.5mm that was .100" less than I wanted. Turned out to be as large as I would find. Then it got interesting. That was a 14mm stud. The 2015 Mustang irs is 14mm. I picked up all the store had and ordered enough to do both front hubs. I have a 4.5 hub that I chucked in the rotary index table and set centers in the mill. I removed it and put the vette hub in. The center that goes in the wheel is the same size on both wheels. That made my offset correct. I milled a hole small enough to allow a press fit on the knurls. I removed the hub and used the press to install the studs. Then I used a spacer and nut to tighten them and make sure they were square. I test fit into a wheel and they fit as they should. I did a tack weld on the back side of the flange to insure the studs didn't come loose. Then I changed jaws on the rotary index table and put the rotors in and machined them with the same offset as the hubs. Having one setup from center allowed me to have a simple setup. Tomorrow when the rest of the studs arrive, I should be able to bolt some wheels on and start laying out some stuff.

[jaybee]

I think it's Corvette, C5 or later. Can't wait to see how that gets packaged under a pickup truck. Corvettes have the engine set well back in the chassis.

[kb426]

Do you know how to make a vette look better? Put Ford wheels on it. LOL. One pic shows the clearance from the spindle to the rim with deep back space wheel.  The hub conversion is completed. The pics are of the front end upside down to reveal the fiberglass spring. The real black part is the spring. The other pics are a rough location to show the 96" wheelbase. The c4 has 96". The AC Cobra was 90". That should make this interesting to drive.

[WZ JUNK]

40 plus years ago I helped my brother in law build a Cobra.  He bought a partially burnt Corvette and we grafted the Cobra body to it.  The Vette was longer so I helped him cut the center of the doors and rocker panels and then we added the right amount to make the Cobra fit the wheel base of Vette.  There were not that many Cobras around at that time and you could sense something was different when you looked at it, but it was only really apparent when the car was next to a real Cobra.   It had a 427 Chevy engine and the car handled like a light weight Corvette. Ah, the good old days.

[GPster]

It's been two days. I expect pictures of a "Rolling Chassis" GPster

[enjenjo]

That is not unreasonable Joe. He has done one faster

[kb426]

I haven't bought the tubing yet. Soon.

[kb426]

O&S did a little today. I removed the left cowl panel and installed the replacement. I had trouble finding some of the spot welds to drill out. The rest of it was normal. I have a tiny bit of welding to do but for the largest part, it's done. One less item on the to do list.

[kb426]

O&S put in a few hours today. I filled 35 holes on the firewall. I need to do some more planning before filling anymore.

[kb426]

I ordered some of the metal for the chassis today. I did a little shopping around and got a price that was less than 50% higher than June 2021. One of the prices I was quoted was 235% higher. I need one stick each of 2x4 and 2x6. I'm glad it isn't more. This is one of the lower cost items in building a rod.

[kb426]

I have a thought in my mind that I would like 33 Ford curved louvers in the engine area side panels. I went to Rootliebs website and did a little looking. I won't be doing that. I was a little surprised at the price increases. More and more I'm aware that I need to do everything for this project.

[WZ JUNK]

I have lover dies for my bead roller but I have never tried them.  I think you could do curved louvers with them if you were handy.

[enjenjo]

Are you planning on using the original steering column?

[kb426]

I doubt that I use the column but I might. I cut it right above the steering box when I removed the cab. I could adapt to it easily but I wouldn't have modern turn signals. John, I hadn't thought about using the roller. I will look into that.