Thread: total performance 23t

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look what i got last week guys, ive already put it together and ready to take it apart and start painting.. im thinking august next year she should be close to finished

Boy, do all those boxes look familiar! Congrats on taking the plunge. Like I've mentioned, putting ours together has been a very fun project, and as long as you don't deviate from the way it was designed it goes together really fast.

Why don't you keep posting pictures and updates as you go in case some others are thinking of the same or a similar car?

Don

here you go

I just noticed in the first frame picture that your rear coilover brackets are in place yet. You aren't planning on using those self tapping bolts that TP supplies, are you? This is one area where I really disagree with Mickey......he swears they work fine, but they are only going into 1/8 inch wall tubing. There have been reports on other forums of them coming loose, and I don't see how they could not.

PLEASE consider welding them in place, even if you just run a bead up the side after the bolts are in place. We not only welded the coilover brackets, but the crossmembers too, and our frame is 3/16, but we still didn't trust them.

Not trying to tell you how to build your rod, but PLEASE make this one alteration.

Don

im thinking of welding the motor and trans crossmembers too.

You have no idea how happy I am to hear that. I have wondered how many TP cars are running around out there with just those bolts holding everything together.

The other night we drilled and tapped 6 bolt holes into my Son's frame to hold the body on, because TP gives you those rubber expander nuts (well nuts) and only uses 4 of them. I realize TP is trying to sell a car that can be assembled by people with limited equipment, and have been doing it for many years, but I just like to overengineer stuff.

Don

I would wonder why you wouldn't want to weld everything?
I am a firm believer in overkill on anything that will be fast and have my family members in it.
It's looking really good and you seem to be making great progress on it also, well done.

It is a common engineering principal that threads generally need to be as deep as the diameter of the bolt being used. For example, a 3/8" diameter bolt should have at least 3/8" of threads to screw into. I generally make the transmission crossmember removable so the trans can be pulled without removing the engine. EVERYTHING else is either welded solid or through-bolted with a nut on the backside, especially any brackets that mount suspension or steering components.

Congratulations on "making the leap". Keep us posted on your progress.

Jim is right make sure your trans crossmember is removeable. If something happens you will hate life if it's welded.

Ron

I made an appointment with my buddy to get the shock mounts and motor crossmember welded saturday thanks for the advice a safe t is a happy t

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Why don't you keep posting pictures and updates as you go in case some others are thinking of the same or a similar car?

Don

Like me

Actually, looking at my finances, I'm probably going to be saving more for a new house than a car.. but I may get around to building something someday...

I'm curious about the shock mounting brackets... wouldn't getting longer bolts and using big locknuts on the other sides, and Loctiting the bleep out of them work out okay?? Obviously it wouldn't be as strong as a weld, but would that do?? The reason being is I'm definately no welder... so I was wondering if there was a viable alternative...(forgive my ignorance if I'm completely off base here... just trying to learn something...)

I've been looking hard at the CCR bucket package as well... I wonder if they use the same type of bolts in their suspension or if they do more welding... I sure like a lot of the features they have... just not sure if I could put one together properly wihtout any directions to go by....

I also picked up the Lakes modified 101 tape from Zipper motors, and am interested in seeing how that goes together (as soon as I find a bleeping VCR to view it.... get with the times, guys... Geesh! ). I saw one at the Goodguys meet up here this summer and it looked great... definately more room in that than a 23 T

Keep the pics coming, I'm definately interested in seeing more of this build!

No, you can't run bolts through box tubing and put nuts on the other side because it will only suck in the sides and not hold well. You could weld in some tubes to pass the bolts through, and that would hold, if they were welded in place, or what we also do is weld some thick flat stock to the outside rail, then drill and tap it for threads. That will hold.

In the picture below that oval plate is 3/8 thick steel, and we welded it all around the perimeter, then drilled and tapped it. When the 3/8 is welded to something like the 3/16 thick frame rail, it provides lots of meat to hold the threads.

Don

i took youre advice guys , had my buddy weld the motor crossmember and rear shock mounts, we even removed the bolts and filled in the holes with weld . no i feel a little safer. any more better ideas are always welcome.
allthe welds were grided smooth and filled with bondo, after two days of prep to the frame i layed down two coates of that new body shop by duplicolor, ive been wanting to try it its sprayable right out of the can. i then layed three coates of clear. but know im concerned because the paint is laquer, and ive herd bad things about laquer. like cracking and stuff, so know im thinking of stripping it off and going back to spraying it with urathane
heres some pics

Much better Glenn. Now you can stomp on it all you like and not worry about something letting go.


Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Much better Glenn. Now you can stomp on it all you like and not worry about something letting go.
Don

Now that you have the bolt vs welding problem fixed - I hope you did a fit up with the engine in place and the body on as Chebbies are real tight to the firewall -

I have another item that I may have discussed before(I'm too lazy to reread this thread) and it's the steering connector to the steering box. It WILL split - I'm aware of three including mine that did. Mickey's answer to me was "Hmm, that's never happened before. I'm going to have to look at the machining and the cutter".

This is what I did. I got a race car type U-joint from Speedway and had it machined to fit my steering column shaft, pinned in place(photo doesn't show it tho) then I used an aluminum Corvair box that I had that had a splined input. If you have the type with 2 pins, you would have to do a thru pin arrangement or other method to attach the shaft. No big problem - as long as it is safer then Mickey's.

Also, the front suspension bolts don't have cotter pins. You need to drill them and replace the nuts with castellated. One of them is bound to fall off - I dropped the drag link bolt but the suspension caster kept the car straight.