sxuxrxf's Class 11...

[Class 11 streeter]

That's spot welding

I didn't know Spot could weld........talented dog!

[fl_buggy]

Is spot his dog?


HAHA dammit, beat me to it. AND with pictures!

[Hedrock]

Surf... I really like your new car. I was kind of thinking of building a class 11 when I get my car done. I think it would be a fun daily driver.

[sxuxrxf]

Thanks. I've wanted to build one for 20 years. I've also wanted a car like yours, but you know the story.

I made the best possible upgrade to the car this weekend - a removeable apron! It only took about an hour to remove and bolts back in with (4) 3/8" bolts.



I also welded the frame horns and put in the new trans. I used the solid mounts with padding. The rear suspension has been worked out - about 10" travel with type 4 joints. The tire hits the rear of the fender a bit, I'll try to pull the fender out - if it doesn't stay I'll limit the up-travel.

Whoever said that the IRS arms swing straight up and down is wrong! The wheels look like a swing axle at full droop and tuck inside the fenders when compressed. In my case, the wheels are mostly straight at the new ride height. If it ends up being more, I'm thinking of making a very thin pie-cut in the arm near the pivot to fix it. I would weld plate over the new seam (arms will be boxed in future). This will also allow the top of the wheel to really tuck inside the fender on compression. We'll see.
I'm using dual spring plates and notching the inner one to hit the stop. I'M NOT RACING, it will be fine.

Shocks are still unknown, but they will need to be 18" extended and 12" compressed. For my use KYB gr2's will probably be fine, but I'm considering FOA. I heard they have a shock in the works for the ball joint beam as well. Valving suggestions for use with 27mm torsion bars?

I put the engine in to fit the exhaust - "Thing" header and hideaway muffler from Kymco. The muffler is also made for a Thing and doesn't fit in ANY way, so I'll try one made for a bug and modify it to fit the angle of the header. When this is finished, I'll notch the apron to clear it. (the collector on the Thing header is much higher off the ground than a standard type 1/2. When finished, it will tuck nicely behind the sheet metal, but requires custom fitting due to the close quarters) Still waiting on the new manifold to work on the pre-heat stuff.

Also, if anyone is using type 2/4 cv's with a bug tranny - find the drive flanges with the stock metric threads, not the 3/8" thread. The 3/8 isn't that much bigger, but requires drilling the cv holes. Easy, right? I thought so, until I tried to bolt one up. The holes had walked on me, so the bolts won't thread in. I needed 2 new cv's anyway. Now I have 2 new and 2 good used ones. Where should the new ones go? Inside, outside, both on the drive side?


-Robb

[jps1145]

Whoever said that the IRS arms swing straight up and down is wrong!

BINGO!!! This is the reason you can't use the same jig to make new trailing arms to make both sides. If you draw a line from the pivit bolt through the pivot at the sping plate you'll notice it is not perpendicular to the center line of the car it angles a bit.

Where should the new ones go? Inside, outside, both on the drive side?

I'd put them on the outside of each side. The outside sees much more movement since both sides of the CV (trailing arm/axle) move.

[sxuxrxf]

I got the rear suspension mocked up over the weekend. I notched the stock spring plate about 3/4" and put it back on without the torsion bar. The cv's start to bind @ 23*, which is also when the axle gets tight. 10" of travel with the stock snubber compressed and tire STUFFED! I'll be using the dual spring plates which will be notched about 1/4" less than the one pictured.
In the last shot you can see how high the header is.

[Leatherneck]

How did you do the removable rear clip?

[sxuxrxf]

I searched here and TOS and looked at everything that came up. I wire brushed the areas that had spot welds so I could see them and carefully drilled thru one surface. I used a small screw driver then to pry the metal apart. There's one weld at the top of each side that needs to be cut. After that, it's just pulling/prying/twisting to break the welds. Once it comes off, it goes right back into position. I just drilled 2 holes each side to thru-bolt it back on. The bolt head is where the fender bolts are and the nut is accessed under the apron. It only took about an hour. Easy.

[FatJake]

I did the same thing to my '58. Except it is only held on by the fender bolts. The apron has stock cutouts where the bolts go, and the captive nut is on the inside of the body where the apron is welded to. So basically my apron is pinched between the fender and the quarter panel. Mind you, this is a lowered street car and will never see the rough off road.

[sxuxrxf]

Here's what I got done this weekend. I finished the intake pre-heat tubing, wasn't that difficult.





I still have some sheet metal work to do. The connections being below the tin will be much easier to assemble and cleaner.

I got the muffler fit, trimmed the apron and have a pretty good start on getting the engine finished up. With a 3 day weekend coming up, I'll get the engine finished and take it to be dyno-tuned and get the rear suspension finished. Unfortunately, the new trans in coming out to have fourth gear swapped out. The rpm's will be too low at highway speed which equals high cylinder head temps - no bueno!

[sxuxrxf]

The latest...

I finished up the exhaust and cut the apron to fit. There's still a bit more trimming to do. I'll need to make a support to help strengthen the apron since I cut out some of the inner heat shield. How 'bout that ground clearance with a header!! The stock bumpers are going back on and also a skid plate that will cover all of this.



Got the front mostly assembled. Did the "hook and pin" set-up too. I've got some work to do on the new front discs, though. The caliper, when tightened down, rubs pretty hard on the disc. I may have to shim it some. I should get the brakes done next weekend - new master, lines, reservior, etc.



It's now sitting on four wheels (ignore the jack stand, it's just sitting under there). I put the adjusters in the beam so that it's lowest setting is the stock position, and that's where it sits now. 16" and 16-1/2" from the ground to the chrome strip on the running boards. The front has 2" of down travel at this height (of the whopping 5-1/4" total!) and the rear has about 3-1/2" - 4" of down travel (of the 10" total).





Here's a shot of the finished engine. Still needs to be dynoed, then I'll finish the tins. New tar boards and clean wiring will happen prior to putting the engine back in.



Once it's running good and the suspension is happy (and has shocks, FOA's?), I'll move on to the next phase...build new roof rack, front and rear skid plates with tubular frame supports and new mirrors - the caged in type. All of this will be gloss black. Interior and cage is further down the line - being a "poser class 11" it's lower on the priority list.



...did I mention small garages suck??

[tikotiko]

nice ride dude you got some major lift on that thing its crazy

[fusername]

nicepreheat setp, well thought out.

[bajaherbie]

is this the intake manifold from aircooled.net? kinda hard to tell but it doesn't look like the one on their website. is there a passage for the pre-heat to pass thru?

my empi manifold is blocked but i plan on drilling it out next time it comes apart. could you post a pic of the bottom side of the manifold? thanks.

[sxuxrxf]

Yes, it's from aircooled.net, but came in a Redline/Weber box. The standard manifold just has the heat go straight across the bottom. If you look at the bottom center (fuel pump ports) you'll see the 2 sides don't connect. They run up the back side and thru the thick portion just below the flange. The 2 mounting bolts in the center actually drop into this cavity. Sorry, no pics.
I do have the old manifold that's in great shape - just pay shipping and it's yours!