The panty dropper

[WSSix]

Originally Posted by SSLance

I've had trouble getting my e-brake setup to work properly and steadily ever since I put my rear discs on. I'm going to finally fix it right here shortly.

I had mine working and then had to rotate my brake backing plates 180 degrees and that put the e-brake cable pointing to the rear instead of the front which in turn made my passenger side cable too short. After I ponied up another $60 to get a new one, it still took every inch of the housing to route it to the mounting plate that holds the other end of the housing. Finally got it all set and adjusted then the block I used to attach the lokar set to the stock cable started hanging up on a trans cross member bolt head.

I've figured out a way to move the plate that holds the cable adjusters on the pedal end so it won't get hung up anymore, just have to weld it onto my trans cross member.

What I do know is, my cables come out of my backing plates pointed to the rear, take a 180 and go up over the axles and head towards the front and they still work great...well as long as they don't get hung up on anything anyway.

Good work on the rest of the project, I know cutting into the floors was a big deal but I bet it ends up being worth it. Keep on posting pics of your progress.

Thanks, Lance. Good luck getting your setup working 100%. I'm glad it's working well for the most part though. That gives me hope that I'll be able to have mine working well and not just sitting there looking like it'll work.

I did email Lokar as well to ask them what the tightest bend radius is and if the number of bends it makes will affect the cables working properly. I got a reply back in less than 24 hours, awesome, and was told the tightest bend radius should be 10inches. Also,while it can bend and snake all over the place, less bends are better if possible. So we will see what happens with that part of the build when I get there. Since the connectors won't be interfering with the cables, I'll wait until I drop the rear suspension to get the cables laid out.

Thanks guys.

[waynieZ]

Looking Good !

[Ron in SoCal]

Way to step up Trey! I'm sure the usual suspects will sidetrack it...

[intocarss]

[ScottieB]

Long time no see Trey. Glad you are back at it.

[rustomatic]

Dude, you said "alliteration" in your first post. Take it from a guy with two English degrees: You're making good decisions here! Just keep on it, and try to work some iambic pentameter into your next post. I'm about to rip my Falcon apart for the umpteenth (no spell check error, according to Google Chrome) time...

On top of the idiotic English degrees, I've also had two Firebirds, a '68 (400) and a '73 (turd--it was brown, with a white vinyl top). I miss the '68...

Keith's stuff works, just like his car, which I've experienced (violently) as a passenger. Get it done!

[WSSix]

Thanks Rusto. I may have to try coming up with an iambic pentameter response one of these days.

As to today's progress, I've got the connectors welded in entirely. Ran out of gas right at the end too so I called it a day. I've got primer, paint, and seam sealer ready for tomorrow. No way am I going to do any painting with the Duc in the garage or near the garage for a few hours after I finish spraying. I'll start early tomorrow and get it sprayed. Might even get the brake and fuel lines remounted and drop the car off the cribbing. I want to drive it and get an alignment done since we requared the subframe before starting. I'm anxious to see how it feels.

On to the pictures. Don't look at the welds too much. They still suck. I also tried different techniques as I went. I was able to close up most of the gaps with just welding. Blew a few holes through the floor pans too. Learned how to close up said holes with just the welder too. Learning experiences what else can I say?

[CURVES]

Good job Trey!

I'm doing the same job, got them fitted and ran out of gas also....
Always seems to happen on the weekend when the gas store is closed.

[WSSix]

Tell me about it. I had maybe two more spots to do a little welding on. I might still get to them though. The weather wasn't cooperating today and neither was the job. Got called at 3am with a job this morning so I was out with that all day. Haven't painted or primed anything and won't get to it today afterall. I'll see what tomorrow brings though.

Good luck, Scott.

Thanks

[WSSix]

Well, I got everything primed, sealed, and painted. The car is back on the ground now, too. I've driven it around and the car feels very solid compared to before. Bumps don't rattle the car and feel way more solid. I'm very happy in those regards. The only real indication of increased chassis stiffness I was able to "test" was when taking the car off the cribbing. The front driver's wheel was the last to come off. I had the jack set just behind the 2nd body mount. At the point where I had just enough room to get the cribbing slid out, the rear driver's wheel was already off the ground and the front passenger wheel was just slightly off the ground. That's way better than stock.

Here are the final pictures.

As you can see, you can barely see them


From behind looking forward they don't look out of place at all to me.



I'm really happy with the way I transitioned them into the factory rear rails. They look like they belong and that's what I was going for.






I'll need to get an alignment before I go forward with the suspension just to verify nothing is out of whack. Tried to do that today but they were busy. I double checked the squareness of the subframe before starting all this but I'm only human and not about to start cutting up the front suspension if there's a problem that needs to be corrected now.

Thanks