Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*

[ERASER5]

Any pic of the clown car with the race engine in it? I know your holding back.

[Frizzle Fry]

Welcome to the board Smalls. Maple Valley, not too far. Tubby does need a brother Thanks for the good words It's probably a good idea to look for those hinges first if you plan to do the mod because they are a lot harder to find than a 67-72 Burb... Post a WTB (gotta subscribe first) on the 60-66 parts board if/when you are serious about finding them. Hope to see another Tahoe build thread soon!

[Frizzle Fry]

Originally Posted by ERASER5

Any pic of the clown car with the race engine in it? I know your holding back.

Hah, actually I bought the drivetrain on eBay and it's been hell getting the guy to ship it... It's on a truck now

but here's a couple of cell phone teasers for ya...

[Jvsapp]

OOOOHHHHHHH teaser

like the power rack conversion. what did you use?

[Frizzle Fry]

Actually that's the rack I bought for Tubby to go with the dropmember. So it's a MII but it's just sitting in there to check for clearances/positioning. I may use it, or go with a manual rack. Haven't decided yet. Either way I'll have to buy another rack to do both vehicles.

[Jvsapp]

cool that works. i've heard about some guys using a Tbird rack from a 80's something tbird... never looked it up though.

[Rokcrln]

Mike is the car's pivot points the same as a DropMember? Looks to be a bit narrower from the pic, now would that not cause bump steer and what not? So did you just get the motor and trans or the rear end set up as well from the S2000?

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Frizzle Fry]

Width has an effect on bump steer, but can be somewhat addressed via rack placement. Obviously the effect is exponential as the selected rack moves away from "perfect" width/tie rod length. Width also has an effect on ackerman angle as does fore/aft rack placement. Edit: Rack height effects bump toe. I'm also looking at a smaller/lighter manual rack out of a Midget. There's a local British auto shop that rebuilds them.

I just got the eng/trans for now. The car was painfully slow and could barely make it up a slight grade on the freeway when loaded with 5 people. Still, I was OK with keeping the factory drivetrain until I started hearing some lower-end knock. Combine that with its desire to die at stoplights, the anemic automatic trans, and I was shopping for something else to motivate it. The intention is not to go full retard on it, just to make it more reliable and fun to drive. I researched a few options including the all aluminum 3.6L 60 degree V6 from the Caddy CTS (which will also be used in the six cylinder 2010 Camaro). But I ended up going this route to minimize weight and sheet metal cutting. So for now I'm just doing the engine/trans and possibly converting the brakes from a single to double circuit system (safety). By the way, the S2000 weighs 33% more than the Minx

I'll see how long the stock rear holds up and go from there. IRS is not off the table for a future upgrade

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

Mike is the car's pivot points the same as a DropMember? Looks to be a bit narrower from the pic, now would that not cause bump steer and what not? So did you just get the motor and trans or the rear end set up as well from the S2000?

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[BlueJeep]

Any more rack & pinion tech you can share? I always thought ackerman angle pertained to the line drawn from the tie rod hole in the knuckle, through the "center" of the ball joints, and where both of these lines intersected in relationship to the rear axle....

I believe this link is similar to what rokcrln was asking about:

http://www.heidts.com/pdf/Understanding_IFS.pdf

Thanks!

[Frizzle Fry]

That's a good link, thanks. Here's a quote I liked "the exact length and location of the inner pivot of the tie rod must be very carefully selected so the outer ends of the rod, which are attached to the spindles, swing in a radius which matches the spindle radius exactly." This means the rack width should be selected to achieve the desired tie rod length which is dermined by the spindle arc.

Here's an explanation of Ackerman angle (R/C site): http://www.rc-truckncar-tuning.com/ackerman.html You can see why moving the rack fore/aft would have an effect on it.

[Jvsapp]

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

Here's an explanation of Ackerman angle (R/C site): http://www.rc-truckncar-tuning.com/ackerman.html You can see why moving the rack fore/aft would have an effect on it.

i see i'm not the only one that has a background in RC car racing

[Frizzle Fry]

Alright, back to Tubby... No I don't have an update, but I do have this to share: http://www.sporttruck.com/featuredve...ban/index.html

[abadsvt]

Congrats mike! So do you get totally excited everytime you read about your tahoe? I can only wait and hope that when my truck is finished i get some magazine coverage like your bad a$$ tahoe! Now stop reading this thread get back to work cause we want to see this thing finished!!!

Josh

[Jvsapp]

wanted to wish u and tubby happy new year

[Frizzle Fry]

That's cool man. Thank you and back at ya! I'm really trying to hurry up with the side project so I can get back on this one. I miss it...

[Jvsapp]

feel free to post them side pix, especially if its the minx. that'll be a cool ride once done.

BTW any chance you will make the hot rod power tour this hear? i'm supposed to ride along with my bro in june and it'd be cool to see tubby in person.

[ERASER5]

Frizz, about your one piece hatch,How does it lock? Or does it?

[Frizzle Fry]

The power tour is in the mid west isn't it? Wish they'd do it on the west coast one year.

The hatch latches and locks with the stock tailgate latches. Too simple huh?

[ERASER5]

OK. I thought that the upper lid closed over the lower gate and only the upper gate locked originally. That's what I get for thinking.

[vk_chevy]

mike, you got a blog or a forum for your minx doing the swap?

[Jvsapp]

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

The power tour is in the mid west isn't it? Wish they'd do it on the west coast one year.

if they do west coast, then i'll have to ship one of my vehicles. either the nova or the c10. 2010 will probably start in Tenn and head either for florida or probably texas or something.

[Frizzle Fry]

Originally Posted by vk_chevy

mike, you got a blog or a forum for your minx doing the swap?

Not yet. I've been taking pics as usual and looking for a good home for the build. I may start a project journal at hotrodders.com. The project is an odd-ball with no clearly defined home other than being what I would now put in the hot rod category. I'm open to any other suggestions.

[Jvsapp]

post a link if you do.

[c10chevy69]

It took me two days to read to the end of 45 pages (so far). Your imagination and skills are simply outstanding. I will continue to watch your progress until the end of this build (but they never really are finished are they?). I can only hope to have half the energy and inspiration that you do to someday finish my 69/72. Thank you for all of your hard work.

[robmrtnbb5]

Just wanted to say youve got a realy kool build going on hear lookin good

bob m