my car is definatly not going to be restored original to rough and not enough cash so i want to tubb it please help

[This message has been edited by chevellefanatic1 (edited 08-06-99).]

What all do you need to know? I did all of mine and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

------------------
Mike Hurta
(Aug98)
Gold#25
www.chevelles.com/feature/aug98.html (http://www.chevelles.com/feature/aug98.html)

Chevellefanatic1;

You seem rather persistant with wanting to do this. My hope (and I think everybody elses) is that you end up with a safe and sound car when done.

When talking about tubbing a car, you are implying that you want to run tires that are wide to the point of having to move the frame rails inward. The tub it's self is easy and is nothing more than filling the hole in the floor that is required to clear the tires.

NONE of this is cheap! There is NO way around it.

Start with getting a rear frame clip from a company like Chassis works. If you think that you can go out and just buy the rectangular tubing and have it mandrel bent to the correct shape for less money, you are mistaken.

You will have to also get one of their "four link" rear suspension set-ups. This would include the panhard bar. Once again, if you think that you can just go out and buy the tubing; what wall thinkness tubing are you going to get? What type steel? What type (and strength) rod-ends are you going to use. You will also have to fabricate the brackets that have to be welded on the rear-end housing. ALL this welding should be done by a certified welder!!!! Are you planning on figuring out the geometry for all of this? CHASSIS DESIGN IS NOT SIMPLE!

I'm assuming that you are planning on pulling the body off the frame so that all the welds can be done properly. I'd also like to assume that you will have a "true" and flat surface to work on.

You will have to have the rear-end housing shortened. You will also have to have shorter axles.

Count on the coil-over shocks setting you back a fair amount also.

There is a LOT of fabrication that has to be done and even the pros know that the most cost-effective way to go is to buy a kit! If you look through some of the street rod or classic truck magazines, you will notice that the articles are ALWAYS covering the installation of a "kit"!

At the bare minimum, go by your local Barnes & Noble and check out the books that are there. If you spend 60 bucks buying a couple, it's money well spent.


In regards to the tubs themselves; I've an ad from S&W that says the steel tubs are 80 bucks. This is a fair price when you thing about trying to talk a fabrication into droping what they are doing to "roll" the outer panel to the correct diameter. They would also have to roll in the "ridges" that give the added strength. The photo in the ad also shows that S&W rolls ridges in the side panels with a common centerpoint for the radius.


Unless you have a garage full of equipment, you could try contacting one of the local trade schools and see if they would be willing to help as part of a class project. You could offer to donate money to the school in trade, plus you could have the welding instructor do the welding.

------------------
Wes. Vann
Technical Reference & Wagons sections
Gold Member #5

Wes is right, you will have to do your homework. And when your finished you will know quite a bit about suspensions. I did like Wes said I ordered the frame rails, coil overs, ladder bars etc.
Ladder bars will work for what you are doing and if you are really thinking about doing a whole back half it will be easier if you are going to install a rollbar or rollcage as well. It will make it easier to tie things together.
Like I said, I did my car. But a friend of mine who owns his own shop welded it up. I took all the measurements, got all the angles and drew up my own prints. I think I spent more time under the car measuring than what it took to actually do the job. I enjoyed doing it and the car leaves hard and goes straight. Good Luck.

------------------
Mike Hurta
(Aug98)
Gold#25
www.chevelles.com/feature/aug98.html (http://www.chevelles.com/feature/aug98.html)

Try this site.

www.chassisengineering.com (http://www.chassisengineering.com)
http://www.staginglight.com/links/chassis.html

------------------
Wally
Gold #67
67 malibu

[This message has been edited by Wally (edited 08-07-99).]