Hey guys - Somebody recently messaged me wanting to see more pics of the exhaust that I built for #442 so thought I would go ahead and start a build thread. Been meaning to do it for some time but kept putting it off as I hate to type and feel like I already waste an incredible amount of time surfing the web anyways. I'll just post some of the high lites and cover a few things I have done to solve some of the issues that are inherent in building one of these things.
I am a recently retired aircraft mechanic and have a pretty extensive mechanical back ground including some time as an auto painter so I had a pretty good idea what I was getting into when I started this deal. In fact one of the reasons I didn't start sooner was because I realized what a big job it would be and really wasn't sure I wanted to start such project. The only reason I ended up doing so was I came across a deal too good to pass up when I picked up an unfinished kit which included pretty much everything to build the complete car . Aluminum LS1 with afr heads, cam, intake, TKO 600, Moser 3 link rear, wheels and tires, A/C, power windows, Boyd tank. Pretty much all the options I would want except IRS. I had to drive from Texas to just outside Chicago to retrieve it and I have to admit when I got home and unloaded everything I was a little overwhelmed and wondering what I had gotten myself into. Anyways, that was about 1 year ago and I am knee deep into it and feel like I have most of the hard stuff done, although it is taking much longer than I anticipated. I can definitely tell that this is going to be one kick *** car to drive though and can't wait to take it for a first drive. So, enough of the back ground b.s.

My idea for this build is to go for an old school traditional look along with a bare bones street fighter attitude. No fenders, no hood, no shiny paint or chrome - a little rough around the edges. I am only interested in cars I can drive and drive hard. Nothing against show cars - I love to look at them and admire the craftsmanship, but I don't want to own one. Being a mechanic most of my life, I am all about easy to care for and low maintenance. I love rat rods and steam punk themed cars but they need to be well engineered and functional.
And in my book, a real hot rod has to have some rake - with some real meat out back - the bigger the better. Of course, this being a Factory Five car, there lies the first obstacle. They couldn't have made it much more difficult to achieve that look with the frame and suspension design chosen. After talking with Dan Ruth, I ended up going with some longer QA1 s with 300# springs in the rear and 425# up front. I also added some 1 inch longer lower control arms from Breeze to center the rear tires in the wheel wells not only for looks but for the added bump clearance needed. The car came with 20 inch 275 x 40 rear tires which are 28 inches tall which never would have worked anyways with the stock Konis but came in handy for mock up and setting ride height to run a 29 inch tall tire. I now have some Hoosier pro street radials in 29 x 15.5 which should give just the look I am wanting along with some 15 x 12 ET five window wheels that look great. 20190913_104637.jpg20190913_104631.jpg

Sorry, don't have any pics as the tires haven't been mounted yet but I test fitted the wheels and they are perfect after going to the smaller 10 1/2 mustang rear discs. Will run a 15 x 8 front which just clears the stock mustang gt 11 inch rotors when used with a .250 spacer.
And before anybody mentions it - I realize that doing this throws the suspension geometry out of whack. I get it. Building a hot rod has always been about compromise - balancing style against performance and function. I know this ain't gonna be the hot set up for chasing the lap record at the local road course, but I have also been around long enough to know that the way things work on paper doesn't always jive with the the way they work in real life.
The next issue that rears its ugly head is the diagonal brace for the panhard bar mount. As soon as you raise the rear ride height you also discover that the diagonal brace now won't clear the third member. Well, that ain't gonna work so I shortened the diagonal and built a triangulated box frame that ties into the left half of the rear frame cross member. Its probably easier to just look at the picture than it is to explain it. Is it the best way to do it? probably not. Is it something I recommend doing? nope. It's not the most elegant solution, but it is all I could come up with and am betting it will work fine.
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while I was there , I relocated the battery mount similar to what t. collins did on his car IMG_1043.jpg