BUILD-OFF CHALLENGE: Tygaboy's '75 LS3, It seemed a good idea at the time... Options

[Krieger]

Those are nice! Will they get the Midas touch or are you keeping them that color?

[Andyrew]

And the 8" / 9" x 16" Ronals are here.
You don't see them all the time and I think they'll nicely compliment the look of this build.

Wow! Those look very simmilar to some 15" gotties I had about 10 years ago!

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/post-2-1130890765.jpg)

[markhoward]

And the 8" / 9" x 16" Ronals are here.
You don't see them all the time and I think they'll nicely compliment the look of this build.
Big thanks to @MarkHoward for spotting these!

Glad those worked out. Gonna be fresh!

[Dion]

And the 8" / 9" x 16" Ronals are here.
You don't see them all the time and I think they'll nicely compliment the look of this build.
Big thanks to @MarkHoward for spotting these!

Those rims are nice. Remind me of 917 look.
Very cool.

[tygaboy]

And the 8" / 9" x 16" Ronals are here.
You don't see them all the time and I think they'll nicely compliment the look of this build.

Wow! Those look very simmilar to some 15" gotties I had about 10 years ago!

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/post-2-1130890765.jpg)

Wow, those centers are essentially identical! That 3 -piece, bolt together look would go nicely with the rivets, too... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

[tygaboy]

Those are nice! Will they get the Midas touch or are you keeping them that color?

Hi Andy - I'm kinda digging the anthracite look - seems "tougher" looking to me. So it'll be as-is for now. Easy enough to change color later.

[sixnotfour]

Nice wheels... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) always wanted a set.

I have these but they are, 15inch, also I saw these today... 3 bucks versus 1 buck, and 3 times longer to use..

[tygaboy]

Well that makes a bit of a difference, eh? A bit of envisioning it with paint but I'm really happy with how these are going to look on the car.

[tygaboy]

And credit where credit is due: @BuddyV has Ronals on his car and I loved the look.
A major attraction is that these do a really nice job of filling out the flares with no spacers! So it's standard length studs, too.

[Andyrew]

And credit where credit is due: @BuddyV has Ronals on his car and I loved the look.
A major attraction is that these do a really nice job of filling out the flares with no spacers! So it's standard length studs, too.

They'll tuck a good half inch as the suspension drops to ride height as well.

Very nice fitment!

[markhoward]

Well that makes a bit of a difference, eh? A bit of envisioning it with paint but I'm really happy with how these are going to look on the car.

A pure look! And I thought these were only for 500 SEC's.. Think the grey will flow with your color choice. Gold would look good too but why rush into that.

[tygaboy]

Today was working on the radiator install. And given the earlier questions about tools, I thought this might be interesting to some:

This is an inexpensive copy of a Beverly shear.
The real deal items are around $600. Copies can be had for ~ $160 at Harbor Freight.
Remember, you get what you pay for and a genuine Beverly is a joy. These aren't bad, though.

Anyway, it makes quick, clean (and quiet!) work of cutting sheet metal. The throatless design lets you turn the piece and cut essentially any shape. Plus, it's a shear so no kerf to factor in, if that's of concern.
In all, a very handy and cost effective tool.

Here, I'm just trimming a support piece that sits under the radiator frame.

[tygaboy]

Main frame fabricated, support brackets installed and floor shroud rough fit.
I still have to add some supports to the upper, outer corners that tie forward to the chassis. Then it's add the side and top shrouding and cut the front panel.

[tygaboy]

Radiator frame upper supports nearly complete.

[Cairo94507]

This build is a benchmark build. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[sixnotfour]

and a single cleco in the picture.... Nice mount

[tygaboy]

There are so many things to do and I'm all over the place, bouncing from one "to do" item to the next. I'm currently in process on probably 5-7 sub-projects.

What can I say? I'm easily distracted. Doing this seems to work for me in that it keeps things moving while simultaneously creating time for me to (re)consider the design/execution I've partially completed.

Today, it was working up a test mount for the A/C unit. After hours of trying to work out some super duper cool, stealth location, I decided I was overthinking it and opted to mount it where it'll likely work the best without me having to try and invent a completely new housing and fan set up. Of course I reserve the right to do that in the future. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)

Again, this is a test mount that can be slid around on the front hoop to let me work out where the A/C unit will end up. I'm aware it isn't well engineered. Once I finalize the location, I'll probably add tabs and mounting points that eliminate this whole contraption. And if I do keep it, at the very least, I'll add a mount at the rear that ties to the chassis.

[Andyrew]

Hows the footroom there?

Not a bad spot assuming you have ample foot room. Even would work as a decent foot rest.

Love the mount (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[tygaboy]

Hows the footroom there?

Not a bad spot assuming you have ample foot room. Even would work as a decent foot rest.

Love the mount (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

@Andyrew - That picture isn't giving a good sense of how the unit fits. The good news is there's no problem re: foot room for either driver or passenger. Still some fiddling to do but it seems like it'll work just fine in this general position.

[tygaboy]

With the radiator support all done, I started on the shrouding.
First, it was working up a retaining plate. The rear face of the frame and the underside of this plate will get some rubber padding.