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Kyle242GT's 1959 5.044

full droop



The lower driveline loop will need to be reworked/removed, or the checkstraps shortened. The one-piece Ford driveshaft's larger diameter and greater range of motion will cause contact.


middle of travel



Hard to get a good picture of full compression, but the driveline is very close to straight, it hits the axle stops and diff snubber at the same time. That works for me.

Panhard is next. That's going to be interesting, since I think the diff housing is totally in the way now. Been lucky so far as far as clearance goes, so we'll see.
 
After getting the rear end bracket welded up and painted, found the forward bars hit the floor near the center link. So I cut the tubes in the middle, rotated them around, and welded them back up.

Now it gets to about 1/2" from the rear bumpstops before hitting the center bumpstop. Good enough!

Next step is the panhard. Because the Ford diff is bigger, I can't use the old mounts - the bar gets pinched between the diff cover and a floor crossmember. So I'm going to lower the body mount and move it back an inch or so. Don't happen to have steel stock on hand right now, so that'll be next week's job.
 

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Panhard is done, frame mount is done, axle mount is partially in. Need to weld the top and bottom joints as well as add a gusset toward the center.

Adjustment hardware is grade 8 1/2 fine thread.

Body mount is 1/8" plate, axle mount is 1"x1/8" square tubing.

Bearing in mind this is all likely temporary, I think it's coming along nicely.

Interested in feedback on the structure of the frame mount as well as whether to add top /bottom gussets to the axle mount.

The body mount was a pain in the butt to form in my vice, and didn't come out square initially. I think I'd have been better off making it from segments of plate welded together instead of steel origami.

And I messed up the panhard, cut it too short and had to run to the hardware store for a longer bolt. Ugh.

Still, the rear suspension is about done.

What's next? Thinking floor, tunnel, firewall, trans mount. More metal work, hooray. :roll: Then wiring, headers, brakes, fuel system, driveline. Hey! Almost done! :-(

Attached pics of the body mount, axle mount, and full compression, full droop.
 

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Project is looking great!

If I could make any suggestions, I would:

1. Gusset the panhard mount at the axle. There will potentially be a lot of force on that mount in a hard corner and I would feel better about making it stronger than it needs to be.
2. Plate the other end of the panhard mount at the frame. Capture the original mount stud and the new bolt with a plate that spans the weld. Front and back would be ideal.

I tend to over-build things sometimes but I never have to worry about whether or not it is good enough. (with exception to not making a lower spring retainer or limiting straps for my wagon, but I thought I would get it done before I jumped it that much)

Anyway, keep it up! I can't wait to see it on the road!
 
Put plates on the front and rear of the frame-side panhard mount.
Put a 1/4"x1" gusset on the axle-side panhard mount.
Have to run some 1/4" rod around the axle tubes to keep the trailing arms located, then the rear is done.

Turned my eyes to the floorpan, moving on to the floor/tunnel/firewall sheetmetal. Damn it's a rusty mess. Hope to take the whole Volvo floor out and sub the Foxstang panel. We'll see how that turns out. :x:
 
Sorry to cause you more work, lol! Glad to hear you beefed it up though. I would have hated to see a "Look what broke in the middle of a hard left today", thread.

:cool:
 
All good brother, glad for any constructive criticism. Funny thing is discarding the temporary nature of the rear design... "maybe it'll hold up!"
 
Once upon a time, Pat told me this car looked rust free. :-P I thought so too.

I think I'll have to remove the angle section to access the rusty area. Air hammer to the rescue.

Any ideas on using flat steel (16ga) for the floors instead of beadrolling it?
 

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Thanks a lot for the links! Great to see the fab in action. Picked up a HF beadroller, exchanged the 16ga for 18, and bought a 20' length of 1x2x.125 to build a perimeter frame.

Air hammer is a great tool (noisy as hell though). Be great with an assortment of body hammers. Might head back to HF, they have a body hammer/die assortment that might come in handy.

Going to start on the patch today, maybe pull the driver's floor - depends on if the frame rail is secure at the rear (under the seat support) or floating free in a lacy sea of rust.
 
I found my 15mm end wrench!

Removed the inner sheetmetal, rest of the rocker looks good. Started removing the jack points since they're going to interfere with the inner rails.
 

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Fixed the second hole in the rocker, replaced the captive nut for the fender, and then made the patch for the inner rocker.

Glad I went with 18ga instead of 16.

Flanged it with my new HF beadroller (kind of a POS, to be expected I suppose). Upon reflection, flanged it the wrong way - on top of the old metal. :e-shrug: whatever, not like it's visible.

Was roaring along, really had a great handle on the welding, and of course I ran out of wire. Ugh.
 

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Driver's side is worse, had to cut out some of the seat support and more of the floor. Fun!

Flanged the patch the right direction this time, slid it underneath the old metal and plugwelded.

As I'm doing this I'm trying to learn the technique of metal patching in case I lose my mind and buy another rusty car.
 

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Continued to the rear, removed the jack points since they're deformed and in the way of the new inner frame rails.

Passenger side was no biggie, but the driver's side has body damage and rust. Cut out the affected area, made a patch, welded in. I suck at welding, but getting good with a grinder.

While straightening the rocker flange, found some more rust, cut that out and patched. Yuck.
 

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