Lavron's '64 Build Thread

The Era of The Square Body Racing Comets
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poboyjo65
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Re: Lavron's '64 Build Thread

Post by poboyjo65 »

Wow! I didnt know you were building a lowrider! Man your down there in Fredville ! He might even get a little jealous! :lol:
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lavron
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Re: Lavron's '64 Build Thread

Post by lavron »

bigdan wrote:You may have mentioned it, but what size tire are you running in the back?
They are 225/60R16 the fronts are 195/65R15
bigdan wrote: I thought I was pretty low but I have alot more floor clearance.
One reason I wanted to get the actual rear in there, there is a lot of clearance with the 1 1/2" pipe :roll: I think I will build the frame parts around as high as the upper air bag brackets need to go and back far enough I can weld my shock cross member to it, and, of course, far enough forward to give my pumpkin room, that would only leave the question of if I have to enlarge the tunnel a bit in back for the driveshaft to clear.
bigdan wrote:make sure when you're mocking up everything stays plumb and square. The lower axle bracket for the 4 link has to be installed with the shock mount bolt hole level or your shocks will lean at odd angles.
I need to get the brackets trimmed so they sit to the back of the axle tube, and fit the radius correctly, probably do that fairly soon.
poboyjo65 wrote:Wow! I didnt know you were building a lowrider! Man your down there in Fredville ! He might even get a little jealous! :lol:
Well hopefully it won't go any lower, at least with the air bags I can raise it up to make it over speed bumps :roll: :P

Is 9" for the rockers off the ground fairly low? I mean it looks low :P but it sat kinda high before and they were 12" up so a 3" drop, like I said earlier, I don't think tire changes will be very much fun, not like they were before anyway.

See Ya,
Mike
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tomb22
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Re: Lavron's '64 Build Thread

Post by tomb22 »

Looking awesome Mike. Keep the pictures coming.
Tom
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lavron
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Re: Lavron's '64 Build Thread

Post by lavron »

tomb22 wrote:Looking awesome Mike. Keep the pictures coming.
Thanks Tom, no pictures today but I did go out and trim the lower brackets, got both clamped back in place plumb, set the bars the same, and set the pinion angle as well.

I also cut my top bars but I am thinking they are too short, the whole upper bar is about 12" eye to eye and the bottom bars are 24" and I had read they should be 75 percent the length of the bottom bars, oh well I have already cut the bars so I may as well try them and see what I get :roll:

I did recheck the level of the car and did a little tweaking on one stand and added a shim so now it is level side to side on both ends.

Also I read last night that they calculate around 4"-5" of rear suspension travel so I don't need to notch the frame much.

See Ya,
Mike
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bigdan
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Re: Lavron's '64 Build Thread

Post by bigdan »

Not sure where you got your 4 link components, but if you did cut it too short check out Welder Series. They carry 4 link arms, with bushings, either welded or "you -weld-it" at a decent price.

Dan
Long time search complete, 65 Cyclone project in progress!

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Re: Lavron's '64 Build Thread

Post by lavron »

bigdan wrote:Not sure where you got your 4 link components, but if you did cut it too short check out Welder Series. They carry 4 link arms, with bushings, either welded or "you -weld-it" at a decent price.

Dan
I have the other end I can use it is not adjustable is all, Speedway has pre-threaded tubes that are not too expensive, so I will mock with these and just screw them all the way out if I need too to get a length and then buy a set the right length, or they may be fine :roll:

I wish I could figure out a way to hold the front mounts to the frame, I am thinking about welding them to a plate that I could clamp (or screw) to the frame and then just weld the plate to the frame, might give me a little additional strength.

See Ya,
Mike
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lavron
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Re: Lavron's '64 Build Thread

Post by lavron »

Not much to show today, I attempted to thread one end of my upper link bar, that proved to be pretty much futile, I did get a few threads before I gave up :roll: and it was enough to get the end link screwed in there.

The bar is too short, I went ahead and ordered some pre-tapped ones today, but it was long enough to mock with and measure. I think I am going to ditch my upper frame bracket and drill a hole through the frame at an angle and add a pipe and weld it in place, it is looks something like this but my joint will be running inline with the bar properly.

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I might add a part of the bracket on the inside to support the end of the joint as well.

See Ya,
Mike
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Re: Lavron's '64 Build Thread

Post by lavron »

OK so I got the corners of the rear wheel wells cut out so my tires at least clear now.

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My thoughts are to cut the inside wells off the parts and use the left one on the right outside and visa-versa at least at the rear, I will have to make a filler panel in back but the left one is pretty rusty anyway so no big deal.

I found out how much droop (approx.) I will need to get the tires on and off.

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That is about 5.5" problem is the air bag will not extend that far, so I think I need to move the upper mount low enough so they will and run a little less air pressure in the rear bags. I was looking on the spec sheet for the rear bags and they show the actual design ride height to be 6.5" not 7.25", the bags extend to 11" and collapse to basically 3", if I run my upper bag bracket at 6" and trim the inner fender lip a bit I can probably make that work.

I did get my new link bars today, unexpectedly, so I threw them on there, I think they are ADDCOs from Speedway, I went ahead and got new lower ones as well and another forged LH end link to mount on the rear.

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Not the best picture but now I should be able to get the upper frame mounts located and installed and then I can tack the brackets on the rear after I get them lined up so I can get them all welded on.

Just so you know the heat index was in the 100s today but I went out and worked on the Comet anyway. :P

See Ya,
Mike
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Re: Lavron's '64 Build Thread

Post by poboyjo65 »

did you have to grind your center caps to get a socket on the lugs? (I had to do that .)
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Re: Lavron's '64 Build Thread

Post by Rocket989 »

You go Mike!! Looks pretty close to welding a bead or several!! :lol: :lol: :lol: It has been HOT...tapped 104 yesterday & 101 today around here man!!
'cause Johno says you gotta have a sig pic! :)
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Re: Lavron's '64 Build Thread

Post by lavron »

poboyjo65 wrote:did you have to grind your center caps to get a socket on the lugs? (I had to do that .)
Not yet but I have to use a socket and they are a tight fit getting on there and I have only put 2 on at one time, not all 5.
Rocket989 wrote:You go Mike!! Looks pretty close to welding a bead or several!!
Yes it is going to happen soon I would say, next is getting the upper frame mount situated (done) and then I will do one more (several) check for square and plumb and at least tack weld all the axle brackets in place.

I need to drill a 1" hole at an angle though the frame, I know how to lay it all out, and match from side to side, but I think I will pick up a big step drill from HF next week to make the holes, I guess they don't have to be precise but need to be pretty close (they need to be level) and then I am going to put a spacer through the frame and weld it then cut the brackets up to use on each side of the frame (I will take pictures of what I am talking about when I do it)

I need to look back at Dan's Falcon build and see if he had to enlarge his tunnel at the back to compensate for the driveshaft because mine looks awfully small back there and I still can't tell if it will clear.
Rocket989 wrote:It has been HOT...tapped 104 yesterday & 101 today around here man!!
Tell me about it, at certain times, when the sun gets over the trees to the east, it shines full in on me at the back of the car, it is better when the sun gets a little higher. It was so hot today that my cell phone, that was laying on the front fender, said it was overheated and needed to cool down before I could use it (I was trying to take a picture) so I sat on top of my ice water glass so it could cool off :roll:

See Ya,
Mike
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Re: Lavron's '64 Build Thread

Post by Jims65cyclone »

lavron wrote:
Rocket989 wrote:It has been HOT...tapped 104 yesterday & 101 today around here man!!
Tell me about it, at certain times, when the sun gets over the trees to the east, it shines full in on me at the back of the car, it is better when the sun gets a little higher. It was so hot today that my cell phone, that was laying on the front fender, said it was overheated and needed to cool down before I could use it (I was trying to take a picture) so I sat on top of my ice water glass so it could cool off :roll:
Be sure you stay hydrated. Dehydration can sneak up on you resulting in heat exhaustion and heat stroke. I'm leaving for an annual mission trip on 7/7 where we work on peoples houses, outside and inside (no AC) in 100* heat. Our camp nurse (retired Army Lt. Col. Medical Corp.) drills into us that we have to drink 8 oz. of water every hour, minimum. I've slipped up a couple of times and not gotten enough water, resulting in some of the worst muscle cramps I've ever experienced. And that's heat exhaustion, not stroke. Without prompt intervention with cooling, hydration and some extra potassium, heat exhaustion can progress to heat stroke and death. Take care of yourself. You don't want to do all this work and not get to enjoy it. :wink:
Jim
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Re: Lavron's '64 Build Thread

Post by BST'65 »

Mike,

Looking good, a lot of progress has been made.

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Re: Lavron's '64 Build Thread

Post by lavron »

First update in July, I went out today and laid on the floor of the shed under the Comet studying and fitting on the upper 4 link mounts, finally I decided to trim the brackets to fit my situation instead of drilling through the frame, here is one trimmed and one untrimmed.

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I went ahead and used some self tapping screws to hold them in position because I knew there was no way I was going to be able to hold them straight and weld them, it took a lot of tweaking and measuring to get them the same from side to side, but I think I got it.

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I may need to do just a little bit of grinding on the upper axle mounts but they may be close enough to weld, I will just make sure I have them clamped good before I make my tack welds.

I spent a good amount of time today going back over everything and getting all of it straight, plumb, and spaced correctly. I made sure my pinion angle was correct and my lower brackets were plumb in the back. I guess next report I might have it tacked in so I can test everything for binding.

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I am going to order some frame c-notches from Welders Series and some upper bag brackets and shock mounts for the front.

See Ya,
Mike
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Re: Lavron's '64 Build Thread

Post by popscomet »

COOL !! pop picks at ya but your doing good 8) 8) :wink: :!:
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