Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

Main rail sections.

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

10 piece dimple die set, got so many plans for these babys

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

One end of the rear notch box plate

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

Yep, other end of the notch

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

Mundane fab, drill pilot hole, drill medium hole, punch pilot hole, punch main hole, squash in the dimple die press. Rince and repeat 32 times

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

Close up

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

Good job on the patchwork..but something don't look right....your steering wheel is on the wrong side...ha ha..

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

Came out pretty good. I should be getting paid for this sh1t

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

Another angle

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

Forgot to add, the rear notch has some fissure plates added prior to boxing

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

I purchased a TCI IFS right hand drive front end, with RHD power rack, coil spring with shock, 2" drop spindles, sway bar, etc, quality was good, but not without issues, the rack had no clearance to fit the uni joint
And the spring towers were only tacked in place,
Anyway cant sweat the small stuff. Here it is welded in place.

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

Close up of most of the bits fitted.

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

The 1986 GM rotor and single piston caliper are probably ok for your run of the mill drum brake car upgrade, but my little truck needs more to stop the modified LS1, especially with the large mass of the American Racing 20" Daytona rims. After some research, it seems that I could buy some billet hubs from CPP or modify something else. Gen 1 Camaro Drum brake hubs run the same bearing as the Gen 3 rotors that came in the TCI kit.
(Disc brake hubs have a different offset,) I took a used pair of 68 drum brake hubs, machined the rough cast surface down, pressed on an outer sleeve to fit the bore in my wheels, fitted some ARP 1/2"-20 wheel studs. Painted them suckers gloss black. Purchased a new set of Ford Grenada timken bearings. The seal was tricky as the stub on the spindle was larger than the GM. But I found one that will work.

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

Here they are ready to fit

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

Our top of the range Holden Special Vehicles SS Commodore, HSV has 365mm (14.4") front rotors, and 350mm (13.8") rear rotors. These Were my choice for a budget brake upgrade, easy to replace locally, and the HSV can be ordered with a Redline Brake package that includes the same front Brembo Calliper as the USA 2010 Camaro. Which means the HSV master cyclinder booster will combine and match up well.

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

Fills out them big wheels real well, all up cost is close to a grand.

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

Someone is about to ask how I got the Camaro Brembo calliper to fit the mustang II spindle, where a GM single piston stopper was mounted previously.
I noticed many brake upgrade brackets were made from 3/8 plate, which for my build was not enough,
After many visits to lukeskaff.com who has a great site with tons of helpful info. I decided 16mm plate was required, made a couple of thin alloy test plates untill I got the correct radial height, and cut out my 16mm plate, drilled some holes in the right place, made 12mm spacers to set the calliper depth right. And as the top calliper hole needed to be where the threaded bolt attaching to the spindle was, I cut a notch out. Inseted a grade 8 bolt with its head cut off. And welded it to the bracket. Allowing me to drill the top hole alongside the welded stud.
Made that sound more complicated than it needed to be. :lol:

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

Here it is in all its glory, :metal:
And as the Mustang II came with grade 5 hardware, thats safe right? No way jose, so some grade 12 socket heads were in order.

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

The rear wheels should sit close to this height when mounted, this week I moved on to setting up the rear end, I am using a Summit Circle track 9" housing, 55" wide flange to flange. Add 2.1/2" each side for the axle flanges, thats 60" overall, hub to hub.
I am using 55 chevy pickup 3" drop leaf spring set in the rear. Have removed the top leaf, and had the second leaf remade shorter eye to eye. So as to mount them on the outside of the chassis rails.
Smarty pants amoung you know there is not enough space, correct, give yourself some candy.
Earlier while playing with the chassis rails, I pinched them parallel just behind the last floorboard mounting bracket. And pulled them back out where the rear bend was.
The chassis tapers from the front, all the way to the floor board bracket, then it's parallel to the rear bumper.

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

In order to mount the leaf springs as close as possible towards the floor board bracket, I had to make my own. Heres the drawing.

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

Looks like these will do the trick

Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

This will be my last pic for a couple weeks, while I make some more progress. Back soon.

It sure is, just the way we like it down under, dont mind a left hook car, I have a 51 chevy hardtop, just thought this would be more user friendly as my shop truck RHD. I can flip the images if its messing with your mind. :-)
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Re: My 54 3100 pickup build
 

Extremely impressed and jealous of your fabricating skills.....beyond nice!

Thank you for your kind words. Like most of us, I have a go, stuff it up, keep going till I get it right and then I show the pics .
Makes me look like I know what Im doing :-)
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