B Body stiffening

[Darius]

I have not moved!!! I have just been busy and haven't had time to work on my car.....until the past two days!!!!
Here are some pics of the 4 link rear suspension. I got it all fit in there today and all I have to do tomorrow is weld the brackets onto the axle housing. Then it becomes a roller so we can get the motor/trans assy fit in nad flare the floor hump. That will most likely be next week sometime.
This install is a pretty simple one if you just want to bolt it on. There were some areas where the radiud of the crossmembers did not quite match the radius of the frame rail. I "split the difference" and welded it all in. I'm not so sure I would have felt all that comfortable just bolting it in.

 

[Darius]

I took the springs off the coil overs so I didn't have to wrestle with them since this is the mock-up fitting.

 

[66_B_Body4ever]

Wow Darius, looks great. Where did you purchase the 4 link setup from, XV? What did they fleece you for it if you don't mind me asking. that should be one good hookin' and handlin' GTX.

 

[Darius]

I got the 4 link from Reilley Motor Sports when I bought the Alterktion, don't remember the exact cost but I think the total for the alterk and the 4 link was around $6600.
Here are a few more pics to drool over. I got it to a roller stage today and I cannot believe the difference even without a motor and tranny in it. Can't wait to drive it!

 

[5.7 hemi]

What did you end up doing for the late model front brakes to fit? The *** end looks nice!!!!

 

[dantrap]

Hi Darius, Looks great. I will say it again a real 1st class job.

 

[AdamR]

welds are like women. they don't HAVE to be pretty, they just need good penetration! anyway, your welds look good from my house.

Best quote ever !

 

[Darius]

What did you end up doing for the late model front brakes to fit? The *** end looks nice!!!!

I ordered the Alterktion with spindles only ,knowing I wanted to try to get the brakes from the Charger to work. I had to buy hubs...which I got from baer. The spindles on the Alterktion are Mustang II pieces. I had to have some spacers machined to fit the Charger discs to the Baer hubs. I'll get some pics of that when we press them on and let you know what size they are. We still have to fab a caliper mount but that does not look like it will be a big problem. haven't tried the rear brake swap yet so I don't know what "suprises" await.

 

[5.7 hemi]

Looking forward to seeing pics.

 

[66_B_Body4ever]

Thanks for the pic's and info Darius, much appreciated. Keep em' coming!

 

[Darius]

Took my first shot at getting the motor in on Friday here are some pics.
have some issues
1. Will NOT be able to use stock exhaust manifolds as I would need to seriously modify the right frame rail. Bill Reiley says TTI has worked a fit out for this install so I am waiting to talk to them on Monday
2. The trans filler tube is in the way so we are looking into rebending that tube perhaps to minimize the tunnel mod.
3. Looks like the tunnel will only need to be flared from the pimnc seam at the firewall to the front of the crossmember and not too much at that.
4. Had to cut the cross member at about where the sides of the tunnel are on both sides. Will have to fab up a new trans mount...no big deal on this issue.
I'll be back at it Monday so I will post up after that.

 

[rolling_Thunder]

Looking good there Darius! You'll love the 3rd gen Hemi - I have helped swap two 5.7s so far and they are awesome to drive around... I'm still working on the wiring harness for my 6.1L - it is pretty close to being done... just been busy at work and family stuff -

Keep up the good work!

 

[5.7 hemi]

Hey Darius, looking godd, but 2 tiny questions. Why does that engine sit so far to the passenger side? What mounts are on the alterk? If you can give me some info I might be able to help you out. If the Alterk has normal engine mounts for a small or big block then you should have TTI engine adapters. This would shift the motor to the drivers side some and give you more room. If you can post some pics of the engine mounts, that would be great, we could actually see whats going on.

 

[Darius]

I will get some more pics today. The engine mounts are the ones that came with the alterktion. I tried them everywhich way they could be mounyed and this was the only way the motor would fit/line up with the mounts on the frame. It looks VERY close in the pics because it still has appx 4" to come up. We have to flare the hump before it can go any higher. It will just clear the valve covers by about 1/2" but the collector flange on the exhaust is not going to clear the frame rail.

 

[B392Hemi]

That 4 bar is very cool. Anyone have the dimensions between the rear rails on the models they are designed to fit? I would think a fellow could modify the "kit" and I use that word loosly...to fit the '62-'65 B Body.

 

[Darius]

Got the motor/trans actually mounted in the car today!
Here are some pics of the clearance issues. The transmission ( remember this is a w5a580) sits high and once we fab up a transmission mount it will drop somewhat. It does look like I might have to butterfly the entire tunnel to clear the drive shaft but not sure yet.
The other pic is the frame rail mod I did to clear the stock exhaust manifold. TTI does NOT make a header for a 5.7/alterktion with the w5a580...this straight from the head TTI design engineer. He says they cannot clear the starter motor.
What I did was cut the frame rail out enough to clear the coupling flange bolt housing then cut a 4"dia pipe and angled and massaged it til it fit flush inside the rail then welded it all back together. Nice and strong and my stock manifold will work now!

 

[Darius]

Here is a pic of the floor piece I cut out, sorry it is so dark. We will see how it goes back. hoping to put some extentions on it and weld it back, if not will fab up a new hump.

 

[5.7 hemi]

I've got some thoughts runnin' in my head to help you out. 1, will a tti header fot the a body work, thats what is on mine? 2, where are you going to put a slip for the drive shaft, will you need a 2 piece shaft? 3, when the trans is positioned, place a 1x3 board on the trans and have the tunnel be no higher than the board, this will give you all the clearence needed for heat, movement and so on. 4, since the torsion bars are 86'd, the cross member will not have to handle sooo much load other than supporting the trans, you can get creative with how you tie them back together and replace the "hump" of the torsion bar crossmember is a cake walk after you've done all this. I'm looking forward to seeing the progress as you go along.

 

[rolling_Thunder]

That 4 bar is very cool. Anyone have the dimensions between the rear rails on the models they are designed to fit? I would think a fellow could modify the "kit" and I use that word loosly...to fit the '62-'65 B Body.

Just ask Bill to make a kit for the early B-body.... He is an awesome dude who is great to work with

 

[snakeoil24]

Great looking reinforcement set up

That is going to be a hot mopar that xvc stuff is great