70 Hemi Superbird Restoration..................errr.....scratch that........

[HYRDGOON]

Awesome seeing/reading consistent progress. Looks like the cat was successful!

 

[Hemirunner]

This morning's update was about recycling. You read how I ended up making three #1 bars to get one right where it would clear the driveshaft. Well, today I used the first one up on the radiator yoke and it worked perfectly. I split it in half and then sectioned the half to end up with two matching, yet opposing bent bars. These will get welded as shown. There will be one on the bottom as well and then two on each side of the radiator that will be shaped like the nose forming the nose mount. These will hold the nose, the intercoolers, and the headlight mechanisms.

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The trial fit....

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Ready to weld. Notice I removed the bottom flange so that the yoke and the bar make a nice looking transition and the weld isn't impossible to make.

 

[usaroadrunner]

You make it seem liking your winging it. NO PUN INTENDED...But it seems like to me you know exactly what your doing. Either case it's coming out awesome.

 

[Hemirunner]

You make it seem liking your winging it. NO PUN INTENDED...But it seems like to me you know exactly what your doing. Either case it's coming out awesome.

I've spent the last 4 years building this car in my head while I collected parts. A lot of it just "engineers itself out", while other stuff has been planned for a while. In the case of this tube, I had planned to reinforce the yoke in some fashion to hold all the junk that will be hanging from it and it just worked out that I could use this tube to do it. The steel nose will come off the car so I can walk up to, and lean over, the radiator yoke while in the pits. I've planned a lot of the service and operation aspects well in advance. Some are working out perfectly and I've had to rethink others. I was going to use a Dana 60 rear and then tunnel the floor boards to get the car low enough. I decided to build a fab 9 due to costs and a side benefit is that I probably won't have to tunnel the car since the pinion is much lower on a 9". Some things just work out.
All welded out in time to have lunch.

 

[BigBlock61]

Just got done reading this entire thread and I can't believe I haven't noticed it before. The work you are doing is incredible, it must be the ADHD lol. I take it you've done this once or twice. At thi time I'm really interested in how you did the mini tub and spring relocation because that's what I'm doing on mine. I'll be watching this build because it's going to be killer when it's done.

 

[Hemirunner]

As far as cars go, I've been working on them since I was 14. I've been working with my hands since I was able to realize that I had hands. Believe or not, I credit a lot of my mechanical thought processes to having legos as a kid. This is the first car of this caliber that I've ever done. Most have been limited to bolt ons and repairing existing metal. This one involves a lot of fabrication. ADHD, probably. I can't sit idle or I go nuts. I have to be thinking and doing. One good side effect is that I sleep like a baby, lol.

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After lunch, I developed a pattern for the nose to determine how much room I had inside it. I then calculated the overall angle so that I could make one bend and have a nice looking bar. It came out to 153 degrees. I bent it to 158 to account for the spring back and it seems to be right on.

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Now the big challenge, to get another one bent just like it, then get them welded in.

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I had to mount the nose to make sure the bars go in at the right location. This led to an entire episode of relocating the rotisserie (I had to learn to spell this word just for this thread, lol) into the engine bay to make room for this nose. These cars are big enough, but the nose and fenders add 3ft to the length of a 70RR.

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Anyway, I got the job done and mounted the nose back on with the ratchet straps. I'm hoping to get the tubes fitted and on tomorrow.

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[Hemirunner]

I ended up being able to use part of the second tube that I bent for the lower yoke. It wasn't a very tight bend and the die radius is 5.5 inches which really isn't tight enough. I put that bar back in the bender and brought the original 80 degree angle up to just past 90. Then I marked the tube for splitting. I did this with a piece of wood that has a hole in it coinciding with the exact center of the tube.

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To tighten up the radius, I did a series of cuts on the tube. This really brought it in where it needed to be.

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The tube was then curled, pushing the cuts together and tacked.

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Then I clamped it in place and welded out the top. This car was involved in a right front collision at one time and as bad as the yoke was mangled, I should have just lopped it off and put an AMD one on.

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Tomorrow, I'll finish the other tube on the lower yoke and add the nose mount bars.

 

[BigBlock61]

I'm figuring out that I need to check out this thread 3 to 4 times a day because you update it so often. I keep going back and referencing things that you've done to your bird and it gives me some great ideas on what to do with my Coronet. An example of this would be the rear spring relocation you did. I bought the kit from USCartool and the brackets for the rear spring shackles drop the shackles down by 2 to 3 inches. After seeing how you notched your frame rails for the sliders, maybe I can do the same for the shackle mounts to get it back to where it's meant to be.

 

[Hemirunner]

Lol, It's easier to update it often than remember everything when I update a bunch at once. I'm glad the thread was of help. I post all this as repayment of sorts to all who have posted the material I've used over the years.

 

[Hemirunner]

Two front nose mount bars, ready to weld on. The issue with welding them on now is that the rotisserie won't spin over with those bars attached. Facing that dilemma, it's time to stop, clean up the shop and get ready for the work week I guess.

 

[69 GTX]

Moving right along. I see it looks like you've set the engine back a little, true or illusion?

 

[Hemirunner]

Complete illusion. If you look at the transmission photo a page or so back, you'll see it's in the stock location using the stock crossmember. I wanted to set it back to help offset some of the front end weight but it would require extensive floor and firewall changes which change my bar requirements for SFI25.3 and also changes my class at Dragweek.

 

[HYRDGOON]

Man you never fail to impress! And agree with above it's not only the speed the updates are coming but the ingenuity and awesome work that you are putting down fast!!

Love the above pic of the full body sitting with the nose cone... gives a real good image of what is to come!

 

[Hemirunner]

Thanks Goon. I'd like to have this car on the ground and in primer by May. We'll see if I make it.

 

[MoparMad]

Keeping Up with the Thread

Thanks Goon. I'd like to have this car on the ground and in primer by May. We'll see if I make it.

Where is the track you are running in May?

 

[Hemirunner]

I won't have it running by May, just have it down on its own suspension, all the metal work done and primer shot. There's no way it could be running by May unless some race car building elves show and finish it! Even if I could work that fast, my checkbook wouldn't keep up lol.

 

[69 GTX]

I hear that on the wallet!!!

 

[daytona kid]

I hear that on the wallet!!!

x 10

 

[Riverdawg]

Congrats on the article of your build on StreetlegalTV. "What are you working on: From '70 Road Runner to Superbird Restomod."

http://www.streetlegaltv.com/news/what-are-you-working-on-from-70-road-runner-to-superbird-restomod/

 

[HYRDGOON]

Great write-up!