BB Bonneville Bugeye

[hotschue]

The body has arrived........I guess assembly required!

[Rex Schimmer]

Any good reason that you put the dog leg in your panard rod? Looks like it could be a straight rod and then you could adjust it without having to disconnect one end from the chassis or rear end. Also the bend makes it much less stiff in compression and tension so it will not do as good a job of locating the rear end as a straight rod would.
Just wondering.
Rex

[hotschue]

Hello Rex,  Straight bar will not clear rear cover and girdle.  Suspension travel will be less than 1" so I'm hopeful dog leg won't be an issue.

[Cajun Kid]

HS,, I was thinking your rear travel would be in the 1 to 2 inch range, thus the arc'd panhard is not as big a problem as could/would have been with more travel. I too agree with using as long as possible and straight panhard, but as your pic shows, sometime you have to adapt and improvise,,, good job.

Build looks first class,,,, keep the update and pics coming.

Charles

[hotschue]

Charles, You see who's unloading the body, John (Md Stude), helped cut and bend substructure panels and picked up aluminium sheets for the body.  He will be the extra set of hands when we start forming body panels.  Hope to have cowl back mounted before Thanksgiving, will start on nose and cowl forward in December..

[Cajun Kid]

HS,, glad you have some close by help.. I thought you and John lived in the same general area. Heck, MD is not that big,,, I am sure it's nice to have some extra help and encouragement nearby.  John is a good guy,,, make sure he gets his Stude at least done enough to pass tech and a shakedown run at Maxton in April...

Will you be ready in April as well ?  You going to come down too ?

Charles

[Milwaukee Midget]

And also, keeping in mind how light this car will probably be, I'm thinking a curved panhard rod as substantial as this one shouldn't be an issue - just keep the car in a straight line.

Got any sketches as to what the nose is going to look like?

I'm absolutely digging this build.

Chris

[Rex Schimmer]

Again my real "challenge" with the dog leg panard is that you absolutely have to disconnect it from the chassis to adjust. A straight rod only needs the lock nuts loosened and a turn. It also makes the smallest adjustment what ever 1/2 of the rod end thread pitch is.

Just kibizing, I also am anxious to see the body!!

Great project!

Rex

[hotschue]

CK, John lives about a one minute walk from the garage, we spend a lot of time sitting and talking engineering and how to make the design better.  Sometime more sitting than working!  Our schedule, (tentitive) have the rolling body ready for A2 wind tunnel early January, test power train in Jack Iliff's '88 Firebird in April and then assemble BB and do some test runs at Maxton in May.  Hopefully we can gain enough information for the B'ville setup.

MM - Thanks for your comments over the years, nose cone buck is complete will post a pick next few days....trying to find someone local to make a mold for me, don't have the time to do it and don't want to screw it up to many hours invested....

Rex - I hope I'll only have to adjust the panhard bar once.....

[Rob]

I could be a day late and a dollar short but.... if less than 1/2 a turn is required, a cam type bushing could be incorporated as is sometimes used in front suspensions for wheel alignment.

Love the build too and am awaiting each development.

Cheers,
Rob

[hotschue]

Hi Rob, Thanks for your interest.....I'm hoping the track bar adjustment isn't that critical....am away on holiday for another week then back on the project....being away gives me time to plan or rethink the next moves....finished mounting the rear body section on hinges before I left....will mount cowl when I return and fabricate door skins....posting some pictures when I return....

Thanks again,
U.

[hotschue]

Rear body mounts installed...moving to cowl to attach dzus flange plate to support  for forward body panels (yet to be fabricated), also early stage of nose cone plug fab, will finish shortly and post pic.

[Milwaukee Midget]

I'm always impressed by somebody who can weld vintage British tin without creating a huge slag pile on the floor!

Great progress.  Earlier you mentioned that you're setting this up for both a two-litre and a SBC, and that it ran in a Firebird.  Curious as to what make the two-litre is?
 
Chris

[hotschue]

Hi Chris, For 2010 we've decided on a 2 liter (120 CI) Iron Duke, normally aspirated which ran over 170 last August in a 3200 lb. Firebird (G/GC record 169.++) ..... for 2011 have not mad a decision on engine class (sbc).

[hotschue]

another pic