finally some progress on my astre! now with pics!

[73astregt]

its been a year coming but i finally made the plunge and had the frame connectors built and installed in the car. local guy i know has a welding shop and did the job for me. took the car over last thursday at lunch and got it back today!what a difference! man she feels really solid now, we ran 2x3 from the front wheel wells a la peter pan and nix vega gt but instead of channeling the floor we jogged it to the inside of the seat belt and seat outer mounting holes and contoured it to the bottom of the rear footwell area stepping it back out and going right back to the lower control arm mounts incorperating them into the rails. now some of you might not like having them under the rear footwell area but i wanted to retain my stock seat belt and seat mounting points .strength wise its no weaker than running it straight down the pinch rail as its all gusseted to the floor and all the hardpoints under the car no more flex in this puppy! i can jack it up halfway down the car nascar style and the door still opens with a click .now i can use a hoist and lift it by the new frame with no worries! we also made a new transmission mount as the (i think don hardy style correct me if im wrong) old tubular mount we found was practically falling out of the car the mount tabs were all just about cracked right off completely darn junk! welded up the upper rear control arm mounts as well for strength to keep them from pulling off the body. repaired the battery box area and driver side front floor as well, installed a new rear brake line with an adjustable prop valve below the dimmer switch and a new gas line as well. man im really happy to get this stuff done and now that it is its getting to be time for that s 10 conversion with adjustable upper control arms and the d shop rear adjustable four link setup woohoo!

[Jitterbugdude]

Sounds like you've been busting your ass----ter!!!

[bill1978v8]

I like the way you described how you did it. Pics would be good but please drive it down to the meet at Quaker City Raceway in Salem Ohio on June 7th so I can see in person!!

Thanks,

Bill

[73astregt]

im going to try to get some pics of the frame setup on the weekend when i do some more work on the car. im gonna go to sleep shortly as tomorrow is another work day(job) and we were working on the car last nite trying to bleed brakes till 230 am and i had to be up for work at 630 am. used to be a time i could do that on a regular basis but i guess im getting to be an old fart its not so easy anymore!

[Kenova]

....... and we were working on the car last nite trying to bleed brakes till 230 am and i had to be up for work at 630 am. used to be a time i could do that on a regular basis but i guess im getting to be an old fart its not so easy anymore!

Nah! You're just gettin' smarter.

Ken

[chevyart]

hey 73 astregt sound like you did something like i am going to do soon. im curious to see how you strengthened the upper control arm tabs. not moch room or meat to strengthen. ill bet it looks as good under your car as it does on the outside . whats next in your plans to have the ultimate vega. keep up thew good work chevy art

[78spyder]

Did you use a new master cylinder and if so did you bench bleed it? If you are using the old master cyl, it may be bad. I just jumped thru hoops on a Ford Taurus bleeding and rebleeding the brakes, but little pEddle and even less braking. Turned out to be a bad MC, swapped in the new on and what a change!

[73astregt]

....... and we were working on the car last nite trying to bleed brakes till 230 am and i had to be up for work at 630 am. used to be a time i could do that on a regular basis but i guess im getting to be an old fart its not so easy anymore!

Nah! You're just gettin' smarter.

Ken

not shure about how much smarter lol! but i did manage to keep the beer consumption down to 3 or 4 beers for the evening. to chevy art: after the suspension is all finished it will be 5 speed transmission time and rebuild the rear end(bigger bolt pattern axles , new bearings and seals in the 8 3/4 chrysler rear)this weekend it will be seamsealing the floor ,undercoating, and getting ready to install the new carpet and seat belts. to 78 spyder: the master was replaced two years ago with a new one(not a rebuild) the car is just being cranky and being an h body giving me a hard time lol! we got most of the air out and got a somewhat decent pedal so ill go at it again with a power bleeder before it hits the road in the spring.

[73astregt]

chevyart, we just stitch welded around the brackets as others have done to shore up the factory spot welds.

[73astregt]

more pics

[73astregt]

sorry some of the pics are fuzzy.

[73astregt]

and one last one

[73astregt]

some of the pics didnt turn out very good but i think you can get the basic idea from them.

[73astregt]

bump

[NixVegaGT]

It may be psychosomatic but it seems to me that having the frame rails makes running the brake and fuel lines a lot easier and safer. Don't you think? I love the idea of having a bias adjuster in the car for on the fly adjustments. I might do this too. Do you know if it matters where in the line the bias adjustment is?