Front Clip?

[LL8 Vega GT]

Looking for any advice from people who have put a front clip on a vega, i.e. where did they cut the front nose off the car, how they squared it up to the rest of the car, did they remove tne fire wall, things to watch for, what they would have done differently. Pictures would be helpful if you have them.


Thanks

[megavega]

I assume your looking at adding a jegs front frame assembly? Youll need to connect it to some frame rails and have those rails incorporated into the unibody frame/floorpan and then either tie it all together with a rollcage or tubing braces to 4 corners of the car. As for "squaring" it to the car, you simply measure your wheelbase(center to center on hubs) and use a level on the front for side to side assuming you have the car setup plumb front to back, side to side and set stationary on a table or stands or lift,etc.
Maybe give some more details on what your looking to do and I could help further. I have built a few full tube chassis cars(working on a full tube chassis 64 nova right now) and lots of back halfs,thanx

[LL8 Vega GT]

Thanks for the feedback.

I will be building the front clip from scratch to work with the in-line engine. The design is complete, and i am in the process of buying the tubing etc to build it. The 4 link is done and square in the car, with the roll hoop, front pillar tubes and tubes into the rear frame rails. sub-frame connectors are tied into rear and floor. There is no sheet metal in the rear yet.

To clarify my question, I am trying to figure out the best way to go about removing the front sheet metal (inner fenders at firewall and forward) on the vega. I believe that i will be removing the firewall and moving it back, but I am thinking that i should leave it in for rigidity while i am doing the front clip work to keep the body from wanting to move around to much

Here is my plan for setting up the front clip, please offer suggestions as to better solutions/options:

Since i do not have a full chassis jig, I will build the clip on my fixture plate as a complete clip (similar to how i built the rear). I plan to use screw jacks to support the car in order to get everything level to gravity in all directions with a digital level (since i will not trust referencing my garage floor). From there I will move the clip into position and level it up in a similar fashion, and tie directly into the sub-frame connectors. As you mentioned, a wheelbase measurement should be taken as well as some diagonal measurements to ensure it is square. From there i will tie in the roll cage to the front clip..... Thats pretty much the big picture of how i want to do it, but thought i would ask for suggestions from the guys who have done this with Vegas or anything for that matter.

Thanks again

[megavega]

sounds like you have plenty of know how to do it. I wouldnt worry about cutting off the front and firewall if you have the rollbar mainhoop and front windshield bars already in place, the body cant spread or move. I cut the entire floor from this 64 nova, left the doors on,(closed), all glass intact yet and removed the body up and off the floor/frame in 1 cut all the way around the perimeter and thru the rear wheel wells, just lifted it off with the car lift. I then got the tube chassis ready,welded mounting plates to the bodys inner rockers, and lowered body down onto chassis, very simple to do.I dont have any cracks in the glass and the doors open and close like new,so dont sweat it , it will be fine if the back is all tied in the cage will hold it all together.

When you go to remove the front, youll see the inner fenders are tied into the fresh air vent chambers(bulges in front of doors with fenders off)you can simply cut straight down that seam, then either cut off the frame rails or remove the bottom gusset plate from the floor to the rails,(this gusset plate is the one with the oval holes, its big.), with the gusset plate off you will then be able to remove the rails from the front of the rockers if wanted(this is alot of work).the floor pan will needto be cut to get to all the connections of the rails to the inner rockers. theres a member here by the name demon precision who is building a super nice tube chassis car and he has some photos in his build journal(junk vega), youll want to look at so you can see what your dealing with in sheet metal removal. you have to go back into the pages a ways in his photo bucket. i pasted one of his here but theres many more, hes doing a great job of documenting his build.


Are you wanting to keep any of the original floor ?

[LL8 Vega GT]

MegaVega,

Thanks for taking the time to detail out this info, this is exactly the info i was looking for. I have spent the past couple days looking through the 438 pictures on the photobucket link, your right, very well documented build.

To answer your question, i am keeping the original floor, i have welded it to the sub frame connectors so that is all complete. The front clip will be tied into sub frame connectors. so do most people leave the airbox's in place or remove them? when you say to 'cut straight down the seam' you mean leave the whole air box??

I am trying to figure out if he is leaving the stock a-arm mounting locations and using them?? If he is going to all the trouble to build the tube chassis do you think he is going to put struts or tube a-arms on the front?


Thanks again for all the time you took to dig up this info, helped me a ton