Rich,
You understand correctly, the main hoop and rear supports can be done
easily to the TOP of the main frame. And the front diagonal supports tie
into the small triangular brace in the INSIDE corner, right about where the
outer rear bolt is for the seat. Anything forward of that has to be tied
into the inside of the frame rail, otherwise you have to gut the door and go
through the sill plate. I have stock door panels on and the swing out tubes
are bent slightly to fit the conture of the door panel. My tubes forward
have a small bend toward the bottom of them just before they hit the frame
rail, to give a better matting surface. True, a straight tube with no bends
is best. But in this case some tube is better than no tube. There is
enough room for my left leg to work the clutch with no problem. And I can
still work the hi/low beam switch. The swing out side bar presents the most
difficulty for the left arm. As I mentioned, in a hard left there is now
place for my left elbow and arm to slide back into. The bar is there as
well as the side support in the Kirky seat. But I am going to change that,
I am taking the saw to the side support of the seat.
T&T is Tilt & Telescope. (1974, remember?) Without that, it would be a
problem for the front windshield post tube. Right now I have the stock
wheel but I just bought a new Grant wheel that is 1/2" smaller. I'll let
you know how it works out.
I have no horizontal dash bar. I suppose I could have one but I wanted to
have a stock looking dash with all the panels. I don't think the front
tubes give that much support, but and most importantly, the diagonaly braced
top structure gives support behind the windshield top corners. In the event
of a roll, the T-tops come off and the top of the windshield caves in. At
least I have some some protection and the fact is, it is considerably more
than the stock body gives.
The motor mounts came w/ the car as it had the big block in it. 1974 was
the last year. Get the same mounts.
I have the independant rear, it is also my road racer. I have a Richmond E.
5 speed. But to do the MPH I want, I will have to buy a Richmond E. six
speed w/ the .80 overdrive last gear. I figure w/ my 3.08's I can do 210 at
about 6,200 rpm. and 28" tires. At least by the numbers, on the salt may be
a different story.
Unfortunatly, I built a super fuel cell and put it into the car before
looking at the rule book. So I will not be in GT. I am toying with taking
a stock tank and cutting out the top and mounting it under the cell but it
seems sort of stupid to me. The Class isn't important to me, the number on
the slip is what I am looking for. I'm not building a car to go after a
record. I'm building a streetable, pump gas, driver that will also go 200+
at the right time. Sounds like fun to me.
Gene H
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