The starting point
Not great, but not terrible.... so far
Sandblasting revealed rust in the usual places
Rear cab corner rot
Firewall has been through a lot
Must have backed into something
Corner rot gone and gas filler filled in
New rocker panels
New cowl
New lower door skins, outside and inside
Not all the frame key dimensions are on the web, so we will have to make changes as we go. Frame is designed to handle a lot more torque than the stock one
Time to start cutting frame rails
Crossmembers
My son did all the TIG welding
Frame rails done
Frame is flat on the waffle table, square, and upside down
The frame is all TIG welded, and the welds look very good
Locating the crossmember for the C4 front suspension
Rebuilding the C4 control arms
Adding cab mounts to the frame
Cab on the frame
Front suspension loosely set in place
Cab is on the frame
Adjustable rear cab mounts
Bottom of back window is horizontal
B pillar is vertical
My son is teaching me how to MIG weld so I can do some of this myself
Looks decent with the C5 vette wheels
Front fender bracket moved from old cowl to new one
Had to reposition the front crossmembre
Rear floor pan cut out.
Rear floor pan plug welded in place
Firewall, toeboard and front floors cut out.
Forming the firewall.
Firewall test fit.
Front floor test fit, with new firewall.
Dash before and after filling holes
New firewall with brake pedal and toeboards
Test fit with hydroboost
Splined front sway bar mounting works, but not ideal
Transmission crossmember, frame mounts changed later
The R2.8 is ready to install
Test fit front sheet metal, don't have all the dimensions
New adapter to use a GM tranny with the R2.8
Original R2.8 transmission interface
Adapter installed
Setting the engine mounts
Engine 'happy' place is 4" further back than planned
Engine sits entirely behind axle centerline, just like a Corvette
Lost some foot room
Decided to use 14ga for firewall, the 18ga was too flimsy
Starting to make things permanent
Doghouse, front floors and tranny tunnel fitted
All plug welded into place
Filling the holes
With cab off for weld out, finally put tranny crossmember in