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'72 K5 - Greg's @MightAsWellK5 Build
- Thread starter Greg72
- Start date
This is the build description. I will improve this later. (GB)
If all of us that keep up on this build would go spend a week at Greg's house (at the same time) we could have his rig built and done by the end of that week. Greg would have plenty of time before Moab to work out any "kinks" and get things working as they should.Of course this is all relative to Greg actually owning enough cash to make it happen in a weeks time.
Interesting idea.....
My best estimate is about 800 thread subscribers.... packed into a 400sqft garage trying to all lay hands on the truck simultaneously to build it!!
Doesn't sound very efficient, but we can set up lots of tents in the yard for everyone... and probably drink a lot of beer. Ryoken can be the DJ and Kai and MURPHY can finally get some playtime together.
-G
If all of us that keep up on this build would go spend a week at Greg's house (at the same time) we could have his rig built and done by the end of that week. Greg would have plenty of time before Moab to work out any "kinks" and get things working as they should.
Don't think gregs garage is big enough for all of us. And he would probably tear it back apart because OCD.
Shoot with a build like this there is one simple fact everyone is missing.
We are gonna need about 200 parts runners to get everything.
We are gonna need about 200 parts runners to get everything.
I don't know about the gas strut idea, but I definitely want to play around with an assortment of long springs of various strengths to add the perfect amount of "assist" to slide the seat forward. The Sparco tracks don't have any kind of springloading and they are pretty stiff now and don't slide very easily. (Could just be the "newness" and might get a little looser over time).
Ideally, I'd like to be able to stand at the open door and grab the bar to unlatch the tracks and have them slide slowly forward on their own to the forwardmost position....without SLAMMING forward from too much spring pressure. Being able to slide the seat one-handed like that frees up the other hand to release the tilting latch so that the seat can be lifted forward. Getting lots of extra ingress / egress room is good.... but the whole thing has to be very easy to operate, so that any of my passengers could do it themselves.
-G
Those gas springs usually have orifices in them to dampen and slow the motion, which actually works pretty good, it will be much slower than a typical coil or torsion spring.
I have used a gas spring in a pivoting mechanism before that not only holds something open, but also holds it shut. If you set the pivot points in the correct spots so the spring axis goes over pivot axis center through its travel, then it will hold something up and also hold it down and keep it from rattling/vibrating. This does reduce the "assist" though as the assist approaches zero as you go past center. You can select different force springs and different pivot distances/strokes to make it all work exactly how you want.
But I think you should get the engine running first.
We want to hear some fire! 
I'm in for the beer drinking part.....And non helpful comments.
2016.10.10 - UPDATE!! - SEAT MOUNT DESIGN COMPLETE....!!!
While waiting for the Borla resonator backorder to be resolved, there were some spare hours to keep plugging away on the slide/tilt-forward seat mount concept.
Over the weekend it all came together nicely, and the results speak for themselves....
The first order of business was revising and fabbing up the lower seat mounting tabs for the shackle. The initial design didn't account for the fact that the floor is tapered downward as it approaches the door jamb area... so while it worked beautifully near the door jamb, the tabs mounting nearest to the transmission tunnel ended-up "under the floor". After a bit of extra time, a new design was sketched out and rendered in steel.
The next step was building 4 tabs, and getting them in perfect alignment as well as perfectly level with the transverse mounting tube. Threaded rod to the rescue!!! This stuff is awesome and so useful. With a few nuts and a fistful of washers (used a spacers) the exact position for each tab was precisely located and a few nice hot tack welds locked everything into place.
The mounts on the underside of the seat were next. Nothing too fancy... but that doesn't mean that they have to be poorly rendered...
The shackle itself ended-up being just over 4" long (centerhole to centerhole), and it seemed to be a good compromise of space vs. useful motion. With the front (temporary) shackle parts in place, the seat was finally test-fit to see if the last 20 hours of effort was finally going to have a "payoff" or not.
The seat looked good. Stock height, stock seatback angle and the whole thing is rigid and strong. The real test though, was "How much room will it actually provide to ingress / egress once it's rotated forward???
The answer is PLENTY!!!
The end result is a LOT of extra room vs the stock fixed-flip setup..... and it should be really easy for someone to climb-through that area into the backseat. (cough...Charlie.....cough...cough). The last concern was the tangle of tubing that exists in that area under the seat. Yes, there is a good amount of room to step in there but it's also easy to imagine someone snagging a shoe under one of those tubes on the way through and taking a tumble. The area is reasonably flat and it made sense to think about a small platform step (that could eventually be speed & flare-holed) to make for an easier transition from the rockslider area across the seat mount tubing.
Looks like it will work out nicely. Just need to think it through a little more and refine the concept and final product.
The good news is that FedEx dropped off the Borla resonators on Saturday.... so the exhaust routing (which had been temporarily backburnered) can now begin again in earnest..... STAY TUNED!!!
-G
While waiting for the Borla resonator backorder to be resolved, there were some spare hours to keep plugging away on the slide/tilt-forward seat mount concept.
Over the weekend it all came together nicely, and the results speak for themselves....
The first order of business was revising and fabbing up the lower seat mounting tabs for the shackle. The initial design didn't account for the fact that the floor is tapered downward as it approaches the door jamb area... so while it worked beautifully near the door jamb, the tabs mounting nearest to the transmission tunnel ended-up "under the floor". After a bit of extra time, a new design was sketched out and rendered in steel.
The next step was building 4 tabs, and getting them in perfect alignment as well as perfectly level with the transverse mounting tube. Threaded rod to the rescue!!! This stuff is awesome and so useful. With a few nuts and a fistful of washers (used a spacers) the exact position for each tab was precisely located and a few nice hot tack welds locked everything into place.
The mounts on the underside of the seat were next. Nothing too fancy... but that doesn't mean that they have to be poorly rendered...
The shackle itself ended-up being just over 4" long (centerhole to centerhole), and it seemed to be a good compromise of space vs. useful motion. With the front (temporary) shackle parts in place, the seat was finally test-fit to see if the last 20 hours of effort was finally going to have a "payoff" or not.
The seat looked good. Stock height, stock seatback angle and the whole thing is rigid and strong. The real test though, was "How much room will it actually provide to ingress / egress once it's rotated forward???
The answer is PLENTY!!!
The end result is a LOT of extra room vs the stock fixed-flip setup..... and it should be really easy for someone to climb-through that area into the backseat. (cough...Charlie.....cough...cough).
The last concern was the tangle of tubing that exists in that area under the seat. Yes, there is a good amount of room to step in there but it's also easy to imagine someone snagging a shoe under one of those tubes on the way through and taking a tumble. The area is reasonably flat and it made sense to think about a small platform step (that could eventually be speed & flare-holed) to make for an easier transition from the rockslider area across the seat mount tubing.
Looks like it will work out nicely. Just need to think it through a little more and refine the concept and final product.
The good news is that FedEx dropped off the Borla resonators on Saturday.... so the exhaust routing (which had been temporarily backburnered) can now begin again in earnest..... STAY TUNED!!!
-G
Looking good! It looks like it accomplishes your goal without being overly complicated. Nice work.
Yeah... exactly. A reasonable commitment of time and effort, and now it's done. (mostly!) I can replicate this idea on the drivers side, minus the tilt-forward and then I can chop out the factory floor on that side as well.....
It's all about getting back to the exhaust work to make sure that I can run the tailpipes out the rear corners the way I want. If they clear the fuel tank, then I can start buying sheet stainless and getting that tank assembled to match my MDF mock-up version.
-G
That is super cool, damn Greg in two pages you out did yourself.
I'd love to see what you would do with a personal plasma table.
I'd love to see what you would do with a personal plasma table.
2016.10.11 - UPDATE!! - A BUILD DAY IN THE AUTUMN SUNSHINE..!!!!
What an awesome and perfect Autumn day it was yesterday in New England.
I had already planned to take a vacation day to work on some small stuff around the house, but there was still plenty of time to roll the ol' girl out of the garage and let here enjoy the weather and get some much needed Vitamin D...
I took a few fun pics from new locations just to keep this thread feeling fresh....
A great shot of the underside "flatness" as well as that delicious axle clearance.
...and it only made sense to give the truck a sense of "scale" by parking it next to my DD (which is on 33s now)... and of course throw in a couple of Homer Buckets to make sure that there was some hate mail from Eric (@blazinzuk)
By the evening though it was time to buckle-down and get serious... so it was time to get back to the exhaust design and routing. Here's a shot of the torsion box (from below) to show the path where the exhaust system starts from the header collector.
Now that the Borla XR1 Sportsman canisters have arrived it was possible to lay them in place downstream from the Multi-Core canisters (in the torsion box). They will act as "resonators" in this configuration and should remove any of the sharp crackling or popping from the system and just leave a nice low, mellow rumble.
There is plenty of 3" stainless tubing laying around these days so a few sections were cut and taped together to start experimenting:
From the top-view, you can see the layout of both the mufflers and resonators, and how the exhaust finally makes it's way along the inside framerail before sneaking past the fuel tank and heading out the rear corners.
....and finally, a full-length "out behind the tire" looking exhaust pipe...... BECAUSE STOCK!!!!!
Tonight I will try to really tighten up all of the locations with wood blocking to make sure that they are repeatable on both sides and stay perfectly symmetrical. The "crossover" from the outside framerail area to the inside framerail area still needs to be worked out completely, but after getting so much of the system in place last night it all seems completely workable.
-G
What an awesome and perfect Autumn day it was yesterday in New England.
I had already planned to take a vacation day to work on some small stuff around the house, but there was still plenty of time to roll the ol' girl out of the garage and let here enjoy the weather and get some much needed Vitamin D...
I took a few fun pics from new locations just to keep this thread feeling fresh....
A great shot of the underside "flatness" as well as that delicious axle clearance.
...and it only made sense to give the truck a sense of "scale" by parking it next to my DD (which is on 33s now)... and of course throw in a couple of Homer Buckets to make sure that there was some hate mail from Eric (@blazinzuk)
By the evening though it was time to buckle-down and get serious... so it was time to get back to the exhaust design and routing. Here's a shot of the torsion box (from below) to show the path where the exhaust system starts from the header collector.
Now that the Borla XR1 Sportsman canisters have arrived it was possible to lay them in place downstream from the Multi-Core canisters (in the torsion box). They will act as "resonators" in this configuration and should remove any of the sharp crackling or popping from the system and just leave a nice low, mellow rumble.
There is plenty of 3" stainless tubing laying around these days so a few sections were cut and taped together to start experimenting:
From the top-view, you can see the layout of both the mufflers and resonators, and how the exhaust finally makes it's way along the inside framerail before sneaking past the fuel tank and heading out the rear corners.
....and finally, a full-length "out behind the tire" looking exhaust pipe...... BECAUSE STOCK!!!!!
Tonight I will try to really tighten up all of the locations with wood blocking to make sure that they are repeatable on both sides and stay perfectly symmetrical. The "crossover" from the outside framerail area to the inside framerail area still needs to be worked out completely, but after getting so much of the system in place last night it all seems completely workable.
-G
Had to throw in the buckets didn't you.
Just had too.
Just had too.
I suppose I'll just go back to insulating my 1200 square ft shop.
Nice. I was starting to think this thing didn't have a drivers side...
It does!!!.....
Now I need to find a period-correct wood wheel without such a deep "dish" so that me seating position will be less cramped.
It only occurred to me recently that the reason I could never get a comfortable seat position was NOT because of the seat being too close, but really from the wheel sticking out too far from the column and making me feel like I was always sitting too close!!!
-G
Cadillac column, similar years should be very similar wiring. They are tilt and telescope.
I'm not sure it's been discussed, but I used some different hangers for the first time last week, called "snapper" exhaust hanger grommets. They worked tits bango, allowed me to run tight tolerances without much tubing movement while still alowing for vibration
That's 3" I wiggle through there, I had 1/4" of clearance around the bracing for the Panhard
photo hosting sites
That's 3" I wiggle through there, I had 1/4" of clearance around the bracing for the Panhard
photo hosting sites
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@ClassicStyle:
Are they stainless? Send me a fistful of those hangers..... and I'll check them out!!!
.....or just post a link.
-G
Are they stainless? Send me a fistful of those hangers..... and I'll check them out!!!
.....or just post a link.
-G
2016.10.11 - UPDATE!! - A BUILD DAY IN THE AUTUMN SUNSHINE..!!!!
From the top-view, you can see the layout of both the mufflers and resonators, and how the exhaust finally makes it's way along the inside framerail before sneaking past the fuel tank and heading out the rear corners.
....and finally, a full-length "out behind the tire" looking exhaust pipe...... BECAUSE STOCK!!!!!
Tonight I will try to really tighten up all of the locations with wood blocking to make sure that they are repeatable on both sides and stay perfectly symmetrical. The "crossover" from the outside framerail area to the inside framerail area still needs to be worked out completely, but after getting so much of the system in place last night it all seems completely workable.
-G
I like the way you have the exhaust routed, its hard to tell, but it doesn't look like you have much room between the frame and floor to cross back in, but it looks like you pulled it off.
I also like the bucket in the last picture "lets do this".
