My 2g Chassis Build.

[dsmornothing]

After much debate about even posting this project. I decided to post. I have gone nuts, mentally insane and should be in a padded room for even taking things this far. After over a year of my car being down many things have gone through my head, mainly crazy ideas to make my 2g as fast as I am capable of. Well I decided a RWD full 25.1e tube chassis was in order to lose another 400+ lbs off of the car. I really dug a hole this time. One night the cutting started. Before I knew it, the car no longer had a floor or rear wheel wells. Anyways I hope you enjoy.

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[Billiam]

That looks CRAZY!!! What 1/4 mile times are you shooting for?

 

[dsmornothing]

That looks CRAZY!!! What 1/4 mile times are you shooting for?

Not sure. Running the HTA 3586r I guess it really depends what I can actually put to the ground.

 

[turboglenn]

Is that where the project currently sits or have you started on any of the tubing and such yet?

Also did you make that wheel tub or is that one of the ones you can get from summit/jegs?

That's a damn big project, kudos for taking it on.. Projects that big spook me a little, i'd hate to get into it and for some reason pull the tweaker move and not get it finished for one reason or another (probably a good thing i don't do drugs , wel except the ones the doc's give me hhaha)

 

[DSMReviver]

oooooh! i cant watch chop up 2g AWDs. i am hoping this is 420a car.

 

[dsmornothing]

Honestly this project has me shaking in my boots. I have a chassis fabricator to help me every step of the way if i need. My first order of 100 feet of 4130 is on its way so once that arrives the madness begins. In the time waiting I have been burning through wire and gas with my TIG welder getting ready for the massive amount of welding I am about to face. And for all who are wondering. Yes this was an AWD talon. I will say the rear frame rails had a few bad soft spots from our nasty winters up here so it was either let them rust out or go nuts.

 

[Boostinsideways]

Was just a matter of time before people started tubbing DSMs looks good so far man.

 

[dsmornothing]

As far as I know, this will be one of the only 2g rwd full tube chassis out there. I know buschur had or has one and I know of one other. But im not sure if either of them are even running anymore.

 

[dsmtun3r98gst]

for the love of god........ Looks like a fun project. Hopefully you don't loose interest and discard the whole project. Props if you finish it .

 

[turboglenn]

Well, you sound like you have your head together, have thought about and laid out a general plan of attack, and it's good that you've commited and ordered the 4130 tubing before you could get to the point of backing out. Once you start cutting and joining the tubing the project will start to be a lot more fun and you'll probably lose some of the anxiety you're feeling at this point. Huge project for sure and one that many years from now i'm hoping to venture into myself (but i have a LOT of things ot get out of thwey way, most importantly need to replace the DSM with a better DD so i CAN do things like this )

Have you picked out a drivetrain yet?

Also, having the chassis guy to consult and get help from is a HUGE factor IMO, having some one like that there to re-asure you and help build the mental image of the final bad-ass product will keep you going when the work gets to feeling like a never ending prison sentence of hole saws and die grinders while playing with a bunch of 4130 tinker toys.

Great start, keep the pics and uipdates coming!!!!

 

[dsmornothing]

Have you picked out a drivetrain yet?

Yes I have. TH350 trans to a seriously narrowed ford 9 inch.

 

[turboglenn]

nice, do you plan to try and keep it plated since it was registered before the build began? that would be awesome!

At least the TH350 would let you have some streetability still too. Or you could go powerglide, but personally i like having the more gears the better theme in my rides

can't wait to see more of this

 

[RipperXX]

my old man keeps telling me to do this and drop a "real engine" in the car. Good luck OP looks awesome so far. Can't wait to see progress.

 

[dsmornothing]

The car WILL still be plated, though it will only see street once in a while. And yes the TH350 should be awesome for this setup. Seems like the 1g guys like the 400 but I see no benefit to it.

 

[turboglenn]

I think the TH400 has a taller first geaer (maybe tht's backwards and it's shorter, but first is different for sure) and i know the power handling of the TH400 is higher, as well as their being some benefit to the tail shaft design/setup on the 400. It's been a long time since i played with domestics so sorry for the fuzzy recolection

 

[dsmornothing]

We have a few drag cars around here, all V8s but one of them is over 850 at the crank and has been rocking a mildly modified 350 for years now with no issues. when the 350 is built properly it can be built stronger than a 400 can. Also 10 lbs less mass to rotate sounds pretty nice considering I still have to turn that big ass ford 9"

 

[airmail96]

Subscribed, can't wait to see how this turns out.

 

[greengoblin]

Sweet build. Look forward to seeing it progress.

 

[dsmornothing]

Well today is a good day, My SFI 25.1e book arrived today. And also approximately 100 feet of Chrome-moly tubing!

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[mike96]

And you haven't finished yet because???

J.K. Good luck to you. If my 95 gives me any more trouble I might look at doing something similar, just not to that extreme... Well, not any time soon anyway.

 

[turboglenn]

Sweet, time to get the TIG out and start welding not sure how much 4130 you've welded but if i can make a few suggestions. Do NOT use 4130 filler wire, use ER70s2, you want something a little softer than the 4130 at the weld joints so that they can flex a little instead of cracking or you'll be chasing problems all over the place having to inspect it top to bottom after every track event. (i've welded a LOT of 4130, I have 2 custom made drag bike frames out running the points events this year and so far not a single issue with the welds or design, but I have seen problems with the one guy's past cahssis because the friend/weldor who built it used 4130 filler on 4130 pipe and the thing is just too brittle (you will probably find this same advice in any chassis building book you pick up as well) Torch welding was always said to be the chosen way to weld it for many reasons, but TIG using ER70S2 is just as reliable and now days is the more chosen route. Also, keep your heat down really low (use the .001 amp per thousandth material thickness and try to make sure you're backing off the power once you've established a bead, or if it's .090 wall tubing use 75-80 amps max if you don't have good pedal control)

My other suggestion because you're going to have a lot of arc time on this build is to NOT use an auto tint mask, they are fine for doing little jobs here and there but anytime you put in some serious hours behind the TIG torch you will catch a serious case of flash burn, even though there's only 1/20 thousandthss of a second delay in a good mask all those split seconds of arc that gets to your eyes will add up. IMO auto tint masks are good for learning and then you should switch back to a plane jackson shade 9 or 10 mask. about 5-6 years ago when i first bought my own TIG setup i used a miller auto tint and was doing lots of work (built those chassis back then) and i gave myself severe flash burn 3 times in a row before i figured out that it was the auto tint mask transition time adding up over the hours of the day and burning my eyes (actually another older and more experienced weldor pointed it out) and since then my auto tint collects dust in storage and i keep two masks around with a shade 9 green in one and an 11 in orange in the other - color and shades are for different types of welding, the oprnage i find better on arc welding and torch work

 

[dsmornothing]

Yes, I have done enough reading and talked to enough people and i'm convinced er70s2 is the right choice. Im thinking the whole chassis will be tacked together lightly then once its finished the real welding will begin. It will be easier to hop around that way to prevent warpage. Also as far as the mask goes, I just bought a really nice one that can be constant dark or auto tint. I flash burned myself just last week because my auto tint kept flashing me. And oh the SFI book is really fun to follow, I have considered planting my head into a brick wall a few times already today.

 

[spooling 1g]

As far as I know, this will be one of the only 2g rwd full tube chassis out there. I know buschur had or has one and I know of one other. But im not sure if either of them are even running anymore.

I know the guy who has the old buschur car,it he still runs it every now and then.Good luck with your project.

 

[dsmornothing]

I know the guy who has the old buschur car,it he still runs it every now and then.Good luck with your project.

Do you know what kind of times it runs?

 

[bastarddsm]

Do you know what kind of times it runs?

I think its been in the high sevens. DSMTimes.org - Home At least when Buschur owned it. I thought Phil Davidson owned it now?