Spider Veloce from 1985 - 6
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The restauration of the Spider Veloce from 1985 of Brock Brinkerhoff from Alabaster.
         
DAY 16

Today was a milestone - The car rolled again on it's own, only this time on a fully tricked out 4 link rear end and 315 tires riding on 17" wheels!
This is the first time the car has left the garage since the project began.
In order to do this, I had 2 main things I needed to accomplish today. I had to cut, thread and fit the diagonal bar, and I had to fabricate some frame stops to take the place of the yet-to-be-ordered coil-overs for the rear.
As an added bonus, my friend Travis helped me out today - He made the cool mounts for the frame stops.
As a side note, I couldn't work all day because I had to get Indy's bike running, so this isn't a full days work.
 
  
 
 
* I started the day cutting off the remaining legs from the main frame rails.
* Travis got to work cutting the peices for the frame stops.
* The new diagonal is responsible for keeping the rear located from side to side.
* If you look under the diff you'll see the @#$%$# diagonal in place (I say that because the stupid, damn #%#$ thing took over an HOUR to thread! Long story!).
 
  
 
 
* Travis was getting fancy with the brackets.
* Once the brackets were done, I zip-tied (as a safety) to the frame. Although they shouldn't come off the rails, they only overlapped it by an inch or so top and bottom (for those who have never done this, these peices serve to lock the ride height so that I can roll it around - They'll only be on there until I get the coil-overs).
* And here she is in the driveway - WOW - Looked MEAN with those big damn tires!.
* Another cool shot.
 
  
 
 
* And since there is no weight in the front, it's a little high.
* And only if you get really low can you sneak a peek at the tires.
* And here's a few of the rear in the daylight.
 
  
 
 
 
 
* And a close up of the wheel well - I am really pleased with how the rear has come out to this point.
* And now - On to the front end!!!.
 
DAY 17

Today I wanted to work out the trunk area for use with the fuel cell I plan on putting back there.

Although this update doesn't look like much, it is the result of an entire long day working.
 
  
 
 
* I started out on the wheel wells. If you'll remember, the rear section of the well has a frame member that wrapped around it. When I removed what i did, it left this open.
* In order to strengthen the rear and to carry the weight of the trunk area of the car, I needed to fabricate plates to act as a cap for this section.
* This is with the passenger side tacked in.
* Here's what it looks like prior to capping it on the drivers side.
 
  
 
 
* And with the plate tacked in. This is prior to grinding to fit.
* After fitting, grinding and welding the new caps in place, my intention was to use the caps as a logical tie from the rear of the frame. Here I've welded in the new cross bar.
* To tie this into the rear frame horns I recessed them. I did this for a couple of reasons
1) Larger cross section for welding
2) It would look better when finished
Here's a picture after it was welded but before capping the 4x2 and grinding.
* Then I ground everything smooth.
 
  
 
 
* Then I started on the other side.
* I started capping the rear frame. This shot is with the cap still just roughed in.
* Angle grinder bit me - Didn't even know it - My buddy fixed me up with electrical tape.
* Still rough, but getting closer.
 
  
 
 
* The whole back - All side sections capped.
* Since the fuel cell will sit at trunk floor height, I had to drop straight from where I was in order to create the new floor area. The added section in this picture will tie, via diagonal bars, to the rear section under the trunk lid (boot) mechanism.
* The new hand formed plate to cap the rear section.
* Cleaning it up for welding.
 
  
 
 
 
* The factory steel in this area if REALLY thin! Took a while to get a good bead. It didn't help that I was using a thicker plate material (.120") than what i was welding to.
* Better shot of the area.
* The finished plate.
* Making all the plates and all of the cutting and grinding took a while. In the end, the rear section should be EXTREMELY strong. I hit the lower 1" section with a framing hammer and the whole frame resonated! Nothing budged. A hint about tomorrow: There is an engine block and transmission involved I have my transmission now - It is a Tremec TKO rated at 500ftlb. I was going to use the T5, but couldn't pass up this one for the price. Also, with the engine, I have a SFI rated Lakewood bellhousing.