Old School 2 Seat Alumicraft Rebuild

[wesinls]

One step closer today...got the frame and arms sand blasted in prep for fab work.

 

[Mac]

Awesome to see the progress.

A couple of thoughts:
- Wherever you plan on having electrical, weld a bolt on the frame for a good ground. Put one near the battery, engine, dash, wherever. These are great, solid points instead of drilling and screwing grounds into the frame everywhere. It will also cut down on wires going everywhere. Grounds are life!
- Map out wiring and any points where you might want to run wires in the frame, drill your holes so not to scratch or mess things up after powder coat.
- Check EVERY weld before going to powder coat.
- Think of additional mounting points for accessories. Where do you want to reposition things? How accessible will it be once things are together? How can you make it easier to troubleshoot and fix out on a ride?

Lastly....TAKE YOUR TIME! Yes, it equals down time but taking the time to think everything through will get you the perfect car. I looked at a lot of cars, talked to a lot of people, spent time of social media and websites looking at details. It seems to have paid off. Don't let others rush you.


I forgot to mention...take out stock in Amazon before you go any further...

Lastly, do not let people steal your joy on this. You're going to get a lot of opinions and "that's not what I would do..." Those people are just Aholes stealing your joy. People like @Rockwood ...

 

[wesinls]

Awesome to see the progress.

A couple of thoughts:
- Wherever you plan on having electrical, weld a bolt on the frame for a good ground. Put one near the battery, engine, dash, wherever. These are great, solid points instead of drilling and screwing grounds into the frame everywhere. It will also cut down on wires going everywhere. Grounds are life!
- Map out wiring and any points where you might want to run wires in the frame, drill your holes so not to scratch or mess things up after powder coat.
- Check EVERY weld before going to powder coat.
- Think of additional mounting points for accessories. Where do you want to reposition things? How accessible will it be once things are together? How can you make it easier to troubleshoot and fix out on a ride?

Lastly....TAKE YOUR TIME! Yes, it equals down time but taking the time to think everything through will get you the perfect car. I looked at a lot of cars, talked to a lot of people, spent time of social media and websites looking at details. It seems to have paid off. Don't let others rush you.


I forgot to mention...take out stock in Amazon before you go any further...

Lastly, do not let people steal your joy on this. You're going to get a lot of opinions and "that's not what I would do..." Those people are just Aholes stealing your joy. People like @Rockwood ...

Ha - ya all good points. Once all the fab work is complete, I plan to 95% assemble the car - drill any holes, ground points, brake line mount points, fuel pump and filer mounts,,,.essentially anything that could or would cause me to drill or weld on the frame - one of the fab items is a "mount plate" to hold he ecu, relays, etc.

My amazon already purchases items, and wish list, is already growing by the day.

 

[Mac]

Ha - ya all good points. Once all the fab work is complete, I plan to 95% assemble the car - drill any holes, ground points, brake line mount points, fuel pump and filer mounts,,,.essentially anything that could or would cause me to drill or weld on the frame - one of the fab items is a "mount plate" to hold he ecu, relays, etc.

My amazon already purchases items, and wish list, is already growing by the day.

I used rivnuts where I could. They really clean things up and reduce hardware frustrations. I used all stainless steel rivnuts and hardware for this. Pretty reasonable on Amazon. Tractor Supply sells Grade 8 bulk hardware by the pound. It's pretty awesome and you just throw what you need in a bag and they weigh it.

Unless you're REALLY good at it, do not buy braided hoses or fittings on Amazon. It's all junk.

 

[wesinls]

Still waiting on a fab date, but I'd expect it to be in the next month or two.

Adding the front shock info here - good info.
.
I ordered the same shocks from my current car, Fox IBS that were made for the fronts of a Honda Talon. 26.54 (eye to eye) and a 9.7 shaft...the offroad IBS shocks in a 10-inch shaft and are 28.5 - too long for me...dudes with similar cars raise up the front shock mount - and it looks ugly as F in my opinion..."Fast Kenny's" car in example (no offense dude)...more money for the shocks plus fab work.

~$1650 shipped, and they came with springs this time (and the rates actually look to be close what I had planned)...vs 2600 and no springs last time...and, no springs came with them the 1st time...Not sure if Shock Therapy (where i bought them the 1st time as no one else had them) took them off, or wha.

Part number 885-08-500 - dude on Ebay has the best price

Things you have to change (or at least I do) The reservoir on them is at a fixed 45-degree angle (hits the a-arm) and the shock mount hole bushing are metric.

The mount hole bushing cavity hole is the same as FOX's offraod shock - so just buy a set for them - in my case, i just got the SDG.

Order Fox part number 206-72-400 top caps to make the reservoir at a strait angle,,,100 bucks a piece.

I'll have SDG swap out the top caps for me...300 i think they charged me last time.

In short - for about $2200 all in, shocks, springs, new reservoir installed, etc.

If you go the offroad IBS shock, it's ~2700 just for the shocks.

 

[Reece Pettersen]

Still waiting on a fab date, but I'd expect it to be in the next month or two.

Adding the front shock info here - good info.
.
I ordered the same shocks from my current car, Fox IBS that were made for the fronts of a Honda Talon. 26.54 (eye to eye) and a 9.7 shaft...the offroad IBS shocks in a 10-inch shaft and are 28.5 - too long for me...dudes with similar cars raise up the front shock mount - and it looks ugly as F in my opinion..."Fast Kenny's" car in example (no offense dude)...more money for the shocks plus fab work.

~$1650 shipped, and they came with springs this time (and the rates actually look to be close what I had planned)...vs 2600 and no springs last time...and, no springs came with them the 1st time...Not sure if Shock Therapy (where i bought them the 1st time as no one else had them) took them off, or wha.

Part number 885-08-500 - dude on Ebay has the best price

Things you have to change (or at least I do) The reservoir on them is at a fixed 45-degree angle (hits the a-arm) and the shock mount hole bushing are metric.

The mount hole bushing cavity hole is the same as FOX's offraod shock - so just buy a set for them - in my case, i just got the SDG.

Order Fox part number 206-72-400 top caps to make the reservoir at a strait angle,,,100 bucks a piece.

I'll have SDG swap out the top caps for me...300 i think they charged me last time.

In short - for about $2200 all in, shocks, springs, new reservoir installed, etc.

If you go the offroad IBS shock, it's ~2700 just for the shocks.

View attachment 141987

Great info here. What do the old shocks measure eye to eye and shaft length?

Would love to hear about the rear setup too.

 

[wesinls]

Great info here. What do the old shocks measure eye to eye and shaft length?

Would love to hear about the rear setup too.

All lengths noted are eye to eye...for the 2nd car there isn't a side-by-side shock that looks to be a good match for the rears...either way too long, or I'd go from a 35 inch 14 inch shaft, to a 34.4 with only a 12.15 shaft...i'm leaning towards the offroad IBS - see options 1 and 2 for the 2nd car below.

 

[Kraut_n_Rice]

In the notes you state that you'd limit the 14" by two inches for cv life. How wouldn't the 12.15" be perfect?

 

[Rockwood]

Lastly, do not let people steal your joy on this. You're going to get a lot of opinions and "that's not what I would do..." Those people are just Aholes stealing your joy. People like @Rockwood ...

Listen here fucker.

I used rivnuts where I could. They really clean things up and reduce hardware frustrations. I used all stainless steel rivnuts and hardware for this. Pretty reasonable on Amazon. Tractor Supply sells Grade 8 bulk hardware by the pound. It's pretty awesome and you just throw what you need in a bag and they weigh it.

Unless you're REALLY good at it, do not buy braided hoses or fittings on Amazon. It's all junk.

Even if you are good at it. They're gonna fail. Usually brakes, fuel and oil get put into braided hoses, not worth your life to save a couple hundred $$ for a whole car.

One thing I noticed with SS rivnuts: they're not a fan of moving quickly when you're using zinc hardware. Hand tools only.

 

[Kraut_n_Rice]

One thing I noticed with SS rivnuts: they're not a fan of moving quickly when you're using zinc hardware. Hand tools only.

Nothing says "loctite" like galled or cross threaded fasteners...

 

[wesinls]

In the notes you state that you'd limit the 14" by two inches for cv life. How wouldn't the 12.15" be perfect?

This is where I'm a bit grey...

Current shock is a total of 35 inches with a 14-inch shaft...but in my view:

Two options:

Option 1 - longer shock, same length shaft (37.6 14 inch total. 14 inch shaft) assuming i suck of the trailing arm a bit for angle (2 inches) - and given the pivot point difference between the trailing arm and shoch, the shaft would only reduce to something like 13 inches or so...in other words, I'm not sucking on 2 inches of the shaft.

Option 2 - 1/2 inch total length shorter (34.5 total, 12.15 inch) shaft...I'm off the get go worse off as shafy length is shorter by a somewhat considerable amount.


FWIW it's why i have them as options, as I'm not really sure which way to go...option 1 seems less likely to reduce my travel.

 

[wesinls]

p.s - option 2 has the rebound adjustment built into the shock, option 1 does not.

 

[Rockwood]

This is where I'm a bit grey...

Current shock is a total of 35 inches with a 14-inch shaft...but in my view:

Two options:

Option 1 - longer shock, same length shaft (37.6 14 inch total. 14 inch shaft) assuming i suck of the trailing arm a bit for angle (2 inches) - and given the pivot point difference between the trailing arm and shoch, the shaft would only reduce to something like 13 inches or so...in other words, I'm not sucking on 2 inches of the shaft.

Option 2 - 1/2 inch total length shorter (34.5 total, 12.15 inch) shaft...I'm off the get go worse off as shafy length is shorter by a somewhat considerable amount.


FWIW it's why i have them as options, as I'm not really sure which way to go...option 1 seems less likely to reduce my travel.

Would different length lower eyelets resolve this? Other option is since you’re doing fab, make the mounts work for what works best.

 

[wesinls]

Would different length lower eyelets resolve this? Other option is since you’re doing fab, make the mounts work for what works best.

Yes, for the option that's shorter / the side-by-side shock - but the shaft length would remain the same, so I'm not sure what I'd gain there.
The longer shock, the offroad version, appears to have the shortest available eyelet on the bottom, but maybe not? Would be cool it there's a shorter / stubbier bottom eyelet.

 

[Rockwood]

Yes, for the option that's shorter / the side-by-side shock - but the shaft length would remain the same, so I'm not sure what I'd gain there.
The longer shock, the offroad version, appears to have the shortest available eyelet on the bottom, but maybe not? Would be cool it there's a shorter / stubbier bottom eyelet.


View attachment 142013

Doesn’t look like you could lose any length there. Other option would be shorter shaft from a shock shop, but not sure how those work on SxS IBPs