Rear end

[39delux]

Got the airbags last night and worked on making mounts today.  Five hours later I had one mount made and tacked in place.  Good thing I'm not charging myself by the hour.  Forgot to take the camera to the shop but Ill try to get a few shots of the bags tomorrow.  Is anyone still following this thread?

[madmike3434]

yes I am !!!!!!!!!!!!!!    been trying to find a picture in my picture files of air bag installed on vette rear very well done.

mike lynch

[TFoch]

Yup still following.  Keep up the good work!
Tom

[39delux]

Made a little progress today.  The bag mounts are tacked together and one is mounted in place.  Have not added the gussets yet because I want to make sure things work and nothing is in the way.  Note the bags are lots smaller than I expected.  They are 4" wide and 7" long.  Range is 3.4 to 9 inches.  Because of the small volume they may give a choppy ride.  If so I can add an expansion tank for more air volume.  The bags I have on the '39 now are 6" in diameter and double convoluted.  Nice to have the room for the bags but what good is that if the ride sucks. 

Went to tighten the axle nuts today and the axles locked up.  Think I have a seal on the wrong side of the knuckle.  Anything to slow the process down. 

[chopper526]

Seems to me you are motoring right along! Looks good too.

[ChevRon]

YEP.. Somebody's gotta keep an eye on you. Looking good  RON

[FATnLOW]

Yes sir..following ....keep it coming

[39delux]

Well, got far enough along today to air load the bags and see what happens.  Lesson #1, don't rely on tack welds alone, put gussets in like should be done even with no body weight. 

Two shots, one up and the other down.  Could go about 1" higher and several inches lower but not enough weight to collapse the bags. 

What's left?  Got to figure out something for shocks.  Trying to balance the load on the knuckles so looking for a way to mount them on back. 

Have to make a limiter for up and down (bump stops).   

Still looking for OEM Corvette 17" rims for fitment under the fenders.  Sixteen inch rims would clear the calipers I THINK but there may be an upgrade to C5 brakes and I don't want to end up with two sets of rims ($$$).

[39delux]

Finishing up a few loose ends.  Installed the bump stops and limiter brackets.  Put a caliper on for looks and locating the shocks.  Running out of room back there so it appears I'll have to slant the shocks forward about 35 degrees which will decrease efficiency to about 55 percent. Certainly not what I wanted and even looked into cantilever the shocks.  Too bad they don't make an updated version of the knee action shock. 

Reason I put the caliper on was to see if a 15 inch wheel would fit and it does BUT I need a ton of backspacing to tuck the wheel inside the fender well.  The OEM Corvette wheel has an offset of 56mm which brings the spokes (sawblades) out to about flush with the outside of the rim.  Would like to get hold of a 'Vette rim for test.  Getting a set of steel rims may be out because of all the backspacing I need. 

[madmike3434]

http://thewheelsmith.net/

these guys might be able to help you out

still think you need to narrow the rear end to what width you need.

mike lynch

[39delux]

Mike, can't really narrow much more than about 1" on either side due to he knuckle hitting the batwing mount.  Could narrow the bat wing itself, then narrow the half shafts but then the dog bones no longer fit so would have to narrow the frame...and so it goes.  At some point I have to draw the line.  Cost of narrowing vs a proper wheel offset/backspacing is my balancing act.  Note that the OEM 'Vette offset is such that the spokes are out next to the outer edge of the wheel. Good news is that the wheel will not show, i.e. he skirts will cover any ugly so steel or OEM makes no difference, just cost.  Now add in the tiny (did I say tiny?) rear brakes here is then next problem.  At some point I may want to add some real brakes to the rear which would require more clearance for the rims.  That's why I'm looking at 17" rims, to clear C5/C6 or Wilwood calipers.  I've checked, 15" will clear, 16" is better but an odd size so on to 17".  With each increase there is also an increase in height or a decrease in sidewall.  Geeze...I got a headache!  On to Canadian Mist to see if I can figure this out...thanks Mike, your fault!

[madmike3434]

would have been easier to install a 1961--1986 jaguar rear end ,  inboard disc brakes, easy to narrow lower control arms and half shafts can be shortened properly using the right method.

Originally my friend brian had a model a 28-29 that he wanted me to install either a jag  or keep the vette that was in there .  After a lot of reading up it was determined the jaguar was the better choice.  Strong dana 44 rear center and a totally independent rear end which the earlier vets were not.

I have jaguar units in my 1935 coupe , my 1935 chev phaeton and the under construction roadster.  All are equipted with WILWOOD 4 piston discs. 


I always thought the stock vet brakes were more than adequate .

You will get the vet rear sorted out  , your a never say die guy.

mike

[39delux]

Times, they are a changin'.  Way back when there was only a Jag I.R.S. unit but today there are many to chose from like Camaro, GTO, Mustang, BMW, Subaru...list goes on.  The cost of coilovers for a Jag is $200 on up.  That means at least $800 for the coilovers alone.  Get them set up for a nice ride and bingo...the whole famdamly piles in.  Crawl under and adjust all four?  I'll push the button and air up the bags.  My Willys had coil overs and left me walking twice, that's why I moved on to air bags. 

[madmike3434]

if you bought a jag rear it would come with coils and shocks.  There are 3 spring weights for various jags Xke being lightest and sedans the heavyiest.  The 1/2" thick sedan coils and shocks easiest to find and not a problem.  Lot harder finding the XKE shocks and coils. 

I use the factory shocks non adjustable. Ride height is determined by snow white chassis designed slider system .  None of those other rears you mention would get anybody looking at them and cost might get prohibitive..........air bags ..........HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSS  easy way out

mike

[39delux]

Nothing working quite right!  Took the pesky seal out of the knuckle and now the dog bones come inside the frame by 3/8".  Going to make my own adjustable dog bones with heims joints (left and right threads).  During research I also discovered that a '93 Camaro used a 16" X 8" rim with a 6 3/4" backspacing.  Found one on line for $70 with free shipping.  Mounted it today on my mock up and, afer doing the math it's going to be damn close.  From inside fender to inside fender is 70".  Rear end mounting face to face is 63 1/2".  Allowing for metal thickness on the hub it leaves me with just about 1" rim to fender clearance on each side.  Given the tire sidewall bulge that may be to close.  I do have about 1" on the inside that I could use by narrowing each half shaft by 1".  That would bring the dog bones into the middle of the frame and more of the knuckle hardware would also have to be narrowed. 

On a side note, local guy was selling a GTO I.R.S. for $400 but it did not lend itself to narrowing.  I also saw a late model (2015 I think) Mustang I.R.S. for $600.  There was a late model Jag rear that uses struts and not a box full of coilovers for $500.  Note that all dunptrucks, semis, motorhomes etc use air bags...pissssssssssssssss!