Twisted Images Bagged, Body Dropped, & Rotary Powered 510

[finney]

Jealous, Looking damn good. 

[Stoney]

Final assembly is always the best feeling after all the hard work has been done.

 

Love the whole, rat look with the approach of perfecting everything you modify though.

 

I shall call it the Ratsomod approach

[twistedimages]

 

 

I shall call it the Ratsomod approach

I like that term!  Definitely works.

[twistedimages]

This weekend was all about plumbing.  My goal was to have the brake bulkheads and tee fittings in place so I could order my lines.

 

But first, I had to address that big hole in my firewall!  The steering column was mounted too high when the firewall was built, so I had to cut the hole down lower to get the column shaft lined back up with the steering box.  I'm running a straight shot with the only u-joint being at the box itself, so everything has to align.  The hole I was left with definitely wasn't pretty, so I had a plate cut out of 3/16" aluminum, and I machined the center bore of a go kart axle bearing to fit the column shaft:

 

 

That bearing has a beveled flange that allows it to be mounted at an angle, so it worked out really well!

 

The next challenge has been where to mount my brake and clutch reservoirs.  I absolutely didn't want them on the firewall- there's enough going on out there already!

I was hoping to run them inside the wiper cowl, but there just wasn't enough space to mount them cleanly.

So, I cut some brackets out of 16 gauge steel and mounted them inside the dash! 

 

 

I'll have to take the top of the dash off to add fluid, but that's really not any worse than older cars with the master mounted under the floorboard.  I'm sure I can make do.  The stock dash panel covers it all up nicely:

 

 

So, pedal assembly is just about finished, fluid supply is covered, so now it's on to the actual brake and clutch plumbing.  The Toyota front calipers were a bit of a challenge- they come stock with a short hard line that comes off the caliper and points up towards the upper control arm- that's probably fine for stock vehicles, but it would put my brake lines right in the way of the airbag.  I tried a few different setups to get the line up and out of the way without binding through the range of travel, and finally figured this arrangement out:

 

 

M10x1.0 to -3an adapter, with an Earl's 90 degree line attached to it.  They make a hard 90 that clears everything nicely, so I think I'm dialed.  I was able to run that line up and behind my shocks to a bulkhead fitting on the firewall, so there's minimal connection points going on here.

 

 

I got the bulkheads in place for my front brakes and clutch line, and I've got the under-dash connections mostly sorted out.  I ran out of time to measure up for the rear line, but I'll knock that out this week.  From there, hook all the lines up, bleed the system, get a throttle pedal and cable installed, and I think it's ready for its maiden voyage!!

[]2eDeYe]

So clean :cool:

[sedition88]

Can't Like this enough so I'll just call it in! Great work!

 

[twistedimages]

I've been making steady progress- amazing what can get accomplished with a few hours each night.

 

Front brake and clutch plumbing are done- just need to connect them to the master cylinders and bleed.  Rear brakes are coming along- I have the measurements I need for the lines, so I just need to pick those up and plumb it out.  

 

 

I finally got around to cleaning up the wiring inside the dash.  Shortened a few wires, modified the turn signal indicator housings to hold the bulbs I scavenged from my "extras" box, and loomed and tied it all up.  That was the last project inside the dash for now, so I was finally able to put it all back together!

 

 

I'll have to lay out and cut some filler panels for the radio, heater control, and gauge holes, but for now it's together and solid.  I also installed my 2.5 badge on the glovebox- one of the shiniest parts on the car!

 

My pedal assembly is complete and ready to bolt in, so I'll probably knock that out this afternoon.  Once it's in and I figure out my pedal positions I'll weld up some foot pads. Turned out pretty clean for some garage engineering!

 

 

Finish line is in sight- I'll keep you posted!

[fisch]

Loving everything. You are a monster.

[datsunfreak]

I love this build so much...    :thumbup:

[twistedimages]

Pedal box is mounted.  Three out of the four mounting holes were on the frame rails, so it's nice and solid.  Reservoirs are connected, clutch and front brake lines are connected, so it's just down to the rear lines and I'm ready to bleed the system!

 

[fisch]

Nice. Like a glove. You doing all braided lines?

[twistedimages]

Nice. Like a glove. You doing all braided lines?

 

I am.  The routing to the rear would require a bunch of junction points if I went with hard line, so I'm just going to try braided for the whole system.  The good ol' Interwebz has a million opinions about pedal feel and flex, but I think my manual brake setup in a small car will be just fine.  If not I can always go back and re-do it.

[fisch]

I am.  The routing to the rear would require a bunch of junction points if I went with hard line, so I'm just going to try braided for the whole system.  The good ol' Interwebz has a million opinions about pedal feel and flex, but I think my manual brake setup in a small car will be just fine.  If not I can always go back and re-do it.

I've thought about that too. Seems so much more efficient than bending and flaring hardlines.

[twistedimages]

I've thought about that too. Seems so much more efficient than bending and flaring hardlines.

 

I'll let you know!

[datson4life]

Sick!! Eager to see this at datslocos

[Ranman72]

i cant wait 

this build is beyond awesome it is spectacular 

:thumbup:  :thumbup:  :thumbup:  :thumbup:  :thumbup:  :thumbup:  :thumbup:

[twistedimages]

It's so close I can feel it!

 

Saturday I spent most of the day on the car- that's the good part.

The BAD part is that most of that time was spent fighting the driver side axle shaft!  I'm running an R200 diff, so the driver side axle has to be shortened to keep it from binding.  That process is well-documented online, so I got it pulled apart and cut down without any drama.  However, putting it back together was a bitch!  I'd get the balls and spacers back in place, slide the parts back together, and everything would just be bound up (it's supposed to telescope)...  I finally ended up reassembling it minus one set of spacers, so we'll see how that plays out as it hits the road.  But man, literally three hours messing with that thing!

 

Anyway, here's other progress for the weekend.  First, I bent up an aluminum hard line for my front passenger side airbag.  The heat from the exhaust had me worried about a standard plastic line.

 

That line transitions to a standard plastic air brake line under the car, and travels through the frame rail to the rear.  I blew threw a few feet of that aluminum line getting it routed the way I wanted, so I'll have to grab more to do the driver side to match.

 

The aforementioned axles are installed.  

 

Sorry for the blurry pic- camera phone and low light.  I still need to strap down a couple of lines and hoses around the rear frame rails- I'll hit that tonight before the car comes off the jack stands.

 

Finally, the rear brake lines are installed, and the whole brake and clutch system has been bled!

 

My loving wife worked the pedals while I bled the system- I'm sure that was the highlight of her Mothers Day!  

 

So, now I just need a gas pedal and a driver side air line, and to tie up a couple loose ends, and the car is ready to take out for a test drive!

[sedition88]

Probably nothing new, but extra pieces of welding wire or bailing wire works pretty good for pre-planning for the hard lines so none goes to waste. Coming along great, can't wait for some rolling shots!

[Stewiefied]

AWESOME!!!!!

[Ranman72]

Probably nothing new, but extra pieces of welding wire or bailing wire works pretty good for pre-planning for the hard lines so none goes to waste. Coming along great, can't wait for some rolling shots!

this is good advice also works well for exhaust tubing 

the line you bent looks great who cares how many times you made it to get it to look that way  :thumbup:  :thumbup:  :thumbup:  :thumbup:

[5150 Wll]

Your build is AMAZING!!!  Can't wait to see this in a couple weeks. 

[twistedimages]

Probably nothing new, but extra pieces of welding wire or bailing wire works pretty good for pre-planning for the hard lines so none goes to waste. Coming along great, can't wait for some rolling shots!

I had it all plotted out, but somehow when you're bending the actual line in the bender it's just too easy to bend it the opposite way!

 

It's all done now, though- got the driver side on the first try.

[Filthy_]

Wow, I need to check this out from the start.  :ninja:

[Phoenix]

Awesome Project build some great fabrication work, very inspiring stuff

[twistedimages]

I was able to sneak a bit of time in last night.  Got the driver side hard line bent up and mounted, ran the air line from that through the frame to the rear, and tied up all of the air lines and brake lines underneath the car.  Bolted in the fuel cell the rest of the way (it only had three bolts holding it in!), and got the wheels back on.

 

After an agonizing four weeks on jack stands, the car is finally back on the ground!

 

 

I picked up a gas pedal last night, and this morning I cut a few pieces that should form the mounting bracket for it.  Sooo... if everything goes right this afternoon I should be able to drive this thing!  Happy 5/10 day, everyone!