1967 Pro-Touring 122 Amazon (Project Volvo X)540 Horsepower LS6/Tremec TKO600 5-Speed

[evilstar]

trips me out how the exterior is so finished but the interior still needs so much work.

[Belvader]

Simply stunning

[SpeakFrench]

amazing build!

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

Some of the order of this build is a bit off, because this all would have normally been done before paint work was started, but all the timing couldnt help but be thrown off with this build. Customer builds will be done in the proper job order sequence, which will actually make the overall quality much better, but the development of the build process and products left me at the mercy of scheduling necessary for each task. If I havent done things in this order, this car would be much further behind, along with sorting out the necessary items for future builds.

Here is an update of the Trans Tunnel completion, just short of the final under coating that I am applying for the final coats.. I had welded everything up, and I am a firm believer in seam sealer, eventhough I can never really get it to lay correctly.. LOL I would rather ensure that I am sealed, so I tend to go a bit in the excess, because it is all hidden and smoothed out after the finish body insulation and undercoating is applied.

The black paint is a high quality Chassis Paint, and it was applied before the caulking, so I was able to make sure that it penetrated everywhere it could before the seam sealer closed everything up. The interior has a full Insulation Mat that is going over the floors and every panel, so I dont really have any need for another type of paint, because it will just be hidden. As far as the underside, it wil get a final coat of a Truck Bed Liner spray, and that will allow everything to blend smoothly, due to the properties and thickness of the bed coat, so I should have a pretty uniform underside also.

You should also be able to see that all the Original Body Braces in the trans tunnel area are intact, because it wasnt necessary to remove them at all, and I like the close driveshaft tunnel design.

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

Now that I got all the drivetrain locked with the production mounts, I was able to install the driveshaft tunnel, and it wasnt hard at all.. I left all the bottom support of the closed driveshaft tunnel, so I only actually had to go up a bit, and the body integrity didnt change due to removal of factory braces.. You can see how it all lays out here, but I still have some finish welding to do, and as you can see I like to add some bar/strap to the weld points for some extra bracing.. It is a pretty simple addition, and I think it just gives me a bit more piece of mind, and I think it also looks better when it is all finished up.


The Datsun seats that I am using are narrower than the oem Amazon seats, so I actually needed to move them 2in away from the center, and that centers everything to the column and guages perfectly. I really like the fit of these seats, because they dont look like they are stuffed in there, and have nice trans tunnel and door gapping, for a factory look.

[andybob]

Not a huge fan of that style hood pin. The flush mount ones are a different story though....

[ItsaCorolla]

What about a hook and lanyard mounted somewhere under the hood? It would be something you'd have to unhook each time to open the hood but it would be a hell of a lot cleaner than any ugly pins. Out of sight solution and it would keep the hood from fully opening IF the latch were to fail.

If you've got a spare latch why not rig up a come-along and some scales and failure/load test the thing?

please don't drill that hood or do pins, in my personal opinon that's a step in the wrong directions on what has been an exceptionally clean build

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

I had a friend come by the shop the other day, and he put a realistic concern in my head, and I am now wondering how to ease my mind a bit.. Man I can really curse him right now.. LOL The car is going to be quicker and have a higher overall top speed than the original car, and grille openings are fairly large with a large under hood surface area, so how secure will the oem hood latch be? There wouldnt be a whole lot worse situation for damage, than the hood flying up at high speeds, so that has me thinking a bit.

I had this nice aluminum hood pin kit that I was considering using on another build, but I dont really want to drill into the hood at this point, but that would be less than the potential damage of the hood latch letting go. There are serveral styles of hood pin kits out there, and they even have some flush mount button style, but this is more typical of the European sports cars, so I really think this is the direction I need to go if I should decide to run some. The problem is the mounting position isnt really conventional, and that is due to the curvature of the hood and core support postion, so I am pretty limited here..

I wonder if anyone has pictures of Amazon's with hood pins installed, so I can see how others have done it, along with the overall astheticis of them?


Natural Sun Light in this first pic, and the 2nd pic is Artificial Lighting, so I just thought I would show some contrast.. LOL

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

Well... I am at a struggle here, because I was thinking I had a nice solution for my battery position, but I keep forgetting how small these cars are.. It is really the best position for the battery, but I dont want this thing looking like a track car, if I can help it.. I have a larger 1k cranking amp battery here, and it is about the shortest battery I am aware of, but it still hangs down just a bit too far for my taste.. Once the rear bumper is mounted again, it will take alot of the bulk away, but I was actually hoping there would be just a bit more tuck.. I may have to split the difference between the trunk intrusion and hang down, that way I can get a bit of each benefit?

This is why I love Duct Tape, poster board, and card board.. LOL It makes things quicker to visualize, without going through all the hard work, and then finding yourself comprimising on using something that you really dont like, just because you dont want to start all over.. I have scrapped so many versions of things, because it sure sounds good, but the real world application doesnt look right.. I dont mind sharing what I think are bad ideas that I have worked through, because it might actually save someone else the waste of time and effort, and atleast something came out of the failed process..

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

Yep, no doubt in my mind, you sir are a wizard.

Fantastic fab skills.

Damn, I wish I was a Wizard, this thing would have been done already.. LOL Thanks

[andybob]

Yep, no doubt in my mind, you sir are a wizard.

Fantastic fab skills.

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

I had to roll the car outside for just a bit, so I can do a bit of cleaning, so I figured I would post some pics now that the mirrors and mud flaps are installed. In the real world, they look much more at home than focused pictures in a tight spaces, so hopefully a few doubters can retract their concerns.. LOL

The front end of the car still needs to be lowered about another 1/2in, and that should be about the right overall stance I am looking for, and the bumpers being reinstalled should make the car look a bit lower overall.. Man, I want wait for the trim to get back, because that is really going to make all the difference in the world.

After being in the shop for so long, I keep forgetting how small the car is, because it seems alot larger in the shop.

[CrackerTeg]

Even for raw and unfinished, that shit looks bad ass!

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

Here are some better pictures from the bottom side, and as you can see, there is really plenty of clearances.. You can remove all the accessories and service the car with no issue, and if you needed for some reason, you can drop the oil pan down without having to remove anything or jack up the motor. Please ignore the unfinished motor mount stand and brackets, these were the first rough pieces that I was testing off of the production jig, and the finished/powder coated pieces will be of much better quality.

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

Here are some clearance pics of the motor/trans in the car,. The headers drop right in, but with the way that I wanted my steering shaft routed, it did make it where I had to jack the drivers side just a hair for it to drop in.. I guess I cant win them all.. LOL In the pictures, you can see all the accessores are tightly packed in, but you can remove each item with no issue, and probably much easier than the Corvette/Camaro the motor originally came out of..