Nomad C4 chassis assembly

[chevynut]

Haven't heard a word from Ogden yet but they should have my A/C bracket. I did get my powdercoated parts back, so they're ready to install. I went ahead and had them do my brake/clutch brace, steering column clamps, and battery box bracket too.

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I pretty much have my exhaust tailpipes and tips finished but still have some welding to do on them. After assembling the exhaust system again, I think I convinced myself I need to add a pair of stainless flex joints behind the header collectors. It bothers me that everything is so rigid so they're on order. I hate to re-do anything at this point and I probably should have added them when I originally built the exhaust. I think the headers are going down for coating next week.

[chevynut]

Still haven't heard anything from Ogden, and I'm getting concerned about my bracket. It's pretty much irreplaceable since S&P is out of business so they had better not lost it. I'm going to call them tomorrow since it's been two weeks since it got picked up.

The rear suspension is now complete. I got all the powdercoated parts bolted on along with everything else, and all the bolts are torqued. I think the brackets look better with the silver powdercoat than they would have painted gray. I got the swaybar and shocks on too. The suspension moves very freely even with all the bolts torqued.

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I've been trying to finish up the tailpipes and tips, but I had to cut new pipes and polish them because the others were too short. I think I have them ready to weld after which I'll trim the tips back a little.

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I still haven't taken the headers to get coated and decided to wait until I got the flex joints installed, to make sure nothing needs to change. I think I'm going to plan to start the engine up before the body goes on. There's lots of wires to hook up but it shouldn't be too bad. I may wait until after that to coat the headers, to make sure I don't burn up the coating.

[WagonWonder]

How did you ship them? Were they received?

[chevynut]

Ogden handled the shipping and they set up the pickup through FedEX. They pay shipping both ways and FedEx left a sticker with the tracking number, but I can't find it.

http://www.ogdenchrome.com/free-shipping.html

[MP&C]

Is that a sectional couch in the shop or have you moved the frame into the living room?

Frame is looking awesome Laszlo!

[chevynut]

Thanks Robert, my "clean" shop is my "man cave" and I have the couch, a refrigerator, and satellite TV hookup in that corner. I have a little more furniture for it in the attic but with my Nomad parts still strewn all over the place I haven't set it all up.

[chevynut]

Called Ogden today and found out they got my A/C bracket...that's the good news. The bad news is that they have to strip the chrome off (which I knew) but which is difficult to do on aluminum without pitting it. Then they have to start over and re-plate the copper to fill the pits. The whole chrome bracket probably cost me something in the $100-200 range to begin with from S&P....it's $400 just to re-chrome it. Jose suggested that I just paint it instead, but since the alternator bracket is chrome I want them both chrome. So I said go with it....what the hell. That's what I get for procrastinating on it.

We also discussed having them do my rear bumper. I apologized for giving them so much crap about the quote for my front bumper, which Madmooks did. Jose said he thinks their chrome will be better and the cost should be comparable so I'll probably have them do it. Madmooks does good work but I had to pay for shipping both ways too.

I had a good chat with Jose...we talked about some of Kindig-It's cars that they did the chrome on, and a bunch of other work they're doing. He said their quality has to keep improving with the better and better cars being built. Seems a lot of guys are chrome plating their stainless these days. Not me .

[chevynut]

Forgot to mention that Ogden said they were around 10-12 weeks out on chrome plating.

Since I made some custom front swaybar poly bushings by cutting down some universal ones and machining custom sleeves to fit them, I had to make some spacers to go beside the bushings to fill the space in the stock links. I had planned to make custom links, but the stock ones ended up working out and clearing the coilover springs so I used them. I did shorten them a bit to the same length as the early C4 links.

There will be one of these on each side of the swaybar bushings. I have to order some more ARP bolts to finish this up and the front suspension will then be DONE!

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[chevynut]

Today I decided to work on my brakes since they're one of the few remaining things I have to do on my chassis. I plumbed the entire brake system with AN4 stainless lines and fittings, mostly because I had a whole bunch of stainless fittings available. I ran into two issues with the brake hoses. I used a stainless AN4 bulkhead fitting on the side of the frame up front, but I really wanted to use the smaller AN3 brake hoses. I looked around and found a place that could build me custom AN3 hoses with an AN4 nut on one end and a 10mm banjo on the other end. The hoses are around $35-40 each, and I already had a pair of Russell DOT-approved hoses that I bought. The problem was the AN3 fitting on the end.

So I decided to machine down the end of the bulkhead fitting to AN3. I couldn't find any fittings like this anywhere so I made them. Here's one of the AN4 bulkhead fittings next to one that I modified....


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Here's the modified fitting with here's the Russell hose installed. The suspension is fully extended at this point and I checked the hose over the full steering travel and it looks good. It's the same length as upgrade hoses you can buy for a C4.....

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With the front completed, I moved to the rear. This is the problem I've been working on.

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When I put the through-frame fittings in, I obviously wasn't thinking too much about how I'd route the brake lines . The fittings have a 1/8" NPT hole on the inboard end that I installed a AN4 TEE into to split the line off to the passenger side. The outboard end has an AN3 fitting machined onto it. I can't route the brake line over the dogbone because it interferes with the tire movement. I thought I'd go straight down with a 90 degree hose end, but I don't know if I really have room for one between the dogbone and the frame. So I think I'm going to machine off the AN3 fitting , and tap it for 1/8" NPT for an AN3 90 degree elbow. That will keep the brake line close to the frame and allow me to go under the dogbones and up to the calipers. I need to order more parts......

[55 Rescue Dog]

Today I decided to work on my brakes since they're one of the few remaining things I have to do on my chassis. I plumbed the entire brake system with AN4 stainless lines and fittings, mostly because I had a whole bunch of stainless fittings available. I ran into two issues with the brake hoses. I used a stainless AN4 bulkhead fitting on the side of the frame up front, but I really wanted to use the smaller AN3 brake hoses. I looked around and found a place that could build me custom AN3 hoses with an AN4 nut on one end and a 10mm banjo on the other end. The hoses are around $35-40 each, and I already had a pair of Russell DOT-approved hoses that I bought. The problem was the AN3 fitting on the end.


So I decided to machine down the end of the bulkhead fitting to AN3. I couldn't find any fittings like this anywhere so I made them. Here's one of the AN4 bulkhead fittings next to one that I modified....


20170306_007.JPG


Here's the modified fitting with here's the Russell hose installed. The suspension is fully extended at this point and I checked the hose over the full steering travel and it looks good. It's the same length as upgrade hoses you can buy for a C4.....

20170306_006.JPG

With the front completed, I moved to the rear. This is the problem I've been working on.

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When I put the through-frame fittings in, I obviously wasn't thinking too much about how I'd route the brake lines . The fittings have a 1/8" NPT hole on the inboard end that I installed a AN4 TEE into to split the line off to the passenger side. The outboard end has an AN3 fitting machined onto it. I can't route the brake line over the dogbone because it interferes with the tire movement. I thought I'd go straight down with a 90 degree hose end, but I don't know if I really have room for one between the dogbone and the frame. So I think I'm going to machine off the AN3 fitting , and tap it for 1/8" NPT for an AN3 90 degree elbow. That will keep the brake line close to the frame and allow me to go under the dogbones and up to the calipers. I need to order more parts......

Sorry I have to ask, but I would like to know if aluminum AN fittings are DOT legal? Although all my brake lines on my POS Camaro are 3/16 double flare I did use AN fittings, to connect AN flex lines to the caliper, but they seem to work fine, so I've always wondered what the issue is? Corrosion between aluminum and steel fittings would be one concern I guess if it was a daily driver.