Matt's 1970 'Trans-Am' Cuda

[Matt]

Soooo...

The last part of the bodywork - the rear quarters. Been putting this off for a while, as I'll need to flare the quarters after fitting to give adequate tyre clearance, and to match the look of the factory race cars - and this had required quite a lot of chin-scratching.

There's not a lot of width clearance in the E-body wheelwells (as most drag racers know) Also the inner arch tapers in considerably above the lip, so the more you lower the suspension the less clearance you get.

Looking pictures of the factory cars, the entire quarter (right from the top edge) appears to bulge out in the rear wheel areas (and within this, there's variation in flare and arch shape depending on which car it was, and when the pic was taken)

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To get started, cut away most of the outer quarter, and all the parts of the inner one that stick down too far. Dolly the inner one back into some sort of circular shape

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After usual trimming , etc see if rear quarter fits . On the no-name quarter I needed to take a slice out of the lower rear edge to get an acceptable fit with the rear valance. The AMD one was fine. It's not quite the right photo angle here but you can see the lack of rear tyre clearance.

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[MattH]

Went to Silverstone a fortnight ago to see a mate race his modern mini with the CSCC . Amongst the stuff in the pits (apart from numerous mustangs) was this nice Camaro , which was racing in the 'Swinging Sixties' series. I can possibly squeak into this series with the Cuda, as E-body production started during '69.

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That would be great to race in that championship, a friend races with a TVR and previously a Falcon.

[Matt]

Quarter fitted and tacked on in usual manner. I decided to joggle the edges rather than butt-weld them, as it would be much quicker, and reduces risk of distortion.

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Ok now for the interesting bit. Using a bit of artistic licence, I'm retaining the original arch outline shape rather than curving it upward like in some of the historical photos.

Take newly installed quarter, slice around arch, pull out till it looks about right. I ended up about 1 1/4" further out than standard.

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Slice upwards, pull sections of panel out, reshape, tack to arch lip using filler plates.

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Carry on until you've got approximately what you were looking for. Pic shows halfway progress. After more welding, and lots of grinding, it had all gone somewhat better than I was expecting.

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Over to George for the filler work ! The change in shape is actually quite subtle, and I could possibly have gone out further with the flare. We'll have to see what it looks like with paint on it.

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[Matt74]

This is the sort of thing that really interests me. Reshaping metal into what it should be or into a different shape like you have done.

I wonder how the factory cars where done? Probably the same way I would think.

[Stu Twin]

Do you do breast enlargements?

[mygasser]

Do you do breast enlargements?

Eat more fatty food and stop exercising

[mopar_mark]

This is the sort of thing that really interests me. Reshaping metal into what it should be or into a different shape like you have done.

Me too, it’s a great build & enjoyable to see the updates

[Faux-7-0]

I am loving this thread. (Particularly because I've got most of the same parts (Silver Sport Trans/Dr Diff rear disks/Hotchkis suspension) in boxes ready for Faux.)

[MattH]

That is brave but brilliant, welding new quarters on then cutting them up!!

[Pete]

Brilliant work, Matt.

I assume you did the same thing with the Outer Wheel Housings?

Did you massage the Inner Wheel housings as well for more tyre space or just rely on the correct back spacing on the wheels?

[Matt]

Hi Pete,

Outer wheel housings were simply extended directly sideways until they met the inner face of the quarter, where they were welded. This has left the arch lip itself unsupported, but it's quite rigid enough.

There were no tyre clearance problems with the inner wheel housings. At the end of the day an 8" rim doesn't seem to be *that* wide, even with a fairly fat tyre on it.

Cheers

Matt

[Derek]

Coming along nicely matt.

[68Roadrunner]

That’s some impressive work Matt,
Steaming ahead.
Richard.

[autofetish]

YOU



THE



MAN





Keep the updates coming

[Matt]

Back to trial-fitting the engine & box.

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Note the odd shape of the Milodon road race sump. As I quickly found out, this makes it difficult to drop the engine and box in as one assembly, as the sump won't pass behind the K-member with the engine at an angle.


Quickest solution was to remove the K-member, and then replace it once the engine was hanging in position

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With the engine installed, the sump does initially foul the K-Member in a couple of places:

We had to slice the corner off the RH mount pedestal (yes we did weld it up again later...)

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and take the edge off this flat piece on the LHS

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Not much upwards clearance here should the engine twist under torque- fortunately I'm fitting a torque strap. But we cut the lower corner off the pedestal as well just to make sure.

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