Work has been progressing on the Hurtlocker Truck.
It's been a bit of a fight.
This is the second hump I've been battling.
The removeable firewall section I had made was unuseable.
In a way it was a blessing,
as it's the single most ugly thing I've ever built.
That is why I dubbed it "the elephant man".
The truck has the engine setback of a stock corvette,
so the firewall needs to be removeable for easier access,
kinda like a van.
With the carburetor, air cleaner and new MSD distributor,
the elephant man couldn't be used without heavy modifications.
I ended up using only pieces of the frame.
A framework was made using some sheetmetal angle strips.
Since this was a PITA,
I hoped to do an easy bolt-on project.
Ken had found the tallest Lokar floor shifter.
Silly me thinking this would be quick.
The rear mount part didn't want to fit.
Not a big deal,
but this little modification probably cancelled any warranty on the shifter.
I was surprised that Lokar didn't figure out this didn't fit the 700r4 transmission.
Back to the firewall...
The easiest way to tackle this was to get the flat pieces finished.
Here you can see how the valve covers stick out a bit.
Instead of doing a full weld job and tweaking the frame with the heat,
little holes were made for a string of spot welds.
My brother got me this Roper-Whitney sheet metal punch almost 20 years ago.
It's a great tool.
There will be a little access door behind the distributor,
so any timing adjustments or tuning can be made without removing the whole piece.
I'm a little bit farther along but not much.
There's only a couple more gaps to fill,
and seeing these pictures makes it look easier than it is.
I just can't over think it.
So close...
TP
It's been a bit of a fight.
This is the second hump I've been battling.
 |
| hurtlocker truck |
The removeable firewall section I had made was unuseable.
In a way it was a blessing,
as it's the single most ugly thing I've ever built.
That is why I dubbed it "the elephant man".
The problem was it worked great for the engine with the TPI system.
Since it's a firewall so would've been hidden,
but still it was damn ugly.
 |
| elephant man |
The truck has the engine setback of a stock corvette,
so the firewall needs to be removeable for easier access,
kinda like a van.
 |
| new firewall frame |
With the carburetor, air cleaner and new MSD distributor,
the elephant man couldn't be used without heavy modifications.
I ended up using only pieces of the frame.
A framework was made using some sheetmetal angle strips.
Since this was a PITA,
I hoped to do an easy bolt-on project.
Ken had found the tallest Lokar floor shifter.
 |
| lokar floor shifter piece 700r4 |
Silly me thinking this would be quick.
The rear mount part didn't want to fit.
 |
| modified lokar floor shifter piece |
Not a big deal,
but this little modification probably cancelled any warranty on the shifter.
I was surprised that Lokar didn't figure out this didn't fit the 700r4 transmission.
 |
| templates |
Back to the firewall...
The easiest way to tackle this was to get the flat pieces finished.
Here you can see how the valve covers stick out a bit.
 |
| more templates |
Instead of doing a full weld job and tweaking the frame with the heat,
little holes were made for a string of spot welds.
My brother got me this Roper-Whitney sheet metal punch almost 20 years ago.
It's a great tool.
 |
| tacked |
There will be a little access door behind the distributor,
so any timing adjustments or tuning can be made without removing the whole piece.
I'm a little bit farther along but not much.
There's only a couple more gaps to fill,
and seeing these pictures makes it look easier than it is.
I just can't over think it.
So close...
TP
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