Dirt Muscle Car

1969honda

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Location
Cache
I think you can go as far back as 91? I know 80s K5s it's popular to swap the 91-93 tanks in because they have internal baffles and fit the later '97+ G van TBI pumps with enough pressure to run LS swaps.
 

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
I think you can go as far back as 91? I know 80s K5s it's popular to swap the 91-93 tanks in because they have internal baffles and fit the later '97+ G van TBI pumps with enough pressure to run LS swaps.

Good info, thanks for sharing! I'll do some searching at my local wrecking yards.

Oh yeah two tires in the trunk is a no-brainer. I don’t think it matters much but I’d cut the trunk out to put the “outline” back in and cover the edges. So basically cut out all of the middle besides like 3”. It would just look cleaner.

Yeah, I agree... there won't be much structure at that point, so I don't know how well it would hold up though. I get what you're saying though.
 

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
I'm thinking a Suburban gas tank for the ease of running a fuel pump & sending unit, then surround and cover it was some fancy sheetmetal with dimple dies, powder coat that Red and add a quick fill gas cap centered out the back of the trunk. Honestly, I'll probably leave the trunk lid off and wide open, so it looks like a truck bed. :cody:

#becauseprerunner
 

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
Spent some time working on light mounts on the big ole' light bar, fabbed up some tabs and welded them in place. I got 2 out of the 8 LED lights I ordered straight from China.... nothing but the best for this build. These lights are made in same factory as the Baja Designs LP6 lights... ;) They're 5" lights but I feel like they're a little small. The radius of the tube is 6", these lights are 5" round. I should have gotten a bigger light.... but I'll probably just run them.

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I decided to pull the front windshield, it was already cracked and well.... a race car doesn't have windows. #becauseracecar

I was worried about needing to cut the weather stripping and silicone, but after removing the trim and pushing on the glass, it was obvious there wasn't much holding the windshield in place.... it came out, with plenty of rust that was holding it in place. While I was at it, I removed the interior door panels and rear interior panel.

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I went ahead and pulled the rear window, same thing.... it came right out, with lots of rust around the window channel. :( I rolled the Bonneville out of the shop and pressure washed it again, focusing on the rusty channels.

I'll probably just shove the car out back and put it in storage until the TJ is done... this car is awesome, but I need to get back to the Wrangler. :D
 

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
I'm planning on having a shit-ton of lighting, I don't think I'll need to make the lights steer with the car... there will be 10 offroad lights, plus the 4 headlights, which will probably be LED's.

It'll look like a damn UFO coming down the road... Close Encounters of the Bonneville Kind.

Well, the rest of my China LED lighting showed up today and I couldn't resist tossing them onto the bar mount and throwing the rack on the Bonneville, even though it's been banished from the shop and is now living it's best life, outside.


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NYCEGUY01

Well-Known Member
Location
Willard, UT
I had to check out some things running thru my head with this car... for one, without the engine & transmission, the front end sits up quite high, probably around 3" taller? I noticed that the upper A-arms are pretty much sitting on the frame at this point, limiting the lift height and potentially limiting down-travel when bouncing around offroad.

This is full down travel.... the shocks have been removed, as well as the anti-sway bar. -

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Not that this is a long travel desert car, but several inches of suspension travel would be nice. I considered building my own uppers, but that seems like more work than I'd like to do? Then on a whim, I found these... upper A-arms for a DONK!!! :rofl: They're $440/pair, more than I'd like to spend for this car, but a simple way to get more down travel! These are good for up to 12" of lift, so I'd have down travel. I don't know for sure that I'll go this route, but it's an option.


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Next up, I have been wondering about fitting up 'lift' springs or adding spacers, hoping to get 2-3" of lift for this thing to help fit the 35's. I'd rather not run spacers, so longer springs are the best bet. I didn't know how long the stock springs were or what shape they were, etc. I decided to pull the rear springs out and measure them. Looks like they are right at 15 1/4" long top to bottom unsprung and shaped very similar to a rear TJ spring. X-D From what I can find, stock TJ springs are 13" .... so a 4" lift spring should be 17" and offer 2" of lift on the Bonneville. Spring rate.... no idea what stock is, so if TJ coils are lighter, they'd compress more. I'd rather have a heavier spring rate, for bouncing around offroad.

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On the front, I'll have to tear apart the suspension to figure out the coil spring length... but I'm not ready for that yet. Wonder if stock Gladiator springs would work? ;)
This would be easier and $400 cheaper to achieve the down travel you want…
 

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
This would be easier and $400 cheaper to achieve the down travel you want…

My ball joints have 3 bolts securing them to the A arms, unfortunately. I'm not sure if there's a BJ spacer for these cars or not.
 

benjy

Rarely wrenches
Supporting Member
Location
Moab
Well, the rest of my China LED lighting showed up today and I couldn't resist tossing them onto the bar mount and throwing the rack on the Bonneville, even though it's been banished from the shop and is now living it's best life, outside.


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I dig this thing, but it sounds like it’s distracting you from your real project. I’d love to store it in my driveway for a few months. My HOA needs something new to get excited about.
 
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