HM2017 Build

[Jeff K]

I had read in the forum about someone noticing that the center section of their IRS was not installed square to the frame.  As it turned out I had the same problem on my car.  Since I can’t leave well enough alone, I straightened it out and installed aluminum bushings while I was at it as some have suggested.  On the driver’s side I was able to move the hole over in the frame but on the passenger side I couldn’t and ended up having to slot the bushings some.  I’m happy with the way it turned out.  Very solid now.

[Jeff K]

I had read Paul’s posts on the forum about the IRS coil over shock upper mounts being installed too low on the frame of his first car, causing the rear of the car to either sit too high or run out of shock travel.  After studying the suspension on my car awhile, I concluded my car had the same issue.  To remedy it, I cut off the existing mounts and welded on new mounts higher up on the frame.  I also welded on suspension stops as Paul had done.  I wouldn’t know exactly how it works out until I get some weight on the frame and install the coil overs, but it should solve the problem.  It appears this issue has been fixed by the factory on later cars.

[Jeff K]

I had read on the forum and seen pictures of how the mounting points for the shoulder harnesses were not centered with the seats and steering wheel.  I wanted to line up the attachment points as much as possible and determined that if I moved the mounting points out to the ends of the 2”x2” tube, they would line up well enough.  Since it couldn’t be a through hole, I instead welded in threaded sleeves.  It’s a little tight threading in the mounting bolts with the body installed but doable.

[Jeff K]

Another minor problem with the shoulder harnesses is that they are too short when attached at the 2”x2” tube.  Some on the forum have had the harnesses lengthened but I followed what someone else did and fabricated an extension which bolts to the 2”x2” tube.  This moved the harness attach point several inches forward.  This seemed like a cheap solution and is hidden under the body anyways.

[Redstang69]

Anxious to see some pictures showing what you mentioned in the second post about the harnesses.

[Bob Worley]

i'm not a tall person, 5 foot 7 in, and my shoulder belts are barely long enough.    I know Russ Rittimann, who was over 6 foot, ordered longer shoulder straps directly from RJS.   

thats one thing I wish I had done was re-align the attachment points to be in the center of the seat.
 

[Jeff K]

Here are some pictures of the harness extension I mentioned earlier.  Obviously the body is not installed in the pictures but I made sure the harness bracket did not protrude beyond the lip of the body.  Wouldn't want the metal hitting me in the back if I was ever rear ended.

[Redstang69]

Good pictures Jeff. That makes more sense now. Looks like it is pretty far off to begin with.

[Jeff K]

After having my wife and son help me install and remove the body to and from the body buck, and struggling each time, I decided I needed to figure out a way to do it myself.  This is probably not a new idea but what I ended up doing was screwing eye bolts into the garage ceiling and using 4 tiedown straps to hang the body from.  Now I hook the straps to the body and walk around to each strap, raising or lower it a small amount each time.  This worked out better than expected and now I don’t have to ask for help.

[Redstang69]

Looks like it works pretty good. That's actually what I did this weekend, installed eye hooks in my ceiling to prepare for my body removal. I'm planning only two straps, one front and one rear running clear through the wheels wells. We'll see how it works.

[Jeff K]

I spent a lot of time positioning the body on the cockpit tub and frame making sure the distance from the top of the wheel opening to the ground was the same from side to side and the amount the fender overhung the tire was the same side to side.  I even sectioned the cockpit tub on the passenger side to move the body over enough.  Once I had the body in the desired position, I realized I needed to raise up the rear cockpit body support, especially on the driver’s side, to meet the body.  To do this I cut the rear panel and raised it until it contacted the underside of the body, holding it in place with temporary extensions.  I then added fiberglass to the gap in the panel to make it permanent.  I covered the backside with spray can bedliner.  This was a lot of work but it worked out well and now the body is fully supported.  I read that the factory fixed this cockpit tub issue on cars after mine.

[Bruce N]

Nice work Jeff! Yes, luckily my tub rim fitment was pretty good without modifications

[Jeff K]

I performed the same modification on my e-brake handle that many others have done and changed the angle of the handle by adding a spacer between the forward mounting points.  I welded together an extension link to connect the brake cables to the handle.  I even fabricated an equalizer bar so even pressure is applied to each caliper when the handle is pulled.

[Jeff K]

I originally thought I’d have to go with a minimum of 17” diameter wheels on my car because of the Wilwood 12” diameter rotors and calipers that came installed on my car.  But I found out from the forum that 15” wheels will fit with these brakes.  So, I ordered a set of HA02 wheels from Vintage Wheels with pin drives.  They’re a tight fit but they work, and I really like the original look.  I did have to rework the e-brake caliper brackets to lower the calipers as much as possible and sand off the e-brake caliper high spots to make everything fit.  I had Cooper Cobra tires installed on the wheels, 245/60-15 in the front and 295/50-15 in the rear.

[Redstang69]

Wow that is tight but looks like you got it. Moving along.