Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Any pic of the clown car with the race engine in it? I know your holding back. ;)

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Welcome to the board Smalls. Maple Valley, not too far. Tubby does need a brother :lol: Thanks for the good words :) It's probably a good idea to look for those hinges first if you plan to do the mod because they are a lot harder to find than a 67-72 Burb... Post a WTB (gotta subscribe first) on the 60-66 parts board if/when you are serious about finding them. Hope to see another Tahoe build thread soon!

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Hah, actually I bought the drivetrain on eBay and it's been hell getting the guy to ship it... It's on a truck now :waah:

but here's a couple of cell phone teasers for ya...
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1228725865

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1228725865

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1228725865

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...g?t=1228725865

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

OOOOHHHHHHH teaser :D

like the power rack conversion. what did you use?

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Actually that's the rack I bought for Tubby to go with the dropmember. So it's a MII but it's just sitting in there to check for clearances/positioning. I may use it, or go with a manual rack. Haven't decided yet. Either way I'll have to buy another rack to do both vehicles.

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

cool that works. i've heard about some guys using a Tbird rack from a 80's something tbird... never looked it up though.

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Mike is the car's pivot points the same as a DropMember? Looks to be a bit narrower from the pic, now would that not cause bump steer and what not? So did you just get the motor and trans or the rear end set up as well from the S2000?

Kevin
LFD Inc.

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Width has an effect on bump steer, but can be somewhat addressed via rack placement. Obviously the effect is exponential as the selected rack moves away from "perfect" width/tie rod length. Width also has an effect on ackerman angle as does fore/aft rack placement. Edit: Rack height effects bump toe. I'm also looking at a smaller/lighter manual rack out of a Midget. There's a local British auto shop that rebuilds them.

I just got the eng/trans for now. The car was painfully slow and could barely make it up a slight grade on the freeway when loaded with 5 people. Still, I was OK with keeping the factory drivetrain until I started hearing some lower-end knock. Combine that with its desire to die at stoplights, the anemic automatic trans, and I was shopping for something else to motivate it. The intention is not to go full retard on it, just to make it more reliable and fun to drive. I researched a few options including the all aluminum 3.6L 60 degree V6 from the Caddy CTS (which will also be used in the six cylinder 2010 Camaro). But I ended up going this route to minimize weight and sheet metal cutting. So for now I'm just doing the engine/trans and possibly converting the brakes from a single to double circuit system (safety). By the way, the S2000 weighs 33% more than the Minx :devil:

I'll see how long the stock rear holds up and go from there. IRS is not off the table for a future upgrade :)

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Any more rack & pinion tech you can share? I always thought ackerman angle pertained to the line drawn from the tie rod hole in the knuckle, through the "center" of the ball joints, and where both of these lines intersected in relationship to the rear axle....

I believe this link is similar to what rokcrln was asking about:

http://www.heidts.com/pdf/Understanding_IFS.pdf

Thanks!

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

That's a good link, thanks. Here's a quote I liked "the exact length and location of the inner pivot of the tie rod must be very carefully selected so the outer ends of the rod, which are attached to the spindles, swing in a radius which matches the spindle radius exactly." This means the rack width should be selected to achieve the desired tie rod length which is dermined by the spindle arc.

Here's an explanation of Ackerman angle (R/C site): http://www.rc-truckncar-tuning.com/ackerman.html You can see why moving the rack fore/aft would have an effect on it.

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

i see i'm not the only one that has a background in RC car racing ;)

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Alright, back to Tubby... No I don't have an update, but I do have this to share: http://www.sporttruck.com/featuredve...ban/index.html

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Congrats mike! So do you get totally excited everytime you read about your tahoe? I can only wait and hope that when my truck is finished i get some magazine coverage like your bad a$$ tahoe! Now stop reading this thread get back to work cause we want to see this thing finished!!!;):metal::metal:

Josh

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

wanted to wish u and tubby happy new year :D

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

That's cool man. Thank you and back at ya! I'm really trying to hurry up with the side project so I can get back on this one. I miss it...

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

feel free to post them side pix, especially if its the minx. that'll be a cool ride once done.

BTW any chance you will make the hot rod power tour this hear? i'm supposed to ride along with my bro in june and it'd be cool to see tubby in person.

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Frizz, about your one piece hatch,How does it lock? Or does it?

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

The power tour is in the mid west isn't it? Wish they'd do it on the west coast one year.

The hatch latches and locks with the stock tailgate latches. Too simple huh? :lol:

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

OK. I thought that the upper lid closed over the lower gate and only the upper gate locked originally. That's what I get for thinking. :lol:

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

mike, you got a blog or a forum for your minx doing the swap?

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

if they do west coast, then i'll have to ship one of my vehicles. either the nova or the c10. 2010 will probably start in Tenn and head either for florida or probably texas or something.

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Not yet. I've been taking pics as usual and looking for a good home for the build. I may start a project journal at hotrodders.com. The project is an odd-ball with no clearly defined home other than being what I would now put in the hot rod category. I'm open to any other suggestions.

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

post a link if you do.

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

It took me two days to read to the end of 45 pages (so far). Your imagination and skills are simply outstanding. I will continue to watch your progress until the end of this build (but they never really are finished are they?). I can only hope to have half the energy and inspiration that you do to someday finish my 69/72. Thank you for all of your hard work. :clap:

Re: Joined the Short Wheelbase Club *69 Tahoe Project*
 

Just wanted to say youve got a realy kool build going on hear lookin good

bob m