Her Name is Frank

[GJToyotabug]

ok well it has bucket seats in it already. i think its gonna be worth it to refoam and reupholster them. sad thing is it looks like junk but its all classed out with buckets and ac just no tack

[Twisted Minis]

Every once in a while I get a good one.

[GJToyotabug]

lower control arms for the red toy? look like they would be some killer arms to race with just a little more gusseting

[Twisted Minis]

No they are a customers arms. They are the Toyota arms I produce. I just took some pictures during the process of building them. If I was going to run them as a LT arm I would build them a bit different. But they are just going on a bagged street truck.



If/when I build arms for the red truck, I will probably go sheetmetal arm with uniballs and an extended strut rod with rod ends.

[Twisted Minis]

Got a minute in between projects and started my second spindle.

[Twisted Minis]

The 71 Datsun came back in for a 5-speed swap. He bought a rebuilt short shaft 5-speed from a company that said it was a direct bolt in. So it went from an estimated 3-4 hour job, to about 35 hours. It was no where near bolt in. The bellhousing was too large to fit in the transmission tunnel, so it had to be cut out. I had to widen it about 2 inches at the bottom, and I had to raise it over 3 inches. The frame and the bellhousing had to be clearanced. The exhaust had to be rebuilt starting at the collector, because the stock exhaust did not clear the bell housing. The transmission mount was miles off, and the stock rubber pad would not even bolt to the transmission without modification, so a new one was made. And his stock drive line had a fixed 4-bolt flange, and the new one has a slip yoke, so it needed modifying as well. And I ended up having to make a new clutch push rod that was about an inch longer in order to engage the clutch.

Heres the tunnel and frame cut from the bottom, huge hole.


New transmission mount.





And heres the new transmission tunnel, still wet with seam sealer.

You can also see that I welded Jerome's shifter from the 4-speed onto the new 5-speed shifter.

[jimbo74]

so how much did all of that end up setting the custoemr back? that sucks about having to do all that extra work....

the old school brace is a cool shifter

[Twisted Minis]

I haven't written up the bill yet. I haven't decided what to charge, and I don't plan to disclose the amount when I do. He spent almost $2k on the transmission itself. I feel bad, but it's not my fault it didn't fit. It's sitting at the shop until Monday when I write up the bill.

[95SAS]

Awesome work! I wish i could Fab that good...

[Twisted Minis]

Here is the truck it went into.

[46&2]

Nice! Sweet looking Datsun. Nice job on making the tranny work out.

[DTB]

wow that datsun is amazing...

[HxCmudBogger]

datsun truck is gangster

[GJToyotabug]

i need to get my bro's 79 datsun droped now

[82 HiLux]

that thing is sick, i see it driving around every once in a while

[LilChief87]

your fab skills are amazing

[crawlerdan]

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/pts/1190794909.html

looky looky

[46&2]

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/pts/1190794909.html

looky looky

That thing is sweet!!!

[Twisted Minis]

It says it's bodydropped but it most definitely is not. The rocker is still a few inches off the ground.

I'm putting a Porsche IRS is a '67 VW Double Cab right now. It should be done and rolling again tomorrow, so I will bring the camera home then.

[THK Matt]

Porsche IRS

[Twisted Minis]

Independent Rear Suspension out of a Porsche?

I cut out the stock torsion bar tube, and got rid of the trailing arm setup, and I welded in a Porsche torsion bar tube that has mounts for rear control arms on it. And he is using the cast aluminum Porsche arms, and the brakes, and transaxle, and is also swapping in a Porsche 6 cylinder that I already modified some headers for. He's going true mid engine apparently. Also said he has some custom build spindles coming for the front that run some Porsche 12" brakes.

[THK Matt]

holy sickness lol

I kinda figured the IRS part... figured i'd verify though.
man make sure to document that thing!

[Twisted Minis]

I took a bunch of pictures of it today. It was kind of intense because the torsion tube is part of the frame. So I had to cut a lot away, and then patch a lot back. Luckily the Porsche tube is really similar in design and dimensions. I guess it also has 30MM torsions, and the stock ones are around ~22-24. I have all of the frame reinforcement welded in place, and the tube is just tacked so I can still rotate it and adjust it side to side. I'm waiting for him to bring the last parts to put the trailing arms on before I weld it all the way up. He was saying that the rotation of the torsion tube controls the way the rear tires camber. So I need to adjust it so that it cambers the way he wants it to at the ride height he wants to run. So I need to simulate some weight in it (stick my 302 in the bed) and check everything out.

[THK Matt]

pretty intense .

you do some one off custom systems. I must say you are a true artist man.
have you been featured in a mag for your business yet? I know Frank made it in a mag.

[Twisted Minis]

I've had a tech article run in a magazine, and I have a few more coming up.

[THK Matt]

awesome!!! Congrats man

[Twisted Minis]

Pasting this from my site, so there is some repeat information.

I swapped out the stock trailing arm setup in a '67 VW Double Cab Bus, for a torsion tube and IRS control arm setup out of a 90's Porsche 944. He will also be using the 944 transaxle, and putting a 3.2L Porsche 6 cylinder true mid engine, under the rear passengers bench seat.

First shot is the stock torsion tube that needs to be removed. Second shot is the Porsche 944 torsion tube. Third shot is the stock tube removed. I cut as closely to the tube as possible, but not much was left.




Next the Porsche Torsion tube is hung inside some new filler plates that wrap all the way around the tube.







Some shots of the arms on and the tube fully welded.

[46&2]

As always, very impressed! 

[MiniSimp]

Nice Shelby.

[Twisted Minis]

??