Her Name is Frank

[MiniSimp]

On the minature hood hanging on the wall.

[Twisted Minis]

I see. I didn't realize that was in a picture. It's Eleanor.

[82 HiLux]

i would love to see you bag a 21 window VW, those things are dope

[85yotabox]

Wow. your welding and fabrication skills are amazing.  i hope someday i can weld like that!  how long have you been fab/welding?

[Twisted Minis]

I've been doing this for about 6-7 years now.

Aren't they 23 windows? From what I understand, it's pretty much a crime to do anything but restore those.

Pictures of it outside. The rear wheels are on the front, because the Porsche axle is a bit wider than stock, and they didn't clear. He said he can get some more rear wheels with another +10mm offset to suck them in enough to clear.

[Twisted Minis]

And I started one of the control arms for my project. Pretty different than the norm.

[82 HiLux]

they might have 23 windows, i dunno. i thought i had heard them called 21 window. i saw one driving around in santa rosa that looked like it was brand spankin new

[NorCalToy]

those VW's remind me of unimogs. the Syncros are freakin awesome.

[GJToyotabug]

And I started one of the control arms for my project. Pretty different than the norm.

pretty sick dude how much longer than stock? with thickness of plate? sticking torsionbar?

[Twisted Minis]

It's .125 plate.

Project is different than you are thinking. No torsion bars, and it's shorter than stock by 1.25".

[GJToyotabug]

oh i see they look sweet

[chim]

they might have 23 windows, i dunno. i thought i had heard them called 21 window. i saw one driving around in santa rosa that looked like it was brand spankin new

There are 21 and 23 Window buses... the two extra are the rear corners.. pretty rare..  I would take either!

[Twisted Minis]

I see. The guy with the double cab corrected me when I said 21 windows, so I thought they where all 23. I'm not so knowledgeable about these things, I just know I like Ghias and Squarebacks.



Upper arms are done, lower arms are about 70% done (should be 100% tomorrow) and I started building the LCA mounts. I boxed the front side, and above the bushing, I need to weld it to the frame on all sides of the tabs, and then put the boxing plates on the back.

[Twisted Minis]

I didn't finish the arms, but I finished the LCA mounts. I realized that they needed to be done before I could finish the bag mounts on the lower arm.





I just got the steering rack too, so I might get that mounted next week.

[THK Matt]

this for the DC or the 3rd gen? I lost track

[Twisted Minis]

Neither. It's just a spare time project for me. Something I can take to shows with me for display.

[Twisted Minis]

Control arms are finished at this point, until I add shocks mounts and some other things in the future.

[TIMS89CRAWLER]

thats a sick display for shows there man! nice work

[toyotanner]

i wish i would have learned to tig weld in school... i know how to oxy acetylene weld, arc weld, and wirefeed weld.... but tig welds just look so pretty

[Twisted Minis]

Here's a teaser of the front end.

[TIMS89CRAWLER]

thats wayyy sick man! beautiful fab work!

[THK Matt]

you deserve some mad awards for your fabrication.....

[Bazzi]

why do you have heims in the upper link? is there any movement to the sides in there?
sorry for the dumb question I have only burned ifs stuff away... newer repaired one 

but as always nice work

[BUDDERS]

why do you have heims in the upper link? is there any movement to the sides in there?
sorry for the dumb question I have only burned ifs stuff away... newer repaired one 

but as always nice work

The heims are for uninhibited up/down dravel of the spindle.  Ball joints limit are limited by how much of an angle you can put on them without breaking them - heim joints are not - especially when they are used in an aplication like this.  You still have to bump stop them or have some sort of a limit strap on them, but only due to other clearance factors. 

[Twisted Minis]

^ Ya basically what he said. The rod end mounted like that provides limitless travel for the most part. I will bump and strap it just like a prerunner style suspension, to limit the travel where I want it. Since I am inspired (and in awe of) trophy truck fabrication, I wanted to build something with that influence that is out of the norm in the sport truck and hot rod scene. I don't know if it will catch on, but it's at least a good way to "show off" what I can do at shows when I am trying to attract more business. It's kind of like "Look, I can build pretty much anything." I have a few shows lined up, that I have reserved a booth at, and a book of pictures only goes so far. I wanted to build this to have a display, something people can look at in person, touch, and critique every aspect of something. One of those shows is this weekend, and I am really busting my butt to try to get this half way together to bring it, while I am also installing a new race inspired suspension on a 68 CS Mustang to bring to the show. I'll have the best of both worlds at the show, a car that demands attention, and a variety of fab work sitting on the table that isn't covered up by a car. Also we started powder coating small parts recently, for in shop jobs, and I can powdercoat all the small parts of this as an example of that too.

Anyways mounting the rod end that way also limits steering. I built the spindles based on some wheels I have in the shop (as far as king pin incline goes), and the rod ends limit the steering when the tire is about a 1/4" away from the frame rail, so it works out really well. The upper rod end is a 3/4", and I originally had misalignments down to a 1/2" bolt. It was actually turning too far, so I stepped it up to 9/16 misalignments and it limits the steering travel perfectly for what it is.

I also recently acquired an IRS differential from a Supra. I want to build my own IRS based around that differential. I want to build my own knuckles for it and everything. Only I would like to build that with more of a road race style of fab, just to try different things. That won't happen for a good while though. I have been planning to build this clip for about a year now I think. Designing it and gathering parts for it as I have time and money to do so.

Sorry I got a bit carried away with this post.

Anyway, I had an idea late last night, to build a boxed style gusset with a hole (tube) welded in the center of it. So today I cut out enough pieces to build 4, and got one welded together.  It's way overkill, but I think it matches the arms well and I like it. Also you may notice in the last picture, the laser cut piece I got for the spindle with my crown logo on it.

[BUDDERS]

Nice spot for the crown Twisted.  If you're going to use that clip for shows, you should clear coat it.  Then people will be able to see how good of a welder you are as well as a fabricator.  Paint or powdercoat seems to hide that aspect of it in my opinion.  Or, you can powdercoat 1/2 of it and clear the other to show your shops capabilities.

[Twisted Minis]

That's a good idea. I was planning on leaving the frame raw completely.

I wonder if I can clear powder coat it. I need to get some Bilsteins on it too, since we're a dealer for them. I'm working on getting a hold of some Wilwood stuff too.

[THK Matt]

that is jaw dropping.

[46&2]

that is jaw dropping.

Definitely.

[BUDDERS]

I need to see this once the P/S rack is installed.  Are you planning on using heims instead of regular tie rod ends?  You might be able to use regular tie rod ends depending on how much travel you set it up for, but the heims would probably be easier to install because you would have to drill a tapered hole for the tie rod ends.