\ Testing Front Clip | Tom Mandera's Big Sky Binders

Testing Front Clip

Late April, 1999



I'd received a late 70s Ford 3/4T Dana 60 rear axle, and I needed to start making a little room in front of the garage/shop for manuevering stuff.. I wanted to move the 'cage out a little so I could trim some frame tie-in legs I wanted to do away with, and a few other items, so I decided to cleanup a little.. and place the front clip on the racer. At this point, it's just sitting on the truck. Looking at the bottom of the fenders, you'll notice they can (and will) come down a few more inches. The nose will come a few inches when I fab the front bumper (which will serve as a tow bar mount and will have the other half of the hinges for the tilt front clip).



However, this photo is useful because it gives a rough idea of what I'm looking at for a ride height. The motor/trans/xfer need to go in, which will lower it a bit, but this is pretty close. On the forward view, it's a chance to see how far the STOCK 235/75R15s on stock ('77) rims stick out of the fenders when you're using a full size Chevy Dana 44 front axle.



Notice the front seat is finally out. I've since removed the rear seat and all of the flooring material, seat belts, dash pad, and whatever else I could get easily and wasn't necessary. I still need to remove the tailgate, and a few more pieces of the dash and such. The heater ducts are gone.